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

Passive Progressive ft. Rachele Warner – Hide Away (7 Skies & Static Blue remix)

The first release from the new label S107, a sublabel of Armada, this track is definitive of what the S107 is aiming for; quality vocal progressive trance.  It showcases the talent of newcomer Rachele Warner, whose voice sounds similar to Smith & Pledger vocalists Carrie Skipper and Melinda Gareh for the classic bangers Forever and Connected respectively.  The original mix is somewhat lackluster, but 7 Skies & Static Blue pick up the slack in their remix for a very catchy synthesis of melody and vocals.

Overall Score: 8/10

Oceanlab – On A Good Day (Daniel Kandi Remix)

Oceanlab’s debut album last summer made some noise with tracks that were released years prior like Sirens of the Sea and their smash hit album debut song Miracle.  Listening to the album, there were a few good tracks on there, but nothing too sensational in and of itself.  It seems like as is the case with many Above & Beyond songs, once mediocre songs find ways to revitalize themselves through remixes either by their own crew or another producer.  From Breaking Ties to On a Good Day to the still unreleased remix of Lonely Girl by Gareth Emery, these once average tracks have found ways to make themselves noteworthy club tracks, and Daniel Kandi’s remix of On a Good Day may be the best out of all of them.  Played by more artists during the festivities in ASOT 400 than any other track, Daniel Kandi shows why he’s one of the premiere movers and shakers in the trance world today.  Get this track today.

Overall Score: 9/10

Re:Locate & Mark Sigma – Piranha (Heatbeat Remix)

Heatbeat may be a relatively new and still unknown name to many people, but he is an Argentinian producer who has a very distinct style of electro sounds & tech-trance.  From his first big hit Nebula to Paradise Garage (which was in ASOT 2008), to his new track Vergatron, they are all club killers that absolutely rock the house.  His most recent remix of Piranha by Mark Sigma aka M6 is dynamate and easily trumps the original.  If you’re a DJ playing live, throw some heatbeat tracks and remixes in your set and see how much people go crazy when the buildup crashes down and the payoff hits in the track.

Overall Score: 8.5/10

Will Holland feat. Yana Kay – Tears In The Rain (Orjan Nilsen remix)

It’s no secret that we are a bit partial to Orjan here at TDM, but if he were to stop creating monster tracks, then we would just as quickly disown our partiality.  Will Holland’s Tears in the Rain has been around for some time, but with Orjan’s expert remixing, this track once again has new life.  The original great vocals mix amazingly with Orjan’s distinct style for a track that is awesome to groove to.  Definitely check this one out.

Overall Score: 9/10

Claudia Cazacu feat. Audrey Gallagher – Free Fallin

This is probably the most by the book definition of uplifting trance you can get.  Even so, how much does this track destroy the club when dropped in the middle of a set?  What is there to say, it’s very John O’Callaghan-esque, features the vocals of Audrey Gallagher, and has a life of its own.  Armin has been known to tailor his set style to the individual tastes of the region he’s playing in, but it speaks volumes when this track was consistently a staple of every set for a good month and a half or more.

Overall Score: 9/10

Roger Shah & Chris Jones presents Open Minded – To The Sky (Club Mix)

Although DJ Shah and Chris Jones’ first track together Going Wrong on Armin’s Imagination album didn’t capture our attention as much here on TDM, this track certainly has.  Making its debut on ASOT 400 like so many other new tracks, Roger Shah has arguably topped Going Wrong with Chris Jones with a more visceral and less balaeric track.  Definitely a good combination, and worthy to be checked out.

Overall Score: 8.5/10

Ashley Wallbridge & Andy Moor featuring Meighan Nealon – Faces

Meighan Nealon has been doing vocals for Ashley Wallbridge (Ashley is actually a guy) for pretty much all of his tracks.  With their powers combined (in a Captain Planet sort of way), there is really not much to expect except an absolutely massive track.  What is there to be said about Andy Moor that hasn’t already been said?  He is an absolute master and genius of producing and produces more extremely high quality tracks in one year than most big artists will ever create in their lifetime.  The flow and style of the track most definitely favors Moor’s unique pitch and blend.  A masterful haunting piece of work, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t go out and pick up this track right now.  Well, other than the fact that it’s not released yet on vinyl.

Overall Score: 9.5/10

TyDi feat. Audrey Gallagher – You Walk Away

To round up our roundup, is our favorite track of the moment from the #1 Australian up and coming DJ TyDi.  His album just released and also debuting on ASOT 400 is his track with Audrey Gallagher.  The track is the total package in the sense of pretty much every category we care about here at TDM.  Haunting vocals not seen from Audrey since she lent her voice to Agnelli & Nelson’s Holding onto Nothing, beautiful breakbeats, variance of different sounds, amazing buildup, great payoff.  Seriously, just get this track and don’t look back.

Overall Score: 10/10