Årsarkiv: 2012

Classic FTW: IIO – Rapture (Riva Remix)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-iX6gOdfHE&w=680&h=510]

This week’s article is about a singer who took the dancemusic-scene by storm as her first hit topped all major charts when it first was released in 2001. Since then, she’s worked with most major players in the house- and trance-scene like Armin Van Buuren, Schiller, BT and John Creamer & Stephane K just to name a few.

I´m ofcourse talking about Nadia Ali and her first big hit, Rapture with the duo iiO. (buy on Itunes)

I remember when Rapture first was released. All my music-friends talked about it, Armin hyped it, especially his own remix but I still prefer the Riva Remix over Armin, Deep Dish, Creamer & Ks versions.

Lyrics:

La
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La
La la la la la la
La la la la la la

The night I laid my eyes on you
I felt everything around me move
Got nervous when you looked my way
But you knew all the words to say

And your love slowly moved right in
All this time, oh my love, where you been

Mi amore
Don’t you know
My love I want you so
Sugar
You make my soul complete
Rapture tastes so sweet

I’m mesmerised in every way
You keep me in a state of daze
Your kisses make my skin feel weak
Always melting in your heat

Then I soar like a bird in the wind
Oh I glide like I’m flying through heaven

Mi amore
Don’t you know
My love I want you so
Sugar
You make my soul complete
Rapture tastes so sweet

Mi amore
Don’t you know
My love I want you so
Sugar
You make my soul complete
Rapture tastes so sweet

La
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La
La la la la la la
La la la la la la

Mi amore
Don’t you know
My love I want you so
Sugar
You make my soul complete
Rapture tastes so sweet

Mi amore
Don’t you know
My love I want you so
Sugar
You make my soul complete
Rapture tastes so sweet

La
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La
La la la la la la
La la la la la la

(La la la la la la)
(La la la la la la)

Goosebump-moments:

01:12 when the full music starts.
01:55 when the break starts.
02:10 when the vocals starts.
03:35 when the second verse starts.
03:49 in the mini-break.
05:01 when the second verse starts.

Libyan born Paikstani, Nadia Ali emigrated to Queens, New York at the age of 4 and started singing at the age of 8 but it was first in the late teens that she got her recognition as a singer. She started working at Versace’s New York-office at the age of 17 and it was at one of their christmas parties that she performed and first got attention.

One of her collegues at Versace introduced her to producer Markus Moser who originally was looking for a singer who could write tracks for a German girl-group. Their collaboration instead ended up with their own material under the name iiO. They first decided on the name Vaiio after the Sony-computer that Nadia wroter her lyrics on but later changed the name to iiO.

The first track Nadia wrote, Rapture was written in 30 minutes and was based on an encounter with an Australian nightclub owner. Their first demo was first played at the New York-club Twilo and was later hyped by Pete Tong who played the demo-version on his Radio 1-show.

The track really hit it off when big names as Sasha, Danny Tenaglia and Sander Kleinenberg started hammering it at the Ibiza clubs the same summer and with the release of the single on Ministry Of Sounds label the following autumn, the big success came. The track peaked at no 2 in the UK Singles Chart and hit the same position on the Billboard Dance Hot Club Play Chart in the US.

Rapture has since it’s original release been licensed to various record labels and been re-released several times over the years. Since Rapture came out, iiO was on tour most of the time.

IiO’s next single, the 2002 track At The End did fairly well and peaked at no 13 in the Finnish chart an no 16 in the Danish chart. It came with a pretty good remix-package with reworks by The Scumfrog, Johnny Vicious, JCA, Saeed & Palash just to name a few. Out of the lot, I prefer the Scumfrog-remix.

The followup-single, the 2002 release of Smooth peaked at no 2 in the Finish chart and was released with 2 radio versions. The original, slow radioversion and the more uplifting Airbase radioversion. Of the two, I prefer the Airbase one.

Again, the single came with a pretty good remixes from Airbase, Steve Porter and Pig & Dan just to name a few.

The 2004 single, Runaway did well in Finland again where it peaked at no 2, and was released on CD-maxi with 7 versions or 3×12” with the same versions. I prefer the Ford Remix and the Austin Leeds vs Sinesweeper Remix over the Original Serenity Mix which is ballad-ish.

After the release of the 2005 single, Kiss You, Nadia Ali left the duo. Markus Moser finally got the long postponed debut album, Poetica, released the same year. The track peaked at no 3 in the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart and at no 5 in the Finnish chart.

Markus Moser kept releasing some tracks under the iiO-moniker and their biggest US hit came with the 2006-single, Is It Love?, which peaked at no 1 in the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart.

There was even a second album, the 2011 release, Exit 110 which still uses Nadia on song although she hasn’t recorded with Markus Moser since 2005.

The last single from the iiO-moniker came in 2011 with It’ll Be Like.

When it comes to Nadia Ali’s solo career, she has had alot of success.

Her first single, a collaboration with the almighty Armin Van Buuren featuring Nadia Ali – Who Is Watching is the most meaningful texts she’s ever written. It’s about ”one’s struggle to reach the top, only to realise once one is there how lonely it is and how one has forgotten their priorities and the important people in their life”. The track peaked at no 19 in the Finnish chart.

Her first own release, Crash & Burn peaked at no 6 in the US Hot Dance Club Play Chart and came with an impressive remix-package from DJ’s like Roger Shah, Dean Coleman and Sultan & Ned Shepard Remix.

Love Story, the second solo-release topped the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart and was even nominated for the Best Progressive/House Track at the 2010 International Dance Music Awards at the Winter Music Conference in Miami.

Nadia was featured on the MTV program Iggy in 2009 where she performed acoustic versions of Rapture, Crash & Burn and Love Story.

Third single, Fine Print was another chart-success and peaked at no 4 in the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart

Nadias 2009 debut solo album, Embers contained all 3 recent singles plus another 10 tracks including the 2010 single, Fantasy which actually was voted as the fourth single by her Facebook-fans. The Morgan Page remix of Fantasy was nominated for Best Remixed Recording at the 53rd Grammy Awards and was also chosen as the video version. There was also an alternative video with the album version.

The album title, Embers was chosen because ”most of the songs that I wrote were about relationships that I’ve experienced and how they leave like tiny embers inside me still”.
Embers was also released on Nadia Ali’s own label, Smile In Bed along with all the singles from the album.

There was also 3 remix-albums released, Queen Of Clubs Trilogy: Diamond Edition, Ruby Edition and Onyx Edition. Where the Diamond Edition contains extended versions, the Ruby Edition contains remixes and the Onyx Edition contains tracks that features other artists and Nadia on song.

Since Embers, Nadia has been working on her second studio album with the working title ”Phoenix” for which she took 40 days off in February 2012. She even moved from New York to Los Angeles after living there for 26 years just to get inspired for the new album. The only own release we’ve seen so far is the Youtube-video, When It Rains and the EDX-single This Is Your Life with Nadia on vocals.She’ll also sing on the upcoming track from BT, Must Be The Love.

Nadia Ali’s unique singing has always made me curious. Her original material is really great but the remixes takes her tracks to a whole new level. I hope she’ll finish her second solo album soon as her future still looks really bright. If the new album fails, she’s still some true classics in her luggage to keep her touring for several more years. Hope to see her on the road nearby soon!

Pictures: Remember Rave 1

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First Episode of the Remember Rave sessions in a suburb to Stockholm.
Dj’s: Anneli, Lasak and Douchebag

Remember Rave 1, Underground Lounge, Högdalen, Sweden, 20120706
Pictures: 23

Classic FTW: Three Drives On A Vinyl – Greece 2000

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cXMnZ2vrx8&w=680&h=510]

When people think of classic tracks, especially tranceclassics, I guess this next tracks comes to mind in a few cases. When released back in 1997 I guess noone knew how big this track would eventually become. With several re-releases over the years and licensing to more than a dozen labels, this is truly a classic! I´m ofcourse talking about Three Drives On A Vinyl – Greece 2000. (buy on Itunes)

Dutch born Erik De Koning (a.k.a. Enrico) and Ton van Empel (a.k.a. Ton T.B.) both have tonnes of various aliases on their own and some 14 aliases together. This article will only focus on their Three Drives-alias though.

The name Three Drives On A Vinyl came from the fact that both of them could play on 3 decks at the same time. However, there was a mixup with the record production staff early on in their career so many releases were licensed as ”Greece 2000 – Three Drives On A Vinyl” as they couldn’t imagine a group calling themselves with that name. Many record labels also shortened the Three with a 3. Eventually, they shortened their name to only Three Drives.

Greece 2000 was originally released on the Massive Drive Recordings label (Owned at the time by their good friend Mark Van Dale and later to be run by Ton Van Empel). It was released in most countries as a single with a few different remixes but in Germany and The Netherlands it was first released as an EP with Greece 2000 as the A-side track while Not Overdrive and Piano Freq on the B-side and later released as an own single. The track eventually peaked at no 44 in the UK Charts.

The year after, Greece 2000 (The Remixes) peaked at no 12 in the UK Charts.

Greece 2000 is one of those tracks that you recognize instantly and gives you goosebumps. I remember first hearing it sometime in 1998 and didn’t think much of it then. But it eventually grew on me and is today IMHO one of the best pre-2000 anthems ever. It just gives me a special warm feeling and almost teary eyes.

The followup 1999 single, Turkey 2000 did fairly well and came with a pretty good remix-pack by Southside Spinners, Atlantic Ocean and Jaydee just to name a few. There was also a white label with a remix called Taskforce ”Greece” Mix which uses the original sound of Greece 2000 with the new track.

The same year also saw Three Drives debut album, 2000 which contains Greece 2000, Turkey 2000, Italy 2000, France 2000, UK 2000, Germany 2000 and USA 2000 just to name a few.

1999 also saw the release of Superfunk, an EP with Superfunk, Europa 2000 and A Very Good Day.
Both Superfunk and A Very Good Day shows some new influences. While Superfunk samples some funky track, A Very Good Day sounds more balearic/spanish.

The next big success, the 2000-track Sunset On Ibiza was another chartclimber and peaked at no 44 in the UK Charts. The remix-pack included versions by Yves De Ruyter, Above & Beyond, Sonorous and Sirius There was even a vocal-version released. The track was hyped by Judge Jules who played the white label 5 weeks in a row on his Radio 1 show.

A fun fact is that many releases has the Sonorous version on it but mislabeled as the Above & Beyond Remix due to the fact that they have the same length.

The 2002 single, Carrera 2 was another chart-climber which peaked at no 57 in the UK Charts. It came with a remix-package with version from Gabriel & Dresden, Roger Shah & Pedro Del Mar, Nu-Nrg & DJ Montana.

Three Drives’s second album, Melodies From The Universe came out in 2003 and contained 2 Cds. The first one was original mixes of their tracks wereas CD2 were remixes of their tracks.

2003 also saw the first of many re-releases of Greece 2000, this time with a massive G&M Remix.

The 2004 release, Air Traffic was another chart-hit and peaked at no 75 in the UK Chart. Air Traffic came with a pretty huge remix-pack by Cor Fijneman, Montana and Bobina just to name a few, and eventually a vocal version with singer Julie Morrison.

Signs From The Universe was released the same year and has a massive TB-303 bassline in it. It’s a pretty decent track.

Greece 2000 was re-released in 2005 with remixes by Marcel Woods, Mark Norman and DJ Chus just to name a few. It was also re-released in 2007 with remixes by Plastic Angel, Leama & James Davis and Koishii & Hush just to name a few. The 2008-version contained remixes by Daniel Portman & Chris Reece. The last re-released was in 2010 with remies by Sander Van Dien, Mycel & Lush 7 just to name a few.

Together, released in 2008 was an EP with the tracks Together and Feel The Rhythm.

Their last new release, Automatic City from 2009 contained remixes by Orjan Nilsen and Fast Distance.

The last we saw from Three Drives was another re-release of Greece 2000, this time with vocals and called Letting You Go. Originally remixed by Dabruck & Klein for an Armada compilation album called Hands On Armada vol 2 and later remixed by Armada residents Roger Shah and Markus Schulz. The 2012 release got the 1997 vibe but still sounds fresh, even after 15 magnificent years.

Three Drives has accomplished some big tracks over the years, especially Greece 2000, Carrera 2. Sunset On Ibiza and Air Traffic. They have played their tracks all over the world and most major DJ’s still play their tracks every now and then. Their latest releases sounds fresh but still keeps that classic Greece-sound.

Ton T.B. Is still active, both as a producer and DJ so I hope to hear him perform a classics-set soon.

Classic FTW: Lost Tribe – Gamemaster

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8ouW5vwDk0&w=680&h=510]

This week’s article is about another legend in the trance-community. He’s been active since 1994 and have some 15 aliases that many people recognice. I´m talking about Matt Darey.
The featured track this week is his from project together with Red Jerry, called Lost Tribe – Gamemaster. (Buy on Itunes)

Lyrics:

Embracing the godess energy within yourselves
Will bring all of you to a new understanding and valuing of life;
A vision that inspires you to live and love on planet earth.
Like a priceless jewel, buried in a dark layer of soil and stone,
Earth radiates her brilliant beauty, into the caverns of space and time.
Perhaps you are aware of those who watch over your home,
And experience it as a place to visit and play with reality.
You are becoming aware of yourself,
As a gamemaster.

Imagine earth restored to her real beauty,
Steady trees seems to brush the deep blue sky,
The clouds billow to form the majestic peaks.
The songs of birds fill the air,
Create a symphony on symphony.
The godess is calling for an honouring of what she allows to be created,
Through the form of strength and blood.
Those who own our planet, are learning about love.

English-born Matthew Jonathan Darey started making music early in his career. His first release, Li Kwan – Point Zero was released in 1994 and concidered a true trance-classic. It was about this time that Matt first met Jerry Dickens (a.k.a. Red Jerry). The two made a track for Carl Cox’s compilation Fantazia III: Made In Heaven,
called Lost Tribe – Musika (Bivouac Mix).

But it was with their second Lost Tribe-release, The Distant Voices EP which featured the tracks Gamemaster and Angel (with singer Mala Moonbeam) that their big success came. The EP, released on Red Jerry’s legendary label, Hooj Choons became an instant success, most of all for the track Gamemaster which later came out as an own release with remixes by Signum, Lost Tribe, Michael Woods and Matt Darey just to name a few.

The vocals heard on Gamemaster was pieced together from an arrangement from ”Earth: Pleiadian Keys to the Living Library” by Barbara Marciniak. The track uses a sample from the track Quench – Dreams from 1993. Gamemaster peaked at no 24 in the UK Chart.

The Lost Tribe-moniker was now put on a shelf as Matt Darey started producing under his own name.

Matt’s first solo hit, Matt Darey presents Mash Up – Liberation (with singer Marcella Woods) came out in 1999 and was another success and came with remixes by Ferry Corsten, Solarstone and Matt Darey. The track peaked at no 19 in the UK Chart.

Second single, Matt Darey presents DSP – From Russia With Love was a really pumping track with angelic vocals. I really love that guitarsound in it. The track peaked at no 40 in the UK Chart.

The 2002 single, Beautiful (with singer Marcella Woods) was another success, It was actually one of the first tracks I heard from Matt Darey and I still listen to it quite often. The track was a big chartsuccess and peaked at no 10 in the UK Chart.

The followup to Beautiful, Matt Darey & Marcella Woods – U Shine On also did fairly well in the charts and peaked at no 34 in the UK Chart. The track is pretty good, in some ways even better than the more popular Beautiful as it’s better produced.

The track Moody was also featured on U Shine On but later released as an own single with a new remix of U Shine On.

Voice Of An Angel EP came out in 2004 and featured 3 versions of Voice Of An Angel (with singer Marcella Woods), Nocturnal Delight and Electro Buzz, the latter was released on a onesided promo the year before. Voice Of An Angel EP featured a remix by Michael Woods, the brother of Marcella Woods.

Matt Darey set up his own label in 2004, Darey Products LTD where he re-released a few of his older releases and also features other artists like Adam White & Headstrong.

His first new release on the label, Lost Tribe – Posessed was an own production without Red Jerry.

He also released Incentive Maxi CD which essentially was a mini-album with a few of his older releases from Incentive Records where he used to release his singles.

The 2005-single, Eternity (with singer Izzy) features operasinging and it works really well with the track.

2005 also saw the start of his radioshow, Nocturnal which in April 2006 became a weekly show. His radioshow occasionally features guestmixes and Matt even does his own guestmixes for other radioshows/podcasts every now and then. He even did one exclusively for Bejbi.se in 2011. Listen to it HERE.

Point Zero EP, only released in the US in 2006 contained most of his legendary tracks including the Li Kwan-track with the same title. The EP did well and Matt eventually moved to Miami for a while.

Gamemaster was re-released in 2006 with new mixes from Mark Sherry.

The Sum Of All Fears (with singer Tiff Lacey) is abit slower than previous tracks.

After 2008, Matt started to work on his Urban Astronauts-moniker which specializes in Rocktronica, a new genre which features rock inflences with the latest electronic music.

The first release, Urban Astronauts EP 1 contains the tracks Animal, No Submission and This Way. There was also an EP2 released with remixes, moslty of the track Animal.

In 2009, Matt set up another label, Nocturnal Global.

The second release, See The Sun (with singer Kate Louise Smith) was a big success, especially the Aurosonic Remix which IMHO is one of the best tracks of the whole 21st century.

The last single from Urban Astronauts, Black Flowers (with singer Kirsty Thirsk), came out in 2010. It also features an Aurosonic Remix, but not as good as See The Sun.

From now on, Matt started producing under his own name again.

The 2010-track, Matt Darey & Aeron Aether featuring Ridgewalkers – Chasing The Sun is more house-influented than previous.

Lost At Sea (with singer Ashley Tomberlin) is another house-oriented track. I really love the breakdown, so atmosperic and love the guitar that they used.

Black Canyon and I still Remember (with singer Kate Louse Smith) are 2 pretty sweet track, both pretty commercial but still good housetracks.

Since 2012, Matt was signed to S107 Recordings, a sublabel to Armada Music.

The 2012 track Hold On is an instrumental track, more to the progressive side of house with influences of the recent swedish wave of housemusic. It even has some orchestral sound in it.

The 2 vocal tracks of 2012, Matt Darey & Stan Kolev feat Aelyn – Follow You and Matt Darey feat Leah – Hold Your Breath are both pretty housy but still got that special feeling.

Matt just released his first artist album, Blossom & Decay which features 17 tracks from the last 5 years. You can listen to a guide to the album here with comments by Matt Darey HERE.

Matt Darey has always been synonymous with Trancemusic but as most older artists, he has started to focus on the more commercial sound, like the tracks that you hear on the radio daily. I don’t blame him as more people will hear his stuff and hopefully start listening to his whole discography and find some true gems.

Hopefully, Matt will be on tour this year to support his album so I guess i’ll have the opportunity to see him perform this year. Atleast, I hope so. For he’s worth seeing/hearing.

Pictures: MondayBar Black

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The last ”Black” party at Kolingsborg before they demolish the place this autumn.
This time with dj:s Brennan Heart, B-Front and Freddz.

MondayBar Black Weekend, Kolingsborg, Stockholm, Sweden, 20120728
Pictures: 70

News: Isles of Wonder – Opening ceremony Olympic Games 2012

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So, the big ceremony for the Olympic games in London 2012 is done, and we here on bejbi.se loved it!
It turns out that no other than Underworld had been musical directors for the three hour long ceremony.

One of the track played at the parade

And we have the tracklist.. embrace yourself, this is better than Tïesto’s ”Parade of the Athletes” from 2004.

‎1. Frank Turner – I Still Believe
2. Four Nations Choirs – Jerusalem / Flower of Scotland / Danny Boy / Bread of Heaven
3. LSO On Track – Nimrod
4. Underworld – And I Will Kiss (feat. Dame Evelyn Glennie)
5. Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells / In Dulci Jubilo
6. London Symphony Orchestra – Chariots of Fire
7. Blanck Mass & London Symphony Orchestra – Sundowner
8. Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden – Bonkers
9. A.R. Rahman – Nimma Nimma (feat. Jaspreet Jasz)
10. Emeli Sandé – Heaven
11. Emeli Sandé – Abide With Me
12. Arctic Monkeys – I Bet You Look Good On the Dance Floor
13. Arctic Monkeys – Come Together
14. Underworld – Caliban’s Dream (feat. Dockhead Choir, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Only Men Aloud, Elizabeth Roberts, Alex Trimble)
1. The Chemical Brothers – Galvanize (Beginning)
2. High Contrast – Moon Watcher
3. Underworld – Always Loved a Film (Instrumental)
4. Underworld – Dark and Long (Dark Train)
5. Pet Shop Boys – West End Girls
6. Underworld – Minneapolis (High Contrast Remix)
7. High Contrast – Reach
8. High Contrast – Ghost Dance
9. Underworld – Confusion the Waitress (Darren Price & High Contrast Remix)
10. Wretch 32 – Traktor (feat. L) [Radio Edit]
11. F Buttons – Olympians (High Contrast Remix)
12. High Contrast – Can’t Stop This Fire
13. Underworld – Moon In Water (Instrumental)
14. Underworld – Crocodile (High Contrast Remix)
15. U2 – Where the Streets Have No Name (High Contrast Remix)
16. High Contrast – For Years
17. Underworld – Dirty Epic (Darren Price & High Contrast Remix)
18. High Contrast – The Long Way Home
19. Underworld – Dark and Long (Darren Price & High Contrast Remix)
20. Underworld – Rez (High Contrast Remix)
21. David Bowie – Heroes
22. The Chemical Brothers – Galvanize (Ending)

Buy it here! (iTunes)

Some quick info about the ceremony:

Cast of 15,000 volunteers
– 23,000 costumes
– 12 hours of music
– 60 musicians
– 15,000 sq m of staging
– 13,000 propos
– One million watt PA system with 500 speakers (!)

The cost for all this was estimated to £81m .. but the estimated value of airtime is £5bn!
The ceremony had over four bilion viewers.

Let’s hope it’s safe to say that electronic music is here to stay for good! :)

– Patric

Classic FTW: Svenson & Gielen – Beachbreeze

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quyWQ5zzICs&w=680&h=510]

This weekend’s classic comes from a dynamic duo who´s been active since 1994 under different aliases, for instance Body Heat, DJ Don & Svenson, T-Phobia, Boccacio Life. The aliases that this article will focus on are Airscape and Svenson & Gielen and this week’s featured track is Svenson & Gielen featuring Jan Johnston – Beachbreeze (Remember The Summer). (Buy on Itunes)

Lyrics:

You smiled
It helped me capture
Was no ordinary feeling
Sweet, ultimate, endless
You changed me forever
Awaken my passion

Theres no dark clouds in my world now
Theres no dark clouds only sunshine
Theres no dark clouds in my world now
Theres no dark clouds only sunshine

I’ll remember the summer forever
You took my lips
You took my hands
Took me to the ocean
Made love to me

I’ll remember the summer forever
You took my lips
You took my hands
Took me to the ocean
Made love to me
In the water
Water
Water.

The ocean
Serenading us
Being grown ups in the sand
Sweet, ultimate, rapture
an aura of our moments
You aroused
My, passion

There’s no dark clouds in my world now
There’s no dark clouds only sunshine
There’s no dark clouds in my world now
There’s no dark clouds only sunshine

I’ll remember the summer forever
You took my lips
You took my hands
Took me to the ocean
Made love to me

I’ll remember the summer forever
You took my lips
You took my hands
Took me to the ocean
Made love to me
In the water
Water
Water.

I’ll remember
Always
Always.

Ohh I’ll remember
Always
Always.

I’ll remember
I’ll remember
I’ll remember
Forever

I’ll remember the summer forever
You took my lips
You took my hands
Took me to the ocean
Made love to me

I’ll remember the summer forever
You took my lips
You took my hands
Took me to the ocean
Made love to me

I’ll remember the summer forever and ever
Always

Belgian born Johan Willy Maria Gielen and Sven Frans Yvonne Maes met in 1996 after being introduced to eachother by Oliver Adams who worked with Gielen on Body Heat. Oliver Adams quit the project in 1996 and Svenson joined instead.

Gielen was already using the Airscape-moniker together with Jos Borremans from 1992. After having some success with the Body Heat-project, Gielen asked Svenson to join the Airscape-project in 1997. The first 2 years (1997-1998), Jos Borremans was in the project and later left Airscape to pursue his own career.

The first single for Svenson as Airscape, Pacific Melody was a chart-success and peaked at no 27 in the UK chart. I really like the warm sound that they managed on that track.

The followup, Amazon Chant feels almost like something out of a fairytale, especially in the breakdown with it’s birdsounds, those warm strings and that chant. It was another chart-success and peaked at no 46 in the UK chart.

The first track I heard from Airscape was L’Esperanza. The track, released in 1999 peaked at no 33 in the UK Chart and was the first track without Jos Borremans and has that signature sound that most Airscape-tracks and remixes after 1999 has.

Airscape was also busy remixing other artists and of the earlier remixes i’d recommend you to take a look at Praga Khan – Breakfast In Vegas, Vengaboys – Kiss and Delerium – Silence.

Between 2000-2003, they put the Airscape-project on the shelf and started focusing their effort on the Svenson & Gielen-project instead. They still produced some remixes as Airscape but no original productions.

Their first release, Beauty Of Silence (with singer Christel Ferket) kept that signature-sound from Airscape and became another success. This was also the first year that Svenson & Gielen had their track become the official anthem for Trance Energy.

The same year also saw some major remixes from Airscape, including Chicane – Halcyon, Scooter – I´m Your Pusher, Alice Deejay – The Lonley One & Sylver – Turn The Tide. They also did a Svenson & Gielen-remix of Push – The Legacy

The 2001-single, Twisted (with singer Paul Mendez) is another legendary track. I especially love that hook after the break. Simply amazing! It was also the official Trance Energy-anthem for 2001.
The remix-work this year included Safri Duo – Played-a-live (as Airscape), Ultra – Free, Ayumi Hamasaki – Depend On You & Tiesto – Lethal Industry (as Svenson & Gielen)

2002 saw the release of We Know What You Did and Answer The Question. Both tracks were official Trance Energy-anthems. Of the two tracks, I prefer We Know What You Did, especially the part with the strings in the breakdown. Svenson & Gielen-remixes worth mentioning include ATB – Hold You, The Thrillseekers – Dreaming Of You & Lexicon 4 – Reach Me.

The last release as Svenson & Gielen, Beachbreeze (with singer Jan Johnston) was another legendary track. Though never released in England, only as an import from the legendary ID&T-label, it still reached no 163 in the UK chart. The working-name for the track was Ocean, but later renamed to Beachbreeze (Remember The Summer).

In 2003, Svenson announced that they were splitting and going solo. The last track they ever released was an Airscape-single, Sosei which were released the year after.

In 2009, Gielen revived the Airscape-moniker as a solo-project and released a new single, My Love (with singer Jes Breiden). The single is more pop-ish than previous tracks. Even the Johan Gielen-remix has lost the original Airscape-sound. He also re-released L’Esperanza with a new Svenson & Gielen 2009-remix. The 2009-mix is also slower than previous and alot more commercial than the original sound.

2010 also saw the release of the long-awaited debut album from Airscape, Now And Then which contains new collaborations with Josh Millstone, Cor Fijneman, Daniel Wanrooy, Mark Green & Ben Jujbregts, all under the Airscape-moniker.

When I look back to the results of what the dream team of Johan Gielen and Sven Maas accomplished under those active years I see true classics. Classics that will live on forever, both in their original material and also their remixes.

Back in the days when I started listening to trance I knew that if the sleeve mentioned either Airscape and/or Svenson & Gielen, there was some really good tracks inside. I still play loads of their stuff on my stereo and they always gives me goosebumps, and sometimes even tears of joy.
Their music will live on in my memory forever.

Podcast: Podgressive ep. 32

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It’s time, the brand new Podgressive EP032 is here!

Wow, it’s already in the end of July. What happened to the summer?
We hope you are having a great time at the beach, work or whatever you do right now.

This month episode of the #podgressive podcast comes in three parts, as usual: Two guest mixes and one mix from our host, Tatsumi Suzuki, this time it’s a live recording from his gig at Sky in Vasa, Finland in July 21:st!
The two guestmixes comes from two Swedish dj’s, the Trance-dj; Johan Vilborg (bejbi.se interview here) and Drum & Bass-dj; Dj Contact.

So fill up your mp3-player, phone or stream it live from the page, you’ve got some great music for the rest of the summer now!
Enough with the talking now, head over to #podgressive.com and get your own copy!

– Patric

DON’T FORGET TO GIVE YOUR SUPPORT BY WRITING A COMMENT, SHARE AND LIKE THIS EPISODE. ALSO INTERACT BY USING THE POLL AND SEND US YOUR SHOUT OUT’S AND REQUESTS TO djtatsumisuzuki@gmail.com.

Classic FTW: Agnelli & Nelson feat. Audrey Gallagher – Holding Onto Nothing

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iABDOTT4Q0Q&w=680&h=383]

This weekends classic is one of those that most people have some memories to. It came out in 2003 and came out with a bang! A fun thing is that the remix is called Paul Van Dyk Edit and the track is 10 mins and 31 seconds long. Usually, an edit is a shorter version of a song so wonder how long the Paul Van Dyk Remix is? 20 minutes?

The track i’m thinking of is Agnelli & Nelson – Holding Onto Nothing (Paul Van Dyk Edit). (Buy on Itunes)

Lyrics:

When we touch..
I feel something happen
When we breathe..
All the world is undone

Stay with me..
As my heart surrenders
Comfort me..
As I fall I cry..

ohh.. ohh

When we sleep..
Darkness brings us release
All you need..
You can find it in me

Stay with me..
As my heart surrenders
Comfort me..
As I fall I cry

[Chorus x5]
Standin’ in the rain
Twisted and insane
We, are, holdin’ onto nothing

Feelin’ every breath
Holdin’ no regrets
We’re, still, lookin’ out for something

Goosebump-points:

00:54 when the main drums kick in.
02:03 when the main vocals start.
03:53 when the second verse start.
04:48 when the first chorus start
05:43 when the main music starts to fade in the chorus.
06:10 when the music starts to fade up slowly.
07:33 when the main chorus start after the breakdown

Irish-born Christoper James Agnew and Robert Frederick Nelson started producing music in 1997 and was early on signed to Alex Gold’s label Xtravaganza Recordings in 1998. They had 2 previous hits on RGB Music, Angels Fly / Bolivian Angel and Angels. Agnelli & Nelson also had a few other projects like Afterburn, Cortez, Green Atlas, Quincey & Sonance over the years but this article focus on their work as Agnelli & Nelson and A&N Project.

Their first release on Xtravaganza, El Niño (with singer Marcella Woods) became a huge hit and created a new era of dancemusic, especially in ibiza with its spanish lyrics. The track peaked at 21 in the UK Singles Chart.

Their second release, Everyday (with singer Laura Campbell) came with a boom and made a big impact on the trance-scene, especially with the Lange remix. Everyday peaked at no 17 in the UK Singles chart.

The followup-single, Embrace was an instrumental track and followed the same sound as the previous singles and eventually peaked at no 35 in the UK Singles chart.

Hudson Street, released in 2000 was another epic instrumental. I especially love the Dark Now Remix. Hudson Street was another chart-success and peaked at no 29 in the UK Singles chart

2001 saw the release of Vegas, another epic instrumental track and peaked at no 49 in the UK Singles chart.

The 2003-release, Holdning Onto Nothing (with singer Audrey Gallagher) became a huge success in the trance scene, especially the Paul Van Dyk Edit (which is over 10 minutes long). I just love that thomping bassline, the simple, but yet addictive drumline and those breaks. It’s one of those tracks that many Djs still play because of its quality. It peaked at no 41 in the UK Single chart.

The last single from Agnelli & Nelson, Shivver (with singer The Burn), came out in 2005. Shivver is a really banging instrumental and later came with a beautiful John O’Callaghan-remix

After 2005, Agnelli & Nelson worked as A&N Project and released 3 beautful singles, this time under the Deepblue Records-label, except for Sleeping In Airports, which was signed to Markus Schulz’s label, Coldharbour Recordings

The first single, Wear That Dress was another vocal track. The lyrics isn’t the best but the track is pretty awesome, especially the John O’Callaghan-remix.

Just When I Think There’s An Answer from 2008 was another banger with remixes by Ben Gold, Genix & Tom Colontonio just to name a few.

The last release, Sleeping In Airports came with a banging Element One-remix.
This was the last project Agnelli & Nelson worked together on.

Robbie Nelson released some own material in 2009 and 2010 with the release of Aviator, Shangri-La on Solarstone’s new label, Crashing Waves. Up In Smoke from 2010 was released on John O’Callaghan’s label, Subculture.

They guys also did some major remix-works over the years. How about

Liquid – ”Orlando Dawn” [Xtravaganza]
Lange – ”Follow Me” [Positiva]
Solar Stone vs. Scott Bond – ”3rd Earth” [Made In England]
Chicane ft. Bryan Adams – ”Don”t Give Up 2004” [Xtravaganza]
Ferry Corsten – ”Its Time” [Tsunami + Positiva]
Armin Van Buuren – ”Blue Fear 2004” [Nebula & Armada]
Li Kwan (Matt Darey) – ”Point Zero 2004” [Darey Products LTD]
Alex Gold – ”Stranded In Paradise” [Xtravaganza]
Alex Gold – ”Back From A Break (Better Dayz)” [Xtravaganza]
John O”Callaghan ft. Audrey Gallagher – ”Big Sky” [Armind]
Markus Schulz ft. Dauby – ”Perfect” [Coldharbour Recordings]
Solarstone – ”Rain Stars Eternal” [Solaris Recordings]

Their biggest remix-success came with John O’Callaghan featuring Audrey Gallagher – Big Sky and was the remix that most major DJ’s played. Big Sky was a major anthem for most clubgoers and I love how most people usually sing the chorus at the clubs. Major goosebump moment!

Agnelli & Nelson has done some really good tracks over the years and have alot of classic in their baggage that they can be proud of. They also succeeded in bringing some light on the Irish trancemusic-scene and made way for many big artists like John O’Callaghan. It seems like the days of the duo is over and Robbie Nelsons solo career just started and I hope that we will hear more material from Robbie in the future.

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Podcast: Podgressive ep. 32

Classic FTW: Agnelli & Nelson feat. Audrey Gallagher – Holding Onto Nothing