Dance-Volume 1: Nick Warren/Saeed & Palash (2000)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	Main Menu Audio & Animation Menu Animation Booklet Interviews-Cast-Saeed and Palash Interviews-Cast-Danny Tenaglia, Paul Van Dyk and Timo Maas CD-Audio - Nick Warren
Rating
Year Of Production	2000
Running Time	121:07
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Warner Vision	Starring	Nick Warren Saeed Palash
Case	Jewel
RPI	$49.95	Music	None Given

    This is really an interesting format for DVD music, and I have to say from the outset that I hope to see more music presented this way on DVD. Basically, this is a two disc set that breaks down a little like this:

Disc 1 - Nick Warren (74:19)

    DJ legend Nick Warren live at Ibiza in 2000 doing a fairly downbeat trance mix. Unfortunately, this is not the best of Warren’s work. It was on the whole a little slow for my liking, dominated too much by the same kind of bass pulse throughout the tracks, and not enough variation or use of the upper registers, or aggressive use of bass. It lacks the Hard NRG feel that really seems to go off at the clubs at the moment, or any Hard House edge that also gets the bodies moving, or the old skool Big Beat kind of sound as typified by DJs like Fatboy Slim and the whole Ministry of Sound label. I was hoping for more of a Godskitchen feel here, but it’s a fairly steady non-progressive mix that really only starts getting going with “Trisco” by Muzak and chills out immediately afterwards with “One” by Bluefish. Good for getting high to, maybe, but not much of a dance album – just too much of the same kind of thing in one space, which eventually starts sounding kind of dull.

Disc 2 - Saeed & Palash (37:33)

    This disc has a live set from the Miami dance scene performed by DJ duo Saeed & Palash. Although shorter, this set has a lot more to it. Darker, more rhythmic, and more mixed up, it still has that slightly downbeat edge that Nick Warren’s set has, but there’s just more presence here. A foreboding, shadowy atmosphere that really grows on you as it progresses into gothic and ambient tones. Still more of a sit at home and listen to when bent kind of set, as opposed to get up and dance, but definitely wicked. However, also definitely far too brief – it's all over before you can really start getting into it.

    The flipside to Disc 2 is an audio CD of the live set by Nick Warren that is on Disc 1. It would have been better to have had another set by Warren, because I know he can do much better than this and hopefully Warner Vision can rectify this for their next dance music release.

    On the whole, this is a pretty dark and downbeat trance mix without the real hard and high paced edge that you might get from a trance mix up by Paul Van Dyk, Fergie or John ‘00’ Fleming. The set by Saeed & Palash was definitely the better of the two and I will be listening to that again, but sadly it is the shorter of the two.

Video

    As is the general trend for dance music DVDs, this is basically a bunch of snippets pieced together from the events complete with live laser shows, taped on Digital Video, then toyed with in post production using various visual effects so as to give the impression of being on Ecstasy or Acid (not that I know anything at all about that). These snippets are cut up with segments from the various digital images that are usually displayed on the big screens at any dance venue – generally coalescing kaleidoscopic kind of stuff.

    Crisp and clear? Well ... maybe? With all these effects, it’s hard to tell what’s intentional and what’s not.

    Colours are rich and glossy, especially the digital imagery.

    MPEG artefacts were nowhere to be seen, although again it’s hard to tell what might be an MPEG artefact or any other kind of film-to-video artefact and what was just intentional to play with your perception. Again, shrug. It all seemed fine, but I'll assume there was something minor and leave it at that. And let’s face it, if you’re tripping out when watching this you’re not going to care anyway.

    These are both single-layered discs, and consequently lack dual-layer pauses.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are two soundtracks available; an English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround track and an English 2.0 Dolby Stereo track. I would have loved to have heard Saeed & Palash in Linear PCM, but Warner Vision has not seen fit to grace us with such an audio track.

    The 5.1 Dolby Digital track is, however, pretty good, and trounces the 2.0 Dolby Stereo track hands down.

    Ambience is definitely delivered upon, and there are some very cute surround sounds and directional cues used, particularly by Saeed & Palash. The tweeters get a serious workout, as does the bass.

    The other great thing about digital music is that it often utilises the subwoofer. This set is no exception, with the sub rounding out a lot of the low frequency bass. While certainly not overused, I was still aware of it on a few occasions. Check out “I Know You Like It” by Pascal Vega on Disc 2. Oh, yeah.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menus

    All menus are presented in 1.33:1, non-16x9 enhanced, with the digital kaleidoscope creating patterns in the background.

Interviews - Danny Tenaglia, Paul Van Dyk, Timo Maas, Saeed & Palash (9:15)

    Presented in 1.33:1, non-16x9 enhanced, with two inset frames – one in 1.85:1, and one in a tall narrow frame – all of the same interview, and 2.0 Dolby Stereo. Interviews conducted in Miami at the dance venues. Okay, but these interviews don't add much.

CD - Nick Warren “Live in Ibiza”

    The same live set as on the DVD, only in CD format. Honestly, Warner could have picked any number of a dozen better sets.

Booklet

    Ten page glossy booklet full of photos and information on Nick Warren and Saeed & Palash

    It would appear that the R1 version is identical, barring the NTSC/PAL formatting.

    While Nick Warren’s set here is honestly a little slow for my liking, Saeed & Palash definitely work the dark beats in a progressive, albeit short, set. I really like the format of this DVD set and hope Warner stick with it for more dance music artists.

    The video is tripped out, but there are no major faults.

    Although lacking a Linear PCM track, the 5.1 Dolby Digital track is still quite adequate.

    The extras were brief but informing.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall