Two years ago, I volunteered to review a Renaissance CD by a DJ I’d not only never heard of, but whose name I couldn’t even pronounce. The name of that DJ was Hernan Cattaneo and that Renaissance CD became the first tentative step on a journey into a world of music that has delighted me at every turn.

Hernan Cattaneo is a DJ who has created his own sound. He doesn’t feel the need to follow the latest trend to gain his audience’s attention. He creates a luscious soundscape that is somehow both familiar and yet so wondrously original that those who not only hear it also understand what he is doing and feel deeply touched. It is this ability to reach his audience on a personal level that has created such a fervently loyal fan base right around the world. If you have any doubt left at all, I am, without a shadow of a doubt, one of those fans!

Hernan’s first Sequential CD was released last year to acclaim from both fans and critics and it’s still on a fairly high rotation in my music collection. That’s some achievement when there has been so much good music released since then. So it was with more than a little nervous excitement that I grabbed this copy of ‘Sequential Vol 2’ and dived headlong into two more hours of musical adventure with Argentina’s finest DJ as my tour guide. The idea of the original Sequential mix was for Hernan to provide listeners with a sequence of music that was both logical and highly enjoyable to listen to, and this latest release has not deviated from that formula.

While so many DJs have followed in John Digweed’s footsteps down the minimal tech path, Hernan has had the courage and conviction to beat his own trail through the jungle of progressive music. The beat Hernan gives us to dance to is definitely a house one. Banished to the background are the screeching high-pitched bleeps promoted by the majority of progressive clone DJs. There are some tech influences layered into the music, but Hernan buries them under warm basslines, shimmering synths and a drum beat that builds over two hours of musical deliverance from the cold harsh world of tech.

From the haunting voices of Blue Foundation’s ‘Sweep’ to the mind melting brilliance of Marco Bailey’s ‘Smooth Drive’, the first disc is a brilliantly programmed sequence of house music designed to enthral and seduce your senses. Things start calmly enough, but my first complete emotional meltdown occurs as early as the fifth track on the first disc when the velvet tones of Hernan’s collaboration with John Tonks’ ‘Anime’ suddenly brings the mix to life with wonderful deep, driving progressive house bass riffs. This delightful phase of chugging progressive house continues through to Kosmos Epsilon’s ‘Paranoid’, where Hernan decides to rein in the proceedings and give us all a chance to calm down and take stock of the situation.

Or so I thought… It turns out the sense of calm is only an illusion; it’s actually an opportunity for Hernan to take the music in a totally different direction for the remainder of the disc. The rhythmic chugging basslines are still there, but they’re buried beneath layers of swirling melodies that make the listener feel as if they’re floating – Major Tom style – through space. Unlike Bowie’s tragic hero, however, you know that a journey through space with Hernan Cattaneo should have a more pleasant conclusion than a funeral dirge a decade later. Ashes to ashes? Not on your life!

Far too often with progressive house compilations the DJ begins the second mix seemingly unaware that they’ve actually compiled the first one. It can often take an eternity for the music in the second mix to reach the level of intensity with which the first finished. But this is definitely not the case here. Whilst the first mix was definitely a three-part affair with an intro, a build-up and a swirling space-inspired peak, the second mix is characterised by a deep yet powerfully melodic groove almost from the word go.

Although the melodic grooves begin early on in the second mix, it is also full of wonderful build up and breakdowns that weave an intricate pattern of some of the best progressive house music I have heard in a long time. Hernan uses the quieter periods to enhance the power of the build-ups without ever letting the music get out of control. It really does make for some truly inspiring listening and as dance-floor music goes, Hernan hits the nail on the head time and time again.

Hernan includes an excellent mix of some really well known names such as Layo & Bushwacka, Nick Muir of Bedrock fame, and Stel, alongside some other less well-known artists. Keep an ear out for the tenth track on the second mix by Martin Garcia. Martin is another Argentinean DJ who has created some truly inspiring sets in the past and I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to any promoters out there who are considering bringing him to Australia. Please do it, and add Hernan to the bill while you’re at it. The dance community of Sydney really does deserve a treat of that magnitude. Trust me!

If you’re already a fan of Hernan Cattaneo I really don’t need to explain much more about why he is such a special artist. For those of you who haven’t been exposed to his art, have a listen to ‘Sequential Vol 2’ and check out the work of a DJ who is truly at the top of his game!