Deep Dish Albums (8)
What The Critics Say
Seven years after their last album of original productions and eight long months after the leadoff single "Flashdance" stormed the clubs, Deep Dish returned with George Is On. A slicker, more extroverted effort than their 1998 effort Junk Science, George Is On finds that album's main vocalist/lyricist Richard Morel back with the duo. The guitar-heavy "Sacramento" is one of the best cuts yet to come from the relationship, with the more laid-back and foggy "Everybody's Wearing My Head" running a close second. Besides Morel, plenty of hypnotic, nocturnal instrumentals recall the duo's well-respected debut, but the flippant, cheeky "Flashdance" and a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" with Stevie Nicks guesting explore the worlds of anthems and arguably camp, something that's been slowly developed on the multiple Deep Dish mix albums that have appeared since their proper debut. The mash-up of "Flashdance" and Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing" that closes the track list is only a bit clever and entirely anti-climatic if the listener considers it part of the album instead of a throwaway bonus. Otherwise, George Is On may be a shade too comfortable for anyone thinking Deep Dish should always sound like the future, but the album is as well crafted as Junk Science and a lot more fun. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'Global Underground: Toronto'
Release Date 4/8/2003
Tracks 25
Label Global Underground
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What The Critics Say
So for their 25th release, Global Underground recruited the dynamic duo once again to contribute to the long-running series. Two years prior, Deep Dish released one of the highlights of the entire Global Underground catalog with its Moscow mix, and now the duo has returned to pay homage to Toronto. And while they don't necessarily mix in any music from local producers, they've managed to capture the spirit of the city's house scene perfectly, complete with the atmosphere from the city's largest club (Guvermnent). The first disc kicks things off with an excursion into deeper territories of house music. Not exactly Naked Music-styled deep house, but nonetheless more soulful than previous mix CDs in the series, this ramps up into more familiar Deep Dish territory of darker, more tribal-house, hinting at the progressive house elements to come. The second disc loses pace with the ending of the first disc a bit, but still retains a strong dose of high-tech soul to keep things fluid. The back-to-back mixes of Paul Rogers' "Krafty" step things up a bit right before the mix is brought to an interesting peak with Maurce & Noble's "Hoochikoochi" and the Youngsters' "Break Them Up," a track whose inspiration sounds vaguely similar to the Underground Resistance classic "Knights of the Jaguar." It's a strong mix delivered by a duo that fails to perform anything less than outstanding. As a bonus, two separate discs were also issued featuring both members of Deep Dish performing "after-hours" sets. ~ Rob Theakston, All Music Guide
'Global Underground: Moscow'
Release Date 8/21/2001
Tracks 25
Label Boxed
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What The Critics Say
Incredibly nocturnal and hypnotic, propelled from the beginning of the first set to the end of the second with gigantic basslines and murky vocal dubs, Deep Dish's debut mix for the long-running Global Underground series is absolutely enveloping. It submerses you with its weight and its darkness as well as its numbing sense of bliss. Where much of progressive house around the time of this album's release in late 2001 had become too melancholic and weighed down for its own good, feeling more like a come-down than a sensual rush, Dubfire and Sharam don't fall victim to these tendencies on Global Underground: Moscow like they had a few months earlier on their lumbering Yoshiesque, Vol. 2 mix. First of all, they drop plenty of vocal tracks. These aren't your traditional vocal house tracks, but rather the sort of vocal dubs that bury the often muted and stoned-sounding vocals in the music rather than overwhelm you with singsong excess. Secondly, they drop the right tracks at the right times, namely surefire tracks like their own remixes of Dido's "Thank You" and iio's "Rapture" along with other similar tracks like Sander Kleinenberg's remix of PMT's "Deeper Water" and 16b's remix of John Creamer & Stephane K.'s "I Wish You Were Here." These tracks were some of the year's best progressive house productions and all feature the same sort of sexy vocals that the duo litter throughout this mix. In fact, you can't help but keep coming back to the vocals that seem to fade in and out of the mix every few minutes, never too upfront in the mix, always fading out before you've had enough. Dubfire and Sharam obviously recognize the Global Underground series' reputation and have put meticulous care into this mix, which they not only mixed but also "edited and tweaked" at their studio with the assistance of Richard Morel, according to the liner notes. And this isn't surprising given this mix's almost overdone feeling of craft. DJ mixes aren't supposed to sound this seamless or this glossy, but you really can't complain when the results are this wonderful. Suddenly, even when things get a little excessive halfway through the second set, the underwhelming Yoshiesque, Vol. 2 mix of a few months earlier seems peripheral and forgivable. Dubfire and Sharam obviously were saving all their best tracks and funneling their concerted efforts into this mix, which is surely one of the best and most unique the too often formulaic Global Underground series has to offer. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
This is, perhaps, a two-disc blind date. Magnificent, awkward early moments, that nervous politeness and curiosity, the way you get that sinking feeling after a half-hour that you've been ill-prepared for deliberative arguments about Woody Allen and waffles. Certainly, after a banging start from the majestic Chemical Brothers "I Think I'm In Love" remix and some exceedingly eager displays of gruff, acerbic prog house backflips by Azymuth and Ortus, Deep Dish can only disappoint. It's too long to warrant patience for all the varying strands of well-mixed -- but boorish -- disillusionment and mutual rejection. And maybe the fact that it throbs like a club-groping consolation prize and rings as false as a rehearsed peck on the cheek is enough cause to play it safe with the Yoshitoshi brand name from now on. ~ Dean Carlson, All Music Guide
'Renaissance Ibiza'
Release Date 8/29/2000
Tracks 29
Label Yoshitoshi
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What The Critics Say
A feeling of suspense lingers throughout Deep Dish's DJ-mixing, as one never truly knows which direction the Maryland duo will take their set with the successive track. The movements from house to trance to Underworld and even to the infamous Culture Club remix on Deep Dish's excellent Yoshiesque album are a perfect example of these sweeping shifts in not only sound, but more importantly, mood. Particularly at a point in time -- late 2000 -- when a plethora of Gatecrasher, Ministry of Sound, and Tranceport-style mix CDs assaulted listeners with a barrage of hands-in-the-air anthems in their attempt to give the consumer bang for their buck, albums such as Deep Dish's Renaissance Ibiza are refreshing and welcome. On this particular mix album, Deep Dish flirts with the uplifting synths of trance, but thankfully remains grounded, for the most part sticking with killer rhythms rather than sublime melodies, until the concluding moment of tranquil bliss when they drop BT's "Dreaming (Evolution Mix)" and MRE's "The Deep Edge." They begin the album with some mid-tempo deep house tracks and eventually move into the pumping progressive house, characterized by pounding bass beats and driving rhythms. Of course, there are tracks such as their own remix of Sven Vath's "Barbarella" and the sensual synth washes of "The Flying Song (Markus Schulz Vocal Mix" when the music drifts into unclassifiable territory -- these moments are simply too ethereal for house, yet too secular for trance -- it's a fine line they balance better than most anyone. So while their first disc flirts with intensity, instead delivering an ever-fluctuating state of mood, their second set begins with a bang (three of the first four are Timo Maas productions), never letting up its tempo as they navigate through some questionable territory -- Moby's "Porcelain (Futureshock Mix)" and Green Velvet's "Flash (Danny Tenaglia's Nitrous Oxide Mix)," two arguably played out yet undeniably great songs -- before their glossy trance finale. Along the way, there are many twists and turns as the duo continually change direction and style, yet this is exactly why they are so appealing: few DJs -- with the exception of Danny Tenaglia and a few others -- are this willing to take risks on different styles of music and the handful of familiar tracks that always find their way into Deep Dish's sets. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Easily as impressive a DJ team as they are at production and remixing, Deep Dish trips through futurist house and R&B with the double-disc mix collection Yoshiesque. From the interstellar ambience of the set opener "Dancing in Outer Space" by Atmosfear (remixed by Masters at Work) to deep-groove techno on Ian Pooley's mix of Chaser's "Tall Stories" to the smashing hi-NRG house of their own "Mohammad Is Jesus" to the dizzying trance of S.O.L.'s "Quantensprung" into Underworld's "Jumbo," Deep Dish presents so many attractive angles on electronic dance that boredom -- always relevant when listening to a two-and-a-half-hour mix album on headphones or in the car -- becomes practically a dead issue. The duo balances faceless house producers with more rock-friendly groups like Fluke, Lo-Fidelity Allstars, and they even throw in a couple of oldies hits (a Quivver remix of Culture Club's "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" and the Armand Van Helden remix of War's "Slippin' Into Darkness"). Even while Deep Dish's own production album Junk Science occasionally failed to deliver on the promise of perhaps the best track-by-track producers in house music, Yoshiesque proves they may be the best mixers as well. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Junk Science, by the Washington, D.C. duo Deep Dish, was praised by many as one of 1998's best dance albums, and it's easy to understand why. Band members Ali Sirazinia and Sharam Tayebi prove to be masters of the dancefloor, composing tracks that contain many variations in style, as well as unpredictable sonic surprises. Instead of sticking to one dance style as many of today's artists do, Deep Dish incorporate such far-reaching sounds as jazz horns ("Chocolate City [Love Songs])," progressive house ("Sushi"), classic Depeche Mode ("My Only Sin"), and Middle Eastern ("Persepolis"). Also included is a cameo by Everything But the Girl vocalist Tracey Thorn on "The Future of the Future (Stay Gold)" and Deep Dish's 1997 dance smash "Stranded." The band made a conscious effort to move forward musically and look to the future on Junk Science, and they've succeeded with a consistent album that's heavy on wonderful sonic experiments. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
'DJ's Take Control, Vol. 3'
Release Date 1/1/1996
Tracks 28
Label One
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Despite the unfortunate title and downright tragic cover art (a hoochie mama in a black latex mini and stiletto heels, sitting on a record box), this is the Deep Dish mix most fans don't know about. But before the Iranian duo became leaders of the global progressive (err...trance) scene of today, they were two of the hottest house producers around. Many of the tracks on this massive two CD mix sound a bit mainstream, but at the time of their release; these were the hottest underground records you could find. Some have held up better than others. "Jazz Fuc" by Idjut Boys screams mid-'90s overkill, and St. Germain's "Walk So Lonely" sounds positively archaic compared to his more recent works. On the other hand, Urban Blue's "Deliver Me" points directly to the progressive sound the rest of the world would later catch up too, while the early Basement Jaxx Latin stormer "Be Free" makes you wish those two had never signed a major-label deal. But the one track you'll keep returning to is Urban Soul's "Until We Meet Again," with it's actual lyrics and clever synth melodies that remind you that, sometimes, DJ music can be actual songs. Fans who discovered Deep Dish from the Sasha & Digweed trance side of the fence might not appreciate their early house roots. But anyone interested in hearing two super DJs get a little bit dirty ought to check this out. ~ Joshua Glazer, All Music Guide
