Dutch DJ'ing legend Tiesto dropped his latest single and the first of 2023 titled 'Lay Low'. It's a house track which is not all that uncommon from him and is featured on his latest studio album "Drive" which also features tracks like 10:35 and Hot In It. Tiesto said recently that the album 'Drive' took on a completely new direction with him embracing house music genre more in his production. The track features a deep house sound with melodic undertones and spacey choral vocals. It is a great track from the icon and definitely sets the tone for what we can expect from him going forward this year.
Musical Group Kasablanca recently did a rework on the Moby track "Natural Blues" a while back, the track itself was a sensation and one that brought back memories of electronic music from that decade. Like the original the song was set at a rather slow beat so in came Matt Fax to up the anti a bit with his remix of the song "Synthetic Blues". The pace is definitely increased in the track with a great beat update which works well with the melody as well as the vocals. It's a great track whether you liked the original or not as it offers something different to what is being released at the moment. I quite enjoyed this one, here's hoping you do to.
Isreali DJ and producer Maor Levi has been a busy man of late, churning out some great tracks under the Anjunabeats label. Earlier this year saw Maor release his first solo Anjunabeats in two years with "Save the Last Trance" and "Constellations". Maor also teamed up with Armin van Buuren not so long ago for their track "Divino". This time round he teams up with another Isreali DJ Yahel for their track "Creator". It's one of those high-tempo trance tracks that exudes high-energy and automatically gets you fist pumping without you even knowing. The best kinda tracks for those underground trance festival vibes and with festival season upon us for Europe, this track will no doubt be a firm favourite for many at them. The track really gets the blood flowing and hypes you up as the build up goes, its one of those tracks that needs to be played at high volume, so turn it up and enjoy!
Minnesota based producer Kevin Lang, better known from his stage name AWAKEND is up on the blog this week with his latest track "Break Through". Taken from his EP Memories From Another Life, the track features the vocals of Sammy Plotkin which balances out the melodic beats on the song. Released by Enhanced Music, whom are delighted by this offering saying it is a one-of-a-kind project from Kevin, his immaculate, high-energy dance sound is at its triumphant best across the EP's five tracks but this one in particular stands out the most. With the energy transfer in the track, it gives you a euphoric feeling when listening from the start. Being a short track the build up kicks in round the 35 second mark but its down gradually with the additions of various beats and synths before the high-energy drop. It really is one of those tracks that gets your heart going at full flutter and brilliantly composed, so I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did.
UK based DJ and producer Steve Helstrip who is better know for his stage name "The Thrillskeekers" has been around for a little over a decade, his single "Synaethesia" which debuted back in 1999 still proves to be an iconic trance cult classic. Slovenian Dance Music composer and DJ UMEK decided it was time to breathe some fresh air into the track and has released his remix of it. The track still maintains that foot stomping bassline but has a deeper sound to it, with the synths coming in from the background giving the track an uplifting feel about it. The build up is a bit more pronounced now, bringing it up to speed with tracks in this genre at the moment and the drop with the elevated bassline just gets you going. It really is a catchy track and one that should do well with the re-introduction of festivals around Europe this month.
If you're a trance junkie, Kosheen's "Hide U" will be one of your all-time favourite tracks and recently Sian Evans, the Welsh singer from Kosheen re-did the track and we have the epic Tinlicker Remix of it which has been blowing up worldwide since its release on April 9th, even though the track was debuted back in 2019, the Dutch DJ duo took their own sweet time releasing this one but its another great track that is worth the wait. The vocals are just as melodic as the original but with a deeper sound, the whole sound of the track has a reduced tempo and BPM but the build up is one of the best ones I've heard in a long time and if the drop doesn't get you jamming, I don't know what will.
Myon's Summer of Love Remixes are a thing of beauty and this particular one is no different. He's taken Steven Brian's track "Sweet Little Lies" and elevated the sounds as he normally does, to make the track even more epic than the original. The melodic sounds with the up tempo beats is not only catchy but also resonates with you on a deeper level. Here it is, turn it up and enjoy!
Whether you're into trance or not, there's one name that is synonymous to the genre, some regard him as the father or God of trance music and he is none other that Armin van Buuren. The work he's done over the past few decades has been immense, not only in terms of producing music, finding talent but the work done by his weekly podcast which just snowballed into something epic that is recognized world wide as one of the biggest trance music shows in the world. He used to celebrate every 50th episode in grand scale with shows around the globe, taking the music that people know and love to every corner of the earth, this year he celebrates the biggest milestone, being the 1000th episode, it's really unfortunate that it happen to fall while the world is still trying to get a grip with this ongoing pandemic but never the less, the show goes on. Every year a special "Anthem" is created by invited artist as the halo song for the celebration, its only fitting that Armin made this years anthem, and encapsulates everything there is to him, his show and what he stands for. "Turn The World Into A Dancefloor" is achieving just that, while we all cannot celebrate together in one space, we can do so in the safety and comfort of our own homes and Armin is giving us something to celebrate about. Congrats to Armin and the Armada team on 1000 episodes of A State of Trance, a monumental effort by all and here's to the next 1000!
DJ, Producer and Pianist EMATA is our featured artist this week, having dropped his latest single "Stardust" last week on Elliptical Sun Records, we couldn't find a reason not to feature this brilliant song this week. The song as described by the label is nothing short of his signature sound, one that is known and loved by many. The track features an electric bassline, airy vocal chops all mixed in with a clever chord progressions. If you love uplifting trance then you're going to love this one, it definitely is a hit on our radar so we hope you enjoy it too!
Most of us who streamed ABGT400 last year was sad that it was not the ABGT event we learned to love over the years but the effort made by Jono, Pavo, Tony and team to ensure the fans still got to party with them was excellent. One particular track during the Above & Beyond set got many peoples attention, it was a remix of their hit track "Thing Called Love" featuring Richard Bedford, what we didn't know at the time was the person responsible for this remix. The track was released on the 9th of this month and surprise, surprise, it was none other than House DJ and Producer, Oliver Heldens! Wait what? A house music DJ remixing a trance track? Doesn't make any sense and what is even more baffling is how perfect it is? Oliver, maybe you should dabble in some trance music because if this is anything to go by, we're missing out on some potential crackers!
LA based DJ and producer John Kunkel better known by his stage name John Grand has released his latest EP titled "Who We Are". I had a listen to it a while back and this one particular song just stuck out for me, so much so I kept on repeating it on my playlist whenever I had the chance. Nine to Five is a proper banger and one that any trance lover will love and appreciate from start to finish. Interesting fact about John, before his dive into EDM, he used to be the lead singer of a band called The New Division, so he has a multitude of talents in the music spectrum so you know he has a great appreciation of the art. You'll notice this in this particular track, how everything is done in such precision, from the build-ups to the drops and the chorus. Simply brilliant, so turn up the volume and enjoy Nine to Five for whom many are in their last working week of 2020.
Mexican DJ Levitate is on the blog this week with his latest offering Fuego. Featured on Elliptical Sun Recordings, this DJ has a recognizable sound with his fusion of Trance and Tech, which is wonderfully displayed in Fuego. The track has a big bassline which will get you going along with massive pads, and a combination of elements of electronic to give the track more substance. His music is diverse and while relatively unheard of he has shared the stage with some big names in the past, such as Paul Van Dyk, Above & Beyond as well as Armin to name a few. With his experience in the EDM scene, and producing great tracks like this, I won't be surprised if we will be hearing more of his name in the future.
There's always tracks you hear on artist live sets which just captivates you, but they you go to look in the track list and it says "ID" so you patiently wait for it to be released. Seldom do they not get released but after 2 years of waiting I honestly made peace that Willem and Ward are never going to give us this track but then this weekend, while listening to an Andrew Rayel podcast, a familiar track was played which revoked memories from Tomorrowland 2017. Could it be? Have NWYR finally released this track? The short answer is yes and we have it here for you today. Drakaina is just as amazing now as it was the first time I've heard it. Their sound is so unique and distinct that it doesn't have an age to it, so even if I heard it three years ago, with its release now still sounds fresh. The duo seriously have no idea how happy they've made me by releasing this track, all trance lovers will share my sentiments as well.
Los Angeles based Progressive Trance producer Nikhil Prakash is no stranger to our blog with us featuring his track "Are You" previously. This time round he's back with another banger, under the Enhanced Records label, titled "Horse Power". It's a brilliant progressive track with a bit of hard style slipped in the middle. It's been getting decent airplay on the podcasts since its release three weeks ago, especially from Andrew Rayel and the likes. It's another great track from Nikhil and one that really gets the blood flow going, which lives up to its title Horsepower, turn up and get the week going.
British DJ Mat Zo has a knack of coming up with trance tracks that are a bit different from the norm, it's hard to pinpoint his exact sound because of his experimentations whether from his tracks or remixes but regardless they all damn good. This week's featured track from Mat is titled "Colours" released under the Anjunabeats label, it also takes a slight deviation from the uplifting trance beats and has more of a 90s pop techno sound, similar to his previous track "Love Songs". The underlying beat and baseline is a great groovy catchy one that gets to you from the start of the song and with the multiple build ups, it just gets better and better. It's another great release from Mat Zo and one I'll be replaying a lot for the next few weeks.
American DJ Morgan Page teamed up with Dutch Trance music producer Mark Sixma for the track "Our Song" which was good but then that Viking Orjan Nilsen decided it needed a bit of a rework and you know when Orjan add's his touch to a track it turns into gold and that is just what happened to this track! The remix was released early August and has had decent airplay since then on the various podcasts, it's a pity festivals are still a shutdown since most countries are still struggling to contain the virus but this would have been a banger at them Best we can do for now is turn up the volume and enjoy it at home!
Since ABGT 350, last year in October when this track was first played as an ID in their set, I as I'm sure many others were wondering when the trio were going to release the damn track let alone give it a name! Well, I'm glad to report that finally, after almost a year, not only does the track have a name but also has been officially released! Last week Wednesday Above & Beyond officially released "Jam", a track that they made from a jam session some time last year. It's a track that harks back to their trance classics, it's a song that if you are an avid A&B fan would love straight away. The beats leading to the build up are indicative of some of their old music but fusing the new and old for the drop definitely brings this track to another dimension. Certainly was worth the wait, turn up the volume, get those glow sticks out and have a jam session to it.
London based DJ and Producer Farius has dropped his latest album last month, From the Start and with it brought some great tracks. Our featured track for today is taken from that album, the track Steadfast has been give decent air play over the past month or so by many legends in the industry, from the likes of Amrin, A&B, Markus Schulz and Paul van Dyk to name a few. It surely will spur the talented Progressive Dance DJ on to produce more music in the future and hopefully they are as great as this.
Alex Klingle, the Vancouver based composer and sound designer as he likes to be known as is our featured artist for this week. While his name might not be the most popular around he has done some mighty impressive stuff over the years including creating custom music for the Fast and Furious movie franchise. His track Colors Back has been quite a hit on most podcasts over the months but Chile based DJ Paul Arcane has added his own unique twist to it to make it a little bit more trancy, is that even a word? The remix has added great elements to the original, uplifting the feel and melody giving it a good overall sound, the remix was release last week Friday so it is still fresh, so turn up the volume and enjoy!
It's Monday, we need something dark and techno to get the bpm raised to take on the new week, so we thought why not some Purple Haze, no not the drug but rather the artist. Many would know him as Sander van Doorn but the Dutch maestro has an alter-ego under the guise Purple Haze which has been delivering alternative sounds to that of his main platform over the past 3 years to much success. Our featured track is his latest single 'Rosy' which is a progressive techno track with elements of trance filtered through, really one that just builds and builds on emotion as well as before the multi drop. It's the perfect way to get your Monday and week going so turn up the volume, get the glow sticks out and enjoy.
