Etikettarkiv: Bejbi.se

Classic FTW: Lange featuring Kirsty Hawkshaw – Sincere For You (Lange Remix)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFQnRUi7UHU&w=680&h=383]

This weeks article happens to feature one of last weeks artists. A true legend in the trance-scene with loads of quality tracks, both original aswell as remixes.

This weekends classic is Lange featuring Kirsty HawkshawSincere For You (Lange Remix). (Buy on Itunes)
What I really like with the track is Langes bassline, the stunning vocals from Kirsty and the mellow synths.

Lyrics:

Some will play a game with love
steal your heart away
some will say those words
you want to hear
but if you look closer
is it really what it seems?
I can give you everything you need

I’ll be sincere for you
whatever’s gonna happen now
sincere for you, I will
always here for you
whatever you decide right now
sincere for you, I will

I’ll be sincere for you
whatever’s gonna happen now
sincere for you, I will
always here for you
whatever you decide right now
sincere for you, I will

I’m not the one to fill your head
with false security
I’m the one with nothing left to lose
don’t be taken in by
what you think is honesty
just realize what I can offer you

I’ll be sincere for you
whatever’s gonna happen now
sincere for you, I will
always here for you
whatever you decide right now
sincere for you, I will

Goosebump-points:

00:29 when the bassline kicks in.
01:51 when she starts to sing and that mellow synth starts playing in the background
02:20 when she starts to sing and the music fades down
03:16 when the music fades away
03:30 when the main vocals comes on
03:58 when the drums start again
05:50 when the main vocals stop
06:18 when the main song comes back on

Lange is english-born Stuart Langelaan. Most his major releases has been released under his own name, but he also uses a few different monikers like Firewall, LNG, Offbeat, SL, Vercetti & X-odus

Langes music career started in 1997 when he got signed to Additive Records, His first release was a remix for Babe Instinct’s track called Disco Babes From Outer Space. His first original work, The Root of Unhappiness / Obsession came out in 1998 aswell as remixes to DJ Sakin & Friends, DJ Quicksilver, Sash!, Marc et Claude, Ruff Driverz & Lost Witness just to name a few.

The 1999 release I Believe got good reviews and together with remixes of Friends Of Matthew, Space Brothers, Lost Witness, Pet Shop Boys, Agnelli & Nelson & Faithless, Lange became a household name and was supported by most major DJs worldwide.

The remix of Faithless – Why Go is one of my all-time favourites and I listen to it atleast a couple of times every week and I really love the remix of Lost Witness – Red Sun Rising aswell.

The next original release, Lange featuring The MorrighanFollow Me was released in 2000. The same year, Lange together with Rohan Heath & Steve Long released SuRealYou Take My Breath Away. The remix-work in 2000 featured tracks from Brainchild, Atlantis vs Avatar & DuMonde.

Of the bunch I have to say that SuReal – You Take My Breath Away aswell as Atlantis vs Avatar – Fiji is still going warm on my stereo,

Last weekends classic, DuMonde vs Lange Memory came out in 2001, the same year as Lange released his alter ego, FirewallReflections & Touched, and SuReal – Always On My Mind, He also did some remixes of artists like Ian Van Dahl & DB Boulevard just to name a few.

Next original track was Lange featuring SkyeDrifting Away came out in 2002 and peaked at no 9 in the UK single chart which gave him the opportunity to perform on Top Of The Pops aswell as the Pepsi Chart Show. The same year, Lange remixed tracks for Ayumi Hamasaki & Dario G.

2003 saw the release of Don’t Think It (Feel It) featuring Leah, another club classic. He remixed tracks for Rhythm Of Life, Pulser & Hemstock & Jennings,

In 2004, Lange set up his own record label, Lange Recordings and the first track featured on it was his alter ego, Firewall with the track Kilimanjaro and later the same year this weeks featured track, Sincere For You, He later re-released the track in 2005 as Lange Presents Firewall – Sincere but this time as an instrumental. In 2004, Lange also gave us remixes for The Thrillseekers & Jas Van Houten,

Lange vs Gareth EmeryThis Is New York and FirewallSincere (2005) were the only releases in 2005

The year after Lange & Mike Koglin released – Bermuda. The remix-work featured artists like Hemstock & Jennings.

In 2007, Lange’s first album, Better Late Than Never, was released and featured some fresh tracks aswell as the best of Lange’s remix work since 1998 and onwards. He also released the single, Angel Falls aswell as remixes for DT8 Project.

Lange featuring Sarah HowellsOut Of The Sky came out in 2008 aswell as the track Songless.
The remix-duty was filled with track by Matt Cerf, Martin Roth & Kyau vs Albert

Another single with Sarah Howells came out in 2009 called Let It All Out. Lange also did the track Stadium Four with Andy Moor and Wanderlust under his alter ego, Firewall. Some remixwork was also made for Ferry Corsten.

2010 saw the second album, Harmonic Motion, which featured only new tracks. The album was followed by the EP, All Around Me with Betsie Larkin.

In 2011, Lange released Lange Remixed, a 2CD album on which first CD was remixes of his track by others and the second CD was remixes of some of his Lange Recording-artists.
There were also 2 EP’s released, Remixed EP1 & Remixed EP2.

When I look back on Langes releases over the years, the period I like the most is from 1998 to 2005 where most of his classics were concieved. The material since then holds a very high quality but doesn’t have that feeling that the older tracks has.

The good thing with an artist like Lange who’s been active around 15 years is that there is music for all tastes. Some like the older, some like the newer. While I stick on the older material, the youngsters can focus on the new stuff. However you look at it, Lange IS true quality!

Featured tracks:

Lange – I Believe
Lost Witness – Happiness Happening (Lange Remix)
Lost Witness – Red Sun Rising (Lange Remix)
Faithless – Why Go (Lange Remix)
Agnelli & Nelson – Everytime (Lange Remix)
Lange – Follow Me (Lange Remix)
SuReal – You Take My Breath Away
Atlantis vs Avatar – Fiji (Lange Remix)
DB Boulevard – Point Of View (Lange Remix)
Lange – Drifting Away
Lange – Don’t Think It (Feel it)
Lange – Sincere For You (The Thrillseekers Remix)
Rhythm Of Life – You Put Me In Heaven With Your Touch (Lange Remix)
Lange – Let It All Out

Classic FTW: DuMonde vs Lange – Memory

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPljAVq3VyY&w=680&h=510]

This weeks article is on the harder side of trance. This German duo has concieved some major tunes during the years, and their remixes are already legendary. I´m talking about DuMonde vs LangeMemory (Original Vocal Mix).

lyrics:

Today I’m gonna start again,
Find my home,
If only I could escape,
My danger zone,
I have to take my own advice,
Don’t make it hard,
There’s something in the universe,
The birghtest star.

Here’s what I’ve been waiting for,
Day, night, seen it all before

Memory! Telling lies,
I am scared and cannot hide,
When I sleep,
Be my guide,
Could this be my paradise?
Something deep in my soul,
Tells me where I must go,
All my dreams, telling lies,
Could this be my paradise?

I want to share it all with you,
The special place,
Imagining the perfect day,
In time and space,
The secret of the universe,
Is beautiful,
If you could listen close enough,
You’d here it call….

Here’s what I’ve been waiting for…

Goosebump-points:
1:08 when the vocals start
2:16 when the chorus starts
2:52 when the buildup starts after the short breakdown
3:19 when the drums kick in again
4:28 when the vocals start again
5:24 when the 2nd verse comes in and everything fades out

DuMonde is Jürgen Mutschall (aka DJ Jam X) and Dominik De Leon (aka De Leon). They have both been active in the music business since late 90’s and started collaborating in 1997 under a few different aliases.

The first release under the DuMonde-moniker came in 1998 with the single, Tomorrow (with singer Evil Iris)

The track became an instant hit and even made it to the German Dance Chart top 10 in 1999 and was supported by most major DJ’s like Oakenfold & Judge Jules.

The track was re-released in 2000 with remixes by Moogwai (which IMHO is one of the best ever) and Lange.

It was later re-released again in 2006 with remixes by Ralph Novell vs Bas&Ram, Observer & DJ Spacecase and a fresh makeover by DJ Jam X & De Leon called Retro Mix.

Also worth mentioning is that it was also released as Just Feel Free (Tomorrow 2000).
The same year also saw the first remix under the DuMonde-name, PushUniversal Nation (DuMonde Remix). They did a few other remixes that year but this is the best IMHO.

The followup-single was the 1999 single See The Light (with vocalist Evil Iris). It has that driving bassline i’ve always loved by DuMonde.
The same year Anastasia vs. DuMonde ‎– Fly To The Sky was also released.
1999 also saw some remix-work for Yves De RuyterFeel Free, Alice DeejayBetter Off Alone, Alice DeejayBack In My Life and Sash!Adelante and my favourite DuMonde-remix of all time, Tin Tin OutTWM.

TWM stands for Trance With Me which essentially was a remix of Tin Tin Out’s track Dance With Me.

Just Feel Free (Tomorrow 2000) saw the light of day in 2000 together with some amazing DuMonde-remixes of Binary Finary2000, SweepRunning Up That Hill, LangeFollow Me, Hurley & ToddSunstorm and CRWI Feel Love. All track has that hard DuMonde-edge that I really love.

DuMonde vs LangeMemory (with singer Alexis Strum) came out in 2001. It’s one of those tracks that will always give me goosebumps. I hadn’t heard it in quite a while but thought about it for years. The vocals does wonders for the track together with the dark and driving music.

It was followed by the single Never Look Back (with singer Evil Iris), another hard-pumping track.
The remixes that year includes AngelicCan’t Keep Me Silent and BarthezzOn The Move.

The 2002-track, God Music (with singer Santoshi) was another floor-stomper. The year also gave us DuMonde-remixes of Marc AurelRunning, Hi-GateSaxuality and Jurgen Vries The Theme.

Human (with singer Evil Iris) came out in 2003. The same year also saw remixes of Dave 202 & Phil GreenMoments Of Silence & DJ SnowmanAnd Then They Started To Dance.

The 2004 track, Kalt/Cold is the same, but with different spoken vocals in either german or english. Ich Will Raus / Let Me Out (with vocalist Santoshi) came out the same year. Ich Will Raus is with spoken words in german while Let Me Out has spoken words in english. Both are pumping floor-busters. The DuMonde-remixes of Rank 1It’s Up To You (Symsonic) is that years most memorable remix.

The collaboration with Dave 202 on the track Singularity 2005 and Judge Jules on What’s In Your Head in 2005 was IMHO the beginning of the end for Dumonde. While Singularity was a pretty straight-forward floorfiller, What’s In Your Head was the opposite. A good thing though is that their remix of NelkaBeautful Dawn kept that oldskool DuMonde-feeling.

2006 saw the release of I Feel You and the 2006 re-release of Tomorrow.

In 2007, DuMonde’s first (and only) album came out, A Decade 1997-2007. It contained their best works over the 10 years they had worked together under the DuMonde-name.

10th of December 2007. DuMonde posted a Press-statement that they had decided to stop working together. Both parties decided to work on own projects.

They did release a final single, Gun some days later. The track isn’t as hard and dark as the previous tracks, it feels more commercial than the classics. You can still hear that distinct DuMonde-sound but I miss the harder, pumping bassline and the dark, mellow strings.

The classic DuMonde-sound that I once fell in love with will always be a big part of my classics. That hard, edgy synths, the phat, driving basses and those haunting stings will live on forever, atlease as long as I play them. After all, it’s up to us to educate the people that have missed these true gems. Atleast, I will always look back at them with chills all over my body and a big smile.

Related tracks:

DuMonde – Tomorrow (Moogwai Remix)
Push – Universal Nation (DuMonde Remix)
Alice Deejay – Better Off Alone (Dumonde Remix)
Tin Tin Out – T.W.M. (DuMonde Remix)
Binary Finary – 2000 (DuMonde Remix)
Sweep – Running Up That Hill (DuMonde Remix)
CRW – I Feel Love (DuMonde Remix)
Barthezz – On The Move (DuMonde Remix)
Jurgen Vries – The Theme (DuMonde Remix)
DuMonde – Never Look Back
DuMonde – Human
DuMonde – Cold
DuMonde – Gun

Classic FTW: York – Farewell To The Moon (En Motion Remix)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bxz-8g5ePg&w=680&h=376]

This weeks article is focused on two brothers from Germany. They have both been involved in various projects over the years but the project and the track i’m thinking of is York – Farewell to the Moon (En Motion Remix). (Buy on Itunes)

York is German brothers Jörg and Torsten Stenzel. Both have been active in the music scene since the early 90’s.

Torsten Stenzel started playing the piano at the age of 5 and later turned to church organs where he recieved his organist diploma at the age of 15 when graduating from the prostentant church in Frankfurt. Meanwhile Jörg focused on stringed instruments.

Torstens first step into dancemusic came with the 1990 release Recall IV – Contrast, though he’s not credited as a writer on the track because his partner at the time forgot to mention him because of his lack of knowledge of the music industry.. Only ”mixed by Torsten Stenzel” appeared on the credits.

After becoming A&R for the record label Crash Records, he released N.U.K.E.Nana with partner Zied Jouini. The track went straight to No1 in Italy and No3 in Benelux.

His collaboration with DJ Taucher came in 1993 with the single, Happiness but it wasn’t until the release of the second single, Atlantis that the real rise to fame came.
Later in 1993 he formed his first own underground label, Liquid Records just to be able to release whatever he choose to. It was also at this time he started collaborating with Oliver Lieb with the project, Paragliders.

Except from Oliver Lieb, he also worked with Booka Shade, DJ Tatana, Dj Taucher, Talla 2XLC and DJ Sakin.

In 1995 Torsten bought the rights to Planet Love Records to focus on developing a trancier sound together with Dj Taucher. Their first release on the label, Fantasy was licensed to Sony Dance Pool and later became a top 50-single in the german charts.

Toghether with Dj Taucher, Torsten had remixed over 52 different artists and was named ’worldwide third best remixers’ in 1997 by Raveline magazine. An example was their remix of FaithlessGod Is A DJ, a huge success which topped the charts worldwide.

The project York was born in 1997 with their first single, The Awakening released on Talla2XLC’s label, Suck Me Plasma. The single reached no 11 in the UK chart. What did the track special was that it was the first trance track ever to be released with an electric guitar as a lead instrument. The single sold over 250.000 copies The guitar, played by Jörg has been a key instrument in all York-releases.

The second release, York featuring JamilaJastamba was another guitar-driven track. Though not as successful, it established the York sound. The same year, Torsten collaborated with Sakin Bozkurt a.k.a. DJ Sakin for the project DJ Sakin & Friends. Their first release, Protect Your Mind was a clubversion of a James Horner-track off the Braveheart-soundtrack. The track became an instant success and was played by every major DJ all over the globe. Protect Your Mind hit the No1 spot on the German dancechart and also No3-position on the German music sales chart. It sold Gold, Silver & Platinum in most european countries. The track sold over 700.000 copies worldwide.

The second single from DJ Sakin & Friends, Nomansland did pretty well but not near the success of Protect Your Mind. It landed on No10 in the German charts and No16 in the UK charts.
The track was a rework of the track Vladimir Cosma – David’s Song.
They had a hard time struggling with the success of Protect Your Mind to find so they trashed the project after the album Walk On Fire was released. The Album itself did pretty well in the charts.

The really big breakthough for York came in 1999 with the release of On The Beach, which is a remake of Chris Reas old anthem with the same name. The first vinyl was On The Beach and on the B-side was the track The Reachers Of Civilisation but later the same year there was a real release with alot of remixes. The mix that made the video-edit was the CRW remix (by italian Mauro Picotto amongt others). The single reached no 4 in the UK charts and became a worldwide hit. Chris Rea was amazed that this version had outsold his 1986 original that he pushed for the single and later performed with York at the British Top Of The Pops-show.

At this time, Torsten had moved to Ibiza and established his studio there.

The followup to On The Beach was the 2000 single Fields Of Love together with André Tanneberger a.k.a. ATB who also sings on the track. The track became another huge hit worldwide.

The same year also saw the single Farewell To The Moon (with vocalist Pat Appleton). Farewell To The Moon became another big hit and its also my favourite from York, especially the En Motion-remix by Steve Helstrip which gives me that summery feeling and a driving beat that just makes you wanna dance. The single also features remixes by Watergate and ATB.

2001 saw Yorks first album, Experience and later the single-release of The Reachers Of Civilization. First released as a B-side to On The Beach but now with an awesome remix-pack from Rank 1 and Push. The same year also saw the release of the single Silence which contains a sample from Héroes del Silencios single Entre Dos Tierras. Silence was re-released 2002 with vocals by Alaska and renamed Yesterday (Silence).

In 2004, York released I Need You and later the same year, a collaboration with Roger Shah under the name DJ Shah Meets YorkSunset Road / Dead Drummer. When Roger Shah later released his Sunlounger-singles, White Sand & Aguas Blancas Jörg was featured on Guitar. He was also featured on most of the Sunlounger 2007 album, Another Day On The Terrace

The year after saw the new album, Peace and the single York feat AngelinaIceflowers
.
In 2006 York released their last single, Mercury Rising and later York took a break.

Jörg worked on some productions with Roger Shah and Torsten worked on various projects which included Finnish rock singer Tarja Turunen (from the group Nightwish), Jennifer Paige, All Saints, Nelly Furtado & Joss Stone together with production partner Rick Nowels.

2010 saw the return of York. The first single, DreamMan featuring York – Moonrise On The Beach released on Laurent Veronnez’s label, Green Martian.

In 2011, York moved to Armin Van Buuren’s Armada Music Label and released York feat. Brandon JonesWanna Be Known and in 2012, the release Touched By God saw the light of day. Later in 2012 will see the release of the new album, Islanders

I still think the typical York-sound sounds fresh even today. As long as Jörg plays his typical guitar, you can still hear the distinct York-sound which once made them famous. The future looks bright for them and hopefully they’ll keep their sound for many more years.

Related tracks:

York – The Awakening (Extended Mix)
York featuring Jamila – Jastamba
York – On the Beach (Mauro Picotto’ s CRW Remix)
York – On The Beach (Original Mix)
Atb Featuring York – The Fields Of Love (instrumental)
York – Reachers Of Civilization (Rank 1 Remix)
York – Farewell To The Moon (Watergate Club Mix)
DJ Sakin & Friends – Protect Your Mind (Braveheart)
Moby – Porcelain (Torsten Stenzel Remix)
York – Touched By God (York & Steve’s Vocal Radio Mix)

Classic FTW: Delerium feat Jaël – After All (Svenson & Gielen Remix)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lckszwixLc&w=680&h=491]

This weekends classic comes from a very odd background. Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber, 2 guys from an Canadian EBM-band Front Line Assembly formed a side-project in 1987 to jump on the popular spritual Enigma-wave with angelic voices and munk-chanting but ended up as the trance-remixers favourite band. The track i’m talking about is Delerium feat. JaelAfter All (Svenson & Gielen Remix). (Buy on Itunes)

Lyrics:

She knows the voices in her mind
They tell her
To leave

She’s tired of smiling madly
Until silence becomes very silently
A noise in her mind

After all she has nothing inside
No good to give
No meaning to live
The mist engulfed tonight
Every single star

After all they shared
How could he simply say no
After all they shared
He turned away from her to go
She said she wouldn’t cry
That was really just a lie

She knows the noises in her mind
Nothing’s left but
Screaming silence

After all she feels numbness inside
The feeling’s gone
She’s upside down
The pictures behind her closed eyes
This time you went too far

After all they shared
How could he simply say no
After all they shared
He turned away from her to go
She said she wouldn’t cry
That was really just a lie

After all they shared
How could he simply say no
After all they shared
He turned away from her to go
She said she wouldn’t cry
That was really just a lie

After all she has nothing inside
No good to give
No meaning to live
The mist engulfed tonight
Every single star

After all they shared
How could he simply say no
After all they shared
He turned away from her to go
She said she wouldn’t cry
That was really just a lie

After all they shared
How could he simply say no (simply say no)
After all they shared
He turned away from her to go
She said she wouldn’t cry
That was really just a lie

After all they shared
How could he simply say no (simply say no)
After all they shared
He turned away from her to go
She said she wouldn’t cry
That was really just a lie

After all they shared
How could he simply say no (how could he simply say no)
After all they shared (after all)
He turned away from her to go (he just turned away)
She said she wouldn’t cry
That was really just a lie

Goosebump points:

0:58 when the bassline kicks in
1:27 when the vocals start
1:54 when the vocals change
2:37 when the breakdown starts
2:51 when the chorus starts
3:38 when the chorus comes again and the music builds
5:49 at the second breakdown when the chorus kicks in and the buildup thereafter

Delerium was formed in 1987 by Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber, and their first release was the 1988 album, Faces, Forms And Illusions. After this, they released a bunch of albums and singles.

The group has always been a duo but the lineup has changed over the years although Bill Leeb has always been the key character. After the release of the album Karma, Rhys Fulber quit the group and Chris Peterson came in. With the album Chimera, Fulber came back and stayed for the rest of the albums.

The big breakthrough came with the 1997 album, Karma which featured the single Silence (with singer Sarah Mclachlan). The single was released in 1998 and later peaked at no1 in the irish chart the year after. The cool thing is that it was the Airscape-remix which recieved the radio airplay.

The single was re-released in 2000 with remixes by Tiësto, Fade and Airscape and did even better in the charts worlwide. Tiesto’s In Search Of Sunrise-remix became one of trance biggest anthems and is still played by most trance-djs worldwide. It is one of those track that most people sing along with when they hear it played in a club. The single has since being re-released in 2004 (with remixes by Above & Beyond), 2006 (with remixes by Filterheadz) and in 2008 (with remixes by Niels van Gogh and Thomas Gold).

Worth noticing is that the Filterheadz-remix is often mislabeled as Trentmoller 2006 remix, which doesn’t excist.

The huge success of Silence ended in most delerium-singles after this being remixed for the dancefloors.

The next single, Heaven’s Earth (with singer Kristy Thirsk), released in 1999 also did well in the charts and was late remixed by Matt Darey in 2000.

2000 also saw the release of the album, Poem.

The followup-single was the 2001 single, Innocente (with singer Leigh Nash from the band Sixpence Non The Richer) which also did well in the charts and peaked at no 3 in the US Dancechart. The remix-package was delivered by Tiesto, Lost Witness, Deep Dish and Mr. Sam.
The official single and video-release was the Lost Witness edit

The year after saw the single Underwater (with singer Rani). Again, the single did well in the charts and peaked at no 9 on the US Dancechart. Underwater came with a remix-package from Rank 1 & Above & Beyond. The official single and video-release is the Above & Beyond edit.

After All (with singer Jaël) came out in 2003 was the first single from the new album, Chimera. The new album focused more on pop-music than the former album. The track also came with a remix-package from Svenson & Gielen and Satoshi Tomiie. The track didn’t do that well in the charts, but did peak at no 9 in the US Dancechart. The official single and video-release was released in 2 versions, one as album version and one as the Svensson & Gielen edit.

The second success from the Chimera-album came with Truly (with singer Nerina Pallot), again did pretty well in the charts and peaked at no 2 in the US Dancechart. The remix-package came with remixes from Infusion and Signum.

The 2007 single Angelicus (with singer Isabel Bayrakdarian) peaked at no1 on the US Dancechart and came with a remix-pack by Andy Moor and Redanka.
It was followed by Lost & Found (with singer Jaël) which peaked at no 4 on the US Dancechart. The remix-package came with a beautiful Blank & Jones-remix). Both tracks were featured on the 2006 album, Nuages du Monde.

The last single from Delerium, Dust In Gravity (with singer Kreesha Turner) was released in 2009 and again peaked at no1 in the US Dancechart. The remix-package was this time delivered by Sultan & Ned Shepard, Nervo and Niels van Gogh vs. Dave Ramone.

IMHO, Deleriums career peaked between 2000-2003, atleast dance-wise. The cool thing with their tracks is that there is always a version that fits your mood. If you’re tired of dancemusic, then put on the albums for some nice ambient chillout. The music and the style of Deleriums original material is timeless and hopefully people will remember them as well as the dancemixes. If not, they will always be remebered for Silence. Because that’s a true classic!

Related tracks:

Delerium feat Sarah Mclachlan – Silence (Tiesto’s In Search Of Sunrise Remix)
Delerium feat Leigh Nash – Innocente (Lost Witness Remix)
Delerium feat Rani – Underwater (Above & Beyond 21st Century Mix)
Delerium feat Nerina Pallot – Truly (Signum Remix)
Delerium feat Rani – Underwater (Rank 1 Remix)
Delerium – Heaven’s Earth (Matt Darey Remix)
Delerium feat. Sarah Mclachlan – Silence (Airscape Remix)
Delerium feat Sarah McLachlan – Silence (Above & Beyond’s 21st Century Remix)

Classic For The Weekend: Push – Universal Nation

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bffgi9nN5tE&w=680&h=491]

This weeks classic is one of the true classics in trance music. I’m talking about PushUniversal Nation. First released in 1998 and known as one of the biggest trance anthems and have been played by most major Djs and is still played every now and then. (Buy on Itunes)

Goosebump-moments:

0:28 when the bassdrum kicks in
1:09 when the drums fade and the main synth tweaks
2:19 when the bassdrum kicks in after the break
3:01 when the snares speed up and the Whooh comes in
5:48 when the drums stop
6:02 when everything starts to fades out
6:45 when the robotic voice comes in
7:11 when the Whooh comes in and is followed by a bassdrum and the sounds starts to fade up again
8:06 when the Whooh comes in and is followed by the main drumline

Belgian born Dirk Dierickx (now known as Mike Dierickx after changing his name in 2000) started his music career at the age of 11 when he first saw the potential of what he could do with samplers and keyboards but it wasnt until the age of 18 that he first got signed to the label USA Import Music after handing them his demo. Shortly after he released his first EP, Vision ActA New Sign (together with Frank Van Den Driessche).

Over the years, Mike has been using 65 aliases, much depending on style and collaboration-partners. The most wellknown aliases are Push, M.I.K.E., Plastic Boy and Absolute.

Mike has been using the Push-name since 1994 when he released the first single, Acid Hysteria
came out on USA Import Music but it wasnt until the release of The Real Anthem (later known as Universal Nation) in 1998 on Bonzai Records that the big things started to happen.

Universal Nation did well in the charts and got really positive reviews. First released in France, Spain and Germany and in 1999 most other European countries followed (UK, Italy, Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands).

Due to the several individual releases, the song has three different titles: Universal Nation, Universal Nation ’99 and Universal Nation (The Real Anthem). The success of Universal Nation gave Push several awards, major chart-success and put focus on Belgian dancemusic.

Worth noticing is that the vocal/robotic-sample in the middle break, ”proceed with visual attack formation” is sampled from the 1984 film The Last Starfighter.

In 1999, Push released both Cosmonautica and Till We Meet Again, the latter is a tribute to Marino Stephano, a fellow Belgian that died on the way to the studio to record with Push. Too bad no one will ever know what could have come out of that collaboration. Till We Meet Again is one of my personal alltime-favourites.

The 2000 album, From Beyond is IMHO a legendary album. Containing such hits as Universal Nation, Strange World, Cosmonautica, Till We Meet Again, Tranzy State Of Mind and The Legacy on the same album is madness!

Electro Fever 9:35
Universal Nation 7:52
Strange World 7:12
Travelogue 8:28
Cosmonautica 7:05
Till We Meet Again… 8:33
Tranzy State Of Mind 6:55
The Legacy 8:45
Live On 8:17
Outro 0:47

The followup-single, Strange World became a huge chartsuccess and once again, Push topped the dancecharts in Europe. It even became the official theme to Trance Energy in 2001. The single differs from the album version which is abit more laid back.

The Legacy, released in 2001 became another huge success, both in the clubs and in the charts and was later followed by the single Tranzy State Of Mind in 2002.

2002 also saw the new-ish album, Strange World, which actually was a re-release of the first album, From Beyond but with some newer versions of the tracks and a few remixes.

Intro 0:27
Strange World (2000 Remake) 7:23
The Legacy (Club Mix) 5:03
Universal Nation (Tall Paul Remix) 5:03
Travelogue 6:02
Electro Fever 6:53
Cosmonautica (12″ Mix) 5:24
Till We Meet Again (Vocal Mix) 3:28
Tranzy State Of Mind (Club Mix) 6:15
Universal Nation (Ferry Corsten Remix) 2:58
The Legacy (Svenson & Gielen Remix) 4:11
Live On 6:11
Strange World (2000 Reprise) 3:14
Outro 0:50
Tranceformation (Push Trancendental Vocal Mix) / Push Vs. Globe 7:50

It was also the year that the single Push vs Globe – Tranceformation came out.

The 2003 release, Journey Of Life was another epic trance track which later was followed by Push’s third album, Electric Eclipse and the new singles Electric Eclipse and R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Intro 1:11
R.E.S.P.E.C.T. 8:25
Imagine 6:08
Electric Eclipse (Original Mix) 7:57
Journey Of Life (Original Mix) 9:07
Trance-Parent 6:37
Blue Midnight 7:38
Universal Nation 2003 7:50
TRANCEFORMATION (vs. Globe) 6:36
Strange World (Tranquilo’s Chill Out Mix) 5:39
United We Stand 8:45

After this, there was a huge gap until 2008 when Push’s new EP, Universal Voice EP came out. In the gap, Pushed worked mostly on M.I.K.E.-productions which can be heard in the sound of the new releases.

What I really liked with the older releases was the dark but yet warm sound and the epic buildups while the new tracks lack most of that.

The 2009 Global Age album was Push’s fourth album and IMHO the least good of the albums. This saw a more progressive sound and IMHO the edge that got me hooked to Push had disappeared.

The last few years, all the effort has been put into M.I.K.E. And Plastic Boy. The sound of the new releases are pretty decent but when I want to hear really good music, I rather put on an old Push-track. The epic sound of old Push will never die, at least not in my mind!

Related tracks:

Push – Cosmonautica
Push – The Legacy
Push – Till we meet again
Push – Strange World
Push – Tranzy State Of Mind
Art Of Trance – Madagascar (Push Remix)
Space Brothers – Everywhere I Go (Push Remix)
Shinead O’Connor – Troy (Push Remix)

Classic for the weekend: Andain – Summer Calling (Airwave Remix)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgyUZwIEoH0&w=680&h=376]

This weekends classic is from 2002 and this article is about the remix. I´m talking about AndainSummer Calling (Airwave Remix). (Buy on Itunes)

What I really like is the hypnotic beat over the smooth Andain vocals together with the goosebumping buildup after the breakdown.

Lyrics:
And when it hurts for me
I never felt so empty
Memory has its way
Falling
Falling

Those summer mornings
You kissed me out of my next dream
Then without warning
It goes away

And then it goes
And then it goes
And then it…goes

Search to find you somewhere
As winds began to sway
Got in my car and just
Driving
Driving

Those summer mornings
I danced inside your warm embrace
You hear me calling
And now you’re gone

Goosebump points:
00:57 when the vocals start
02.38 when the main synth comes into the background
03:36 when the breakdown starts
03:56 when she starts wailing
04:18 when the main synth kicks in after the break. ORGAZM ALERT!!
04:47 when the kickdrum starts up again

A famous man have many names. That quote fits perfectly on the next featured artists.
Belgian born Laurent Christian Georges Véronnez is one of trance an progressive’s busiest producers, with over 35 different aliases he has produced some 500 different tracks in various music styles.

His musical career started at the age of 7 as he started playing around with synths but it wasn’t until the age of 18 when he sent some demos to the infamous Bonzai-label that his music career really started taking shape. At Bonzai, he quickly grew to one of their biggest artists.

Laurent’s main influences back then was everything electronic, from early Kraftwerk to Future Sound Of London and producers like Jean Michel Jarre, Orbital, Oliver Lieb and Brian Transeau just to name a few.

The first big success came after teaming up with DJ Fire (real name Jurgen Leyers) back in 1998 as Fire & Ice. Since then, many aliases has been used. L-vee, V-one, Airwave, Meridian, Green Martian, Lolo and Body-Shock just to name a few.

The most common alias used is the Airwave-alias, but he also did some collaborations in projects like Planisphere (togheter with Georges Petkidis, Fire & Ice (with Jurgen Leyers) and Cape Town (with Ludovic Meyer)

Laurent consider his style of music as ”pure electronic dance music with a sniff of electronica and trance and progressive sounds”

Laurent’s first release as Airwave came in 1998 with the single I Want To Believe, which was follorwed by the single Above The Sky in 1999.
In 2000, Airwave released 3 singles: Escape From Nowhere, Innerspace and Alone In The Dark. Alone In The Dark was the first track I heard from Airwave and IMHO one of his best ever. It was also with the same track that Airwave became huge in the UK.

The followup single, Save Me came out in 2001 and in 2002, Airwave released his first album, Believe.

In 2002, Airwave also teamed up with Armin Van Buuren and released Airwave vs. Rising StarSunspot. The same year also saw the release of Another Dimension as well as a re-release of Above The Sky as an EP with Alone In The Dark and Innerspace as additional tracks.

In 2003, when the the owner of Bonzai, Lightning Records went bankrupt, Laurent teamed up with Yves De Ruyter, Fly (owner of Bonzai) and Marnik (A&R from Lightning Records) to create the label Banshee Worx. The same year, the single When Things Go Wrong was released.

The second Airwave-album, I Want To Believe came out in 2004 and was a 2CD-piece where the 1st CD was the 2002 album Believe and the 2nd CD contained new material.
2004 also saw the re-release of the track Ladyblue, first featured on the 2002 album, Believe, but now redone for 2004 with an epic 12 min mix by Markus Schulz. Also released the same year was the EP Boredom, which also featured the track Last Flight To Gaia.

The singles, Progressive Agressive, People Just Dont Care and The Promise I Made (with Jon O’Bir), all came out in 2006 together with Airwaves third album, Trilogique which was a 3CD album.

The fourth album, Touareg came out in 2008 and was contained both new material aswell as fresher versions of older tracks.

In 2009, Airwave teamed up with old friend Ludovic Meyer (from the Cape Town-collaboration) for the epic track Batignolles Blues. Most people know Ludovic Meyer under the nickname Ferry Tayle. Ferry Tayle & Stephan R Neverending Story Remix of the single is a smooth uplifting remix and a favourite of mine.

I had the opportunity to see Airwave and Ferry Tayle perform as Cape Town last year and it was amazing. Airwave plays like a god on his keytar!

2010 saw the release of Airwave Presents LoloMyla’s Theme and 2011 the release of single Hello World. Hello World is also the first track released on the sub label L*C*D* Recordings

Airwave released the singles Atlas Winds / Chiricahua in 2012 but they had to be withdrawn due to Atlas Winds used a sample that Airwave bought years earlier that contained holy words from the Quran and it’s forbidden to use any words from the holy book, especially holy songs. I know that Airwave is working on replacing the vocals and hopefully we´ll see a re-release of the track later this year.

I will have the privilege to see Airwave perform a liveset this summer at Luminosity Beach Festival in Holland. According to the lineup, the next DJ in line is Ferry Tayle (together with Manuel Le Saux). I can only hope that Airwave will perform a few track as Cape Town. That would be a memory worth remembering!

Related tracks:
Solarstone – Seven Cities (V-one Remix)
York – Farewell To The Moon (Airwave Remix)
Tiesto – In My Memory (V-one Remix)
Above & Beyond vs Andy Moor – Air For Life (Airwave Remix)
Maor Levi ft. Ashley Tomberlin – Chasing Love (Airwave Remix)
Jones & Stephenson – The first rebirth (Airwave Remix)
Airwave – Alone In The Dark
Airwave feat Ludovic Meyer – Batignolles Blues (Ferry Tayle & Stephan R Neverending Story Remix)
Cape Town – Proglifter (Ferry Tayle Universal Language Mix)

Classic for the weekend: BT – Flaming June

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd_B6gOI0MA&w=680&h=491]

This weeks classic is somewhat connected with last weeks piece on Paul Van Dyk as he was a co-producer on this track. Im ofcourse talking about BT – Flaming June (BT & Paul Van Dyk Mix) (Buy on Itunes)

I remember being amazed the first time I heard it. The mixture of the Piano, The flute and the pumping bassline thru the track is really awesome. It’s been 15 years since the original release and it still sounds fresh!.

Goosebump-points:
0:27 when the piano comes in
0:53 when the flute starts
3:02 when the bass-lead starts
4:25 when the breakdown starts
4:39 when the echoing piano kicks in
4:52 when the main Piano kicks in

BT, or Brian Wayne Transeau was born in Rockville, Maryland in the early 70’s. He was early discovered as a prodigal child when it comes to music and first studied music at the Washington Conservatory of Music and later went to Berklee College of Music.

In the beginning of the 90’s he met up with Dubfire and Sharam of Deep Dish and started doing dancemusic. His first releases didn’t get any big response in the US but on the other side of the Atlantic ocean, djs Paul Oakenfold and Sasha played his music at every gig. It wasn’t until Sasha bought BT a planeticket to visit London that BT really witnessed his own success.

Until this time he had released Libra presents TaylorAnomaly (Calling Your Name) with vocalist Jan Johnston and
his own singles Embracing the Future and Nocturnal Transmission.

While in London, he met up with dj/producer Paul Oakenfold and got signed to his label, Perfecto.
The first release on Perfecto was came in 1995 with the single Loving You More with singer Vincent Covello and later the same year BT’s first album, IMA (the title means ”now” in Japanese).

The album contains some cool songs like Embracing The Sunshine, Nocturnal Transmission (which was partially used on the soundtrack to the movie ”The Fast & The Furious”) and Loving You More.
The same year, BT also remixed a couple of tracks. Most memorable is his remix on GraceNot Over Yet.

The US version of the IMA album released in 1996 also contained the hit single Blue Skies with singer Tori Amos. The single also became no1 on the Billboard Dance Chart.

It was around this time I discovered BT after hearing Embracing The Sunshine on MTV. I later bought both Loving You More and Blue Skies on CDM.

In 1997, BT released the singles Flaming June and Remember., both singles were also featured on BT’s second album, ESCM (Electric Sky Church Music).

Compared to the IMA-album, ESCM contained more vocals and a saw more experimental BT with darker sounds and also contained both drum & bass and breakbeat. BT also use live instruments like guitar, bass and drums, all played by himself.

ESCM saw the return of vocalist Jan Johnston who sings on both Remember and Lullaby for Gaia.

1999 saw the release of the third album, Movement In Still Life and contained hit singles Godspeed, Mercury & Solace, Namistai (with Paul Van Dyk), and the US version also contained Never Gonna Come Back Down. The album was heavily influented by the new hip hop-wave in the US so the original UK version was totally remade for the US market.

Tracks like Godspeed and Mercury and Solace did well in the UK, but would not fare well on US radios, where Never Gonna Come Back Down and Shame performed well on American alternative rock stations.

The fourth album, Emotional Technology came out in 2003 and contained hits like Somnambulist (Simply being loved), Force Of Gravity and Superfabulous.

It was also the year that BT got into Guineess world record-book for the Somnambulist-tracks that contains most vocal edits in a single track, with 6,178 in the album version. This technique is called Stutter and uses a program called Bias peak which BT loves to work in. You can hear it being used in loads of BT’s productions including the NSYNC-track Pop which BT produced.

The album, This Binary Universe, was BT’s fifth album and wasnt a typical album but more an experiment into producing in full 5,1 cinema sound. It was actually BT’s 2nd album to do this, the first was the soundtrack to the movie Monster, released back in 2003.

The album, both released as CD and DVD contains a broad mixture of jazz, breakbeats and classical music and even a full 110-piece orchestra. This was a non-vocal album and didnt really contain any hits.

The latest album, These Hopeful Machines, released in 2010 was the biggest success to date. 8 out of 12 tracks from the 2CD album became singles including, The Rose Of Jericho, The Emergency, Every Other Way, Forget Me and A Million Stars. The album featured vocalists Jes, Kirsty Hawkshaw, Christian Burns, BT and Rob Dickinson. Even his daughter, Kaia Transeau sung the lullaby-part on the track Forget Me.

The album also came out as These Humble Machines with radioedits and released as 1CD and later as These Re-imagined Machines as a remix-album with remixes from Adam K & Soha, Marcus Schossow, Ferry Corsten, Tydi, Chicane and Armin Van Buuren just to name a few.

While doing his own thing, BT’s songs has also been featured on loads of film scores including The Jackal, American Pie, Driven, 3000 miles to Graceland, Zoolander and The Core just to name a few. He has also had his tracks featured in videogames as Gran Turismo 3, FIFA 2002, Wipeout Fusion, Need For Speed: Underground, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 and Burnout Revenge just to name a few.

For me personally, These Hopeful Machines was 2010s biggest album by far and I really love the remix-album too. So many beautiful tracks, especially the Josh Gabriel remix of Every Other Way. It is one of those albums that will live on forever.

BT – Embracing The Sunshine
BT feat Tori Amos – Blue Skies (Deep Dish Blue Phunk Mix)
Grace – Not Over Yet (BT Remix)
BT – Godspeed
BT – Mercury & Solace
NSYNC – Pop
BT feat JC Chasez – Force Of Gravity (Ferry Corsten Remix)
BT & Jes – Every Other Way (Josh Gabriel Remix)
BT feat Kirsty Hawkshaw – A Million Stars (Myon & Shane 54 Remix)
Tiesto feat BT – Love Comes Again