SASHA – DEBUT ALBUM TO BE RELEASED ON AUGUST 5TH

Sasha, one of the most famous and revered DJs in the world is set to release his debut artist album on August 5th.

Sasha’s long awaited debut album ‘Airdrawndagger’ takes the nose for the dancefloor’s g-spot and combines it with the ears for a heartstring strumming melody, a smile inducing hook and dirty great b-lines to create a 69 minute symphony that sounds as wistfully enchanting doing the hoovering at home as it does reaching for the lasers on Saturday night. Like the best Sasha DJ set you ever heard, it has melancholy mixed with euphoria, downtempo introspection mixed with jump n’ shout excitement. 

"Recording this album is the hardest thing I've ever done," says Sasha. "The people I've worked with, like Tom from Junkie XL and Charlie May, I feel like my learning curve has gone through the roof. I feel as if I've been at university for the last year! I'm a bit of a perfectionist, but it has been worth all the time.”

 Thankfully, unlike most albums byoge DJ or bought my mix albums over the years. This album is for them."

 With Sasha what you see (or hear) really is what you get – the fact he so transparently believes in the music he’s trying to push could well be one reason he incites such devotion in his legions of fans across the globe. 

 Across the 11 tracks, there’s the time and space to reflect his love for music that rarely gets the chance to shine in clubs, whether that’s punishingly gnarly breakbeats or glittering modern classical film scores. It’s a symphony for all ravers that grew up but never grew out of chasing that buzz. 

  In March this year Sasha held a boat party at the Miami Music Conference. As dusk began to fall, Sasha took to the decks to debut some tracks from ‘Airdrawndagger’. As its breakbeats and sub-bass kicked in and the wistful melodies drew the crowd of cynical industry heads towards the decks, hands edging into the air. ‘Airdrawndagger’ has passed its first dancefloor litmus test. The home listening exam follows soon. No revision necessary.
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Ένα ακόμα μεγάλο dance όνομα προστέθηκε στο line up του Rockwave…Πρόκειται για το σπουδαίο εγγλέζο dj Sasha, Νο 2 στην παγκόσμια κατάταξη σύμφωνα με το περιοδικό Dj. O Sasha τελευταία φορά βρέθηκε στην Αθήνα, τον περασμένο Ιούλιο, στο Plus Soda. Η καινοτομία όμως αυτής της εμφάνισής του έγκειται στο γεγονός ότι ο Sasha δε θα εμφανιστεί όπως θα περίμενε κανείς στη dance stage, αλλά θα κλείσει τη βραδιά στη rock stage αμέσως μετά το live των Cure.

Οι ρυθμοί, δηλαδή, θα συνεχίσουν να είναι dark, από το rock όμως θα περάσουμε κατευθείαν στο progressive house.

Rockwave or Dancewave τελικώς; • Info by Babylon.gr •

  The best DJ's know that Djing is first about being able to read people and then about being able to tap into that human experience and take it on a journey. Sasha has always been noted for being a master at this, and although his style is classified "progressive trance" with a good presence of house and wicked break-beat elements; his music has always reached beyond the house record store titles, thus separating him from his contemporaries. Sasha creates and plays music that gives emotion a chance speak, and through carefully selected mixtures of sound he gives thoughts and feelings a place to be heard and shared. It is this universal appeal that he has tapped into that has established his strong fanbase around the globe.

 This ability to capture sounds on a universal level was most recently called upon when he was asked to write all the music for Sony Playstation's biggest game release of 1999, "Wipeout 3," due August 27th. Sasha has written 5 original tracks to soundscape the game, which at the May 1999 E3 gaming convention in Las Vegas, Wipeout 3 won not only the best racing game award, but the best game of the whole show. A CD will be released at a later date with all 5 of these tracks.

  His special touch has also recently been called upon by The Chemical Brothers, who singled him out as the only artist asked to remix a track "Out of Control) from their new album. " I just clubbed it out to a style like I would play, the elements and sounds that the Chemical's used were so wicked that I didn't want to change them at all, Sasha reports on the making of the mix. Sasha's resume of chart topping remixes also earned him a request from Madonna in 1998 when he was asked to remix "Ray of Light" and "Substitute for Love/Drowned World".

All of this studio time has Sasha totally prepared for the upcoming months where he plans to finally write the album that will undoubtedly be the soundtrack of the year 2000 for new and old listeners.   Do no be mistaken, this kind of recognition does not happen overnight. Born and raised in a small town in North Wales, Sasha was exposed to Motown records when he was just a baby and it was in the home that his talent for playing the piano was developed. His first exposure to house music was at Manchester's Hacienda, just as dance music exploded into the summer of love and this impact encouraged his move from Wales to Manchester. His first exploration into DJing was when a DJ in a local pub announced he was looking for people to play club dates. Sasha volunteered and now says that he "had about 30 records and basically just blagged it."   After honing his deck technique; his first big break came when he was offered a residency at Stoke's legendary club Shelly's. When all the other DJ's were playing US House, Sasha's style was much more uplifting, and he encapsulated clubbers with his mixture of piano led Italian house whilst playing acapella tracks over the top. This combination along side a wide variety of anthems kept dancefloors full and elevated Sasha to hero status.

Shelly's was the launch pad for the residency at Renaissance, where Sasha created his niche and helped to forge a new style in UK House music. At Renaissance two major things happened; Sasha mixed the first ever UK DJ mix album and he met John Digweed which cemented the partnership that is known as 'Northern Exposure." Over the past couple of years, Sasha and Digweed have played together on five continents, and have mixed 3 "Nothern Exposure" Mix CDs which have been sold to over a million people around the world. This very special brother-like relationship that Sasha and Digweed have on the decks is what landed them the monthly residency at New York City's Twilo, following in the footsteps of Vasquez and Tenaglia. This residency has reached cult status in New York, and after going strong for over two years, it will continue well into the millennium.

  Today, just a month before the release of his Xpander EP, a peak inside the diary of this hard working DJ/producer finds Sasha on tour in America supporting his American mix CD released, Global Underground and Northern Exposure 3, playing his monthly spot at Twilo before jumping on Concorde to play the first Radio 1 slot at Homelands in the UK.

 For Sasha music is his first love, and what gives him a buzz is being able to share his music with others. From his presence at those all too talked about after hour parties where his special impromptu sets are heard, to his signature always present child-like antics that leave people wondering if he has modeled his life after Peter Pan, to his DJ sets at clubs around the world, all lined with the backdrop of his productions, Sasha leaves a trail if memories, melodies, and stories wherever he goes. These are the things that have been, and will continue to be remembered and passed on for years. And that is what legends are made of .

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