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MauritiusToday.com - Shopping Mall - Invol2ver
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List Price: $15.49
Our Price: $13.99
Your Save: $ 1.50 ( 10% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Global Underground UK
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0828272130221
Label: Global Underground UK
Manufacturer: Global Underground UK
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Global Underground UK
Release Date: 2008-09-09
Studio: Global Underground UK
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Editorial Reviews:
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Invol2ver is no ordinary mix CD. Its's a painstakingly created blend of mix and artist album in which a world class DJ pushes his creativity to its very limits, helped by a crack team of studio experts. This is Sasha cutting loose. Taking a diverse collection of the widest tracks imaginable.
Picking them apart. then weaving them into a colourful tapestry that is completely his own. Involver 2 is the sound of one of the world's finest DJs at the peak of his powers, mixing you the future.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Novice work
Comment: Just to prove that I have nothing against Sasha, I continue buying and listening to his music, good or bad. And I do so hoping (for a very long time now) that Sasha will be resurrected from his self inflicted wounds that lead to his musical demise as I have stated before in another review. I mean, he is an icon whether we like it or not. But it just hurts (at least for me) all that more every time this legend's downfall is substantiated. I mean The EmFire Collection got absolutely nowhere and now we have Invol2ver in our hands, with fond memories of the old involver, and a big letdown.
The work:
What's with all the other reviews of "more of the same", "just like the first one" & "as good as the first one" really mean? I honestly don't believe that that should be understood as a complement to Sasha's Invol2ver work. Although Sasha's original involver was stellar for it's time, not to mention its merits as a compilation, the work was done more than 4 years ago and things have changed drastically since then with works such as Digweed's Transitions (4). Therefore, such statements resembling the old work with the new (a point I would agree with by the way) carries hidden negative perception than meets the eye. Before I ordered Invol2ver from Amazon, I took a look at the reviews, and even though I cringed from what I had read I still went ahead and purchased it. The outcome, after such a long time between the original involver and the new one is more of the same, I am afraid. That's not good. It's like if Ferrari made another Testarossa for 2008. Yes, the Testarossa was breathtaking in 1984 and it broke all super-car molds, but with car design envelopes being shattered right and left, it would look out of place right now. And although it's not appropriate to compare works of different arts, the comparison here resonate similarity to the point I am trying to make, whether I am successful or not that's a different story.
The music:
CD intro is so classic Sasha, with the emphasis on the word `classic'. Atmospheric sounds swirling right and left with bits of ticks and tacks here and there reminiscent of all his work since Airdrawndagger. The music continue on its trancy feel with vocal tracks carrying the mood up to track 4, at which the tempo picks up a notch and you begin to sink your teeth into the meat of the comp; however, the "taste" is not what you would expect from a master chef. Vocal, vocal and more of empty vocal tracks seem to be the theme here, all wedged in a stale formula. The only highlight of the whole comp is track 5 (Lowlife - Sasha vs. Adam Parker), and although I admire Thom Yorke's work a lot, the remix of The Eraser is nothing to brag about and seem engineered only as a vehicle to reach pop charts. The ending track of Invol2ver is, to say the least, boring.
It is interesting to see that the last 4 words in Amazon's Editorial Review of Sasha's Invol2ver were "mixing you the future".... I beg to differ my friends. It is more like "mixing us the past".
Customer Rating:
Summary: Less Involved
Comment: I am disappointed with the direction Sasha has taken over the last several years, compared to the days of Global Underground Ibiza and the first Involver. These CDs had so much emotion, so many melodies and chords that would take you through an uplifting journey.
However, with the new Invol2ver, Sasha has unfortunately fallen into the recent trends of club music; that is, he has embraced the minimal sound since it became so popular and this has sadly influenced his music overall.
Of course, the tracks on this CD are labeled as "progressive house," and although there are some good ones (M83 "Couleurs" and Thom Yorke's "The Eraser"), I felt that most of the other tracks were really lacking, carrying to much of the minimal sound.
With that said, I should be fair by adding that the Sasha team did encounter a lot of legal issues with which tracks they could add to this compilation; in an interview floating around, Charlie May mentions that they had some really great tracks lined up for the CD, but due to legal issues, they had to fill the gap for these pre-conceived tracks.
If you are expecting the same sound of Involver, one that had more emotion and uplift, you are not going to find it in this new compilation.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Sasha Does It Again!
Comment: Great disc, a bit too reminicient of GU13 and Involver, but great stuff nonetheless! Gets played over and over and over!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Electrohead
Comment: Loved it...If you're a fan of Sasha, and know what he does with music, listen to it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: An icon's return to form
Comment: Now, I wouldn't consider myself a hardcore trance/ electronic fan, but I've been following Sasha since the late nineties. It began with the Northern Exposure series and continued on to Airdrawndagger. I thought Sasha had reached his peak. Surely, he couldn't top Airdrawndagger and then he hit us with Involver. Sasha gave us an eclectic sample of electronic music that was true to the scene, but accessible to the casual listener. That was one of his strengths; that was why I followed him.
Sasha proceeded to release Fundacion NYC and the EmFire collection. Suffice it to say that those were two of the worst albums I have ever purchased and that I almost lost total respect for Sasha as an artist and DJ. I thought Sasha pulled a DJ Shadow and was calling it a career, not by retiring, but by creating such a ridiculously wacky album. And not just one wacky album like DJ Shadow's "Outsider", but TWO wacky albums in succession.
Honestly, Sasha was off my radar. I didn't care if he ever released anything again. I had his previous work and that's what i wanted to remember him by. And then a funny thing happened. I was browsing music at a local record store today while my friends were looking at vinyl LPs. I discovered Invol2ver and immediately experienced an entire range of emotion: happiness, apprehension, grief, and skepticism. Would my fandom of Sasha be rekindled? Is this truly another Involver or just another way to trick me out of $20 (I bought the limited edition).
So I went ahead and purchased the album and immediately put it in my CD player. The music started playing and happiness and relief washed over me, and in that order. Sasha is back and I'm elated for him. With this release, he has solidified himself in my pantheon of respected artists. For all the impact he's had on the electronic music world for who knows how long... I'm glad he could come back after all these years and hit us with maybe, just maybe... one last home-run. I've been waiting for you, old friend. Thanks for not letting me down (again).
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