Submitted by rysh on 28th June, 01:25PM

Sasha has become synonymous with forward thinking music, always challenging you to think through use of modern technology and true emotion. His latest compilation comes in the form of 'The EmFire Collection' - two discs of the first four EmFire label releases.

Now six years since 'Airdrawndagger,' (possibly a benchmark for artist albums), it was; conceptual, exciting, well produced, progressive, humorous at times and most importantly stood the test of time, something few albums manage to achieve.

The first disc is a collection of remixes from the four EmFire releases - with each artist chosen to provide two alternate versions of the same track. First of the mark is the set of alternative or leftfield style mixes, with Slam's 'Soma Coma Mix' of 'Coma' out to set a first impression. Distancing itself from the original in a mundane tone, Slam produces a dark, ambient tune that slowly broods on top of well placed beats and atmospherics to truly immerse you in its soundscape.

Matthew Dear has established his Audion alias through the production of high quality techno, now his 'Steeple Mix' of 'Park It in the Shade' shows a new side. Using a slice of the original bass arpeggio and an original FX sound, Audion brilliantly lengthens this tune into a twelve minute journey, giving enough room for the sounds to build upon each other.

Not too removed from the previous mixes, Radioslave also tries something different with his interpretation of 'Who Killed Sparky?,' through subtle use of dark sounds and excessive reverb he manages to pull it off perfectly - astonishingly producing something under seven minutes in length. Reaching the mid-point, the phenomenal 'Mongoose' is next to get the touch up, this time from The Field. It's often difficult to imagine how a favourite track, something that seemingly cannot be remixed - is. Well in the case of the Field's 'Floating Mix,' it shows why something so good, not only can't be re-viewed, but just doesn't need to be. The track itself holds no piece from the original and would therefore assume to create something memorable and unique, quite the contrary in this case.

Slam hits back with his straight-forward 'Paragraph' mix of 'Coma,' focusing his attention on the main arpeggio and techno percussion. This version provides a nice alternative to the original whilst still retaining key elements. Audion is up next with his second take on 'Park It in the Shade,' surprisingly it's nowhere near as good as his first interpretation, it's somewhat typical of what one would expect to hear and somehow doesn't sound like the original whatsoever.

'Who Killed Sparky?,' redone by Radioslave again via his 'Panorama Garage Mix' is more in his usual territory, at over twelve minutes in length it is the standard. The foremost constant in this mix is the rough barking sound, beside the eerie sounds reworked from the original - it is a typically good take from Radioslave. After the less than impressive first attempt at remixing 'Mongoose,' The Field have outdone themselves by providing something which sounds like the original track with another random tune thrown on top, and out of time. The first thing you notice is that they have shortened the bassline to two beats, the rest sounds incredibly like Sasha's mix, bar the odd eccentric hi-hats and absurd view on the original saw arppegio - not good.

Sasha now provides a second CD of music with 'his' original emFire releases and soundtrack to 'New Emissions of Light and Sound'.

'Coma' being the first release makes it first on the list, although dubbed the 'Spangled Rubdub,' it's simply an edit of the original with a breakbeat pattern underneath. A melancholic track amid a clever use of orchestral sounds the atmosphere of this tune is what really makes it unique and discerns it from so much of the other generic music around currently. 'Park It in the Shade' comes from one of Sasha's friends who asked a policeman in Ibiza to valet park his car, and just like his tracks Sasha needs the help of others to conceive titles. Although it's quite irritating to hear a two beat arp bassline remain interesting for so long, the track is quite repetitive, yet catchy and enjoyable to listen to.

'Who Killed Sparky?' offers the best pieces of 'Coma' and 'Park It in the Shade,' a blend of the arp and atmospherics, the way in which the tune manages to gracefully build and then instantly drop is very awe inspiring. Also quite different to the other tracks this one uses progression in the bassline notes which helps add extra energy and emotion to the overall effect. The penultimate EmFire release 'Mongoose' has directly from Duncan Forbes and Charlie May, initially produced by them under the alias Kevlar, the tune made its way onto Sasha's label when problems occurred with the digital licensing.

Not that Sasha had that much input on any of the other releases, but to be true that really matters little - it all comes down to the music. 'Mongoose' is one amazing piece of music, unlikely to become another 'Wavy Gravy' it's still going to be enjoyable many years down the track, every bit of it is just infectious, from the glitchy riff and bizarre bass pattern, to its ascent and overwhelming saw arpeggio, there is nothing that can be said wrong about this tune.

Last but certainly not least is the soundtrack to 'New Emissions of Light and Sound,' purported with Sasha's name it one would assume all the tracks were made specifically for it. The forty odd minute mix begins slowly with ambient sounds, gradually melting into new sounds, presumably different tunes, eventually 'Coma' pierces through; fitting the mood of the mix very appropriately. Strangely, 'Who Killed Sparky?' and 'Coma' are the only emFire releases on the 'award winning' soundtrack and the only other clearly recognisable track is 'Stars' by Invisible Inc., which is quite shocking since all indications led to the assumption that these compositions were made specifically for the soundtrack.

In fact the only tangible connection Sasha has to 'Stars' is that Barry Jamieson, the producer of it, allowed him to use it - since Jamieson now co-produces Sasha's tracks. The 2006 soundtrack is undeniably a fascinating mix of good and at times, excellent music for the soundtrack.

Ignoring the fact Sasha never had that much input into the production of the music, he has done, as expected, a good job in selecting and arranging them. The concept of featuring two mixes from each artist is clever and works well for most tracks, bar The Field's attempts, though truly no one could have done anything remotely as good as the original. Although paling in comparison to the seminal 'Airdrawndagger,' Sasha and co. have managed to collate a superb mixture of past, present and future sounds with the aid of the biggest artists in modern techno and progressive music.

A fine release, but if you're after the singles don't get your hopes up over the 'Exclusive Edits' featured on this collection and as nice as the remixes are, none are as good as the originals. It's going to be interesting to see where emFire goes after this fifth release; hopefully it won't be the end - yet.

4/5