How Sasha & John Digweed’s ‘Northern Exposure’ made an artform of the DJ mix CD

Primeiro lançado em 27 de setembro de 1996, ‘Northern Exposure’, de Sasha & John Digweed, continua sendo um marco na construção do universo da música eletrônica – uma jornada expansiva e guiada pela atmosfera que transformou o CD de mix de DJ de uma distilação da experiência da pista de dança em uma arte independente por si só.

Aqui, enquanto o icônico álbum recebe um redux de 30º aniversário no Late Night Tales, Simon Whight conversa com a dupla – junto com alguns fãs e afiliados notáveis – sobre sua criação, a tecnologia que tornou sua composição tão radical e a influência duradoura que continua a ter sobre uma nova geração de DJs e produtores hoje.

Se houve algum caso de “Second Album Syndrome” aplicável a um CD de mix, então era uma possibilidade distinta enfrentada por Sasha & John Digweed quando se tratou de seguir com o álbum de 1994 “Renaissance: The Mix Collection”.

O padrão foi elevado. O álbum de estreia em mix do duo britânico de DJs foi um conjunto seminal de três CDs repleto de faixas que capturou a energia de sua residência no clube Renaissance, alternando entre proto‑prog hipnotizante, acid house e sessões de rave, até os primeiros hits de trance.

Comercialmente, foi estratosférico, alcançando o status de ouro com mais de 100. 000 cópias vendidas em seis semanas, enquanto outros do mesmo gênero chegavam a apenas 10.

000. Ele transformou os dois responsáveis em nomes de casa, mas a maior declaração deles ainda estava por vir.

Dois anos depois, em 27 de setembro de 1996, Sasha & John Digweed lançaram 'Northern Exposure', um conjunto de double-CD construído digitalmente, concebido como duas jornadas distintas, '0° North' e '0° South.

Onde ‘Renaissance’ havia sido uma destilação completa da experiência rave, esta odisséia de duas horas e meia evocou algo mais profundo, mais psicodélico e mais atmosférico do que a pista de dança comum, reformulando tudo pelo que já eram conhecidos, com um peso cinematográfico adicional.

Long ambient segues, cross-continental breaks, progressive house, and trance cuts converge into a singular creative vision throughout these sessions. Here, the mix CD became something more than just a reflection of a night out, or a demonstration of a DJ’s live chops – it was an artform in its own right.

One thing was certain for Sasha and John when it came to planning their second mix album – they weren’t just going to create a by-the-numbers follow-up. "It was a left turn from what we'd done before, and that was a conscious decision,” says Sasha, speaking to DJ Mag over a video call ahead of the release of ‘Northern Exposure: Redux’, a remastered and expanded 30th anniversary reissue on Late Night Tales.

While ‘Renaissance: The Mix Collection’ was firmly rooted in a UK dance music institution, and its successor was signed up for release through another, Ministry Of Sound, the duo’s horizons had widened significantly by the time they came to create ‘Northern Exposure’.

Meses passados na estrada após o 'Renaissance' os introduziram às cenas de clubes e comunidades ao redor do mundo, e logo eles se imergiram no som psicodélico da cultura rave norte-americana.

We were doing long six-hour sets, then going to an after-hours and playing for another four hours," Sasha remembers. "The local guys at these after-hours would be playing this incredible music, and I was like, ‘Where's this from?’ It was all these little labels from Tampa, Orlando, San Francisco — these pockets of wonderful producers making incredible music.

Isso realmente nos influenciou, e depois eu traria essa música de volta ao Reino Unido e a tocaria para as pessoas.

You’ll sense the energy of those afterparties throughout the first half of 'Northern Exposure’, transmitted through tracks from Young American Primitive, Rabbit On The Moon and God Within.

But first impressions are everything when getting someone to commit to a full session, and bettering the triptych of Leftfield 'Song Of Life' remixes that opened the first CD of 'Renaissance' was certainly going to be a tall order.

The pair struck gold with The Orb's rework of Keiichi Suzuki's 'Satellite Serenade', a sprawling post-club ambient house curveball that opens '0° North' with clear message to listeners – your expectations were about to be challenged.

Por que não abrimos o disco com uma guitarra slide e David Attenborough e um 808?" Sasha lembra de ter pensado. "Havia uma audácia nas pessoas que faziam música naquela época.

This evolution in sound for Sasha & John Digweed was only made possible by an overhaul in approach. The release was billed as one of the first major DJ mixes to be digitally constructed, a method that allowed for a meticulous assembly that went beyond the boundaries of vinyl.

Trabalhando ao lado do engenheiro de estúdio Gaëtan Schurrer, usamos uma versão inicial do Logic para mixar este álbum," explica John. "Isso nos permitiu estender elementos das faixas para que se encaixassem perfeitamente do jeito que queríamos, além de possibilitar a adição de reverbs, ecos e outros efeitos.

Sasha and myself are both perfectionists when it comes to mixing records together and wanting the transitions to sound perfect,” says John. “It was quite a long process to create, but at the time we could feel that this was game-changing — it felt like we were breaking whole new ground when making a compilation album.

It just blew my mind that we could take the end of a record and loop it for two minutes over another track," Sasha says. "I was like, ‘What? Wow, let's do that.’ We had very basic plugins — reverb and delay — and that was about it.

A precisão foi de tirar o fôlego, com o processo digital permitindo transições criativas que teriam sido impossíveis através do beatmatching convencional. Ao longo de “0° North”, longas sequências de áudio entrelaçado demonstram uma abordagem à composição de mix que exigiu um pouco mais do que apenas um humano e um par de 1210s, como o looping sutil e a sobreposição de arpejos em “These Waves”, plantados cedo, quase subliminares, sobre a atmosfera lisergica de “Cascade (Part One)” do Future Sound Of London.

Even in the clubbier '0° South', this seamless approach carries on. Listen to how the disco pulse of Drum Club's 'Sound System' echoes into the mind-melting breakdowns of Patrick Prins AKA Castle Trancealot’s ‘The Gloom’.

In the mix’s final stretch, tracks from Mellow Mellow, Banco De Gaia, and Humate & Rabbit In The Moon dissolve into one another through acid-tinged psyhedelia before 'Dark & Long' takes hold.

One can imagine a young DJ at home, poring over the graphical timeline adorning the CD’s inlay trying to make sense of it all, like someone struggling to find the start of a roll of sellotape.

Nós recebemos zero de dez pelo disco “0° South” da DJ Mag. O cara nos atacou de forma absoluta – ‘Quem diabos esses caras acham que são!?’ Curiosamente, cerca de quatro anos depois, eles votaram como o melhor mix de todos os tempos.

Critics didn’t get it at first. "There was definitely a mixed reaction,” John recalls. “It wasn't an instant hit, which probably helped it more, as you really needed to listen to it a few times to get your head around it.

People didn't have the luxury of streaming platforms back then, so they were more likely to go back to a purchase and give it another listen," says John. "The album became a grower, and a go-to after-party soundtrack.”.

Still, despite some initial raised eyebrows from the media, ‘Northern Exposure’ was objectively a huge success on release, reaching No. 7 in the UK compilations chart.

It might not have had the same immediate impact as ‘Renaissance: The Mix Collection’, but it’s arguably gone on to be an even more significant release in the progressive house and trance canon.

Quality will always outlast any fads that are around — this album has so many genres blended together to sound like a complete work, and that's the main takeaway: creativity is the key to longevity.

It lends credence to the argument that progressive was never really a specific sound to begin with, but more an expansive grab bag of forward-thinking electronic music spread across a range of styles.

Sempre foi sobre encontrar ótimos discos, independentemente do gênero, diz John. Não consigo pensar em algo pior do que apenas tocar um único gênero durante todo o set.

Sasha puts it even more bluntly. "There's been a terrible homogenisation of progressive house," he says. "If I go to the Beatport Progressive House chart, I'm like, ‘This is not the music I like or play’.

Era como se a mix fosse uma história que não se importava com gêneros ou vibrações — cada faixa era um capítulo cuidadosamente selecionado." – Lloyd Barwood, Last Night On Earth.

Qualquer rótulo que você queira colocar, 'Northern Exposure' ainda é citado como uma enorme influência por inúmeros artistas de música eletrônica, progressiva e outras, hoje.

For UK-based DJ, producer and Magicwire label founder Gabriola, it practically served as a sacred text. "The fact that in 1996 this thing made it into the Top 10, with Future Sound Of London, Young American Primitive and Banco De Gaia on it, shows the impact it had," he notes.

More than that, the album has directly guided much of his own work. "I ended up being in contact with some of the artists featured, sampled some of the tunes on my own releases, cut dubplates of my Apollo 440 'Liquid Cool' edit to play out.

He’s not alone. Progressive dance music has had its share of ups and downs in the three decades since ‘Northern Exposure’ was released, but recent years have seen a significant rekindling of energy and passion for the sound, both in its more polished, melodic form, and in more underground circles, each with lineages directly traceable to this pioneering mix CD.

Lloyd Barwood, a rising prog talent and Last Night On Earth signee mentored by Sasha, credits his experience of hearing ‘Northern Exposure’ for the first time as a turning point in his life.

It was as if the mix was a story that didn't care about genres or vibes — every track was a carefully selected chapter.

Taking notes, Barwood has gone on to infuse this same spirit into his own productions. "I honestly don't think I would be here today producing and DJing progressive house if I had not listened to this mix.

Entretanto, um ecossistema internacional de artistas e gravadoras surgiu simultaneamente para deixar sua marca no estilo, levando-o a clubes notáveis e festivais de destaque ao redor do mundo e revigorando sua presença no submundo.

Crucialmente, enquanto esses DJs e gravadoras podem estar buscando nos sons do passado inspiração – ‘Northern Exposure’ e outros – eles não os replicam, optando em vez disso por esculpir suas próprias interpretações que possam ressoar nas pistas de dança jovens de hoje.

Do coletivo Ute em Oslo, Love On The Rocks em Berlim e Nous'klaer em Rotterdam, passando por nomes como Haŵs de Cardiff, Duality Trax de Belfast e Craigie Knowes e Neptune Discs da Escócia, até os heavy‑hitters psicodélicamente carregados como Naarm’s Butter Sessions, as gravações “naff” de Montréal, Kalahari Oyster Cult de Helsinki e Junction Forest de Seul, as ondas do que Sasha & John Digweed estavam fazendo com “Northern Exposure” nunca parecem tão distantes da superfície.

Another artist for whom ‘Northern Exposure’ was a significant influence is DJ, producer and Punctuality label boss Spray, who recently shared a stage with Sasha as part of Ewan McVicar's Club Knuckles residency at Hï Ibiza.

I first heard ‘Northern Exposure’ around 2007 — my cousin, who'd go to Ibiza every year, introduced me to Sasha & John Digweed," he says. "To this day, it still feels like the blueprint for the music I make.

Every time I come back to it, I can trace another thread to where things are sonically today, yet I'm still left with the feeling that nothing else has quite scratched the itch of this album since.

Sente-se como se estivesse muito à frente de seu tempo, enquanto, ao mesmo tempo, parece que quanto mais nos afastamos desse som, mais difícil é recriá-lo.

For Sasha & John Digweed themselves, the years after ‘Northern Exposure’ were defined by an ever-expanding international schedule. "John and I just toured our asses off," Sasha says.

We did a lot of shows together — tours of the UK, the US, Australia. The ‘Northern Exposure’ nights we started in the UK were the thing that established what we do.

I remember one Ministry Of Sound night on a Monday, shortly after ‘Northern Exposure’ came out, and it was absolutely roadblocked.

Things really ramped up after the release in '96,” adds John. “Worldwide tours and a Twilo residency once a month in New York with Sasha in '97. I started Bedrock at Heaven in 1998, once a month on a Thursday.

Ele se tornou a Meca desse som, ao lado do Breaks in the Star Bar, e muitos outros DJs começaram suas próprias festas e noites a partir disso — havia uma verdadeira comunidade de dança dentro da cena naquela época.

Increasingly, the duo became interested in exploring their own solo endeavours. John started his own label, Bedrock Records, through which he released a mix album of the same name in 1999, while Sasha launched the Last Night On Earth precursor Excession, a label and management company.

After 2002’s hugely ambitious Delta Heavy tour, which saw the pair play massive shows across 31 cities in North America, Sasha & John Digweed parted ways in order to grow their individual passions.

I think it was important for both of us to focus on our own individual labels and projects,” says John. “It also means that when we come together for gigs it's that much more special for the crowds.”.

É uma viagem pela memória para mim. É um retorno, mas soa muito fresco e empolgante também. É engraçado como os anos 90 se tornaram esse tipo de coisa que estamos voltando, amostrando e nos inspirando." – Sasha.

Reunions have snowballed for the pair in recent years, with brief and sporadic gigs blossoming into semi-regular extended b2b appearances. "This last year we've started doing much longer sets again," Sasha says.

It's felt really, really good. I feel on top of my game again at the moment, which is really nice.

Para Sasha, há evidentemente uma nostalgia pelos sons da era “Northern Exposure”, com uma ou duas ressalvas adicionais. “Alguns deles não foram tão bem produzidos,” ele admite.

Recent sessions alongside Spray, and at Dekmantel with Young Marco, have indicated Sasha’s readiness to re-engage with this music in earnest. "It's a trip down memory lane for me” he says.

Estou mais inclinado a focar no que vem pela frente do que olhar para o passado," ele afirma – ele dirá, “ocasionalmente busco o clássico em um show para terminar uma noite incrível.”.

Recent reunion sets at [UNVRS] Ibiza, Tofte Manor and Balance Croatia have demonstrated the unique chemistry that allows these two to work together so well, even after all these years.

We never discuss what we're going to play, what we're going to start with, what we're going to end with — it's literally spontaneous, and has been since day one," John explains.

I think this is the reason our DJ sets have been so magical over the years, because even we don't know what we're going to do. We take it in turns who starts a set, and that determines the mood and vibe of what lies ahead.

Em um mundo de sets pré-gravados e pré-planejados, escolher um disco com base na energia que acontece ali, diante de seus olhos, é a coisa mais importante de ser DJ.

Lloyd Barwood capturou ambos os sets, durante os quais eles tocaram versões recém‑reimaginadas de dois cortes de “Northern Exposure” – “Water From A Vine Leaf”, de William Orbit, e “I'm Free”, de Morgan King.

The reaction to these records was incredible," he says. "Despite the originals being over 30 years old, they felt completely at home in these sets and created some really special moments on the dancefloor.

William Orbit had sadly passed away just a few days before Balance Croatia, so Sasha closing with 'Water From A Vine Leaf' felt like a really touching tribute to him.

Queríamos algo que realmente mantivesse a vibe e a atmosfera do álbum original enquanto criávamos algo novo. Familiar, hipnotizante e atmosférico ao mesmo tempo." – John Digweed.

These signs — the throwback tracks, the uptick in reunions, prog’s widespread revival — could really only ever lead to one thing, and in July this year, the official ‘Northern Exposure: Redux’ was announced via Late Night Tales.

The project has been a long time in the making, and the process has been far from straightforward. Licensing constraints on numerous tracks in the mix plagued an initial attempt to do a 20th anniversary edition back in 2016.

Eles chegaram lá no final, embora com três faixas aparecendo em forma ligeiramente atualizada. “Kites” agora é creditado a Aether, enquanto “Wave Speech” recebeu uma nova edição.

Most strikingly, ‘Dark & Long’ has been remade by original Underworld member Darren Emerson especially for the occasion. Still, fans old and new can relish in the newly remastered version of ‘Northern Exposure’ being available on streaming services for the first time, alongside deluxe CD and vinyl editions and refreshed cover art.

While the licensing issues did hit pause on an ambitious plan to remix every track on the release, Sasha and John have conspired to create an additional third disc, making use of modern technologies to construct a suite of dub-ambient mixes out of the original material.

We wanted something that really kept the vibe and atmosphere of the original album while creating something new,” adds John “Familiar, hypnotic and atmospheric at the same time.

Contextually, it works a treat. If '0° South' is an embodiment of the rave’s deepest moments, and '0° North' is the ideal accompaniment for the late-night / early-morning stroll home, then the new dub version is what you hear in your dreams after you finally get to sleep.

The threads are familiar yet intangible, like when you look at the sun too long and the imprint dances in front of your eyes after they shut. Tracks are pulled apart and distilled to their barest essence, allowing them time to breathe before being exactingly pieced together again.

O mix principal permanece tão encantador quanto sempre foi, surgindo brilhante na paisagem sonora moderna, mesmo que o clima seja significativamente diferente do que era quando foi lançado pela primeira vez.

Back then, you'd put a record out and if it was great, great; if it didn't work, it might be a little cult hit. Weird, wonderful records would sell 100,000 copies of vinyl, so there was no fear.

The appetite for mixes is also vastly different to what it was back then, with properly packaged CD releases being a prized rarity and an oversaturated market for online sets inevitably cheapening the practice to an extent.

When I first experienced ‘Northern Exposure’, CDs were fading away and piracy was reaching its peak," Spray reflects. "It caused mixes to go from being conceptual, valuable pieces of work that gave proper credit to the DJs, curators, producers and labels, to a point where mixes became freely available online and less valuable.

Lloyd Barwood concorda. “Northern Exposure” foi um lembrete do que o progressive poderia ser quando foi lançado pela primeira vez, ele diz. “Redux” parece ser um lembrete do que ainda pode ser hoje — não apenas um som, mas uma mentalidade.

There's a really exciting, vibrant sound happening right now,” says Sasha. “People are looking back at those fast records we used to play in the ‘90s, and taking the same drum patterns, but making them into something new.

Vou jogar com Spray esta noite, então tenho a cabeça nesse mundo nos últimos dois dias, e isso me faz sentir muito nostálgico — Deus, isso realmente soa exatamente como o que eu estava jogando em 1996.

E talvez esse seja o espírito duradouro de 'Northern Exposure', em resumo – um lembrete de que, na nossa correria de sempre avançar, não custa dar uma olhada de costas de vez em quando.

Want more? Read about how Jeff Mills’ ‘Live At Liquid Room, Tokyo’ forged new futures for underground techno here.