- A few years ago when progressive was eclipsed by the sudden craze for electro-house, Renaissance seemed to lose its way. Over the last 18 months though, the label has revived somewhat with a string of releases by the old guard (Tong, Digweed, Lawler, and Sasha) and the new (Zabiela, Fanciulli and Aber) appearing on the shelves lately. That old sense of expectancy that a new Renaissance vinyl was due out has returned.
The attention grabber on this Solaris Heights 12-inch is the Popof remix, which is currently getting caned by Sasha and Digweed. It's a peak timer, pretty formulaic in approach but that's exactly the reason it works so well. Cut-up vocal snippets (yes, Popof is French) combine with a giant hooky trance melody and hissy build-ups to create a hands-in-the-air beast worthy of any large floor.
On the flip, the original mix is in the same vein as 'Vice' on Renaissance from last year, and demonstrates Solaris Heights' penchant for vocals. It's a nice slice of funky progressive with jittery melodies nestled against velvet synths and a great breakdown section.
Neil Quigley’s remix is a heavy tech-house mix that makes great use of the vocals. Its stompy backroom appeal and its luscious mid-section makes it my personal fave.
'No Trace' outshines Solaris Heights Renaissance debut 'Vice' of last year, and is a decent addition to the hard drive/vinyl box.
TracklistA Popof Remix
B1 Original Vox
B2 Neil Quigley Pacemaker Vox