Now that my MacBook has been shipped back to Apple, I don’t have music to listen to at work other than what I have on CD here. Most of the CDs I have here fall into one of two categories: IDM or mix CDs. I’m a little tired of IDM at the moment and want a little more variety than what most of those offer, so I’ve started listening to my mix CDs again. And I’ve forgotten how good some of them are.

Take James Holden‘s Balance 005. The standout track has got to be the uber-popular You Are Sleeping by PQM, which features a spoken-word story about a well-meaning guy who tries to rescue a prostitute by selling all his possessions. Fabulous track. I can only imagine the fervor on the dancefloor when “no scratch, no snatch” comes blaring out of the speakers. The second disc is a bit samey, but if it were released on its own it’d get huge reviews. Next to the first disc it can’t help but take a back seat. As a whole though, the reviews on the discogs page are right — it’s a pivotal, essential release.

James Holden really owes his popularity to massive UK DJ Nick Warren, who charted Holden’s “Horizons” track for three months. And Warren’s Global Underground 024 – Reykjavik is the other CD that’s a standout. The first disc is epic. It’s not really traditional progressive trance or house or whathaveyou. Sure, the driving beat makes an appearance from time to time (Planet Funk’s Tightrope Artist brings it in with a great funk bassline), but Warren pulls some IDM into the mix. Boards Of Canada’s there. Ulrich Schnauss is there. Global Communication’s awesome 14:31 is there. And Warren doesn’t just throw track after track like most mix albums, he layers two or three tracks at a time. From the liner notes:

A lot of DJs would have let the early 90s ambient lullaby ’14.31′ from Tom Middleton and Mark Pritchard’s Global Communication ring out alone. Warren mixes it with Burufunk’s ‘Outsider’ at a point that makes Global Communication seem like a breakdown in the warped rhythms of Outsider’s groove. As the ethereal strains of Global Communication’s ambient masterpiece drift away, Burufunk’s beats gatecrash their way back in. This kind of juxtaposition, the light next to the shade, is Nick Warren at his best.

Sure, these CDs might be a little old, both from 2003, but if you had to buy two progressive trance/house (whatever that label means) CDs, these would be them.

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