Dubai (re-release)

Dubai (re-release)

Following their success with 2005's <i>George Is On</i>, house duo Deep Dish (known individually as Sharam and Dubfire) set out to divide and conquer with individual mixes for UK label Global Underground. Sharam strikes first--and hard--with <i>Dubai</i>, a two-disc set that is likely to generate comparisons with GU's other epic releases such as Sasha's <i>Ibiza</i> (GU13). Disc one is the slow-burner here: Spider and Legaz's dub of "Look Around" funks things up with a vocoder-drenched synth line that could have been pulled off a Jeff Beck album before giving way to the druggy, cascading echoes of 16 Bit Lolitas' "Passing Lights." From the perspective of the second disc, the moody expanse of the first begins to look a lot like an elaborate launch sequence, as the infectious "Timewarp" merges into Cedric Gervais's "Spirit in My Life," which sends the whole business into orbit. Sharam has undoubtedly reached a new high here, with programming so organic it sometimes seems like the track list may have just dropped out of the sky. For those awaiting the next big Global Underground release, your time has come. <i>--Brent Kallmer</i>