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

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

]]> http://www.trancedancemusic.com/trance-dance-music-weekly-track-roundup/trance-dance-music-weekly-track-roundup-oceanlab-sirens-of-the-sea-remixed-and-a-state-of-trance-2009/feed/ 0 http://www.trancedancemusic.com/trance-dance-music/online-trans-music-reaching-new-heights-in-the-field-of-music/ http://www.trancedancemusic.com/trance-dance-music/online-trans-music-reaching-new-heights-in-the-field-of-music/#comments Tue, 10 Mar 2009 05:00:00 +0000 Tim http://www.trancedancemusic.com/music/online-trans-music-reaching-new-heights-in-the-field-of-music Trance is a style of electronic dance music, which was developed in the early of 1990s. It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 128 and 150 BPM. Trance music has melodic synthesizer phrases, and a progressive musical form that builds up and down throughout a track. Today many popular groups, artists, and mainstream music directors are starting to incorporate trance sound into their recording. Initially trance was not so popular but different music channels and online availability of trans music is providing it enough publicity. Moreover the easy online accessibility of trans music is also making it popular among the masses.

Trans music features repeated synthesizer grooves in the whole track. This genre is actually very similar to techno and house music as they share the same elemental design with regard to their beats and rhythms. However trans music has more melodies than techno and house music. It has achieved the name of trans due to its repetitive sounds and beats, which can put a person in an almost trance-like condition. It is even said that trance music has a hypnotic quality which induces the person. Early track of trans music have repetitive rhythmic beats and more catchy tunes. Trans music from the very beginning started to dominate the dance music scene and many DJ’s and artists start creating their mixes and tunes of trance. To explore the rhythms beats and catchy tunes of trans music, one can take the help of online sites offering trans music online. The essential elements of trance, which are important to completely change the music sound, are:

• Rifts, rolls, breakdowns and buildups.

• Short samples often going into 16th and 32nd notes.

• Anthems.

• Highly intermixed major and minor chords.

Trance music usually features more complicated chord progressions and melodies than were found in the music of the 90′s. It includes 4 chord progressions symptomatic of 80′s new wave music and it also uses saw tooth waved synthesizers more than used in other genres. Some listeners claim trans music to be euphoric and evokes spiritual feelings in them. Different styles of trans music can be easily heard online as there are different websites that are working to popularize the trans music. To avail information about artists of trans music and the chartbuster songs of trans music one can avail it through online trans music stores that offer famous trans music and tunes.

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Let’s be frank, this article is not designed for ignorant people who think that Trance Dance Music is as Paul van Dyk satirizes “The sh*ttiest music since country and western.” The whole dilemma that comes with the grounds of overcoming cognitive dissonance is far, far beyond the scope of this article. Instead, if you are a person who has ever heard some mainstream “trance” or “techno” or “rave” music and thought it to be interesting and intriguing, this article will show you some of the ways to develop your inner love for Trance Music by avoiding the most common amateur mistakes when starting out with this genre of music.

1. Keep an open mind – This is by far one of the most idiotic mistakes we all make unconsciously if we’re not careful. Remember any music that you’re not enjoying all that much can be attributed to many things, but most importantly: remember that one bad song does not define the genre or sub-genre.

2. Don’t listen to cheese – Yes this means YOU, yes YOU sitting there wondering if you really have to put down your DJ Sammy, your Ian Van Dahl, your DJ Encore, your Darude – Sandstorm, and the list goes on. I am not going to sit here and tell you which artist to listen to or what not to, but there is DEFINITELY a world of a difference between eating McDonalds every day and having a rotation of quality foods like Japanese-grown Kobe Beef Filet Mignon every night. They may both be loosely labeled “beef” but there is a world of difference in difference in texture, taste, flavors, aromas and such that the person who has never had either will not be able to immediately appreciate on first taste. Remember my fundamental first point? Don’t be one of those people who think it’s cool to go against mainstream music just because it is mainstream. Have your own thought and opinion. Don’t fall victim and prey to social conditioning. I personally love what DJ’s like Armin van Buuren, Above & Beyond, Ferry Corsten, etc. are doing for the EDM and Trance world. Are they mainstream? Yes. Are they utterly good at what they do to promote the genre, contribute POSITIVELY to it, and at the end of the day make millions of people around the world let go of their problems and burdens for the brief time they’re listening to them? That is the ultimate delimiter and deciding factor in a question of this scale. To wrap this point up, I believe a quote by one of the most genius and talented producers of our era Brian Transeau (aka BT) says it all:

“I love what guys like Oliver Lieb and Paul van Dyk do. I hate that ATB and those sorts of people have prostituted this stuff. You listen to an ATB track and then you listen to Sasha, and the difference is as obvious as listening to Led Zeppelin and Rachmaninoff.” – Brian Transeau

3. Don’t listen to low bitrate music – Now we’re starting to get to the heart of how to actually enjoy the music once we have little nuances like ignorance and stereotyping of a genre of music out of the way. Please do yourself a favor and refuse to listen to anything that is at the VERY least 128 kbps when you first start out, and then 192 kbps when you find that your brain and ears can hear the difference in them. The jump from 192 kbps and 320 kbps takes a bit longer to bridge, but I wholly encourage everyone who has the ability to get a 320 rip of whatever their tunes to do so. If you have no idea what bitrate means, in a nutshell the numbers denote how much information is coming through when you are listening. The less information that comes through, the more muffled, low quality, and ultimately un-lifelike the sound will sound.

4. The equipment you use to listen to music matters – NEWS FLASH! All listening equipment is not created equal. You know what’s one of the main reasons many people can’t tell the difference between bitrates? It’s the equipment you’re using to listen to them. Those stock iPod/iPhone earbuds you use? Throw them out. That overly high voltage sub and thumping system you have that has no depth or frequency response? Get rid of them. Trust me, you’ll thank me for that. Get yourself a nice pair of studio monitors (KRK Rokit RPG5′s are awesome monitors on a budget) or if you cannot afford them, at least go for accurate sound replication over booming bass. I like to think of subwoofers and the stereotypical block-shakin’ sound system as the wasabi to sushi. As your sound quality goes up, having that garbage muffle and deprive your auditory senses of the range of sounds they should be hearing is like throwing a clump of wasabi onto a freshly cut slice of toro sashimi. You only use wasabi as a chaser of sorts with low quality sushi. In the same way, you don’t need that garbage when listening to high quality music through a high quality medium. Oh yeah, those stock earbuds you have? If you commute or listen to music on the go at all, invest in a nice pair of sound isolating earbuds. Shure and Etymotic Research make amazing ones, even at the lowest budget level. (ER6i or EC3 both start around 70-110 depending on where/when you can get them). If you’re thinking to yourself that it’s ludicrous to pay that much money for earbuds, I got a pair of er6i’s when I was a poor college kid that was hitting up Wendy’s dollar menu for dinner. Even back then I felt they were one of the best investments I ever made. They block out outside sound so the true essence of sound replication can be heard in your ear canals. Oh and did I mention you only have to play your ipod at maybe 1/4-1/2 volume for optimum results? They’re wonderful for your hearing. What are you waiting for? Get off your butt and goto your local Guitar Center, Sam Ash, or equivalent that sells high quality audio equipment and HEAR the difference for yourself.

5. Find your favorite and respected artists’ radioshows and podcasts – Your typical DI.fm free streams are 128 kbps max, 192 streams cost a meager amount of money. In alignment with point 3 above, don’t cheap yourself out of a superior audio experience. Some more notable shows like Armin Van Buuren’s A State of Trance (Thursday Afternoons 2-4 PM EST (GMT -5)) display some of the newest and hottest trance tunes that mostly haven’t been released yet. True to his own beliefs, Armin does not usually overload his radio shows with all Armada (His label) releases or pre-releases. On the flipside, Trance Around the World with Above & Beyond has turned into a promotional show for anything Anjunabeats related. Almost every artist worth his merit (and many who are not) has his own show or podcast on a regular schedule. Andy Moor has a radio show Moor Music usually on a monthly basis. DJ Shah has Music for Balearic People. Ferry Corsten has Corsten Countdown. Paul van Dyk has Vonyc Sessions. Tiesto has Club Life. Paul Oakenfold has Groove Radio. Markus Schulz has Global DJ Broadcast. John O’ Callaghan has Subculture. Aly & Fila have Future Sound of Egypt. Even up and coming artists like Sean Tyas have Essential Mix. Truly, you can usually find enough shows to overwhelm even the most seasoned tranceaddict. Remember point 1? Yup, that’s right: it still applies here. Don’t be a victim of going along with popular culture or counter-culture. Just because I’m not feeling Above & Beyond’s overly promotional style for their show these days doesn’t mean you won’t either. So remember that your opinion matters most. Always remember that and get out there and find some radio shows that you’ll love.

6. For the love of God, don’t fast forward through music – Especially not to “get to the good part” when you’re first listening to the song. The utter stupidity of showing friends a song in which they fast forward through a 9 minute track in 15 seconds and making a judgment on it leaves me speechless. You don’t read a book for pleasure by reading the first page, the middle page, and the last page. Why in the world would you do that with EDM? The majority of tracks aren’t built for crack club banging like the hip hop equivalent of Soulja Boy’s idiocy. Trance and most other forms of EDM lead you on a journey. Is it any surprise that the effectiveness of a DJ liveset is based upon his track selection and his ability to mix songs together to minimize listener immersion and take him or her on a journey (Some DJ’s in fact specialize in this journey like Tiesto)? Even the best songs that I love if fast forwarded lose at least 50% of their effectiveness. In philosophy, a common saying asks how we as humans would be able to appreciate joy without pain, light without darkness, and other extremes. In the same way, I ask how you are able to enjoy an experience by only seeing a brief montage of it. Don’t cheat yourself. Take your hand off that fast forward button.

7. Go to a live DJ at your local club – This is by far one of the most effective ways to develop a love for the music. It incorporates community by meeting other similarly interested people, (hopefully) an awesome venue that has an extremely high quality sound system, and the entire experience and journey of Trance and Dance Music. If you live in a high volume metropolitan area, be ready for large crowded clubs when international superstars such as Armin van Buuren, Paul van Dyk, DJ Tiesto, etc. come to your city. While the author of this article does not condone illegal activity and cannot go into the scope of the specifics of illegal substances, from personal experience they have worked to have a synergistic effect of making a club experience and love of the music explode by 100x or more. Remember point 1? Hopefully by now you get the idea and not listen to governmental fear tactics designed to take advantage of how little the average consumer thinks. Educate yourself and make an informed decision. I did and never looked back.

8. Do NOT play your music at low volumes – This is probably the rookie mistake that trumps all the others. Regardless of bitrate, regardless of equipment, regardless of song, if your ears are having difficulty audibly discerning the song, it’s not going to sound good no matter what you do. Part of the experience that makes a blockbuster hit like the Dark Knight so good especially in an IMAX theatre is the immersion and sound and visual quality to it. In the same way, if you do not have the same level of this while listening to music that takes you on a journey, you’ll find that it will end quite abruptly.

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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Featured on Armin van Buuren’s weekly radio show A State of Trance episode 389, the vocalist for the hit songs Iio – Rapture and Crash and Burn is back for another hit.  In terms of a vocal trance track, the vocals mesh very well with Andy Moor’s amazing basslines, and the two synergize to make each other better.  In terms of overall production quality, a very high quality track — in Andy Moor quality standards, very average/slightly below average.  That statement in itself should go to show why Moor is one of the most talented producers today.  Either way though, it’s definitely catchy and worth a listen.

Overall Score: 8/10

Cosmic Gate ft. Emma Hewitt – Not Enough Time (Club Mix)

The old days where Cosmic Gate would pound out clubs with deafening hard trance and tech trance are long over.  We here at Trance Dance Music considered Cosmic Gate one of our favorite artists for pure dance music back then, but have been forced a few years ago to re-evaluate our position on them.  Their sound has definitely changed, but they still make some quality tracks that are a joy to listen to.  Luckily, this is one of them.  This track also debuted in a State of Trance 389.  Layered with both chilling and relaxing ambiance, the vocals integrate very well with the rest of the song as well.  This is definitely a track to grab and check out, superior by far to the slower and repetitive nature of the Andy Dugoid remix.  After all, this is the Trance Dance Music blog, not the slow and stationary music blog.

Overall Score: 8.5/10

“Trance had become a dirty word. Thanks to Ian Van Dahl, Lasgo, Flip ‘N’ Fill and DJ Sammy, a generation of kids has grown up thinking trance is the shittiest music since country and western”
- Paul van Dyk

“Progressive music is like having sex without an orgasm, it builds and builds but goes no where”
- Anonymous DJ

“The weekend is a time to go out and dance your fucking nuts off. You don’t want to do that listening to a boring, 8-minute progressive record.”
- Ferry Corsten

“Since the early days of humankind, dancing was always an expression of feeling good, and making someone feel good is the main intention of DJ’ing. I don’t see the point of playing a record that makes people stand there, lotok at you and say “Umm, very interesting”
- Paul van Dyk

This blog will discuss everything related to trance, dancing to it, and going to clubs.  On occassion some notable progressive tracks will trickle across, but for the most part it will be all about the music that moves us.  Popular albums will be analyzed, and will either crash and burn or rise above the ashes born with this blog’s blessings.  Horrible tracks and artists will be ridiculed and demolished, quality ones will be given their proper praise.  100% raw and uncut, no pulling punches, just straight shooting.  The only question left is: are you ready?