Trance Dance Music Weekly Track Roundup: Oceanlab – Sirens of the Sea Remixed and a State of Trance 2009

Tim — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:29:08 +0000

It’s been a pretty good period for trance lately, with tons of worthy tracks. We are compiling another super round-up with some of trance’s hottest tunes. In the meantime, we felt we should do our due diligence in reviewing two recent albums that have come out from two of the Trance scene’s top players. Here is what we found:

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

Trance Dance Music Weekly Track Roundup: Love Story, Not Enough Time

Tim — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:40:50 +0000

Nadia Ali – Love Story (Andy Moor Vocal Mix)

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

The Trance Dance Music Blog » weekly track roundup

Trance Dance Music Weekly Track Roundup: Oceanlab – Sirens of the Sea Remixed and a State of Trance 2009

Trance Dance Music Weekly Track Roundup: Love Story, Not Enough Time