“As we build up to the release of my forthcoming masters album on June 1st, Renaissance and I are presenting a 20 minute clip of Disc One of my Masters mix for you to preview. We selected the passage from the middle of Disc One, so we pick it up with Guy Gerber’s Reshuffle remix of his ‘Stoppage Time…

Guy is one of my favorite producers in the last five years he has constantly delivered tracks that stay in my CD wallet for a long time. Be it ‘Knights Of Columbos’, the more recent ‘Timing’ or every track released in between, I find all his productions hit that exact sound I like. This new remix he’s done of himself is no exception, it’s modern house music at its best. A fantastic, deep, hypnotic journey and real highlight of the compilation.

After that comes the highly talented Japanese producer Hideo Kobayashi whose ‘Amarillo’ – Spanish for yellow – is inspired by the recently defunct, legendary Tokyo club of the same name. Yellow was an incredibly intimate space (which is what created it’s special, unique atmosphere). When it closed down last year I was honoured to be invited to play as part of a special ‘final week’ that also included Laurent Garnier and Francois K. The event turned into one of the best memories of my DJing career; I ended up playing a 12 hour set to a crowd that refused to leave! From my first ever gig there in 2001, to that memorable, final night (and day!), I was totally hooked on this amazing, old skool venue that was always full of such great clubbers. It makes ‘Amarillo’ all the more personal to me, though I think anyone can hear it’s a fantastic tribute.

Moving forward into the tracklist we find Kruse & Nurnberg´s ‘Suerte’. Coincidentally, the title is another Spanish word, which means luck, although there’s nothing fortunate about the reasons behind this track finding its way onto the comp’. It perfectly captures the middle ground between house and that slightly edgy, modern sound, which creates a very contemporary feel that oozes quality. It belongs to Dieb Audio, a relatively new label that´s been delivering really good club music in the last year or so.

Finally, every time I make a CD I try to feature the producers and labels I like the most. I think it only fair I feature the ones whose sounds constantly comprise my sets throughout the year, plus it’s a sure fire way to ensure the compilation is a totally honest reflection of my DJing style. One such label I felt compelled to include was Ben Watt´s Buzzin’ Fly, but, after playing and charting their records for years, a simple fact of unfortunate timing meant there wasn’t a single tune from them in the track list, which really bummed me out! Renaissance’s licensing deadline was approaching fast – we reached the point where we had to lock things down and suddenly Ben sent me an email with a link to ‘Voyager’. Needless to say I instantly liked it, not just because it’s a great house track, but it also perfectly fit in with the sound I was working on for this first disc. It’s a great feeling when luck falls on your side and everything comes together like this at the last minute!

I´ve been touring and playing these tracks across the world over the last few months with excellent reactions. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.”

Just like James Zabiela’s Renaissance Masters Mix, Hernan has also prepared a 20 minute sampler and holding page here, you can find the teaser here.

Hernan Cattaneo Master’s Series is out on Renaissance on June 1st