Additional information
This is a continuous in-the-mix CD compiled and mixed by DJ Anthony Pappa. Includes liner notes by Richard Murphy. While the concepts underlying the inaugural release of Global Underground's NuBreed series are both intriguing and refreshing, Anthony Pappa's mix unfortunately doesn't quite reach the preconceived expectations most loyal Global Underground listeners will have. A few songs into the first set, these exceptions seem to be fulfilled as the Melbourne DJ drops some driving, straight-ahead progressive house tracks that forcefully move the momentum forward and start the first set off on a high note. Unfortunately, this sense of excitement soon fades as Pappa never really moves away from this style of music, maintaining the same tempo, aura, and style of tracks throughout the first set, which ultimately reaches a depressing anticlimax during the extended lull of Humate's "Welcome to the Future" remix (an otherwise wonderful song that would fit better in the middle of the set as a momentary valley perfect to build upon). Pappa's second set heads into trance territory, favoring the epic style of trance with its steady linear rhythms, slow shifts in momentum, and a lingering sense of heavenly aura evoked through distant synths. But again, Pappa never fleshes out his set, dropping one similar track after another; eventually, he moves his set into a breaks-influenced flavor of trance during the fluctuating nine-minute ride through Hi-Fi Bugs' "Lydian & the Dinosaur," yet for as wonderfully majestic as this song may be, it still isn't the hands-in-the-air anthem one wants at the end of a DJ set. ~ Jason Birchmeier
