Deep Dish: Yoshiesque Two : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

DJs such as Paul Oakenfold, and Sasha and John Digweed have become the poster children for the Glowstick Nation, but a darker force is lurking just outside this golden circle of dance superstars. Already household clubland names, the Washington, D.C., duo Deep Dish - Ali "Dubfire" Shirazinia and Sharam Tayebi - have recently penetrated the mainstream with a fierce shredding of 'NSync's current single "Pop" (as well as an iMac ad). Deep Dish's new mix CD, Yoshiesque Two, is a near-perfect collection of dirty house music that nicely captures the ebb and flow of Deep Dish's live sets. Disc One is a mostly sunny affair, with melodic, vocal-driven tracks (Soulstice's "Lovely" and Oil U.K.'s "The Future") preceding more-intense numbers that still maintain an elastic bounce (6400 Crew's "Dubb Me Som'tin Fresh") and effects-heavy beats ("Surrender Yourself," from the Daou). The second disc begins gently with the radiant "Finally" by Kings of Tomorrow (one of the biggest dance singles of the year) before it guns into a tunnel of darkness with Loudeast's "Lights Off," followed by a string of trippy numbers highlighted by the whirrs and whiz of Oliver Lieb and Snakeman's pulsing "Afrika." But as tracks such as the sinister "Funny Car" make clear, despite the stylistic range on Yoshiesque Two, Deep Dish still do their best work when the lights are off.

MATT HENDRICKSON
(RS 874 - August 2, 2001)