1. Armin van Buuren [non-mover]
2. Tiesto [non-mover]
3. David Guetta [up 2]
4. Above & Beyond [non-mover]
5. Paul van Dyk [down 2]
6. Deadmau5 [up 5]
7. Ferry Corsten [down 1]
8. Markus Schulz [non-mover]
9. Gareth Emery [up 14]
10. Sander van Doorn [up 3]
11. ATB [up 14]
12. Infected Mushroom [down 2]
13. Sasha [down 6]
14. Axwell [up 6]
15. Andy Moor [up 3]
16. Bobina [up 12]
17. John Digweed [down 8]
18. Carl Cox [down 6]
19. Cosmic Gate [up 43]
20. Steve Angello [up 43]
21. Roger Shah [up 37]
22. Aly & Fila [up 9]
23. Paul Oakenfold [down 9]
24. John O’Callaghan [up 36]
25. Sebastian Ingrosso [new entry]
26. Benny Benassi [up 13]
27. Laidback Luke [up 19]
28. Richie Hawtin [down 13]
29. Fedde Le Grand [non-mover]
30. DJ Feel [up 25]
31. Lange [up 6]
32. Hernan Cattaneo [down 16]
33. Daft Punk [up 5]
34. Eric Prydz [down 13]
35. Bob Sinclar [up 5]
36. Joachim Garraud [down 9]
37. Kyau & Albert [down 15]
38. James Zabiela [down 21]
39. Umek [down 6]
40. Christopher Lawrence [re-entry]
41. Eddie Halliwell [down 22]
42. Simon Patterson [up 22]
43. Offer Nissim [up 8]
44. Judge Jules [down 12]
45. Sean Tyas [up 9]
46. Dubfire [down 16]
47. Martin Solveig [up 5]
48. Sven Vath [down 24]
49. Richard Durand [up 17]
50. Marco V [down 6]
51. Kaskade [new entry]
52. Tydi [new entry]
53. Erick Morillo [up 17]
54. Matt Darey [down 20]
55. Astrix [down 12]
56. Menno de Jong [down 8]
57. The Thillseekers [down 12]
58. Nick Warren [up 26]
59. Dirty South [up 15]
60. Roger Sanchez [down 3]
61. Mark Knight [down 19]
62. Wally Lopez [up 13]
63. Leon Bolier [down 32]
64. Blank & Jones [down 3]
65. Justice [up 8]
66. Laurent Wolf [up 1]
67. Astral Projection [up 27]
68. Boys Noize [new entry]
69. Ronski Speed [up 28]
70. Sander Kleinenberg [down 11]
71. Ricardo Villalobos [down 35]
72. Chuckie [new entry]
73. Sharam [new entry]
74. Marcel Woods [up 9]
75. Lisa Lashes [up 2]
76. Moonbeam [new entry]
77. Rank 1 [re-entry]
78. Sebastien Leger [up 11]
79. Marcus Schossow [new entry]
80. Steve Lawler [up 11]
81. Skazi [re-entry]
82. Super8 & Tab [new entry]
83. Pete Tong [down 5]
84. Tocadisco [up 14]
85. Sied van Riel [new entry]
86. Tiga [re-entry]
87. Daniel Kandi [new entry]
88. Mike Koglin [down 1]
89. Luciano [re-entry]
90. Yahel [down 34]
91. Myon & Shane 54 [new entry]
92. John B [new entry]
93. Simon Posford [new entry]
94. Fatboy Slim [down 2]
95. Robbie Rivera [re-entry]
96. Antoine Clamaran [new entry]
97. Nic Fanciulli [down 1]
98. Gui Boratto [new entry]
99. Alex M.O.R.P.H. [new entry]
100. Andy C [down 50]
101. Greg Downey
102. Talla 2XLC
103. Armand Van Helden
104. Deep Dish
105. Dash Berlin
106. The Chemical Brothers
107. Danny Tenaglia
108. Sesto Sento
109. Peter Rauhofer
110. Dj Vibe
111. Danny Howells
112. John Dahlbäck
113. Showtek
114. David Vendetta
115. Dj Dan
116. Laurent Garnier
117. Magda
118. Crookers
119. Loco Dice
120. BT
121. Chris Lake
122. Anderson Noise
123. Pendulum
124. Chris Liebing
125. Gabriel & Dresden
126. Nitrous Oxide
127. Yoji
128. Marco Carola
129. Chicane
130. Adam Beyer
131. Mauro Picotto
132. Mstrkrft
133. Joris Voorn
134. Jody Wisternoff
135. Bad Boy Bill
136. Stoneface & Terminal
137. Don Diablo
138. Valentino Kanzyani
139. Darude
140. James Holden
141. Tritonal
142. Spartaque
143. Heatbeat
144. Victor Calderone
145. The Bloody Beetroots
146. 2Manydjs
147. Manuel Le Saux
148. Hybrid
149. Lisa Pin-Up
150. Mat Zo

1.BT feat. Jes – Every Other Way (Armin van Buuren Remix)
2.Nic Chagall feat. Jonathan Mendelsohn – This Moment (Prog Mix)
3.Michael Jackson – Stranger In Moscow (Jerome Isma-Ae Bootleg)
4.Paul van Dyk feat. Johnny McDaid – Home (Cosmic Gate Remix)
5.Armin van Buuren feat. Jennifer Rene – Fine Without You (Sied van Riel Remix)
6.Oceanlab vs Gareth Emery – On A Metropolis Day (Myon & Shane54 Mashup)
7.Cerf, Mitiska,& Jaren – Beggin’ You (Armin van Buuren Remix)
8.4 Strings – Take Me Away (Re-Ward Dub Mix)
9.Armin van Buuren vs Ali Wilson – Never Say Shakedown (Armin van Buuren Mashup)
10.Armin van Buuren vs Cosmic Gate – F.A.V. Rain (Armin van Buuren Mashup)
11.Randy Katana – You & I
12.Temple One pres. Tu Casa – Betelgeuse (Barnes & Heatcliff remix)
13.Jochen Miller – Brace Yourself
14.Purple Haze – Bliksem
15.Stoneface & Terminal vs Rex Mundi feat. Susana – Stardust Nothing At All (Armin van Buuren Remix)
16.Rank1 – Symfo vs Het Wilhelmus (Armin van Buuren Mashup)
17.Armin van Buuren vs Jochen Miller – In & Out Of Connection (Armin van Buuren Mashup)
18.RAM – Ramsterdam (Jorn van Deynhoven Remix)
19.Roger Shah & Signum – Healsville Sanctuary (Roger Shah Remix)
20.John O’Callaghan feat. Lo-Fi Sugar – Never Fade Away (Giuseppe Ottaviani Remix)
21.Gaia – Tuvan (Original Mix)
22.Alex M.O.R.P.H. feat Ana Criado – Sunset Boulevard
23.John O’ Callaghan & Giuseppe Ottaviani – Our Dimension
24.W&W & Ummet Ozcan – Synergy (Original Mix)
25.W&W – Mainstage
26.Markus Schulz – Do You Dream (Uplifting Mix)
27.Armin van Buuren & Rank1 feat. Kush – This World Is Watching Me (Cosmic Gate Remix)
28.Perpetuous Dreamer feat. Elles de Graaf – The Sound Of Goodbye (ID remix)
29.3rd Moon – Monsun
30.Armin van Buuren feat. Justine Suissa – Burned With Desire (Rising Star Remix)
Encore:
31.John O’ Callaghan feat. Sarah Howells – Find Yourself (Cosmic Gate Remix)

As you can see, the tracklist was significantly more varied, with contemporary remixes of classical tracks like Take me Away, Stranger in Moscow, and The Sound of Goodbye.  The rising star remix of burned with desire was definitely one of the major highlights of his set that I haven’t heard from him live in awhile, and brought me back to circa 2002-2003.  The prince and princess of the Netherlands took their place on stage next to the king of trance at one point in his set, and Armin even let her play with his CDJ’s a bit.  The weather could have been better, but all in all this was an amazing and fun event to go to, with some awesome beats that got the entire crowd (from babies that couldn’t even walk yet to the royal family of the Netherlands) jumping.

Stay tuned tomorrow, as the surprise you all have been waiting for will finally arrive.  To whet your appetite for what’s to come: here’s a peak at the exclusive rare set from Avalon in NYC on October 23, 2004:

Ferry Corsten Live At Avalon NYC 23-10-2004

01. Ferry Corsten - Kyoto
02. Activa - In Essence
03. Young Parisians feat. Ben Lost - Jump The Next Train (Solarstone Remix)
04. Carlos Vives - Como Tu (Paul Oakenfold Dub Remix)
05. Solarstone vs. Scott Bond - The Red Line Highway (Original Mix)
06. Capetown feat. Miss Ann - One Way Roads (Original Mix)
07. Above & Beyond - No One On Earth (Gabriel & Dresden Remix)
08. The Thrillseekers - Synaesthesia (Ferry Corsten Remix)
09. Reflekt feat. Delline Bass - Need To Be Loved (The Thrillseekers Remix)
10. BT feat. JC Chasez - The Force Of Gravity (Ferry Corsten Remake)
11. Ferry Corsten - I Love You
12. DJ Tiesto - Just Be (Original Mix)
13. Mirco De Govia - Voller Sterne (Super 8 Remix)
14. Ferry Corsten - Sweet Sorrow (Ferry Corsten's Flashover Mix)
15. Binary Finary - 2000 (Gouryella Remix)
16. Robert Gitelman - Children Of The Sun
17. Ferry Corsten - Right of Way
18. Marco V - Automanual
19. Airwave - Last Flight To Gaia (Original Mix)
20. Ferry Corsten - It's Time (Ferry's Flashover Mix)
21. Ferry Corsten - Rock Your Body Rock
22. Marco V - Godchild
23. Mojado feat. Mr. Sam - El Toro
24. Ferry Corsten - Cubikated
25. ID
26. Oliver Lieb presents Radical Impression - Traveller 3
27. Fu Man Choo - Outlaw (Praha Remix)
28. Fractal Structure - Lost Sequence (Haak's Subliminal Cowbell Mix)
29. Roland Klinkenberg - Monday Groove
30. Ernesto & Bastien - Darkside Of The Moon
31. Adam White & Andy Moor present White Room - The White Room
32. Jan Gustafsson - Future History
33. Madoka - Afterburner (Max Graham Remix)
34. Li Kwan - Point Zero (Leama & Moor Remix)
35. Aven - All I Wanna Do (Ferry Corsten Remix)
36. Gouryella - Ligaya (Vocal Mix)
37. Push - The Legacy (Original Mix)
38. Johan Gielen - Dreamchild
39. Push - R.E.S.P.E.C.T. (Club Mix)
40. Firewall - Kilimanjaro
41. Rapid Eye - Absolute
42. Albert Vorne - A Leaden Way (M.I.K.E. Remix)
43. Ferry Corsten feat. Elles de Graaf - Show You My World
44. System F - Reaching Your Soul (Original Mix)
45. System F - Underwater
46. System F - Out Of The Blue
47. Alt+F4 - Alt+F4
48. Corderoy - Sweetest Dreams (Ferry Corsten Remix)

New York City’s very own New Island Festival is celebrating 400 years since the Dutch have come to Governor’s Island, and in commemoration of that, they are throwing a free concert by Armin van Buuren this Saturday September 12, 2009 at the Water Taxi Beach in Governor’s Island.  The only cost associated with this is a $10 dollar round trip ticket to/from the island via water taxi, and you can purchase tickets here.  He will be spinning from 1 PM to 5 PM, Water Taxis start at 11 AM.  While not all of the staff will be out at this one, a decent amount of us will be out in full force (mainly for selfish reasons) to cover the event.  As always, shoot us a line if you’re going to be there.  You can check out all the festival details by going to the official site at: http://www.newislandfestival.com/artist/1295/armin-van-buuren.

Artist Name: Sean Tyas
Country of Origin: America, New York City
Aliases: 64 Bit, Angyla, Sonar Systems, TT, Tyas & Lawrence
DJ Mag 2008 Ranking: 54
Official Website(s): http://www.myspace.com/seantyas, http://www.seantyasmusic.com/

Interesting facts:

Sean Tyas exploded from relative obscurity into a worldwide trance name in early to mid 2006 with his first single Lift signed by John Askew on his label Discover, which historically has an amazing track record of great uplifting tracks.  His tracks were being played by Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, Ferry, and every big name DJ in the blink of an eye.

As a double whammy for Tyas, at the same time his first single Lift came out, it was also announced that he won Sander van Doorn’s remix competition for Punk’d, beating out 250 other remixers to take the grand prize.

Sean is an NYC/philly regional local, even though he now lives in Switzerland with his wife Mirella.

Artist Analysis

Productions: As we had mentioned before, putting aside our cheering for a local DJ (I still remember our local philly DJ’s giving me a copy of Lift before it had been signed to Discover), Sean Tyas simply has amazing talent when it comes to producing.  He’s mastered the art of uplifting trance; especially with insane buildups and payoffs.  Although it’s a common theme that many of his songs sound similar (with the same background beats, acid gates), throughout all his tracks he retains a pulsing and driving life of its own that makes every track and remix gleam with its uniqueness.
Score – 9/10

Remixing Ability: Sean Tyas is definitely among the top elite producers in terms of remixing ability.  I mean if you didn’t catch the interesting fact above, he beat out 250 other contests in a remix contest for SvD’s Punkd.  Listen to his remix of Mike Foyle’s Shipwrecked, turning a classic and typical Mike Foyle chilled track with its usual haunting piano chords into a song that will tear up the dancefloor and mind of anyone who loves uplifting trance music.  Like all of his remixes, he leaves the distinctive portion of the song in there, so no one will ever make a mistake in knowing what the song is.  The scary part is he does it so well it feels almost impossible that a song that was so many BPM slower and in energy as well suddenly turns into a different track that has the essence of the original at its heart.  Listen to his remix of Vincent de Moor’s Fly Away, his remix of Airwave, Lost in Love, Punk’d, Diary of Jane, Divine, etc to see more of what we mean.  Absolutely amazing.
Score: 10/10

DJ ability: This is a conflicted category for us, because the sets he has put together earlier on in his career basically ended up sounding like one long uplifting trance track.  Make no mistake about it though, when this is done in a club where he is the headline DJ, it makes for one of the most fun and amazing nights possible where the entire club is just dancing the entire night.  Over time, his set mixing and track selection have got much better and varied, so I feel we can safely give him a decent score in this category now.  If you have the chance to see him live, don’t walk just RUN to go see him.  In terms of his recorded sets and radio shows, about average ability for mixing and track selection.
Score – 6/10

Conclusion: Like another masterful production artist we reviewed, Orjan Nilsen, Sean Tyas is masterful in producing and especially remixing tracks.  His recorded set DJ ability is about the only flaw in his game right now that is preventing us from giving him a perfect score on the overall scale.  As was the case with Orjan though, we will judge him purely on his ability to contribute to the experience of the Trance Dance Music that we all know and love.  He makes absolutely electrifying trance songs and trance remixes.  So in keeping with this blog’s theme, we feel that his contributions in casual listening with his productions and remixes are second to none, and if you have any doubts about how his sets sound live, then check him out for yourself and stop being a deprived human.

Bottom-Line Trance Dance Music Score – 9.5/10

1. John O Callaghan feat. Audrey Gallagher – Take It All Away (Marcus Schossow Nu Prog remix) (Armada)
2. Pryda – Waves (Pryda)
3. Enya – ID (Jody Wisternoff bootleg)
4. Mac & Mac – Solid Session (First State remix) (Magik Muzik)
5. Faruk Sabanci & Nurettin Colak – Te Quiero Mi Amor (Shah music)
6. Ronski Speed feat. Ana – The Deep Devine (Gareth Emery Remix) (Euphonic)
7. Three Drives – Automatic City (Orjan Nilsen Re-wiz)
8. M.I.K.E. – Sunrise At Palamos 2009 (Gareth Emery remix)
9. Sean Tyas – I Remember Now (Sied van Riel remix) (FSOE)
10. Jochen Miller – Brace Yourself (High Contrast)
11. Arnej – There Are No Coincidences (Armada)
12. Activa & Chris vs. Matt Kidd – U.R. (Stoneface & Terminal Remix) (Discover)
13. Corderoy – Kyrie (Mondo)
14. Jon O Bir – Answers (Vandit)
15. TUNE OF THE WEEK : Gaia – Tuvan (Andy Blueman remix) (Armind)
16. Simon Patterson – Always (Reset)
17. FUTURE FAVORITE: RAM – RAMsterdam (Jorn van Deynhoven remix) (ASOT)
18. Sly One – This Late Stage (Aly & Fila remix) (FSOE)
19. Ian Betts – False Gods (Discover)
20. Mark Sherry & James Allan vs William Daniel – Wired (Dark Tech Dub mix)
21. ASOT Radio Classic: Robert Gitelman – Children of The Sun

Amazing mix of starting off with some more chilled beats, moving to more balaeric and melodic pieces, and then more than an hour+ of absolutely thumping and grooving DANCE music.  We simply had to add that in, because of the nature of the blog, this is exactly the kind of music that moves us and keeps us going back for more.  Oh and a Gareth Emery remix of such a great classic like Sunrise at Palamos, a vintage ASOT radio classic like Children of the Sun, (which pretty much perfectly embodies what the spirit of this blog is about with hard hitting beats, amazingly addictive melody, and one of the best club rocking production tools in existence – silences) and no filler feeding tracks contribute to one of the finest regular episodes we’ve heard from Armin in a long time.  Oh, and if that last amazingly long slightly run-on sentence confused you, what I’m talking about can be put succinctly into 8 words: Almost as good as Veracocha – Carte Blanche live.  We don’t really provide download links for music here, but just google state of trance 417 and there are plenty of spammier sites that do.  Enjoy!

• Tiff Lacey – The Truth (David West Progressive Mix), Absolutely beautiful guitar samples, some of West’s best work
• DJ Shah – Who Will Find Me, Besides his escapade with his first sunlounger compilation – white sand, this is the song that launched DJ Shah into stardom, landing on Armin’s ASOT on the beach CD.  Our fave Shah track still.
• Above & Beyond – Home, unlike most of A&B’s remixes of their own songs, the original still stands head and shoulders above the rest of the competition
• Probspot – Blueberry, yeah they were a one hit wonder, but absolute genius of a progressive trance track
• Andain – Beautiful Things (G&D’s Unplugged Remix), what is there to say about this song that hasn’t been said yet?  Beautiful track about suicide, arguably G&D’s top track that is neck-in-neck with…
• Motorcycle – As the Rush Comes (Sweeping Strings Remix), One of the most recognizable tracks by people who still go to trance parties, kind of like Beautiful Things… there isn’t much to say about one of the best tracks ever
• Andy Moor & Above & Beyond – Air for Life, we love andy moor.  And A&B.  And this track, what a great combo
• Exo pres. The Freak – Above the Clouds – A PVD favorite in his live sets, this song is one of our favorite tech-trance tracks
• Rank 1 – Airwave (Breathing), The vocal remix of this song ranks among one of the oldest, classical, and best tracks from pre 2000
• Cass & Slide – Perception (Vocal Mix), Probably one of our favorite vocal tracks here at TDM, it has a great combo of melody and beautiful vocals.  A true shame Cass & Slide do not make music anymore
• Armin van Buuren – Communication pt. 3, By far our favorite remix of Communication, it’s also the most upbeat, energetic, and danceable of all of them.  I’m sure it’s a huge surprise that we enjoy it so much
• Paul Oakenfold – Southern Sun (DJ Tiesto remix), Fun fact for those of you that were around when it first came out, the lyrics changed for the chorus to this song.  Tiesto showcases his superior remixing skills in this one
• BT – The Force of Gravity (Ferry Corsten’s Bootleg Remix), Ironic that the consensus best remix/version of this legendary track is a bootleg that will never be released on vinyl etc.
• BT – Flaming June, The classical track that vaulted BT’s career into the mainstream public eye, this joint project by BT & PVD is probably our favorite BT track here at TDM.  Really showcases BT’s producing genius in conjunction with PVD’s ear to catchy melodies
• BT – Godspeed, The follow-up to Flaming June, it exhibits a slightly different flavor without PVD, but still impresses us highly.  We can go off on a BT storm further, but we’ll stop ourselves here.
• Aven – All I Want (Ferry Corsten Remix), Regarded by many people as their favorite vocal trance song (although we find that the general people who think so skew towards the very new listeners), this list cannot be complete without it here.
• DJ Tiesto – Battleship Grey, What can we say?  Kirsty Hawkshaw is probably one of the few female vocalists that has it all.  She’s been around since the beginning, is attractive, and has a hot british accent.  Nuff said.
• DJ Tiesto – Sweet Misery, The one track from his Just Be album that shocked us by not getting more publicity and attention while being by far the best track.
• DJ Tiesto – Suburban Train, If you haven’t realized yet, the Tiesto train is being run on you.  Luckily, this train is much more pleasant than any other train that you could have run on you.  Epic song made during Tiesto’s prime
• DJ Tiesto – Magik Journey, Like Suburban Train, and on the same album, an another amazing song made by Tiesto when pretty much every one of his productions and remixes had the distinctive air flange + epic feel to it
• DJ Tiesto – Flight 643, Oh ho ho – if you told us that we would be putting down a song that literally one note as its melody repeated over and over in a list of the very highest throwbacks, I personally would have told you that you were crazy.  As it so happens, this hypothetical situation is one of the times that we are hypothetically wrong.  If that is not a tribute to an absolute production  genius, I don’t know what is
• Balearic Bill – Destination Sunshine (DJ Tiesto’s Power Remix), Ah, just when you thought the train had run its course, it continues in a different form!  Fun fact: This is the track Tiesto dropped when it hit 12:00 AM January 1, 2000 at Trance Energy 2000.  Not much more needs to be said other than to conclude with…
• Delerium – Silence (DJ Tiesto’s ISOS Remix), Probably THE most famous throwback track that everyone knows, it combines elements of Tiesto in his absolute producing prime, Sarah McLachlan’s haunting vocals, and a solid yet simplistic melody, Tiesto shows other artists what the definition of a true remix is that transforms a less known and lackluster Delerium track into the defining remix and track of the decade.  I still remember my favorite Armin set @ Tobacco warehouse in NYC pretty much was sealed when he decided to drop this as his final encore as everyone was leaving, throwing his headphones into the crowd as his way of saying there’s no more perfect ending than this.

There’s waaaaay too many other tracks that we love, but why give them all out at once?  Chew on these tracks for awhile, and get hungry waiting for the next installment!

Oceanlab – Sirens of the Sea Remixed

CD 1
1. If I Could Fly (Jaytech Remix)
2. Come Home (Michael Cassette Remix)
3. On The Beach (Andy Duguid Remix)
4. Lonely Girl (Gareth Emery Remix)
5. On A Good Day (Above & Beyond Club Mix)
6. I Am What I Am (Lange Remix)
7. Breaking Ties (Above & Beyond Analogue Haven Mix)
8. Miracle (Above & Beyond Club Mix)
9. Ashes (Oliver Smith Remix)
10. Sirens Of The Sea (Above & Beyond Club Mix)

CD2
1. Secret (Andrew Bayer Remix)
2. Just Listen (Myon & Shane 54 Remix)
3. On A Good Day (16 Bit Lolitas Remix)
4. Miracle (Michael Cassette Remix)
5. Sirens Of The Sea (Sonorous Remix)
6. Breaking Ties (Duderstadt Vocal Remix)
7. Satellite (Original Above & Beyond Mix)
8. Sky Falls Down (Armin van Buuren Remix)
9. Clear Blue Water (Ferry Corsten Remix)
10. Beautiful Together (Signum Remix)

The UK’s legendary trio of Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness, and Paavo Siljamäki comprise Above & Beyond.  Throw in a timeless vocalist in Justine Suissa and you have Oceanlab, whose productions have more or less all been some of the sickest tracks in the industry.  This new album is not all that new at all, as it is a compilation of “new” remixes of their Sirens of the Sea album by multiple artists.  The worst part is half of the tracks on the remix album aren’t even remixed at all.  For your convenience, new tracks that have debuted on this album are italicized.  As you can see, there’s not that many.  With all that said, new tracks or not what we care about here at TDM is how money they are, and by that yardstick alone this album does not disappoint.  One huge surprise on the tracklist is the lack of Daniel Kandi’s remix of On a Good Day, which arguably has been one of the biggest remixes for any song period on their original album.  It was the most played track in ASOT 400 celebrations throughout all the artists yet failed to find its way onto Oceanlab’s remix album.  Our personal favorite tracks have been bolded once again for your convenience.

From the absolutely awesome relatively recent Signum remake of the original Beautiful Together back to the olden days with Ferry & Armin’s remixes of Clear Blue Water and Sky Falls Down, these tracks bring a sense of nostalgia to a time before these current Dutch powerhouses were a common household name in EDM.  Back then Armin was still quite weak in his own productions, did not have the track selection and mixing skills he has now, and about the only thing he absolutely excelled at was remixing tracks like Sky Falls Down, Seven Cities, etc.  While we did complain a bit about some redundant older tracks, in the end… who can truly argue with putting Satellite on a compilation of top tracks?  If one can swallow the pill of ego (in being old-school) and self-denial that the late 90′s were the best era of trance, it is very apparent that it is one of the top trance tracks of all time.

Overall Score: 8.5/10

A State of Trance 2009

Disc 1 – On the Beach
1. John O’Callaghan feat. Lo-Fi Sugar – Never Fade Away (Andy Duguid Mix – On the Beach Intro Edit)
2. Sunlounger feat. Kyler England – Change Your Mind (Myon and Shane 54 Remix)
3. M6 – Paradise Lost
4. Ron Hagen & Pascal M – Riddles in the Sand
5. Mat Zo – The Fractal Universe
6. The Blizzard with Gåte – Iselilja (Sunn Jellie & The Blizzard Dub Remix)
7. Monogato – Miami Vibe (Omnia Remix)
8. Josh Gabriel presents Winter Kills – Deep Down
9. Myon and Shane 54 feat. Aruna – Helpless (Monster Mix)
10. tyDi feat. Audrey Gallagher – You Walk Away
11. Andy Moor & Ashley Wallbridge feat. Meighan Nealon – Faces
12. Rex Mundi feat. Susana – Nothing At All
13. Jerome Isma-Ae – Shaguar
14. Dash Berlin with Cerf, Mitiska & Jaren – Man on the Run (Nic Chagall Remix)

Disc 2 – In the Club
1. John O’Callaghan feat. Sarah Howells – Find Yourself (Cosmic Gate Remix)
2. Fabio XB & Ronnie Play feat. Gabriel Cage – Inside of You (Cosmic Gate Remix)
3. Gaia – Tuvan
4. Michael Tsukerman – Sivan
5. Cressida – Onyric (Stoneface & Terminal Remix)
6. Claudia Cazacu feat. Audrey Gallagher – Freefalling
7. Aly & Fila – Rosaires
8. Alex M.O.R.P.H. feat. Ana Criado – Sunset Boulevard
9. Signum – Addicted
10. Robert Nickson – Circles (Andy Blueman Remix)
11. Neptune Project – Aztec
12. Thomas Bronzwaer – Look Ahead
13. Phuture Sound feat. Angie – Come to Me (ASOT 2009 Reconstruction)
14. Dreastic – Blade Runner
15. 3rd Moon – Monsun

It’s no secret that the staff here at TDM are fans of Armin’s ASOT yearly compilations.  Armin’s good taste in track selection in his sets and live events carry through to his professional productions.  In general, most CD’s released by artists are 85% fodder and 15% actual content.  Armin’s a State of Trance compilations are generally the best tracks that have come across his plate in the recent year.  This one is no exception.  Then again, being the head of Armada and being the #1 DJ in the world gets a lot of quality tracks passed your way before anyone else.  With artists like DJ Shah as Sunlounger, M6, Robert Nickson, John O’Callaghan, Cosmic Gate, Josh Gabriel, Myon & Shane 54 as the Black Army, Dash Berlin, Andy Moor, Thomas Bronzwaer,  and tyDi, it’s hard to imagine this compilation being anything short of amazing.  In that regard of showcasing each of these artists’ extreme talent in producing, ASOT 2009 does exactly.  Don’t think, just get it today.

Overall Score: 9.5/10