Seeing the words Sasha and LateNightTales (a label famous for its compilations and mixes) together, it's easy to jump to conclusions; namely, that Scene Delete is a mix full of dusty trance bangers from dance music's teething stage. While the tracks on Scene Delete are mixed together — Sasha is a DJ first and foremost, after all — they're all original, modern-day productions that the renowned Welshman has been tinkering with over the past couple of years.
This might not carry much weight for those who've written Sasha off as a producer hopelessly past his prime, but Scene Delete does an excellent job at disproving that lazy predisposition. This is a deeply reflective record at its core. There's nothing flashy on display here, nothing of the throw-your-hands-up kitsch that you might expect — just slow-burning, wistful productions.
Granted, Sasha does reach for the cheese on occasion — the tacky vocals on "Bring on the Night-Time," for one, could be inserted into any '90s dance hit — but these are rare instances. Even his nod back to 1991 track "Papua New Guinea" by Future Sound of London on "Pontiac" circumvents all the anthemic corniness that could be associated with those vocals, and uses them to make one of the best tracks on the album. Couple this with the ambient-techno splendour of tracks like "Detour," "Scarpa Falls" and "Time After Time," and you've got a side to Sasha that's seldom seen, but one we'd certainly hope he develops throughout the rest of his career.
(Late Night Tales)This might not carry much weight for those who've written Sasha off as a producer hopelessly past his prime, but Scene Delete does an excellent job at disproving that lazy predisposition. This is a deeply reflective record at its core. There's nothing flashy on display here, nothing of the throw-your-hands-up kitsch that you might expect — just slow-burning, wistful productions.
Granted, Sasha does reach for the cheese on occasion — the tacky vocals on "Bring on the Night-Time," for one, could be inserted into any '90s dance hit — but these are rare instances. Even his nod back to 1991 track "Papua New Guinea" by Future Sound of London on "Pontiac" circumvents all the anthemic corniness that could be associated with those vocals, and uses them to make one of the best tracks on the album. Couple this with the ambient-techno splendour of tracks like "Detour," "Scarpa Falls" and "Time After Time," and you've got a side to Sasha that's seldom seen, but one we'd certainly hope he develops throughout the rest of his career.