Search - Travel :: Nokturnel Mix Sessions featuring Bill Hamel

Progressive House and Trance at its finest

Jmserrano | Orlando, FL | 06/15/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hamel shows why he is positioned to take on the world as one of America's hottest up-and-coming DJ/Producer talents. The mixes are tight and the song selection is fantastic! If you're looking for one of this year's best compilations of banging house, pop out your John Digweed, Sasha, Oakenfold, etc CD from your player, and give this a listen. You will be floored with 74 mins of quality mixes and music that will rival anything you've heard."

Enjoyable and distinctive, but not quite upper rung material

Richard Diaz | 06/10/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Bil Hamel is the founder of Sunkissed records, with his work appearing on many prominent compilations in the past few years (several Global Underground releases, for example). This mix disc showcases a chunk of that output, four of the thirteen tracks in fact, with a good dose of other artists delivering some of the best work in 2000.Medway's `Bassline' and Smith & Selway's `Move' are proven super-slick shakers, utilizing rattles and clicks to compelling effect. Travel's `Pray to Jerusalem' follows that formula while adding some crispy high end. Hamel's `Chipnique' is one of the top on the lot, sprinkling scattered vocals over grungy bass, a pattern returning in force with Incision's `Amorak.' On the flip side, Max Graham and Starecase turn in a plain, by-the-numbers scaling chord clunker, shocking considering the names involved. The album ends on a mixed note, with Hamel's last two pieces mainly just functional club fodder that doesn't mesh with the rest of the set.Certainly enjoyable, with a distinctive style throughout to rise this above more average mixes, just a bit too in conflict with itself to reach the upper rung."