Deep Dish - George Is On

The first new studio album from Deep Dish since 1998's release of Junk Science, George Is On features 14 new studio tracks including the amazing dancefloor filler "Flashdance". "Say Hello" is set to follow in its footsteps. The album also features an interpretation of "Dreams", which has been rerecorded with Stevie Nicks herself. There are also two tracks with long time collaborator Richard Morel, and further appearances from Anousheh Khalili - the vocalist on "Say Hello" and "Flashdance". Album Description

A disappointment . . .

"George Is On" is the long awaited follow up to Deep Dish's first LP "Junk Science." Unfortunately Sharam's excitement depicted on the album cover doesn't translate to the music. I'm not sure what the problem is, but the music is just sort of uninspired.

The biggest indicator is that the "big tune" and first single of the album, "Flashdance", is not nearly as catchy as they think it is. If the major track on the album isn't just incredibly strong, that doesn't speak well for the rest of the album. The song is not bad and some parts are cool, the endlessly repeating guitar riff is not 'rockin' enough to carry the song. "Say Hello", the other standout, also underperforms. The rest of the tracks are even less memorable. The production is fine and the CD sounds good, but it's so musically uninspiring that nothing really stands out.

To be fair, I'm not a huge fan of progressive house (or whatever you want to call it), but I enjoy it when it's well done. This is the sort of album that die-hard house fans might enjoy, but for those who only buy a few albums per year in this style should avoid it. I would instead recommend checking out Deep Dish's Global Underground DJ sets, or buying "Junk Science" if you don't have it already. It's disappointing to be giving a Deep Dish CD such a negative review, but it's just not worth buying. July 9, 2008

Great DJ's...Mediocre "Producers"

I was pretty excited about Deep Dish's second studio album. In my opinion, when these guys mix as a duo, they are difficult to top. Anyone who has had the pleasure of listening to them live would probably agree unless they don't like house and progressive house music. Unfortunately, I don't think their amazing mixing skills translate into the world of producing.

I'm not sure what I was expecting from this album. Probably something a little closer to the tracks featured in their amazing four disc set, Global Underground 025:Toronto.

George is On contains four tracks that I actually enjoy. The rest are very mediocre and a couple are fairly lame.

If you love GU021:Moscow and GU025:Toronto and expect similar tracks on this album...you will be DEEPly disappointed. I was.
March 17, 2007

Commercial

The commercial mixes of Deep Dish.
If you are just getting into electronic music, this would be an option. Obviously not a cd for the advanced... December 14, 2006

deep dish without the fire

first> i have to say i've always admired deep dish for being the
masters-of-the-trade that they truly are. they rate in the highest echelon
of dj/remixers modern music has seen. their ability to take some plainly
palatable music and push it to the edge is legend just as is their ability
take some pretty wild experimental stuff and pull it back to some digestable,
needless to say, danceable middle-ground.
but this album lacks in more than one department and it has nothing to do with
artistic freedom-of-choice....or perhaps it has everything to do with it.
i actually think it has to do with fear.
the fear of not being ALL that one can be and becoming less than what you were
yesterday.
the album sports a silly title and cover to begin with.
there is the obvious attempt to be political and fashionable at the same
time.
the jumping in the air in posed-mannered excitement in asian track-suits
is more teen-age than new-age or future-core age or
even old-age (wise-age).
then again i'd be excited too if i got stevie nicks in my studio.

the songs...(and it's always about the songs) are simply lacking here.
there's so much talent here all put to very little use.
it's like ten most-crafty carpenters driving in a finish-nail in a coner piece of
baseboard....but the industry> being what it is....
everyone puts some huge halogens on it and exclaims...miracle.
morel sounds like he's going through the motions here
and i've found him to be often intriguing if not downright gutsy.
the girls do well but are never pushed....even some vocal-effect to
magnify the edge could've done wonders in many places.
nicks sounds good and the song is good (well...a classic to be sure)
it's clean minimal interpetation has it's appeal but again even that could've and
should've been pushed.
oddly enough a song from the 70s is the best to be found on this 2006 album.
some of the songs are just plain bad.

i haven't checked disc 2 yet but that's not what this cd is about....
i don't think.
this is about deep dish offering up supposedly original music.
i saw them live last year where they managed to push much of their program into
a domain which i myself (having grown up with iggy and the stooges and
blue cheer and bowie gabriel every form of pop punk disco and electronic
music imagineable)
experienced as extremely edgy....their set was as sonically aggressive
as anything i've ever encountered (great lights too) perhaps even to the
point of hostile.
i won't say i didn't enjoy the show as i felt in many ways it served as a
metaphor for (or protest against) george bush and america's invasion and
continued assault on iraq.
perhaps a stretch on my part but these weren't happy times and deep dish
wan't about to deny it.

so for this album to show almost no fire...very little in the way of edge
outrage or
urgency.....i hate to say it but they actually sound scared.
perhaps my biggest complaint here has to do with their constant reliance
on these delicately limp acoustic guitar-sounds/samples to sweeten the equation
as if to cover for the fact that there's no material here.
at least a few sounds coming from some of the great devices available to
us....ya know?....a little guitar-ish w/a little cosmic twinkle twang
whhheeeeoooouoummmmmrrrr??!!
i will always love deep dish and this album is in
no way able to knock them off their well-deserved place in history...
their pedestal> but
for those of you who need to find out what works gained
them their place in electronic music's hall-of-fame.....
skip this and pick almost anything else of theirs.

they are gods.....but if you know anything of earth-mythology.....
well...they are gods!

mcc> December 2, 2006

Lackluster

When left to their own devices Ali "Dubfire" Shirazinia and Sharam Tayebi, who form Deep Dish, tend to overlook the punch needed in crafting a compelling dance song--even when the punch is already there. Unlike their cover of the Fleetwood Mac classic "Dreams" (featuring Stevie Nicks) and the brilliant "Say Hello" their minimalist approach in production style is very much an attribute, however becomes a bore for most of "George Is On" (the duos follow up to 1998's "Space Junk"). That case is best supported by the album's third track, "Flashdance," which is really a cover of Shandi's "He's A Dream" from the film and soundtrack of the same name.

If anyone has heard "He's A Dream" would know that the verses sung on the song lead up to a wicked blast of a chorus, but here DD thought it would be better to drop the chorus altogether, thus making the song anti-climatic; which leads me to believe that DD lack not only the production skills to re-produce an effective cover, if not a better one ("Dreams" aside), but do not have the skills of real musicians to know when progession is needed.

"George Is On" is pretty much a spotty and flawed effort that's demonstrative of how ego takes precedence over real talent and the need to strive to out-do yourself and your limitations when your name becomes a brand and is all you need to get by. I'm assuming that's why DD covered Dire Straits 1985 gem "Money for Nothing." March 23, 2006

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