Back in 1991 Sasha ended his residency at Shelly’s nightclub. But in 1992 he became a resident at a new club in Mansfield, England called Renaissance.
Later at Renaissance, he met future fellow DJ collaborator and long-time musical partner John Digweed. Digweed would also go onto become a resident DJ at the club.
During this time Sasha and Digweed pioneered their progressive house sound.
They went on to collaborate on many projects together. In 1994 they famously released ‘The Mix Collection’, a ground-breaking mix album that still gets discussed today.
So, what records were Sasha and Digweed playing at Renaissance? Well, in this article we’ll look at 10 records which the duo played.
Now, it was difficult picking tracks for this list because these two mixed many more records than the ones on this list. And many dance music fans have different ideas of what progressive house sounded like, especially during its formative years (around 91-94).
Many consider the Renaissance’s “The Mix Collection” a snapshot of British House music and progressive house at that time. But even a glance at that mix CDs track listing shows that the duo was mixing progressive house with rave/hardcore tunes – like 2 Bad Mice’s Bombscare.
The presence of such rave/hardcore tunes (and other dance genres) on that album shows you that the progressive house sound was still being established at the time.
A few years after the release of the Renaissance’s “The Mix Collection”, Sasha and Digweed went onto release Northern Exposure, and even by that point the prog they were played was noticeably darker. Gone was the playfulness of that early progressive sound.
So, as you can see with this list, some tunes might not seem that progressive by today’s standards. But back then the sound was still new, unestablished, and still mutating.
Lastly, this list isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list. The duo played many more tracks than the ones in this post. But this is just a fan list of what I consider some of the biggest and best music that they played during those early years. I could have easily made this a list of 50 tunes, but this article had already got quite large after picking 10 records to talk about.
Anyway, hope you enjoy my list. And if you’d like to add anything, stick it in the comments at the bottom.
Table of Contents
10 early progressive house tracks which Sasha and Digweed played
Age Of Love – The Age of Love
Where do I start on this track? If you’ve never heard this record before you’ve been living under a rock. This WAS the record that many considered started modern trance music.
There’s a degree of confusion around this record. Most people remember the Jam and Spoon mix because that was the most successful version. But the Jam and Spoon version wasn’t released till 1992. The original Age of Love was released back in 1990.
The original 1990’s ‘New Age Mix’ is a great track, and you can hear the early trance sound that became popular in the early to mid-90s.
But I think Jam and Spoon made their mark with the ‘Watch Out for Stella’ version and it’s their remix that makes the track shine.
This later version also then paved the way for the countless remixes of this record. Later, around 1997, the track was remixed by Paul Van Dyk where it reached number one on the dance chart.
The ‘Watch Out for Stella’ version was used on Sasha and Digweed’s “Renaissance: The Mix Collection”.
As I write this, the record is over 25 years old, and it still sounds great today – it’s aged well.
The track is a great example of the early 90s trance; it’s dark, mysterious, contains weird pitched noises, haunting synths and minimalist vocals. All accompanied with a heavy plodding beat and bassline. All these elements add to create an atmospheric and infectious track.
Age of Love stands as a very important record. It wasn’t the first or only trance record of the time, but it was a pivotal record that spawned an important direction in early 90s dance music. And many consider it to be one of the most important trance records of all time.
Moonchild – V.O.A.T. (Variations on A Theme)
God, I love this record. What a build-up this tune has.
This is a cross over tune: an example of piano house morphing into early prog.
It’s not till the 3-minute mark that the piano and main vocal kick in. Before this time point, the record sounds like an early hard trance/dance record with handbag-esq vocals.
But it’s when that main vocal and piano start that you realise it’s an absolute stormer of tune. A tune can still rip up dancefloors even today.
This was a record that was featured on the “The Mix Collection”.
And I feature this record on this mix of mine (click for a free download).
Ultraviolet – Kites-Remix 3
The most popular version of this track is the Fantasy Flight Mix. I think Sasha had been playing this track for a few years because there are Eclipse mixtapes from 1990 which feature it.
Around 1996 Sasha and Digweed released the Northern Exposure mix album which featured the “The Fantasy Flight Mix” version of “Ultraviolet – Kites”.
Ultraviolet only released two tracks commercially back in the ’90s, namely “Kites” and “I wish”. The two tracks sound similar and both feature Maria Nayler on vocals.
It’s easy to mistake one for the other as they sound so alike apart from the vocals (this probably happened a lot during those hazy raving days).
Both tracks are great, but I prefer Ultraviolet’s “I wish” over Kites. I think the vocal and the melody are better.
“I wish that” is featured on this 75 minute mix of mine (click to download).
Quivver – Twist and Shout
By 1994 you can start to hear that more recognisable progressive house and trance sound. By this point, labels like Perfecto, Jackpot start to release similar sounding stuff. And the old acid house and piano rave sound that influences prog in its earlier years is starting to wane.
You also start to notice that prog tracks of this year, especially those on the big labels (Perfecto, Jackpot, etc) start to sound more professional and polished – they lack that raw and rugged sound of earlier progressive house tracks.
This wasn’t Quivers first track, but it was the one that made his mark and firmly placed him in the progressive house/trance camp.
It’s a fantastic track. Great long build-up which climaxes in acid laden breakdown complete with a dreamy vocal – a vocal sung by Quivver himself.
Grace – Skin on Skin (Orange Mix)
This is a confusing track. If you’ve ever heard U2’s “Lemon” you’ll know what I mean.
This track was an Oakenfold & Osborne remix of U2’s “Lemon” minus Bono and The Edges vocals.
However, not only did they create your typical instrumental remixes with the Orange version, but they also produced remix with a fresh vocal provided by Grace (Dominique Atkins).
I find the vocal versions of this tune are cheesy trance dance. But the Orange mix is excellent, and it was hammered by many of the big progressive house DJs in the mid-90s, including Paul Oakenfold at his Cream residency.
This track came out around 1995 and you can already start to hear the prog sound starting to get darker and more serious. You can hear a strong goa-trance influences in that remix.
I was always surprised the Orange version was on the B-side and not the A-side.
The “Man with No Name” mix is also a great example of the hard trance which was being released around that time.
Again, the B-sides on this record always seemed stronger to me, while the A sides whiffed of commercial crossover dance.
Rhythm Invention – Chronoclasm
This is a superb breaks track which was well ahead of its time. Even today you can play this record alongside modern breakbeat and no one would notice. Amazing to say it came out in 1992!
Rhythm Invention produced some belting early prog. If you’re looking for a good progressive house/trance album, check out their 1993 release “Inventures in Wonderland”, released on Warp Records.
Anyway, Chronoclasm is a dark and moody track containing murky atmospheric breakdowns and crisp breakbeats. And occasionally peppered with a delicious scratch that pops in and out of the track. It’s a super record, and you can see why Sasha & Digweed included this track on “The Mix Collection”.
You can download this mix by myself which features this track.
Havana – Ethnic Prayer
Ethnic Prayer was produced by a Scottish progressive house group called Havana on Limbo records. This group produced some great prog around 1992-1993. Then they shifted to making more trance and techno sounding music.
Their tracks always seemed years ahead in terms of production.
One testament to the quality of Havana’s music is that their back catalogue still sounds good now– it’s aged well and doesn’t sound dated.
As for Ethnic Prayer, it’s the “Euro mix” which is the highlight. The tune starts with that whiplash-like hook (which is superb to scratch with BTW), pulsating synth licks, heavy beats, and that airy prog feeling. Ethnic Prayer is a very tribal sounding tune, a tune that just builds and builds.
One of the main samples on this tune was lifted from a Tears for Fears record. The same sample was used by many other old school tunes in that era but I think this record uses it best.
Again, this record was included on “The Mix Collection”, and rightly so – it’s belting.
Leftfield – Song of Life 1992 8.
![[HQ] Leftfield - Song Of Life (The Lemon Interrupt Mix By Underworld)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Y4izTlhxYUg/0.jpg)
Observant readers will have noticed I’ve included 3 videos here. Well, that’s because Sasha and Digweed famously started the “The Mix Collection” with these 3 classics from Leftfield. At the time this was an unusual step, but it added to the magic of that mix CD.
What to say about Leftfield? Well, they were probably one of the biggest electronic music groups of the ’90s. I’d say on par or surpassing Orbital in terms of fame and influence.
Their first album, Leftism, is a true classic. It’s an album that still sounds as good today as did when released. It was also an album which people who didn’t like dance music could enjoy (a few of my rock-loving mates and even my mum listened and liked it).
All Leftfield’s albums are superb, and their singles were always great too because the remixes were always high quality.
The remix of Song of Life was by Lemon Interrupt, a group more commonly known as Underworld.
Again, if you wanting to explore the early prog, EDM, and the downtempo world of the early 90s, have a listen to Leftfield’s first album and all the remixes. It’s a collection of some of the best dance music of that decade.
Bedrock Feat. KYO – For What You Dream Of
What an anthem. If you’ve never heard this track on a loud sound system with a full dance floor of hot sweaty ravers, you missed out!
This is probably one of the finest examples of progressive house from that era. You can tell how great a tune it was because it used to get played at a variety of club nights around that time.
I’ve heard this tune at house music nights, trance nights and the odd techno nights. On every occasion, it’s a track that rips through the dance floor.
It’s a long track, with stunningly crafted breakdowns, hard-driving beats, sweeping synths and acid, and Carol Leeming vocal being screaming at the top of her lungs. It’s just epic…epic… epic. A masterpiece from start to finish and a track that sounds as good today as it did when released.
This track is featured on this mix of mine if you fancy a punt.
Jaco – Show Some Love
If you ever heard this tune on a loud sound system, it’s a wonder you had any hearing left. It’s that tinnitus inducing breakdown in the middle of the track which I’m on about. Hell, it was hard on the ears, but it used to tear the dancefloor a new one.
“Show Some Love” is another stomping crossover track that gets played equally at a variety of club nights – you’d hear it at techno, trance, and house music nights equally. Even listening to this track now it’s hard to pinpoint its exact genre.
But it came out when dance music was still mutating and forming. Not only does the track have that house, techno, and trance, but you can hear elements of that warehouse and acid sound in there too.
The remixes are heavy-hitting too and worth a listen if you’re trying to find good progressive tunes from that era.
Conclusion
It was difficult picking out 10 records for this guide. Obviously, the duo played many more records.
And no doubt some people will disagree with my choices – after all we all have different opinions of what makes good or bad music.
But for me, these were some of the best records they played. And most of them still sound good today – which I always think is a testament of a great record or an anthem.
If you think I’m wrong or would like to leave your thoughts, feel free to add a comment below. I always respond.
More Interesting Old Progressive House Links
Sasha and Digweed weren’t the only DJ’s playing progressive house and trance in the early ’90s, and they weren’t the first to play it. There were others.
So, if you’re trying to find more music that has a similar sound the prog from that era check out the following links:
Many consider Billy Nasty to be one or early pioneers of progressive house and trance. He was a record picker at Zoom records which was frequented by many big DJs including Digweed. See the top Discogs comment on this page for more info.
Journeys by DJ’s released some excellent progressive house mix albums in the early ’90s.
![Renaissance: The Mix Collection Part 4 - mixed by Dave Seaman & Ian Ossia [Disc 3 of 3] | 1996](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8yhhyMLSWE4/0.jpg)
The mix collection didn’t end with Sasha & Digweed’s seminal mix. Renaissance went on to release many more, often with other DJs at the controls. The above mix is a later mix by Ian Ossia and Dave Seamen who were playing lots of progressive house & trance around that time.
Other links: Global Underground is also worth a listen if you’re wanting to hear more prog from that time. You can find many of their mixes freely available on Youtube these days
Keep on scratching
DJ Kippax
Great article, as you say, track choice may well be debated to the end of time, but it is so hard to choose 10 tracks , especially when it is a genre that was in flux over such a short period of time…excellent work.
No probs bud. This isn’t meant to be a definative list. More a list of my personal choice and a trip down memory lane.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment
Nice one fella,.great article. Very enjoyable. You should get all your mixes on Soundcloud? Could t find the old house ones there, or is that a copyright job?
Hi Rob,
Glad you enjoyed the article. I’m planning to write many more like this over the coming months.
I’ve not bothered with Soundcloud because i’d need a paid account to host all my mixes as there’s quite a few of them now – and more coming soon. And I already pay a bit for webhosting for this site and the others I run.
There are a few of my mixes on Mixcloud, but I tend not to bother much with that site as some mixes never get played much.
Thinking about it, it might be worth me giving Soundcloud another go.