Renaissance 3d - Tom Middleton

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Binding: Audio CD EAN: 5051083012324 Format: Box set Label: Renaissance Manufacturer: Renaissance Number Of Discs: 3 Publisher: Renaissance Release Date: 2008-01-28 Studio: Renaissance
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: The usual quality Comment: Yet again the sound of Renaissance ! Not there best, but still they remain consistant for cutting edge sound. Customer Rating: Summary: Middle Ground Comment: This is CD has been a little unfairly criticised me thinks, possibly because Middleton is trying to cover all bases. CD1 is an excellent delve into deep house with some lovely peaks cropping up during the mix. Check to 'Gemini' by Funk D'Void, 'Dancin'by Mona Lisa, the pretty dub version of 'Sean' by Aya and 'Human' by James Zabiela - very unlike his other material. I bought this compilation for about 7 notes, so have no complaints. The remaining two CDs are pleasant to dip in and out of - Tom's talent as a remixer can't be disputed. Being pragmatic, I would have paid £7 for CD1, so the other two are bonus material. Customer Rating: Summary: I Expected Better from Tom Middleton.... Comment: I'm a huge fan of Tom Middleton. I think he is an extremely talented musician and a very interesting DJ. He is at home playing bonkers party tracks as he is deep house. He is at home producing acid house as he is ambient electronica. I also think 'The Sound of the Cosmos' is one of the best mix CDs ever made. That said, Renaissance 3D is a slight let down. When I heard Tom was doing another 3-part mix I almost wee'd a bit. Since TSOTC we've had to catch his Radio 1 essential mix or Mixmag cover CD (both excellent) to hear any house music from him. He's been busy working on his 'Lifetracks' LP, 'Crazy Covers' compilations and his 'The Trip parts 1 & 2' mix CDs. Whilst these are worth buying, they entirely different kettles of fish to the work of his house/breaks/techno alter-ego. Disc 1 is a classic Tom Middleton blend of very deep house which normally would be fine, but dare I say this mix gets a little boring? I've almost worn my TSOTC CD out as I listen to it so often but I can't see that problem with this one. Maybe it'll grow on me? I don't think so though, there's just nothing that special on it and did I hear a jazz flute on one of the tracks? Not cool. Disc 2 is an unmixed studio CD of some of Tom's finest remixes. Or is it? I think these are some of Tom's least exciting remixes. Where is Zoot Woman - It's Automatic? Where is his remix of Clubbed To Death by Rob Dougan? These tracks don't seem to exist on CD anywhere and do we really need another CD featuring Kerri Chandler - Bar-A-Thym? It's on nearly every compilation from the last two years! Disc 3 is the best in my opinion. A solid mix of some more obscure, funky and down-tempo grooves for listening to at home. Very good. Like this? Try: The Sounds of the Cosmos Customer Rating: Summary: Disappointing - a bit hit and miss Comment: I've long been a fan of Tom Middleton - remixes, the jedi's work and the trip compilations have all done it for me but this (like lifetracks) is a bit hit and miss. The deep house 1st cd is good but not amazing and kicks straight in without a sensible build, CD 2 - why? apart from the odd decent track this could have seriously been avoided or done better - why stick a tribal DJ tool in if its not part of a mix? just sounds dull! CD3 is just pure laziness - no thought put into the running order, doesn't really go anywhere and if anything just makes you want to give up half way through - a few decent tracks are therefore ruined by lacklustre planning. Overall i get the impression that Tom Middleton is either fast disappearing up his own back side or just milking his former glories. Worth buying if you're a fan whose prepared to put up with his self indulgence, otherwise there are better compilations out there! Customer Rating: Summary: Love the sweet sounds Comment: Tom Middleton is always a sure fire bet for the safe money when it comes to faultless track selection, programming, and fluid mixing and this 3CD set for Renaissance does nothing to change that perception, it is also probably the first effort he's released that is aimed primarily at the floor since his seminal Jedi's night out mixmag album back in 1999. More importantly it's come out at a time when house music seems to be lacking inspiration and immediacy, where each successive release just seems to be doing it by the numbers and never quite delivering more than the sum of it's parts, but starting with the first disc here the standard is eye opening. Pulling on more established tracks such as Henrik Schwarz's mix of 'Voui Voui Mui' by Mari Boine and The Timewriters 'Life Is Just A Timeless Motion' which has been familiar to fans of the Plastic City label for years, sitting alongside fantastic tracks such as the Mark Knight & Funkagenda remix of Groove Armada's 'Sweet Sound' and the smooth as polished ice production Aya's Sean (Eric's 2WFU dub). This disc in particular is crammed full of those moments that just pull you in and make you grin, ploughing a deep, mesmerising furrow, scattered with wobbly basslines and shimmering, deep chords. The second CD contains a slice of Middletons consistently excellent remix back catalogue with well known remixes such as Lambs 'What Sound', Kerri Chandlers 'Bar a Thym'and Ulrich Schnauss' 'In all the right places'. The last disc which is a more downbeat selection continues the quality, kicking off with a great, broken sounding Spiritual South remix of Middlewood sessions 'Fallback', a track first debuted on Gilles Peterson's excellent Brownswood Bubblers 2 label compilation. A few of Middletons favourite staples pop up here too such as Fenomenon and Danny Breaks, both of whom appeared on his Sounds of the Cosmos and Trip sets respectively. Blu Mar Tens 'Ghost Trio' and the Foreign Exchanges 'Come Around' once again demonstrate Middletons ability to pick the diamonds off an artist album with both tracks representing high points on the albums they originate from. All in all I really can't recommend this selection highly enough, at a point where dance music is over hyped, over analysed, or just over ripe, this release reminds you why you loved house music in the first place. More Reviews