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

Ok, first thing you notice is the song name… now when I had first read the title of the song with Tenishia originally, I had thought “Sounds like the song will be about a girl who adores a guy or a girl who is satirizing a fool”.  Much to my surprise, it’s not at all about either, and Roger Shah probably believes that cool is an appropriate synonym for cold in English.  It’s ok though, as the original mix was quite lackluster.  DJ Shah’s big stage mix is quite on point though, and blends his unique selling point formula of balaeric music with uplift and energy.  The vocals are a nice addition despite the flagrant misuse of the word cool, but I for one would love to hear this track in a live event.

Overall Score:8/10

Cosmic Gate – Sign of The Times

Tracklist:

1. Open Your Heart
2. London Rain
3. Flatline
4. Sign Of The Times
5. Under Your Spell
6. Not Enough Time
7. F.A.V.
8. Trip To P.D.
9. Only Time
10. Arctic Sunset
11. Body Of Conflict
12. Whatever
13. Seize The Day

We here at Trance Dance Music received an preliminary promotional CD of this new release by legendary duo Cosmic Gate.  It is scheduled to hit stores March 23 although some copies are already floating around the Internet if you want to have a listen (Google is your friend).  As we have already reviewed their previous single Not Enough Time in a previous post, the rest of the album is very shaky at best.  It is very housey and that certain little something that makes the listener bob their head up and down is missing.  Some older popular singles like Body of Conflict from a few years back are on here.  As huge fans of Cosmic Gate in previous years, we regret to say that this CD did not quite match our expectations here on TDM.

Overall Score: 4.5/10

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