Global Underground

Last updated

Global Underground
Global Underground logo.png
Founded1996
Founder Andy Horsfield
Genre Trance, progressive house, trance house
Country of origin United Kingdom
Location London
Official website globalunderground.co.uk

Global Underground is a British record label and compilation series founded in 1996 by Andy Horsfield and James Todd. The label symbolised[ citation needed ] the international explosion of dance music during the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s and first manifesto for high-end DJs such as Tony De Vit, Sasha, Paul Oakenfold, John Digweed, Danny Tenaglia, Nick Warren, Dave Seaman, Darren Emerson, James Lavelle, Carl Cox, and Solomun.

Contents

The name Global Underground originally refers to a series of electronic music compilation albums which reflect the performances of various DJs in venues around the world. The Global Underground series was released by a record label formerly known as Boxed which featured several sister series such as Nubreed and Electric Calm. Boxed closed in 2001 and was superseded by Global Underground Ltd. Since its first release in 1996, the series was well received and became a hallmark in the progressive house world.[ citation needed ] The dance music style featured is mostly progressive house, but there is some house, trance house, hard house, techno and breakbeat included in the releases. The first five installments were live recorded from respective clubs, while the rest are mixed and recorded in a studio.

Background

Each issue in the series is based on the idea that Global Underground would take DJs to play a party in one of the most unusual, exotic clubbing locations on Earth. The set is then released in a 2CD format that is formatted to capture the night of the party and the overall feel of the DJ visit in music, contemporary photography by photographer Dean Belcher and extensive sleeve notes.

There are consistent characteristics in almost every album in the series including:

International recognition

Billboard has recognized Global Underground as the first DJ mix compilation to place high-quality photographs of DJs on the album covers. This, it further asserted, played a part in turning DJs into superstar figures within the culture of electronic dance music. [1]

Thrive Records was the U.S. distributor for some of the early Global Underground releases. Global Underground albums had an alternate numbering sequence and had different artwork, but were otherwise the same.

Catalogue

This is the complete listing of available albums in the Global Underground main series which includes the sequential number of the album in the series, the performing DJ/producer, the location in which the performance took place and the official release date. The listed catalog numbers are for the British releases. The numbers on the albums distributed by Thrive in the United States are shown in parentheses - those without such labels do not have a differing release number. Global Underground also has several "sub-series" entitled Nubreed, Prototype, 24:7, Electric Calm, Afterhours, and most recently Global Underground DJ.


GU official

This map shows the countries which have been featured in the GU series through GU043. GlobalUndergroundMap-World.PNG
This map shows the countries which have been featured in the GU series through GU043.
TitleArtistRelease datePeak chart positions
UK
Comp

[2]
UK
Dance

[3]
US
Dance

[4]
NL
[5]
001: Tony De Vit, Live in Tel Aviv

Tony De Vit

11 November 1996
002 [a] NoneNot released
003: Nick Warren, Live in Prague

Nick Warren

24 March 199739
004: Paul Oakenfold, Live in Oslo

Paul Oakenfold

9 June 199721
005: Tony De Vit, Tokyo

Tony De Vit

6 November 199768
006: John Digweed, Sydney [b]

John Digweed

13 April 199816
007: Paul Oakenfold, New York [c]

Paul Oakenfold

25 May 19981243
008: Nick Warren, Brazil

Nick Warren

27 July 199827
009: Sasha, San Francisco [d]

Sasha

9 November 199818
010: Danny Tenaglia, Athens [e]

Danny Tenaglia

15 February 199916
011: Nick Warren, Budapest [f]

Nick Warren

31 May 199920
012: Dave Seaman, Buenos Aires

Dave Seaman

23 August 199926
013: Sasha, Ibiza

Sasha

28 September 199912
014: John Digweed, Hong Kong

John Digweed

14 December 199924
015: Darren Emerson, Uruguay

Darren Emerson

15 May 200020
016: Dave Seaman, Cape Town

Dave Seaman

14 August 200022
017: Danny Tenaglia, London

Danny Tenaglia

18 September 200021
018: Nick Warren, Amsterdam

Nick Warren

6 November 20002426 [g]
019: John Digweed, Los Angeles

John Digweed

26 February 20011411
020: Darren Emerson, Singapore

Darren Emerson

2 July 200133
021: Deep Dish, Moscow

Deep Dish

29 October 20012537 [h] 13
022: Dave Seaman, Melbourne

Dave Seaman

29 April 2002318
023: James Lavelle, Barcelona

James Lavelle

30 September 20021819
024: Nick Warren, Reykjavik

Nick Warren

24 March 20033425
025: Deep Dish, Toronto

Deep Dish

2 June 20033330 [i] 1
026: James Lavelle, Romania

James Lavelle

1 March 20042726
027: Danny Howells, Miami

Danny Howells

28 March 20053314
028: Nick Warren, Shanghai

Nick Warren

12 July 20054414
029: Sharam, Dubai

Sharam

2 October 2006351
030: Nick Warren, Paris

Nick Warren

19 February 200744220
031: Dubfire, Taipei

Dubfire

2 April 2007422
032: Adam Freeland, Mexico City

Adam Freeland

4 June 2007423
033: Layo & Bushwacka!, Rio

Layo & Bushwacka!

8 October 2007444
034: Felix Da Housecat, Milan

Felix Da Housecat

13 May 20085311
035: Nick Warren, Lima

Nick Warren

13 October 2008571
036: Darren Emerson, Bogotá

Darren Emerson

9 February 20097111
037: James Lavelle, Bangkok

James Lavelle

3 August 2009318
038: Carl Cox, Black Rock Desert

Carl Cox

1 February 2010381228
039: Dave Seaman, Lithuania [6]

Dave Seaman

27 September 20103924
040: Solomun, Hamburg [7]

Solomun

31 August 20147225
041: James Lavelle, Naples [8]

James Lavelle

6 November 201541523
042: Patrice Bäumel, Berlin [9]

Patrice Bäumel

29 March 2019485
043: Joris Voorn, Rotterdam [10]

Joris Voorn

30 October 2020
044: Amelie Lens - Antwerp [11]

Amelie Lens

25 November 2022
045: Danny Tenaglia - Brooklyn [12]

Danny Tenaglia

22 November 2023
046: ANNA - Lisbon [13]

ANNA

June 2024
047: Joseph Capriati - Montreal [14]

Joseph Capriati

March 2025
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Prototype

Prototype was the first of a sub-series of releases separate from the mainline albums, was given to DJ Seb Fontaine to test if a spin-off series would be successful which after decent sales led to other series being produced like nubreed.

Nubreed

Nubreed features mix albums from what Boxed considers "up-and-coming DJs", though it has featured experienced DJs such as Satoshi Tomiie.

NuBreed series releases

24:7

24:7 is a series where DJs are asked to put together a set of two notably contrasting halves, based on the conceptual opposites of 'day' and 'night'.

24:7 series releases

Lights Out

In 2002, former NuBreed DJ Steve Lawler was given his own imprint on the Global Underground label that he titled "Lights Out". The concept of the series of mixed CDs was to bring the darker, grittier side of the dancefloor into the spotlight.

Lights Out series releases

GU DJ

Similar to nubreed a spin off series of albums given to newer DJs within the scene.

GU Music

In 2003, the Global Underground franchise began their "GU Music" imprint. Up until this time, they were strictly a label that dealt in DJ compiled and mixed CDs. GU Music allowed Global Underground to get into full length artist albums and Vinyl/CD/MP3 single releases. The GU Music team commented: "Having nurtured some of the worlds finest DJs we have applied this expertise to original music, cherry picking the coolest future talent from across the globe..." They have featured releases from such artists as UNKLE, Lostep, and Trafik. In 2007, it expanded with the release of the compilation GU Mixed which started a series of the same name that consisted of music sought from GU Music.[ citation needed ]

GU Sampler series releases
GU Music album releases
GU Mixed Releases
Anniversary compilations

Fundacion

Fundacion series releases

Chill out compilations

Electric Calm is a series in the chill or "calm" side of electronica while Afterhours is similar to the Back to Mine series. Both Afterhours and Electric Calm, along with GU "Sampler" CDs, were compiled and mixed by Global Underground themselves.

Electric Calm series releases
Afterhours series releases

GU002

In Boxed's UK releases, GU002 was the never released second installment in the Global Underground series (in Thrive's US re-numbered releases, Paul Oakenfold's New York mix was released as GU002). Global Underground jumped directly from GU001: Tony De Vit - Live In Tel Aviv to GU003: Nick Warren - Prague, which resulted in a lot of controversy and rumours[ citation needed ] on the nature of GU002. However, GU002 does exist in form of the tape pack of Tony De Vit's Tel Aviv CD as the actual catalogue number of the release is GU002T. When Boxed started the GU series in 1996, they did not have a clear vision about the numbering scheme (later to become part of their image), which resulted in the "missing" release. [16]

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<i>Global Underground: Live in Tel Aviv</i> 1996 compilation album (mixtape)

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References

  1. See #GU002
  2. Numbered 001 in the US release.
  3. Numbered 002 in the US release.
  4. Numbered 003 in the US release.
  5. Numbered 004 in the US release.
  6. Numbered 005 in the US release.
  7. UK Dance Albums chart positions prior to 2005 were not counted. This album re-entered the chart in 2007.
  8. UK Dance Albums chart positions prior to 2005 were not counted. This album re-entered the chart in 2007.
  9. UK Dance Albums chart positions prior to 2005 were not counted. This album re-entered the chart in 2007.
  1. Mason, Kerri (17 June 2006), "BeatBox: Wink with a Nod to Compilations", Billboard , vol. 118, no. 24, p. 62, ISSN   0006-2510
  2. "Carl Cox - Chart history". Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  3. "Dave Seaman - Lithuania : GU39". Discogs . Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  4. "Solomun - #GU40 Hamburg". Discogs . Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  5. "James Lavelle Presents UNKLE Sounds – Naples #GU41". Discogs . Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  6. "Patrice Bäumel - Berlin #GU42". Discogs . Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  7. "Joris Voorn drops new melodic tech-house record 'Nea Skioni': Listen". We Rave You. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  8. "Amelie Lens – Antwerp #GU44". Discogs . Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  9. "Danny Tenaglia – Brooklyn #GU45" . Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  10. "ANNA - Lisbon #GU46" . Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  11. "Joseph Capriati - Montreal #GU47" . Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  12. Cheah, Jason. "Pulling out all the stops for a night of EDM fun". The Star Online. Star Media Group Berhad. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  13. "FEATURE INTERVIEW: Andy Horsfield - My vision for Global Underground was always to make it something really special and to spend a lot of time and money to make that vision a reality, we work the very best in the world be it DJ's, photographers or writers, I'm glad to say there's no such thing as second best at GUHQ". 4 October 2015.