Customer Reviews

Renaissance: Revelation

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What a strange combination: Danny Howells + Nick Warren + Renaissance! I bought the CD and wasn't sure what I was going to discover: Revelation or Deception?

CD 1 is mixed by Danny Howells, and believe me he is getting mature.
Danny starts his mixing by a very pleasant chill-out jazzy track ("Always") that, although nice, will make you wonder if you bought a Renaissance CD. Be patient and let yourself go into the mood. And don't forget it's Renaissance and it's Danny: the building up starts and as from track 3 ("Runaway" - Reset), the CD turns Deep, Sexy, Strong yet fluid. Ubu's "Pixels" followed by Indaba's "Dark light" (5th and 6th track) sets the CD on: WOW!!!! High quality there... And nothing more to say... I let you discover it. Bravo Danny.

And here comes Nick Warren (whose last GU "Amsterdam" pleased me but didn't charmed me). I was also curious to listen to Nick's actual style: did he succeed to follow the trend? I assure you he did. This shows you that he is a good DJ who excels in what ever he does. CD 2 is unbelievable. The CD I was waiting for...
Nick continues where Danny left, and takes it higher. He sets the tone from the first track ("Intro"): deep, in between house and trance, dark yet joyful... or in other words, nearly perfect: It's the Renaissance mood (although "Desire" deceived me a bit). "Close your heart and open your ears", as the vocals say in "Addicted". The mixing is unbelievable and the building up as well. All the tracks are wisely chosen, and different styles are there. I know I am being too picky by saying this: "Rapture" (track 9) is a nice song (specially the Deep Dish remix) but is being in almost every recent compilation (PVD, Deep Dish GU), so it's the only weak point of the CD (imagine!).
Finally, I have to emphasis the last 3 tracks: the coming down is very professional and touchy. Bravo Nick.

I don't know if and when I will get fed up with this set. But actually, I must say: Bravo Renaissance.

Ever since Renaissance began releasing mixes they have had their ears wrapped around the fringe of DJ culture. Licensing tracks that have that deep progressive vibe, and allowing DJ's such as Deep Dish, Dave Seaman, & Ian Ossia showcase their love for their own styles in the progressive field in the compilations they release. Now Nick Warren (one half of Way Out West) and Danny Howells come to mix the next installment, Revelation.

The American version of this CD opens with Nick's mix (where as the U.K. version opens with Danny's mix). Nick takes his progression as a DJ to the next step here, throwing out the tech-trance edge he used for his Global Underground mixes and builds a mix that is a little less accessible, deeper and more spaced out then listeners have ever heard (on G.U.). With a great ambient opening, Nick pulls you through a maze of tribal syncopation's and dark rumbles as you build into a steady pace and tight, yet dubby, house permutations. Probably the weakest point in the mix is the extremely lengthy use of Dirty's self titled track, which recites the main vocal far too many times. But once you get over that hump, its right into quivver's mix of the new Way Out West single "Stealth" featuring Kristy Hawkshaw (of BT, Silent Poets fame). A strange, quirky mix that teases you with only a few refrains from the chorus. Deep Dish's remix of the highly over-played IIO track is on here, which in my opinion is not as good as John Creamer & Stephane K's mix, the only track I could do without. The Deep Funk Project & Mario Berardi round out the mix with a extremely dark, minimal edge that screams "head trip" at the top of its lungs. All in all, I definitely enjoyed this mix. Nick's skills for putting records together in a seamless fashion is a force to be reckoned with, and he has indubitably maintained his own style in his journey.

Listening to Danny's mix was a totally different experience than the first disc. Like night and day, this mix leaps out of the gate with the crazy rhythms and disco house vibe of Bent's "Always" remixed by Ashley Beedle. From there its a twisted, curvy road of upbeat progressive house that moves over classic house styles and swings around energetic beat structures. Highlights include Reset's rump shakin' "Runaway" along with Hipp-e's trippy, tribal remix of Ubu's devilishly enjoyable "Pixels" and Soul Providers tech groove stylings on "Rise". Danny has certainly come along way since his Jackpot days, and its great to see him maturing into his sound.

So, all in all how does this CD hold up to the other numerous Renaissance collections? Extremely well I'd say, one of the few comps I've picked up lately that I was pleasantly surprised to listen to, everything on these two CD's is mixed with care and excellence. Nick and Danny have proved once again why I admire their sound and technique.

Danny Howells and Nick Warren each produce their own album in this new Renaissance edition. I recommend the set only to those with experience and patience. New listeners will find it extremely hard to wait for the tracks to climax, and these two hardly do so, they remain mostly monotonous.
Because Howells begins with Bent's "Always," the listener expects more of this kind of happy tune. Disappointment is evident, for deeper trance follows. The rest of the CD sees little change aside from "Nothing but this..." and "Blueless."
Warren's in charge of the second part. Through hard, yet soothing tribal beats the album achieves some highlights but mostly remains stable without significant climaxes. I like this mix better than Howells', but at first I found it hard to listen all the way through. "Addicted," "Dirty," and "Sufi" are my favorite tracks.
Both djs erred, mostly because of the tracks chosen. Their mixing skills are good but the selection of the tracks really pushes the listener's patience. Overall it's a good set but not exactly what I anticipated.

Nick Warren probably never caught as much flak for any of his mixes as he has for this one, and I believe that it isn't entirely justified. Renaissance: Revelation is a mix that has suffered due to what I call "Order Reversal". If you're like me, and like to listen through to a mix, then play it in reverse. Start off with Howells' mix, and then listen to Warren's. If you want to stick with the maker's order, simply buy the UK release. I guarantee you'll have a much better time.

The mood of the mixes here is so distinctly different that the order makes so much of a difference. Howells shows with crystal-clarity what the Boxed label called his "frightening focus on the dance floor", dropping grooves laced with booty-shaking vitriol. Starting off with a track with a remix name that is one of my all-time favorites (Mahavishnu Vocal Mix?!?!?!), every track following it only adds to the shuddering, jumping progression of this set. The Hipp-E mix of "Pixels" melds a get-on-the-floor chug with a deep, tribal stomp, and Indaba's "Blue Light" is the highlight of the mix which winds down as funkily as it began.

Warren's set could not have been more different. Start to finish, he messes with your head with an ambient intro, screaming static synths, looped accappella samples over 3 consecutive tracks, haunting tribal chants and sinister, dark-as-[heck] jungle drums. NO WAY is this an opener - this CD is your at-home equivalent of a drugged out, starey-eyed 3 a.m. moment at the club. The mixing is vintage Warren, and the sampling of the "Dirty" accappella over 2 tracks before the actual track - which a lot of people found irritating - was the highlight of the disc for me.

There was one discordant note, though - the inclusion of Quivver's mix of Way Out West's "Stealth" followed by a track that has no place on this mix - the Deep Dish Space Mix of Iio's "Rapture". Warren seems to realize this, quickly switching back to the trippier, weirder tunes that this set is about.

Overall, this is a worthy addition to the Renaissance series. Nowhere as good as Awakening, but give this set a fair listen in the right order. It doesn't deserve half the slagging it's received.

Howells: 4 stars for a solid shake-your-booty set.
Warren: 3.5 stars for a great mix marred by 1 discordant note
Overall: 3.75 stars. Worth it if you are a patient listener.

Lately i have been listening to a lot of trance and buying up cds like crazy. Today i baught this cd and really enjoyed it. I have heard many good things about Nice Warren and not so much about Danny Howells but overall i thought howells delivered a better set than Warren. The mixing is awsome but some of the songs arnt that strong. I really love MOS stuff and these beats seem to be more underground and remind me of Digital Underground stuff. Overall i am happy i got this cd but i would recomend others like pete tongs essential mixes and any of the MOS annuals or trance nation cd's if you are willing to pay the price. This is a good cd to get to mix it up from the mainstreem stuff. I think I am going to enjoy listening to this cd for a very long time, and i think you would too

Any Warren fan should dig his CD here -- imagine a jaded DJ with nobody left to please but himself, taking his job seriously, bringing the freshest beats to the dancefloor. After GU 16, where else was there left to go? Trippier and trippier, druggier and druggier -- but that's just a matter of aesthetic. Looking beyond the superficial, we have here the work of one of dance music's best and most unique talents. Structurally, this set is solid, and by the end, all it has you doing is begging for more -- assuming you have the balls to accept what he was doing in the first place. Anyone who's seen him live knows that, regardless of what "style" he's spinning, Nick Warren knows how to DJ. This set merely updates his current selections; he'll always be Warren, purely and simply, love him or hate him. Every second makes sense.

Howells is alert as always. Not so commercial here as in his GU release, progressive at its finest (nowadays). Not 'melodic' (from the mind of this card-carrying music theorist), but willing to throw in the occasional pitch-based loop. Drug-free but always convincing (and, no, the DJs did not pay me to say this, nor did the record company).

I own both renaissance awakenings and renaissance desire and have just recently purchased this lastest installment of the renaissance label. To my chagrin an apparent downward spiral of the label has taken place. Awakenings was by far the best of the three with hits such as "Love has come again", "Flaming June" and "She Does". Desire was an overrall good listen but lacked the luster that Awakenings produced. Now Revelation takes a step down from Desire with boring tunes that never seem to amount to any flow or rhythm. I did enjoy the beginning of Revelation but by the end i was down right bored. So if you dont already own the first two compilations of Renaissance id highly recommend purchasing them first.

The revelation in this latest installment of Renaissance's top-notch series would be just how much superstar-DJ dance music has altered course since 1999. Running from the "T" word as fast as vinyl crates will allow, top jocks Nick Warren and Danny Howells now offer up alternately spaced out and festive house sets for the masses.

The days of Nick Warren delivering blistering, acid-fueled trance tunes have apparently gone way out west, each subsequent commercial mix since Global Underground Budapest draining in energy while at times struggling to maintain a heady atmosphere. His contribution to Revelation proves no different, with the added trial of covering a lot of ground in little time. It's at times buoyant and infectious (the fanciful drum hooks of Jay Tripwire's "So Horny For Your Horn"), at others coldly calculating (the Quivver remix of Warren's own "Stealth"). Getting to Mavi's rich Eastern "Sufi" or Iio's full-length cut of "Rapture" takes some trial. Namely, Dirty's "Dirty', an acappella loop chanting "obscene, dirty, filthy, immoral, oh yea" that continues over three tracks for six minutes.

Better is Howells' effort, led off by an outright deep disco workover of "Always" from Ashley Beedle, plying straight 4/4 with string stabs, piano, and trembling vocal. It's a corker. Howells sets his prog tendencies aside today for tripped out floor shakers, glamorously oft-kilter yet enjoyable. "Shake your booty?" Yup, it's on Reset's "Runaway." Hipp-E spirals Ubu's cheeky "Pixels" out of control, Indaba doesn't let up, and Nebulus "Blueless" just plain wierds out to orchestral swoons. When the moodier elements start calling at last, via Lexicon Ave, you're certainly ready to be carried off the deep end.

Revelation's a solid addition to the Renaissance series; too bad they only release about half their output domestically. And if these two chaps return for a sequel, I suggest they flip the billing.

Nick Warren: 3 stars Danny Howells: 4 stars Final: 3.5 stars

Well, here it is people - the latest compilation to trade under the name `Renaissance'. Listeners to these 2 discs, however, would do well to distance themselves from the Renaissance concept, if only to consider for a moment whether-or-not both featured DJ's have either 1) slight deafness or 2) a hugely ironic sense of humour.

For what we have here (save for 2 or 3 tracks) is a fairly mundane and doleful set of music, with some new and somewhat uninspiring tracks being interwoven with a couple of re-hashed lukewarm tunes. The upshot is a tempo that manages to be both meandering AND plodding, and which will have you very quickly looking elsewhere for progressive aural delight. Nick Warren in particular should be pulled up for his track selection, which at best can be described as `quirky'. Danny Howells fares only slightly better, with Southern Comforter's `Another Late Thursday' and Groove Juice's `Back to Africa' shining out from an otherwise insipid and lifeless set.

The term `Progressive' is meant to refer to the induction of momentum or forward movement, but the only thing this twin-pack will induce is a stifled yawn. Both DJ's have done far better than this, and I cannot in any way recommend this collection. In fact, the only stars it gets are for the 2 tracks above, and the inclusion of the cannibalised glossy artwork that portrays the Renaissance theme. A real shame, and a display of the type of mixed set that gives `progressive' a bad name. This compilation needs considerable reorientation before it can even begin to cut the sonic mustard and listeners won't have to search too far to find vastly superior DJ mixes.

The gold standard for compilation albums featuring the world's most popular DJ's has to go to the label Global Underground. One problem I have with the majority of the early releases (especially pre-GU021:Moscow) from Global Underground is that one disc is usually stellar and the other lustre-lacking.

This was a very novel idea by the Renaissance label. A two disc set featuring two different DJ's. This gives the listener a little more depth with their purchase.

Another pro for this release is the genre of music that Nick Warren mixes for his disc. 2001, the release date of this compilation was during Warren's four year (1999-2003) hard techno phase. He developed many loyal followers during this time, but personally I think his true genius came through with Global Underground 024: Reykjavik release in 2003. Since then he has never looked back. If you like his mixing style previous to this then give this album a pass. No techno hardcore here.

Sure, there are a handful of tracks on both discs that can be found on a dozen other compilations. And yes a couple of "commericial hits" are featured. That seems to be a sore spot with a lot of other reviewers. "Rapture" by Ilo is the most notably mentioned. But hey...that track is re-mixed by Deep Dish and you have to be aware that DJ's support each other whenever they can. Regardless, the re-mix is not THAT bad. Warren's disc gets 4/5 stars from me.

Danny Howells' disc is fairly solid throughout. Less to comment as he doesn't touch on as many DJ taboos! Howells' disc also gets 4/5 stars.

Overall this compilation is predominantly progressive house and has aged well since 2001.