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 LISTEN + BUY @ AMAZON |
HERNAN CATTANEO - RENAISSANCE PRESENTS SEQUENTIAL |
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Just when there was a trickling of a worry in my mind that maybe progressive house had thumped its way into a repetitive, uninspirational, nostalgic place, Hernan comes along with this release. There are no cheesy vocals to distract, but enough variety from track to track to keep the interest level up without interrupting the flow. The first CD in this dual disk set starts out with a low-frequency low-key fuzzy bass line reminiscent of a Radiohead remix, but its Gui Boratto's "Arquipelago" one of my favorite tracks of the entire compilation. The music pulsates on through Petersky, wonderful warblings over a steady belly pleasing beat with enough breakdowns to keep an progressive fan pleased. Then comes the classic "Thought Line" which sounds like something Sasha or Paul van Dyk might have mixed. A little tribal taste comes in with the next few tracks, knocking the bpm up a bit, but smoothing out in time for the "Love Dub For Hernan" of "Je T'Aime" mixed up with a Hernan acapella. Think sweeping synths, crisp drums chugging along like a train. The one track I fast forward through is "1983" which is annoys me with its Star Wars high frequency stabs, kind of the same way I feel about the vocoder samples in "With My Friends." Not to worry though, soon it winds its way back into the harder hitting lovely stuff, such as Way Out West's "Wonka"... that's such a great word, its almost the noise the track makes, "woonnnkkk aaaaah." The last two tracks - including vocals from Jennifer Horne that are just how I like it - rev it up for Disk 2, which starts out with the dark Bushwacka track "Beastman" which echoes with mysterious foreign words. Now, I would give disk 1 five stars right from the first sip, but disk 2 I had to let swirl around to get the full flavor... at first listen it was like trying to enjoy a cup of hot mulled wine in July! Denser, heavy on the tech side of progressive without falling into glitchy or loosing its momentum, its late night trash can banging tracks, not without interest or breakdowns, at least till it starts bubbling and smoothing out again around track 9 and 10 (Hernan's breathtaking remix of Nick Muri's "I Feel Real". Still heavy with big distorted synths making the melody, and a vocoder sample (ugh, I'm beginning to hate those) it brings it up a bit so the CD can finish out with the appropriately entitled "Breather" and another Hernana track, "Sirocco" - I've no idea who John Tonks is, but his touch on Sirocco is maybe the staccato uplifting finish to this mix. So all told, without straying far from his signature sound, without using any too trendy genre-crossing tracks in an attempt to liven up what he's playing, Hernan pours out a smoothly mixed concoction of delicious and refreshing set. -- review by Claire Maxwell
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