Ilya’s Dreaming Loud is a polished set of 14 original trance compositions.

Ilya’s background as a professional engineer and dance music producer and 17 years of experience show on Dreaming Loud. The tracks are polished, professional and propulsive.

The tracks are presented as a continuous mix, and the they are catchy enough that it almost sounds like a greatest hits mix.

We don’t typically get rapturous about production, but Dreaming Loud features unique sounds and effects, driving rhythms, clear mixing and perfect trance pacing. Lots of interesting percussive effects are used throughout the album. While the kick and HH of trance are present in full effect, Ilya also effectively uses percussive noises throughout.

On a track like The Way of the Wave or Who are You?, Ilya takes a full two and half minutes to hit his stride. When he does hit it, it’s all the more rewarding.

Highlights of the CD include Funkular, which takes the phrase Jeux sans Frontier from a Peter Gabriel number and completely reimagines it as a trance track; Without You, a polished vocal trance number; Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum, an instrumental trance number that brings to mind some of BT’s great early tracks; and the extremely quirky The Trash and the Equality, which is a sort of humurous drum and bass funk.

The CD as a whole is a satisfying voyage through the world of trance electronica. There are some great tracks on Dreaming Loud, and the mix as a whole is a enjoyable trip. Trance fans, if you haven’t heard of Ilya before, make sure you check out Dreaming Loud.

Downshift Records, keep it coming!

Tracks:

• Wired Venture
• Black is the Color
• The Way of the Wave
• Who Are You?
• Learn to Walk
• Funkular
• Without You
• The White Hole
• Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum
• The Stone
• Yummy Fur
• The Trash and the Equality
• Don’t fly so high
• Secret Summer