månadsarkiv: juli 2012

News: Isles of Wonder – Opening ceremony Olympic Games 2012

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

[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 JohnstonBeachbreeze (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.

Related tracks:

Airscape – Pacific Melody
Airscape – Amazon Chant
Airscape – L’Esperanza
Airscape – My Love
Svenson & Gielen – The Beauty Of Silence
Svenson & Gielen – Twisted
Svenson & Gielen – We Know What You Did
Svenson & Gielen – Answer The Question
Praga Khan – Breakfast In Vegas (Airscape Mix)
Vengaboys – Kiss (Airscape Remix)
Delerium feat. Sarah Mclachlan – Silence (Airscape Mix)
Chicane – Halcyon (Airscape Remix)
Scooter – I’m yor Pusher (Airscape Mix)
Alice Deejay – The Lonely One (Airscape Remix)
Push – The Legacy (Svenson & Gielen Mix)
Tiesto – Lethal Industry (Svenson & Gielen Remix)
The Thrillseekers – Dreaming Of You (Svenson & Gielen Remix)
Lexicon 4 – Reach Me (Svenson & Gielen Remix)

Podcast: Podgressive ep. 32


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

[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 & NelsonHolding 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 AfterburnCortezGreen AtlasQuincey & 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 GallagherBig 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.

Related tracks:

Agnelli & Nelson – El Nino
Agnelli & Nelson – Everyday (Lange Remix)
Agnelli & Nelson – Embrace (Dark Now Mix)
Agnelli & Nelson feat. The Burn – Shivver (John O’Callaghan Remix)
A&N Project – Just When I Think Theres An Answer
A&N Project – Wear That Dress (John O’Callaghan remix)
Agnelli & Nelson – Sleeping In Airports (Steve Allen remix)
John O’Callaghan – Big Sky (Agnelli & Nelson Remix)
Ferry Corsten – It’s Time (Agnelli & Nelson Mix)
Markus Schulz feat Dauby – Perfect (Agnelli & Nelson Remix)
Lange ft. Sarah Howells – Follow Me (Agnelli & Nelson Remix)

Pictures: Luminosity Beachfestival 2012

Third and last round of pictures from the legendary Luminosity Beachfestival in Zandvoort outside Amsterdam.
This years lineup was really huge, but here it is: Aly & Fila, Andy Moor, John O’Callaghan, Sean Tyas, Simon Patterson, Marcel Woods, Leon Bolier, John ’00’Fleming, Giuseppe Ottaviani Live, Super8 & Tab, Kyau & Albert, Menno de Jong, Daniel Kandi, Signum, Airwave, Solarstone, Talla b2b Taucher, Johan Gielen, The Thrillseekers, Airbase, Jonas Steur, Orkidea, Artento Divini, Ummet Ozcan, Bryan Kearney, Activa, Manuel Le Saux, Ferry Tayle, Bjorn Akesson, Arctic Moon, Bart Claessen, Mark Norman, Ton TB, Estiva, Greg Downey, Oliver Smith, Galen Behr, Juventa, Aerofoil, Indecent Noise, Basil O’Glue and Ronny K

This is the second of three photosets by our three photographers.
If you want to use one of the pictures, make sure to get the watermark too!

Patric, Oljo and Niklas

And with this last Luminosity Beachfestival post I would like to thank my two co-photographers Oljo and Niklas. Without you it would have been impossible! :D

Luminosity Beachfestival 2012, Beachclub Riche, Zandvoort an Zee, The Netherlands, 20120623 – 20120624
Pictures: 164

Classic FTW: Above & Beyond – Far From In Love

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3y58Fn2_vc&w=680&h=383]

Last weeks article was mainly about Justine Suissa and her collaboration with the Above & Beyond-guys Tony, Paavo & Jono with Oceanlab. So I thought ”why not do a piece on the guys for this weekends article?”. After all, Above & Beyond has done some really classic tracks over the years.

My pick for the weekend is Above & Beyond featuring Kate CameronFar From In Love (Above & Beyond San Fransisco Mix).

Lyrics:

Sailing away from me like melting snow in my hair 
I miss your touch, 
Trying to sew up a love that was built on the sun 
I miss you so much 
Like a fire burns to embers 
I know this is where it ends 
In the ashes we are dying 
almost strangers only friends 

Far from in love x4 

Far from in love (So far from love) 
Far from in love 
Far from in love (So away from love yeah yeah..) 
Far from in love (From all the loving that I knew) 

I can see behind your eyes that you’re afraid of who you are 
Only silence now between us 
I’m amazed we’ve come this far 

Far from in love x4 

Far from in love (So far from love) 
Far from in love 
Far from in love (So away from love yeah yeah..) 
Far from in love (From all the loving that I knew)

The Above & Beyond-story started in 1999 when Jono Grant & Paavo Siljamäki studied electronic engineering at the University of Westminister where they discovered a mutual interest in electronic music. After working together writing music, Paavo suggested that they should start their own record label, and Anjunabeats was started, mainly to release their own material and later became one of the most influentual trancemusic-labels in the world.

For their first release on Anjunabeats, AnjunabeatsVolume One, they made an Original Mix and a Tease Dub Mix. The latter got lots of support by major dj’s like Pete Tong, Oakenfold, Judge Jules & Paul Van Dyk. From this moment on, they also recorded and remixed as Dirt Devils & Free State.

Tony McGuinness was at the time marketing director & manager of the Warner Music Group and had been commissioned to remix a new single from Chakra called Home and needed help. Tony asked his brother Liam for help and he pointed him in the direction of Jono & Paavo who eventually helped him finish the remix.

The inspiration for the name Above & Beyond came from a website for an american motvation trainer, who’s name coincidentally also was Jono Grant and used the name Above & Beyond as a slogan and it eventually stuck. The remix was eventually picked over the more established names as Rob Searle & Tilt to be the a-side and later peaked at no 1 in the UK club charts and got loads of support by the major dj’s.

After the success of the Chakra-single, the guys started to get more remix-requests which eventually ended in remixes for AuroraOrdinary World, FragmaEverytime You Need Me and Perpetous DreamerThe Sound Of Goodbye just to name a few.

Their biggest commercial success came with the remix of MadonnaWhat It Feels Like For A Girl. Madonna was so impressed with the track that Above & Beyonds version was used in the official video over Madonnas album-version. The video, directed by Guy Ritchie was pretty violent so MTV couldn’t play it before 9pm. The track had good chart-success all over the world except in the US where it only reached no 23 in the Billboard Hot 100.

Their first own success came in 2002 with the release of their first single, Far From In Love (with singer Kate Cameron who also sang on the Chakra-singles). I’d recommend the epic San Fransisco Mix before the original mix which is one of those feel good-tracks although the track is about a breakup. I believe it has to do with the amazing, almost angelic vocals by Kate Cameron.

This was followed by some remix-duties for Tomcraft, Motorcycle, Rusch & Murray, Madonna & Chakra, Dido & Delerium just to name a few, before the release of their second single, No One On Earth (with singer Zoe Johnston).

No One On Earth came with an amazing remix by Gabriel & Dresden and eventually became the Tune of the year 2004 on Armin Van Buurens radioshow, A State Of Trance.

Their next single, Air For Life (with singer Carrie Skipper) was a collaboration with Andy Moor and another success. I especially love the Airwave Remix which is more progressive than the banging Original Mix. It was voted Best Underground Dance Track at the 2006 Miami Winter Music Conference and also voted Tune Of The Year 2005 on Armin Van Buuren’s radiosho, A State Of Trance

Above & Beyonds debut album, Tri-State was released in early 2006 and got good reviews and contained loads of new tracks like Alone Tonight, Can’t Sleep, Good For Me & Home. I higly recommend everyone to take a listen to the album, a true masterpiece.

Alone Tonight (with singer Richard Bedford) became another hit and was nominated for best progressive house/trance track at the 22nd International Dance Music Awards at WMC in Miami 2007. It did fairly well in the charts, peaking at no 5 in the UK Dance Chart and no 4 in the Finnish national singles chart.

Can’t Sleep (with singer Ashley Tomberlin) came with a huge remix-package although i prefer the Original Mix. The listeners to A State Of Trance voted Can´t Sleep no 3 of the best 20 tracks of 2006.

Good For Me (with singer Zoe Johnston) was another success and later voted Tune Of The Year 2006 on A State Of Trance. The album version is a really slow track and I prefer the Above & Beyond Club Mix before the other remixes

The last single from the Tri-State album was Home (with singer Hannah Thomas). The album version is a really sweet slow track whereas the club mix gets the partygoers jumping. The track eventually was voted no 3 by the listeners to A State Of Trance in 2007.

Above & Beyond also released a remix-album called Tri-State Remixed in 2008 with remixes from Robert Nickson, Maor Levi, Airwave, Ian Carey & Matthew Dekay just to name a few.

In 2009 the guys released Anjunabeach, another quality track. It also came with remixes from Nitrous Oxide and Jerome Isma-Ae.

The second album, Group Therapy came out in June 2011 which resulted in 10 of the 15 tracks released as singles. I will just mention the ones that I think is worth listening to.

The first single from the album, Anphonic was a collaboration with Kyau & Albert and was released in July 2010 and came with a nice remix from Arty.

Released in March 2011, Sun & Moon (with singer Richard Bedford) was a typical ”sing along with the chorus”-track. I prefer the original to the remixes.

In June 2011, Thing Called Love (with Richard Bedford) was released and was another ”sing along with the chorus”-tracks. The club mix is more trancy while the extended club mix is more techy.

Formula Rossa came with an amazing Nitrous Oxide remix which is more uplifting than the original.

Every Little Beat (with singer Richard Bedford) came with a techy Myon & Shane 54-remix.

I really love Above & Beyonds original and remixes up to 2006 and the Tri-state album. Back then you knew that everything connected to the Above & Beyond-brand was pure trance and had lots of feeling to it. The last years they (as most other major DJs) has been shifting style, usually for the more ”housy”-stuff while Above & Beyond has gone for the more techy style of trance which still is good. But what I miss is those warm strings, those almost angelic vocals and overall older sound that they did pre 2006.

I’d still love to see them live as it was some 4 years since I saw them last. I hope they will be on tour in my neck of the woods soon so I can fall in love with their sound once again.

Related tracks:

Chakra – Home (Above & Beyond Remix)
Aurora – Ordinary World (Above & Beyond Remix)
Perpetuous Dreamer – The Sound of Goodbye (Above & Beyond Remix)
Madonna – What It Feels Like For A Girl (Above & Beyond Remix)
Dido – Sand In My Shoes (Above & Beyond Remix)
Motorcycle – As The Rush Comes (Above & Beyonds Dynaglide Mix)
Rusch & Murray – Epic (Above & Beyond Remix)
Above & Beyond – No One On Earth (Gabriel & Dresden Remix)
Above and Beyond vs Andy Moor – Air for Life (Airwave Remix)
Above & Beyond – Alone Tonight
Above & Beyond – Can’t Sleep (Original Mix)
Above & Beyond – Good For Me (Above & Beyond Club Mix)
Above & Beyond – Home (A&B Club Mix)
Above & Beyond vs Kyau & Albert – Anphonic (Arty Remix)
Above & Beyond feat. Richard Bedford – Sun & Moon (Club Mix)
Above & Beyond – Thing Called Love (Above & Beyond Club Mix)
Above & Beyond – Formula Rossa (Nitrous Oxide Remix)
Above & Beyond Feat Richard Bedford – Every Little Beat

Classic FTW: Armin Van Buuren feat. Justine Suissa – Burned With Desire

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PLX3UhhvsM&w=680&h=510]

This weeks article is not about a group/act or a DJ. It´s about a singer. Who can say that they’ve sung for Chicane, Oceanlab, Markus Schulz & Armin Van Buuren. Ladies and gentlemen. Let me present to you, the queen of vocal trance: Justine Suissa!

She has done so many quality tracks over the years but the one who’s closest to my heart is Armin Van Buuren featuring Justine SuissaBurned With Desire (Rising Star Remix). (Buy on Itunes)

Lyrics:

For each forgotten kiss
For all the memories
For all the times alone
Said all we had to say

You played your part so well
A modern Romeo
You came on Cupid’s wings
And then you flew away

When you touched my face
When you call my name
I’m burned with desire

When you touched my face
When you call my name
I’m burned with desire
But you left me in the rain

For every sleepless night
Forever in your arms
For every hour spent
Lost in the revelry

You broke your promises
No shame and no regrets
You burned the bridges too
An endless mystery

When you touched my face
So beautiful
When you call my name
My name..
I’m burned with desire

When you touched my face
So beautiful
When you call my name
My name..
I’m burned with desire
But you left me in the rain

Goosebump points:

1:09 when the main synth starts.
1:37 when the piano comes in.
2:19 when the first break comes in.
2:33 when the main vocals start.
3:01 when the chorus start.
3:26 ”… but you left me in the rain” and the main melody starts up again.
4:51 when the music fades just before the second chorus
5:20 when the second chorus comes in.
5:45 ”…but you left me in the rain”

Justines career started in 1999 when she did some singing for a track by Chicane called Autumn Tactics. The track did very well so Justine went on tour with Chicane on their Behind The Sun album-tour and performed at various venues/festivals all over the globe.

If you haven’t listened to that album, do it now! One of the best albums ever made IMHO with track like No Ordinary Morning, Autumn Tactics, Saltwater, Halcyon and Don’t Give Up. Also, listen to The Thrillseekers Remix of Autumn Tactics, absolutely magnificent.

After the touring with Chicane, Justine started working with the Above & Beyond-guys Jono, Tony & Paavo on their side-project Oceanlab. The combination of Justines voice and Oceanlabs great melodies was an instant success. What I understand, the name Oceanlab came from the waterish theme of the first single and the name of the software they used, Wavelab.

The first Oceanlab-single was the 2001-single Clear Blue Water which came with an impressive Ferry Corsten Remix. The single peaked at 48 in the UK Singles Chart.

The followup-single, Sky Falls Down was another dancefloor monster, especially the Armin Van Buuren-remix. 10 minutes and 24 seconds of pure orgazm.

The third Oceanlab-single, Beautiful Together came with a stomping Signum Remix although I prefer the smoother original.

The same year, Justine also sung on Masters & Nickson’s wonderful track, Out There (5th Dimension). The track had already been released as an instrumental called 5th Dimension but Justines vocals takes this track to anoother dimension! The track was later re-released in 2008 with a banging Daniel Kandi Remix.

Their biggest Oceanlab-success came with the 2004 single Satellite. It’s one of those pure classics that most trancelisteners has sung/screamed the lyrics to when played at a club: It still gives me shivers when hearing it. What I understand, the inspiration for the track came when Paavo’s girlfriend was on a trip to Japan and they were missing eachother. The track peaked at no 19 in the UK Singles Chart. Justine’s angelic voice together with Oceanlabs great music makes this one of the best vocal tracks ever!

The same year, another big trance anthem was released. Armin Van Buuren featuring Justine Suissa – Burned With Desire. It is another one of those tracks that always gives me chills all over the body. The smooth melody together with Justines amazing voice makes this another must-have. The track is IMHO in the same league as Oceanlab’s Satellite when it comes to classic-status.

Speaking of instrumentals turned into vocal tracks, the next one is just one of those. Markus Schulz presents ElevationClear Blue did get a vocal-treatment called Somewhere (Clear Blue). The original instrumental is another all-time favourite and the vocals just makes it better!

The 2005 Armin Van Buuren-single Wall Of Sound was another hit, especially the Airbase Remix.

In 2008, Oceanlab released their first album, Sirens Of The Sea and also the single with the same name. The album also contained Breaking Ties, Lonely Girl and On A Good Day, all three major hits.

A cool fact is that Oceanlab asked their fans to do a video for On A Good Day. The one that got most attention was the video by Ashleigh Tritton who won the competition. The main video contains clips from various contributors but you can also find Ashleighs whole video on youtube

The album was later re-released as Sirens Of The Sea Remixed with remixes by Gareth Emery, Lange, Oliver Smith, Michael Cassette, Ronski Speed, Martin Roth and Cosmic Gate just to name a few.

In 2010, Markus Schulz did a interpretation of Cass & Slide’s old progressive hit, Perception which first was instrumental but later got vocals by Justine. Even if Markus version is really good, I still prefer the original.

The same year, Myon & Shane 54 released their mashup between Oceanlab – On A Good Day & Gareth Emery – Metropolis. The mashup became a huge hit and was played by all major djs.

The last we heard from Justine was the collaboration with Boom Jinx on the smash hit Phenix From The Flame.

Justine has brought us pure quality from day one and her voice still amazes me. The last productions till gives me shivers so I’d say that Justine Suissa will be an artist that will keep on doing her thing for many more years.

Some of the other trance-singers out there have released their own albums, like JesHigh Glow, SusanaCloser & Brave and I hope that Justine Suissa will do her own thing too. She has got some real quality tunes in her baggage and I guess that there is much more to come.

Related links:

Chicane – Autumn Tactics (The Thrillseekers Remix)
OceanLab – Clear Blue Water (Ferry Corsten Remix)
Oceanlab – Sky Falls Down (Armin Van Buuren Remix)
OceanLab – Beautiful Together (Original Mix)
Masters & Nickson featuring Justine Suissa – Out There
OceanLab Satellite (Original Above & Beyond Mix)
Markus Schulz Presents Elevation – Somewhere (Clear Blue)
Armin Van Buuren featuring Justine Suissa – Wall Of Sound (Airbase Remix)
Oceanlab – Sirens Of The Sea (Above & Beyond Club Mix)
Oceanlab – Breaking Ties (Above and Beyond’s Analogue Haven Mix)
OceanLab – Lonely Girl
OceanLab – On A Good Day (Official Video)
Gareth Emery & Oceanlab – On A Good Day (Metropolis)
Markus Schulz featuring Justine Suissa – Perception
Boom Jinx featuring Justine Suissa – Phoenix From The Flames (Omnia & The Blizzard Remix)