Weekly shows update

- Aly & Fila, Simon Patterson, and Tom Colontonio will be celebrating Massive Event's four-year anniversary with a show scheduled for October 9 at Webster Hall.

- The openers for deadmau5's trio of shows in late October at the Roseland Ballroom, in which he has dubbed "The Trifecta", have been announced. Performers include Afrojack, Sleepy & Boo, Pete Tong, Kaskade, and Busta Rhymes.

- Soul Clap and Nicolas Jaar, of Wolf + Lamb fame, will be at the Rivington Penthouse in a few weeks.

- Two notable names are coming to Pacha again: Mark Knight on October 23, and Stoneface & Terminal on October 15.

- Gareth Emery will play a show at Cielo on October 28 in support of his new artist album: Northern Lights.

- For the first time in over a year, Sasha will play a show in New York City in one of it's newest clubs: District 36.

1,000 albums for $5 each

Every month, Amazon.com sells 100 of their MP3 albums for a reduced price of $5 each. But for the month of August, they've listed 1,000 choices in this category, including some decent selections for those of us that like electronic dance music.

You can view a full list of the EDM albums on sale here. Among the trance deals:

Anjunabeats Vol. 7

Tiesto - In Search of Sunrise 2

Tiesto - In Search of Sunrise 5 - Los Angeles

Aly & Fila - Rising Sun

[Image credit: Amazon.com]

Weekly shows update

The biggest news this week is that the 2010 Electric Zoo lineup has been finalized with schedules released for each day (minus set times):

And at Pacha last weekend during the Oakenfold and Laidback Luke shows, flyers were being handed out to advertise a bunch of new events, including Aly & Fila's first-ever visit to NYC.

Lastly, Royal Advisor Records and their artists have a couple shows lined up for the next two weeks.

[Image credit: PlexiPR, Brad Miller @ TranceAddict]

Afterhours.fm's four year anniversary celebration begins tonight

And boy do they have a lineup put together for this- I don't think I've ever seen a better collection of trance DJ's in one place at the same time.

In addition to live broadcasts of Aly & Fila's Rising Sun album launch party and StreamLined, a show featuring guys like Estiva and Alex M.O.R.P.H., AH.fm has rounded up 72 other DJ's to partake in the celebration that lasts until June 1.

Highlights include:

Manuel Le Saux
Temple One
Kyau & Albert
Mat Zo
Jorn Van Deynhoven
Daniel Kandi
Rank 1
Super8 & Tab
Markus Schulz
Sean Tyas
Nitrous Oxide

Oh...and I'm forgetting a couple dozen other names too. Click the flyers below for the full lineup and head to AH.fm to see when someone is broadcasting over the air.

[Image credit: Afterhours.fm]

Last album-related post of the week...I promise

Over the past week on here I've plugged upcoming albums from Aly & Fila and Solarstone, and if you've just started reading the site during this time span you might think it's just a place where I ramble on about my favorite artists and what CD's they're releasing.

So this will be my last plug of the week, but it's a good one: DJ Eco has announced on his Facebook page that he's begun work on his first artist album, which will be released in the future through Armada Music.

Aly & Fila's Rising Sun now available on iTunes

Aly & Fila's debut album, Rising Sun, is now available a week before it's official release date on iTunes for $7.99.

Armada has posted track previews of the album's 15 songs on their official YouTube page, and the release has also scored a positive review from the folks over at TranceFix.

On a side note, according to Billboard, iTunes now accounts for 26% of all US music sales. With this statistic and increasing sales on iTunes in the future, it'll be interesting to see if more electronic dance music artists market their music more on iTunes over places like Beatport and TrackItDown.

Aly & Fila's album set for May 28 release

Armada Music has announced today that Aly & Fila's debut album, Rising Sun, will be out in stores at the end of this month.

Tracklisting:

1. Medellin (vs. Activa)
2. Crowe It Will Be Ok (feat. Katherine)
3. My Mind Is With You (feat. Denise Rivera)
4. Rosaires
5. Listening (feat. Josie)
6. Menes
7. Still (feat. Sue McLaren)
8. Perfect Red (vs. Bjorn Akesson)
9. I Can Hear You (feat. Sue McLaren)
10. Without You (The Never Knowing) (vs. Philippe El Sisi feat. Senadee)
11. Paradise (feat. Tiff Lacey)
12. Khepera
13. Sandgroper
14. Breeze (feat. Jass)
15. Rising Sun

Some users on Trancefix have already compiled a list of YouTube links for some of the tracks on the disc, and things are sounding good.

But I can't get over the ridiculous album art that they decided to go with for Rising Sun. Are they trying to pull off the gangsta rap tough guy look?


[Image credit: ArmadaMusic.com]

The inaugural Internet Music Conference

Ok, so no such conference actually exists, but is it a coincidence that so many great internet radio broadcasts are scheduled the week after WMC?

Not only are a stacked lineup of artists of the A State of Trance 450 shows going to be hitting the airwaves, but Afterhours.fm also has four special events planned throughout the week.

Here's the rundown on what you can watch and listen, and who's set to look out for.

Monday: France in the Mix 3 on Afterhours.fm

Notables: Ferry Tayle, Stonevalley
To listen, click here.

Tuesday: Czech Republic in the mix 1 on Afterhours.fm

Notables: Ronny K, Android
To listen, click here.

Wednesday: Russia in the Mix 3 on Afterhours.fm

Lineup TBA
To listen, click here.

Thursday: A State of Trance 450 @ The Guvernment, Toronto on AStateofTrance.com

Lineup: Arnej, Blake Jarrell, Armin Van Buuren, Aly & Fila, Simon Patterson, Sean Tyas, Signum
Notables: Aly & Fila, Sean Tyas, Armin Van Buuren
To listen, click here.

Friday: A State of Trance 450 @ Roseland Ballroom, New York City on AStateofTrance.com

Notables: DJ Eco, Rank 1, Armin Van Buuren, Roger Shah
To listen/watch, click here.

Friday: Luminosity: Before The Energy @ Utrecht, Netherlands on Afterhours.fm

Notables: Manuel Le Saux, Estiva, Mat Zo
To listen, click here.

Saturday: A State of Trance 450 @ Roseland Ballroom, New York City on AStateofTrance.com

Notables: John O'Callaghan, Giuseppe Ottaviani, Armin Van Buuren, Breakfast
To listen/watch, click here.

[Image credit: Afterhours.fm, Made Event]

FSOE Recordings joins Armada

Future Sound Of Egypt recordings, the label run by trance-duo Aly & Fila, has now joined Armada Music. This makes them the 28th sublabel under the Armada umbrella.

While this merger probably gives Aly & Fila a greater financial backing, which means they have a better chance of touring the United States in the near future, I hoped they would remain operating on their own. It's not to say Armada's music is bad, but I would prefer a label like FSOE to remain independent and in complete control of their creative interests than to join a conglomerate. I saw FSOE becoming the next Anjunabeats with a couple more years of development.

Track reviews: The spaced-out emo edition

Over the past week I've picked up a variety of songs- some vocal trance, a trance tune, and a prog-house tune which now shares the honor of being my highest rated track on this blog. And if you get emotional, grab a tissue for this one (or skip #2).

1. Talla 2XLC feat. Skysurfer - Terra Australis (Jorn Van Deynhoven Remix) [Addicted To Trance]

@Beatport // @YouTube // @Discogs


This song gets its name from a mythical European continent that supposedly enclosed the Indian Ocean, according to Aristotle (and Wikipedia). What it has to do with this song...I don't know.

Jorn Van Deynhoven builds his remix of "Terra Australis" around a melancholy-sounding pattern of scales descending in pitch, but it fails to lead anywhere. The ending of this song doesn't mix up the main melody enough, leaving you with a track that sounds like the same thing over and over for a good three minutes.

Jorn has a knack for making catchy trance remixes, but this song is his weakest one I've heard yet.

Rating: 6 out of 10 [Average]

2. Dash Berlin - Never Cry Again (Jorn Van Deynhoven Remix) [Aropa]

@Beatport // @YouTube // @Discogs


"When you come home, I'll stop this..."

[Stop what?]

"When you come home, I'll hide it good"

[Uh-oh. What are you hiding?]

"I'll never cry again, when you...come home...to me"



Ok. If you can get past the ridiculously emo and cheesy lyrics in "Never Cry Again", you'll find yet another decently remixed tune with an uplifting vibe by Jorn Van Deynhoven.

JVD's remix is better than the original for two reasons- it has less vocals, and the instrumentals-only part in the middle of the song is extended to two and a half minutes.

The synth melody in this track is an alternating pattern of middle and low pitches, accented with a few nicely-placed high notes.

Jorn loses a few marks though for recycling the same distortion lead-in effect heard in his remix of RAM's "Ramsterdam".

Rating: 6.5 out of 10 [Good]

3. Gabriel Lukosz - All The Usual Things (Niklas Grosswald Remix) [Infraprogressive]

@Beatport


No one has uploaded this track yet to YouTube, so if you decide to take the $1.99 plunge on Beatport and pick it up based on the sample alone, don't worry- it's worth every penny.

Niklas Grosswald's prog-house remix of this tune has one of my favorite melodies of the year so far. As the song progresses, Grosswald teases this spacey synth pattern with a reverb effect that sends its pitch all over the place.

Then later on in the song, an upbeat bassline joins the fray as the reverb pattern alternates between two octaves.

Grosswald's melody here varies it up enough to where it doesn't feel like you're hearing the same thing twice, something uncommon in EDM.

Rating: 9 out of 10 [Choon]

4. Vast Vision feat. Fisher - Everything (Aly & Fila Remix) [FSOE Recordings]

@Beatport // @YouTube // @Discogs


"I only want to be your everything,
If you let me,
Will you let me?
I want to be your every fantasy
Could you love me?
Like I love you?"

Yes, this song is just as bad lyrically in the cheese department as "Never Cry Again", but I'll give credit to Vast Vision for enlisting Fisher as his vocalist on this one. Out of all the female singers in dance music, Fisher has one of the only two voices (the other being Justine Suissa) that you can distinctly recognize when you're hearing a song with them. The rest just sound like generic female singer #568.

For this song, Fisher's low-key voice is a good fit for Aly & Fila's uplifting sounds, as it prevents the song from becoming too flowery.

This remix of "Everything" also contains a few piano touches and some orchestral elements in the breakdown. As a whole, it's a pretty decent vocal trance song, but nothing unforgettable.

Rating: 7 out of 10 [Good]

Huge weekend in store at Afterhours.fm

A couple weeks ago I wrote about why Afterhours.fm is the best online radio station for electronic music, and if you haven't checked it out already, this weekend is a good time to.

On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the site is hosting three special day-long events for listeners featuring some bright young talent in trance and progressive. Here's the rundown...

Friday: Egypt In The Mix

Who: Various DJ's from Egypt, a current hotbed of trance and uplifting trance.

When: Central European Time. For those on the east coast, subtract six hours from whatever set on the schedule to get the EST (ex. 9:00-10:00am on there is 3:00-4:00am here).

Notables:
Joe Shadows (11am-1pm EST)

Whenever I've heard Joe spin, he tends to pick trance and progressive songs that are 'off the beaten path'. It's not to say his selections aren't good, but it's stuff you might not have heard anywhere else (and always makes for an interesting show).

Aly & Fila (3pm-6pm EST)

Anyone who likes the Anjunabeats label or uplifting trance should check out powerhouse duo Aly & Fila, who always deliver and have three hours to showcase their talents in an exclusive mix.


Saturday: Infrasonic Day

Who: Infrasonic Recordings roster, including members from their brilliant Infraprogressive (prog-house) sublabel, such as Acute, Pulstate, Andrelli & Blue, DJ Eco, and Mike Sonar.

When: UK time (subtract five hours from set time- first show starts at 3am EST).

Notables:
DJ Eco (8-9am EST)

If you haven't heard of this NYC-based DJ/producer by now in EDM-land you're probably living under a rock. A good mix of trance and progressive house.

Jorn Van Deynhoven (Noon-1pm EST)

A new star in the arena-style sound of uplifting trance. He's churned out several quality remixes lately.


Sunday: Luminosity BTE Contest

Who: A 'battle of the DJ's' to see who gets a live spot at a pre-party for Trance Energy 2010 in the Netherlands, one of the biggest EDM events in the world.

When: Central European Time (subtract six hours from the set time- first show begins at 3am EST).

Notables:

I'll be honest- I haven't heard of or listened to any of the names on this list. But since one of these 23 DJ's will be getting a live spot at an upcoming event, you know they will go all out. And judging by some of the set tracklists posted up already on the show host's forum, things are looking pretty good.

Be sure to visit Afterhours.fm's forum to vote on who you thought was the best and to show these guys some support.

And if you're busy this weekend and can't catch someone's set, Afterhours will post up download links a couple days after the shows (just click those day name links).

My top 10 EDM songs of 2009

Although 2010 has just started, it's not too late to get in one more of those "best of" lists. The following, in no order, are my picks for the top 10 EDM songs of 2009:

1. Neptune Project - Aztec (Aly & Fila Remix) [FSOE]

@Beatport // @YouTube // @Discogs



Aly & Fila's remix of Neptune Project's "Aztec" was one of the biggest trance hits of the summer, most notably for the song's quicker tempo and greater emphasis on the female vocalizations that were the highlight of the original.

The duo, to me, are a younger version of Above & Beyond, and their label, Future Sound of Egypt, has been off to a great start by signing some of the best new producers in uplifting trance.

2. Solarity - Terminal 6 [Anjunadeep]

@Beatport // @YouTube // @Discogs



When you look back at this song as a whole, it has no main build-up point or area of interest. But what makes it so great is how Solarity blends the sloppiness of house with the calm sounds of trance.

As the song progresses, you can hear a soft melody sneaking its way in between the heavily distorted background rhythms, which include notes that sound like sirens and cash registers opening. It sounds like a mess on paper, but it totally works.

3. Matt Skyer - Yearning [Emphase]

@Beatport // @YouTube // @Discogs



Matt Skyer's "Yearning" makes the list as its one of the best uplifting trance songs in the last year.

When the warm piano sounds hit during the breakdown, foreshadowing the melodies about to be heard in the back half of the track, you know you're in for something special.

The entire song has this "feel good" aura to it- the best part of uplifting trance, and Matt has created that feeling perfectly in "Yearning".


4. SoundLift - Road To Revolution [Magic Island]

@Beatport // @YouTube // @Discogs



If you put the soundtrack from the movie Saving Private Ryan and trance in a blender, you would get Road To Revolution.

I first heard this song on Manuel Le Saux's Extrema radio show on Afterhours.fm one afternoon, and the breakdown made me stop what I was doing and immediately download it.

The two minute breakdown, which contains samples of helicopter sounds and gunfire and moves along with an awesome drum roll/trumpet/orchestral melody, is the highlight of a fantastic song from Soundlift. The high-pitch main rhythm, played out with some stabby synth notes, is repeated just enough times to prevent the song from becoming monotonous.

5. Deadmau5 - Strobe [Ultra]

@Beatport // @YouTube // @Discogs



Any single over ten minutes is fairly uncommon with EDM. Thankfully, instead of writing the typical boring intro with basic rhythms so a DJ can easily beatmatch, Deadmau5 keeps this song fresh by starting with a downtempo ambient mood. The introduction lays the groundwork for the song's main melody, but sounds reminiscent of a chillout track with violins and maracas in the background.

After enough buildup and anticipation, the drop finally comes, and not only is it one of the most catchiest melodies of 2009, but one of the most fun as well.

6. Arctic Moon - True Romance [Unreleased]

@YouTube

For some reason Arctic Moon's "True Romance" was never released as a single this year, despite him churning out nearly a dozen productions on various labels.

Outside of hearing this track in a random set, the link above is the only place you can hear this gem of a song- a formulaic, but effective uplifter featuring a wonderful breakdown with tribal drums and female vocalizations. This song is one of uplifting trance's best moments of 2009.

7. RAM - RAMsterdam (Jorn Van Deynhoven Remix) [Armada]

@Beatport // @YouTube // @Discogs



Jorn Van Deynhoven's version of RAM's RAMsterdam is far from original, as the main melody sounds exactly like Lemon & Einor K's "Anticipation", released in 2008. However, Van Deynhoven does a better job at creating a memorable arena-like trance sound in his remix.

Subtle piano notes accompany the frantic main melody, which is built around upward progression of scales.

8. Daniel Kandi - Venice Beach [Anjunabeats]

@Beatport // @YouTube // @Discogs



If you listened to Above & Beyond's Anjunabeats Vol. 7 compilation from start to finish without knowing any of the track names or producers, you could easily pick out Daniel Kandi's lone song.

"Venice Beach" contains all the staple elements of another Daniel Kandi classic- a warm uplifting melody, his traditional synth pitch tunings, and a decent outro.


9. Solarstone - Late Summer Fields (Forerunners Club Mix) [Solaris]

@Beatport // @YouTube // @Discogs



This one is kind of a homer pick, as Solarstone's "Late Summer Fields" is one of my favorite trance tracks of all-time. This is also one of the only two vocal trance songs on this list.

Don't be fooled by the track's name- the Forerunners "club" mix is just as much club as the original versions, but the lyrics in the song are rearranged, and a new melody sneaks its way in the back half of the song. If you've never listened to Solarstone, this is one of their highlight tracks, and part of their excellent Rain Stars Eternal (2008) and Anthology One (2006) albums.

10. Dash Berlin ft. Emma Hewitt - Waiting [Aropa]

@Beatport // @YouTube // @Discogs



Dash Berlin's "Waiting" featuring Emma Hewitt was one of the most popular vocal trance songs of 2009 for one reason- it's incredibly fun.

Yes the lyrics are cheesy. Yes the melodies are basic. But isn't that what makes vocal trance great in the first place?

If you liked this version check out AROPA 004 - Dash Berlin ft. Emma Hewitt - The Remixes, with new versions by Sean Tyas, First State, and Dash Berlin.

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So there you have it- my picks for the top 10 EDM songs of 2009. Was there anything on this list you liked in particular or didn't like? Also, what are your picks?

[Image credit: Junodownload.com]