Search - Dave Seaman :: Renaissance: Desire

Seaman doesn't disappoint

Douglas A. Greenberg | Berkeley, CA USA | 05/29/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Over the past couple of years, Dave Seaman has established himself as one of the very finest dj's spinning progressive trance and progressive house. His two southern hemispheric Global Underground sets (Buenos Aires and Cape Town) were both first-rate, and "Awakening," his Renaissance effort that preceded "Desire," remains one of the most breathtaking two-disc progressive sets ever released. Given this record of accomplishment, many of us had exceedingly high expectations for "Renaissance: Desire."Overall, Seaman has not disappointed the faithful. Once again he has unearthed a stack of high-quality, fresh tunes and has weaved them together into sets that can be listened to repeatedly without their growing tiresome. This, combined with the gorgeous packaging artwork that has accompanied the recent Renaissance sets, make "Desire" an irresistable release for fans of progressive.As is typical of two-cd dance releases in recent years, the first set comprises relatively slower tracks, the kind that would likely be played during the earlier portion of a long night of clubbing. The choice of material is exemplary, including such instant anthems as Janiero's "Solid Sessions," Sister Bliss' "Deliver Me," and Pete Heller/Sputnik's monster disc, "Stylus Trouble." Similarly to the first disc of John Digweed's otherwise fabulous Hong Kong GU set, however, the set leaves an overall impression of eclectism, i.e., it's made up of terrific tunes, but somehow it doesn't flow and hang together quite as well as one might hope. The second, more uptempo/deep/experimental cd is where Seaman really shows his stuff. Highlighted by tracks as haunting as Roland Klinkenberg's "Inner Laugh" as hard-pounding as Praha presents Xian's "Pachinko," and as soulfully melodic as Way Out West's bringing-the-set-down-to-a-close "Mindcircus," this disc is crafted beautifully from start to finish, revealing Seaman's skills at their very best. A number of reviewers have expressed frustration with the confusing presentation of the tracklisting. This is especially problematic in the U.S.-released version of the set, where there erroneously are 12 tracks listed for disc one and 13 tracks listed for cd 2, instead of the actual 11 and 11, respectively. What has happened here is that for three tracks (one on disc one and two on disc two), there are "acappella" tracks overlain onto other tracks. So owners of the U.S. version should either mentally or physically eliminate the track numbers for Marcel, "The Path" on disc one, and for Ben Shaw feat. Adele Holmes, "So Strong" AND Placebo, "Passive Aggressive" on disc two. Once these acappellas are combined with the previous tracks, the track listings should correspond with the track markings on the actual discs. Overall, this is a fine release, recommended for all fans of electronic progressive, including other dj's such as John Digweed, Nick Warren, Chris Fortier, Max Graham, Hardy Heller, John Debo, Jerry Bonham, Sister Bliss, and Sander Kleinenberg. The first cd earns 3.5 stars; the second gets 5 stars."

Definitive Deep House Album of 2001

N. Boyd | San Francisco, CA USA | 08/27/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dave Seaman has been bearing the standard for deep, sexy house for some time, and with 'Desire' Seaman establishes himself as the vanguard of this genre. Perhaps the ultimate testament to this was a recent Paul Oakenfold set I heard at Moby's Area|One tour: Oakie's set was a tribute to Desire, opening up with Blackwatcher's mind-numbing "Foreshadow" and ultimately covering perhaps a quarter of the tracks on Desire. From start to finish, this album envelops the listener with the refined yet emotive rhythms that typify Seaman's Renaissance releases. On the first album, Seaman opens with tribal beats and aching vocals by way of A Guy Called Gerald's "Humanity" and stays deep until he opens up with Moby's "Southside" and the incredible "Janeiro" by Solid Sessions. The second album takes off more quickly after the foreboding "Travelogue" with the incredible crescendoes of "Waiting" (Nat Monday) and "Foreshadow", driving it home with the concentrated assault of "Passive Aggressive" (Placebo). Way Out West's melodious "Mindcircus" initially purports to be a chillout/takedown track, but assuredly maintains the tension smouldering beneath the surface of the entire set. Sexy, strained, aggressive, this is Seaman at his best. And I assure you, not only is the track selection outstanding, but the caliber of mixing is superb; I own many of these tracks on LP and can only hope to bring them to life as he does. In short, this double disc merits your attention. Whether you seek a soulful companion to your long commute, an invigorating dancefloor motionmaker, or sexy grooves to share with an intimate friend, Seaman delivers."

We desire, Dave delivers

hannibalsmith | Van Nuys, CA United States | 05/03/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It started with Renaissance Awakening - Dave Seaman's aptly named masterpiece that signified the (re)awakening of the sleeping Renaissance UK club giant. Now, Dave Seaman (the man who has also brought us other masterful works such as Global Underground: Buenos Ares) and Renaissance are back to continue what they started on Awakening with their new album, Renaissance Desire, and continue they do, in every sense of the word. Back is Seaman's uncanny knack for selecting great tracks on the lighter side of trance in a time when almost every other big name DJ is sucumbing to the trend of deeper and darker sets. Back is Seaman's brilliant mixing and set construction, and back (and even better) is Renaissance's timeless packaging. In fact, while I honestly don't beleive anyone should by this or any CD for its packaging (or a book for its cover), the packaging does deserve special mention as Renaissance has truly gone above and beyond the call of duty on this release - giving us a quite substantial, fold-open cardboard box featuring Renaissance's gorgeous painting reproductions on both the outside and the inner surface. Mounted on the inner surface are two transparent plastic CD 'mounting plates', allowing us to view, unhindered, the paintings below. The booklet too features several more paintings in keeping with the theme. Disc 1 is a terrific set. Seaman truly shows off his skills for not only mixing tracks but truly building a set into a cohesive unit. The result is part dance floor mix, part mellow soundscape, and all class. Standout tracks include Francois K's remix of Finley Quaye's Spiritualized and Sister Bliss's Deliver Me. Disc 2 is slightly more melodic and upbeat than disc 1, again with spectacular results. The use of acapellas on this disc (and for that matter, disc 1) is inspired, as Seaman seemlessly overlays several against perfect background tracks. Disc 2 also sees Seaman indulging his passion for tracks with female vocals, using no fewer than three on this disc, including the brilliant "Love Like Sleep" by Jimmy Van M featuring the sublime Terra Diva on vocals, and Way Out West's Mind Circus - a track that combines breakbeats, pianos, and vocals that flow flawlessly. Mind Circus, in fact, is used to perfect advantage, beginning with its soft, isolated pianos after the release of energy of Praha's Pachinko, then, as soon as the listener is lulled into a sense of calm, in comes a beautiful high energy breakbeat and then, echoing the thoughts we're fealing out of shear euphoric exhaustion, the vocalist asks "can't I please have some silence?" Desire, then, like Awakening, has also turned out to be quite correctly named, because after hearing this 2 CD set, all I can say is that I truly desire more."