Global Underground

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A series of DJ mixes started in 1996 by Andy Horsfield and James Todd. Initially released on Boxed Records, it eventually superseded its parent to become its own record company.

The series was responsible for bringing the role of the DJ to prominence. From That Other Wiki: "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."

A few other aspects feature prominently on the releases. First, the releases are numbered. Initially not considered important, as GU 002 was skipped (some accounts say the item supposed to be GU 002 was a t-shirt, others say it was the cassette version of GU 001). When Thrive Records was contracted to handle the US releases of some early installments, they changed the numbering scheme. Since GU 012, the numbers have been consistent between UK and US versions.

Another prominent item is the location. Each release is a retrospective on a performance by a globe-trotting DJ (though the first few were recorded live, this was quickly scrapped), and the exotic location features heavily in the liner notes, frequently including a description of the local nightlife by Dom Phillips, editor of Mixmag. To date, Global Underground DJs have released mixes on every continent except Antarctica. Asia was first (Tel Aviv, Israel), followed by Europe (Prague, Czech Republic), Australia (Sydney, New South Wales), North America (New York City), South America (Sao Paulo, Brazil), and finally Africa (Cape Town, South Africa).

All the mixes in the series have been 2 CDs in length. In the initial live mixes, this merely meant a slight break in the set. On later mixes, this allowed DJs to craft two separate mixes, often of vastly differing character. For the most part, mixes are house and trance, though there are a few deviations into breakbeat, ambient, and Drum N Bass (The first two thirds of the first CD of GU004, Paul Oakenfold in Oslo, was Drum N Bass). The format of two CD-length mixes has been adopted by numerous DJs since.

Global Underground releases:
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