''Xpander'' is an

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

(EP) by Welsh DJ Sasha. It was released on 5 July 1999 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 ...

, and features co-production from Charlie May, Andy Page and Gaëtan Schurrer. The EP charted on release, peaking at number 18 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 ...

. In 1999, the EP won an award at the

International Dance Music Awards The International Dance Music Awards or IDMAs is an annual awards ceremony held in Miami Beach, Florida, United States as a major part of the Winter Music Conference. The awards have been held every year since the conference's creation in 1985 ...

for "Best Techno/Trance 12"".

Background

The title track, "Xpander", was featured on compilations such as '' Global Underground: Ibiza'',

Pete Tong Peter Michael Tong, (born 30 July 1960) is an English disc jockey who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as ''Essential Mix'' and ''Essential Selection'' on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio stre ...

's ''Essential Selection'',

Hooj Choons Hooj Choons is a house record label formed by Alex Simons and Red Jerry (real name Jeremy Dickens) in 1990. The first release was "Carnival de Casa" by Rio Rhythm Band, however, it was not until 1992's release of Felix's "Don't You Want Me", ...

' ''Nu Progressive Era'', and many other DJ mix compilations. It is considered a seminal release within the

trance music Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged from the British new-age music scene and the early 1990s German techno and hardcore scenes. Trance music is characterized by a tempo generally lying between 135–150 beats per minute ( ...

community. It was voted the 9th best dance track of all time, by readers of ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was prin ...

''. In 2021, the song was ranked #233 in A State of Trance's Top 1000. The song "Belfunk" was originally created as a remix of Orbital's song "

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

", but Orbital "hated it" due to it having little-to-no resemblance to the original. A remix of "Belfast" by Sasha and The Light (as opposed to "Belfunk" by Sasha and Charlie May) was released by Orbital that same year. The title track and the EP were named after the

Oberheim Xpander The Oberheim Xpander () is an analog synthesizer launched by Oberheim in 1984 and discontinued in 1988. It is essentially a keyboardless, six-voice version of the Matrix-12 (released a year later, in 1985). Utilizing Oberheim's Matrix Modulation ...

synthesizer, prominently used in the song. The title track was featured in the 1999 racing video game ''

Wipeout 3 ''Wipeout 3'' is a futuristic racing video game developed by Psygnosis exclusively for the PlayStation. The title is the fourth game in the ''Wipeout'' series, and was released in Europe and North America in September 1999. Players control a ...

''. In 2017, an orchestral version of the recording was released as a single, titled "Xpander: Refracted" and saw several live performances.

Background

Track listing

Accolades

Charts

References