''The Qat Collection'' is the debut studio album by Welsh DJ Sasha. It was released on 23 August 1994 through

Deconstruction Records Deconstruction Records is a British record label founded in 1987 by Pete Hadfield and Keith Blackhurst, together with Mike Pickering of M People. According to ''DJ Magazine'' it is "best remembered for marrying underground credibility and diver ...

. The album features co-production from Tom Frederikse and was released with two singles: "Magic" and "Higher Ground", both featuring vocals from Sam Mollison. Upon release, the album charted on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

, reaching position 56. Later in 1994, an extended revision of the album was released, titled ''The Qat Collection Version 2''.

Background

The release's classification as an album has been disputed. In a review of Sasha's second studio album, '' Airdrawndagger'', Paul Cooper from ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' stated "don't call it an album nor an EP" in reference to ''The Qat Collection''. In a 2005 review of

Armin van Buuren Armin Jozef Jacobus Daniël van Buuren ( , ; born 25 December 1976) is a Dutch DJ and record producer from Leiden, South Holland. Since 2001, he has hosted ''A State of Trance'' (ASOT), a weekly radio show, which is broadcast to nearly 40&nbs ...

's second studio album, '' Shivers'',

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

reviewer Jack Smith noted that "we'll discount 2003's '' 76'' an Buuren's debutas that would be like saying Sasha's first full-length album was ''The Qat Collection''". Dorian Lynskey from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' cited the album as his debut, writing that "he released is debut albumin 1994, the underwhelming ''Qat Collection'', but that has been erased,

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

-style, from his history". Despite ''The Qat Collection''s release, Sasha's 2002 album, '' Airdrawndagger'' was advertised as his "debut artist album".

Release

The album's two singles, "Higher Ground" and "Magic" were produced by Sasha and Tom Frederikse, featured vocals from Sam Mollison, and were released through

. The first single, "Higher Ground", was released in 1993 and peaked at number 19 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The album's second single, "Magic", was released in 1994 and peaked at number 32 on the UK Singles Chart, and number 11 on the

UK Dance Singles Chart The UK Dance Singles Chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, garage, synthpop) in record s ...

. The album was released on 23 August 1994 and charted on release, peaking at number 56.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from liner notes. *Alexander Coe ( Sasha) – writing, production (all tracks) * Tom Frederikse – writing, production (all tracks) * Sam Mollison – writing, vocals ("Magic" and "Higher Ground") *Donna Gardier – vocals ("Vegetable Qat") *Ray Mann – trumpet ("Minimal Qat") *Gaëtan Schurrer – additional production

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qat Collection 1994 debut albums Sasha (DJ) albums