Above & Beyond - Anjunadeep: 01

Above and Beyond´s Anjunadeep imprint has steadily developed over the course of the last two years or so, with it´s fans and followers including James Zabiela, Desyn Masiello and Eric Prydz. Showcasing the more melodic and progressive part of Anjuna and Above and Beyond´s sound the "deep" imprint has introduced artists such as Michael Cassette and Paul Keeley as well as featuring progressive wonders 16 Bit Lolitas and Jaytech. Anjunadeep: 01 is a collection of some of the label´s best works to date, and a glimpse of what to come, mixed by Above and Beyond themselves.

Converts tend to emerge excitedly from their first Above & Beyond gig experience and ask ´was that really trance?´ The answer is usually yes and no, for while Above & Beyond are proud of their role in defining the melodic trance sound and their synonymy with the quality end of the genre, trance is too small a word for what they do.

There´s no clearer example of this than the success of Anjunadeep, the trio´s melodic and progressive house offshoot thats grown from being a promising sibling label to a dynamic and influential imprint in its own right, winning fans such as James Zabiela, Desyn Masiello, Eric Prydz, and Laurent Garnier along the way, and receiving a nomination for Best Record Label at DJ Mags Best of British Awards 2008.

It´s a progression which brings us to ´Above & Beyond: Anjunadeep 01´, the label´s debut compilation. Anjunadeep stalwarts Jaytech, Michael Cassette (aka Komytea), Interplay, Joonas Hahmo and recent high profile addition 16 Bit Lolitas, are joined by newer faces like Colombia´s Liluca, Russia´s Proff and Canadian Paul Keeley, as Above & Beyond conjure up two CD´s of spirited melodic house music.

"If Anjunabeats is there to serve trance DJ´s, then Anjunadeep exists to release tracks that both house and trance dj´s might play. The UK scene in particular can be quite obsessed with categorisations, but Above & Beyond has always just been about quality uplifting dance music and this compilation illustrates the kind of stuff you´ll hear in the early part of one of our longer sets." Jono Grant, Above & Beyond