Review: Fresh from contributing to multi-artist extravaganzas on Peace Symphonies and Shanti Radio Moscow, Hermanez delivers his first full EP for All Day I Dream. He begins in typically atmospheric, immersive style with 'Alavanca', where melancholic strings, gaseous chords and woozy melodies tumble down across a locked-in tech-house groove, before opting for a slightly warmer sound on 'Tale of the Unexpected', which sounds like a house head's take on Thomas Nuemann's much-loved score for Oscar-winning movie American Beauty. 'Areia' is a bright, breezy and sun-splashed chunk of melody-rich deep house positivity, while 'Wutaf' peppers a drowsy, dreamy backing track with intricate electronic sound-splashes, snappy drums and swirling strings.
Review: The Hoom Side of the Sun compilation series has previously delivered two expansive volumes of soul-warming, tech-tinged deep house goodness, each packed with tracks that tend towards the exotic, emotive and intoxicating. Volume three, which lands 12 months after its predecessor and presents a similarly sunny and atmospheric blend of high-grade cuts. For proof, check out the clips of Hreach's hypnotic but stirring 'Blue Road', the percussion-rich deep-tech loveliness of Lucien's 'Lluvia', the fluttering summer breeze beauty of 'Virtue' by Hermanez, and the psychedelic, trance-inducing dancefloor psychedelia of Luka Sambe's 'The Juggle'.
Review: After an 18-month period in which he solely contributed tracks to compilations and muti-artist EPs, rising star Hermanez has finally been given the chance to release another solo single. He begins his first Souksonic outing in typically melodious and sun-soaked form, layering blissful, harp style melodies and swelling synthesizer chords atop a chunky, loose-limbed groove on 'Cadell', before adding dreamy vocal snippets, fretless bass and Kalimba style melodies to an extra-percussive tech-house groove on 'Sweet Karma'. 'Heavens of Seven' is a tactile and huggable affair rich in shuffling drums, Spanish guitar motifs and enveloping ambient chords, while closing cut 'Drive Thru India' sees Hermanez sandwich a hazy, Sitar-heavy breakdown between two slabs of chunky tech-house beats.
Review: A 14-track collection here from Lee Burridge's All Day I Dream. The title refers to the release date but also hints at what to expect stylistically, because the emphasis here is on hazy, lazy vibes that'll sound best served outdoors on a hot, sunny day, as deep house, deep prog and downtempo/Balearic collide in one very chilled package. Standouts including Double Touch's Middle Eastern-tinged 'Sunriser', Hermanez's deep tribal groove 'Third Decade' and the Indian-infused deep house of Sebastian Leger's 'Kanga', but really this is one of those albums that's best enjoyed whole, letting the soothing sounds ease away your cares...
Newman (I Love) - "Menina Que Passa" - (8:36) 120 BPM
Essay - "Archangel" - (9:23) 126 BPM
Modd - "Evening Fog" - (9:11) 122 BPM
Review: A sampler collection here from All Day I Dream, the label set up in 2011 by Lee Burridge and Matthew Dekay to explore "beautiful, emotional and melancholic shades of house and techno". What you get are 13 tracks coming from that part of the spectrum where deep house and ambient collide, with just a hint of prog and the very deepest trance in the mix too - tracks that will be equally at home in the warm-up, on weary 6am floors or chillin' on the sofa. Standouts include Fulltone's 'A Whole Lot Of Winters', one of collection's more overtly floor-friendly cuts, and Hermanez's deceptively funky 'Ensina'.
