Are there any albums in your collection that you could put on at most any time, whilst experiencing any number of emotions, in any mood, and have it be a perfect match for what is going on around you? That is, to sum up shortly, what Sasha's Involver is to me. I know everything about this CD, where it goes musically that is, yet never know a thing about where it is to take me with it when putting it on.

Ironically enough, when I first purchased this CD, it took me a couple of plays through to really get into it. It isn't really the type of album that really latches on to you right away, and I think that mostly has to do with the fact that it travels so far from one point to another, saying so many different things in hugely different manners.

None of the tracks are really foot-stomping, rave-tastic tunes, and this may be what you have come to expect from Sasha, but nonetheless, you really have to adjust your mindset before listening to the chilled out, but grooving first track. This song takes a bit to get moving, and once it does, it brings with it a sense of suspense as to where it is going to go, until vocals chime in unexpectedly, but appropriately, minutes later. This track continues to be just one of my multiple favorites on the disc, which is only the gateway into an eclectic journey, with each song weaving in a new point or message, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, always right on time.

While listening through the first half, you may very well think you just about have things figured out, that is until the reserved, yet dirty beats of track five come around, and spin everything you thought was true into a completely different direction. This track is certainly a landmark of the album, reminding you of the superb thought and planning that stands behind it.

After this, all I can really recommend you do is say sit back and watch (yes, watch in your head) what happens as the music that plays identifies itself as its own self-defining tour guide. Let the music do what it tries, and don't hope for, or expect, a thing, and you will see how strong this production really is.

If you expect and want to be surprised, believe me, you will be. If I were to tell you after hearing the first few tracks that Felix Da Housecat's "Watching Cars Go By," is impeccably mixed there is absolutely no way you would believe me. "It just couldn't possibly fit..." you would think. But it is. And it does. Just wait.

--Patrick O'Malley


(heykiddego's editor's note: Bonus Points to Sasha for including Shpongle's "Dorset Perception" in this mix. Nice.)