Renaissance: The Mix Collection


Renaissance: The Mix Collection is the debut mix album by British DJ duo Sasha & John Digweed. It was released on 14 October 1994 and was the first in a series of mix albums released under the brand of the Renaissance nightclub. Containing music from the house, progressive house and trance genres, it was intended as a sampler of the kind of music played by the club.
On the tenth anniversary of the album's release, a fully remastered version with a slightly altered track listing was released.
The album is considered by many to be amongst the greatest mix albums of all time. Resident Advisor said the album was a "landmark CD of its kind" and "the great Daddy of all DJ mix compilations – the cornerstone for all things progressive, and a massive influence for legions of DJs to follow." The Quietus said the album marked the point of when the "second wave of dance music crossed over to a wider audience" and said the album was "arguably one of the first – and best - DJ mixes of its kind to be released on CD", referring to the album's "then upcoming talents of Sasha and John Digweed blended effortlessly a heady and hedonistic miasma of progressive house and early trance that included Leftfield, Underworld, and Age of Love to freeze in time forever the euphoric nights that would become days that would become euphoric nights again," featuring the album in their unordered 2015 list of their "Favourite DJ Mix Albums". In 1996, Mixmag ranked the album at number 26 in its list of the "Best Dance Albums of All Time". In 1997, Q ranked the album in their list of "The 10 Best DJ Mix Albums...Ever!". DJ Mag included it on their list of "5 of the Best DJ Mixes of All Time".

Overview

Presented inside an outer translucent tracing paper emblemed slip-sleeve, a card digipack case unfolds into four faces; each CD section has a separate flap that folds over it, while the case packaging itself folds like a book, continuing the Renaissance theme. Pictured on the front flap is a typical renaissance painting by Michelangelo, while a landscape portrait of a colleseum under a bright blue sky stretches inside the packaging. The CDs are arranged by colour; blue, orange, and green. The story behind Renaissance, the club, between 1992 and 1994 is written on top of the CD flaps. Due to the case's heavy faces only being held by card, it is rare to find an original completely intact from damage to the seams, and also the outer slip-sleeve is often missing.

Music

Renaissance: The Mix Collection is a mix of house, progressive house and trance house of the early 1990s. The songs chosen were supposed to give the listener "an idea of what Renaissance was all about". As suggested by the album's name, it was given the title Renaissance for two reasons. Firstly, it reflected a surge of Italian piano/funky house that was being mastered by the likes of Alexander Coe at the club "Renaissance" in Britain. But more importantly, Renaissance also stands for 'rebirth' or more freely, 'a time of change, and so with the dance music scene heavy on acid house up north, it gave the mature clubber a brighter and more beautiful outlook on what dance music 'should be'.
The album was mixed by Alexander Coe and John Digweed – both resident DJ's at Renaissance in 1994. Each CD reflects a different style of music – CD 1 has a 'Leftfield' sound to it. Tracks that mark the generally highlighted 'high points' include the hit "Perfect Motion", and a euphoric remix of Blade Runner's ending theme tune, simply titled "Blade Runner". This CD starts with a segue of three separate mixes of Leftfield's 'Song For Life', which sets the tone for the first disc.
The second CD has a funky theme to it. It can generally be said this is a house mix, though songs like "Not Over Yet" by Grace can be seen as trance. This CD has been referred to as "what Italian house was all about in a truly psychedelic, bouncy, and fun way". A rare 12" mix included is Kym Mazelle's "Was That All It Was", which has been covered many times over, but the remix included on this album has a house feel to it. Out of the 3 CDs, the second CD is arguably more varied in its mixing between songs than the other two.
The Third CD has been called slightly darker than previous discs, but at the same time a "more euphoric feel to it than the other 2 CDs, reflecting a typical club situation with a continuous build-up of tension until the end". In this case, the 2 DJ's progress to a moment in which an acclaimed point is met on "Age of Love".

10th anniversary reissue

In 2004, to mark the 10th anniversary of its original release, Renaissance reissued the album in a remastered version featuring a slightly altered track listing.
Both M People tracks were removed from this release and replaced with other contemporaneous dance singles: "Renaissance" with "Stand Above Me" by OMD, and "How Can I Love You More" with "I Can't Forget You" by Anthony White. The changes were due to Copyright issues from the record labels.
The re-issued album is not a straight re-mastering, but a whole new session. Though the original blend sequences remain the same, as do all the original elements, Sasha and Digweed re-created the album using Apple G4 laptops to create, what they considered, a better quality version of the original mix, with recording techniques simply not available in 1994, as well as the advantage of crystal clear audio, and spatial separation of frequencies within the song, making it sound more dynamic.

Second part

In 1995, between the releases of Renaissance The Mix Collection and Northern Exposure, a second album was released, Renaissance: The Mix Collection Part 2. As Sasha had left the Renaissance club in 1994, the second album was mixed by John Digweed alone.

Original track listing

Track listing as given on the sleeve :

Disc one

  1. Leftfield – "Song of Life" – 5:26
  2. Leftfield – "Song of Life" – 4:02
  3. Leftfield – "Song of Life" – 2:16
  4. Bedrock featuring KYO – "For What You Dream Of" – 6:19
  5. Rhythm Invention – "Chronoclasm" – 2:37
  6. Disco Evangelists – "De Niro" – 6:06
  7. Memphisto – "State of Mind" – 1:43
  8. Moonchild – "V.O.A.T" – 5:28
  9. Sunscreem – "Perfect Motion" – 10:09
  10. River Ocean – "Love & Happiness" – 4:27
  11. That Kid Chris – "Keep on Pressin' On" – 5:48
  12. Remake – "Bladerunner"/Inner City – "'Til We Meet Again" – 4:24
  13. Bump – "House Stompin'" – 7:02
  14. F Machine – "Child Bride" – 4:28
  15. M People – "Renaissance" – 7:41

    Disc two

  16. Fluke – "Slid" – 4:43
  17. Funk Machine – "Let's Get This Party Started" – 5:20
  18. Fluke – "Slid" – 5:01
  19. Corrado – "Trust" – 5:02
  20. MBG – "Trance 1" – 2:01
  21. Hysterix – "Talk to Me" – 7:04
  22. Annadin – "Angel" – 7:18
  23. Virtualmismo – "Mismoplastico" – 3:30
  24. Virtualmismo – "Mismoplastico" – 5:29
  25. Fishbone Beat – "Always" – 3:39
  26. Grace – "Not Over Yet" – 5:47
  27. Secret Life – "She Holds the Key" – 4:16
  28. Funtopia featuring Jimi Polo – "Do You Wanna Know" – 5:07
  29. V.F.R. – "Tranceillusion" – 3:16
  30. Kym Mazelle – "Was That All It Was" – 7:07

    Disc three

  31. M People – "How Can I Love You More" – 7:20
  32. Moby – "Go" – 5:19
  33. Jaco – "Show Some Love" – 6:38
  34. Spooky – "Little Bullet" – 6:20
  35. Havana – "Sublime Theme" – 3:48
  36. Shawn Christopher – "Another Sleepless Night" – 4:17
  37. Unity 3 – "Age of Love" – 4:48
  38. EMF – "They're Here" – 6:10
  39. Solar Plexus – "Solar Plexus" – 3:31
  40. Havana – "Ethnic Prayer" – 5:32
  41. 2 Bad Mice – "Bombscare" – 3:32
  42. Age of Love – "The Age of Love" – 6:14
  43. My Friend Sam featuring Viola Wills – "It's My Pleasure" – 5:24
  44. Lemon Interrupt – "Dirty" – 4:03

    Charts

;1994 version
UK Compilation Chart: #9
;2004 version
UK Compilation Chart: #47