At 12:45 Sunday afternoon, a voice cut across an edit of Hard Rock Sofa & Dirty Shade’s “Collapsar,” causing a still-filling Ultra Mega Structure to turn toward the sound.
“Good morning Miami!” the voice rang out. “Are you ready for The Expedition?” Heads started nodding. “Are you ready for 11 hours of A State of Trance?” A yes-shaped roar emerged.
The voice was Armin van Buuren’s, the set was Tritonal‘s, and the effect was pandemonium. Projected on screen from the on-site ASOT studio, the patriarch of the trance family beamed down at the crowd, encouraging them to give it up for their fellow Americans, the trance team from Texas that kicked off the live ASOT 600 experience and played the first of the day’s ten sets.
Where “Spaceman” dominated in 2012, its followup, “Apollo,” has taken 2013 by storm. Now Hardwell’s latest anthem is taking steps away from big room in separate directions with its remix package. Dash Berlin, Lucky Date, Noisecontrollers,and Psychic Type each take their hands at “Apollo,” giving the track facelifts of every sort. Dash’s trance rendition has been the most notable as it has gained airtime across the world in A State Of Trance sets and Lucky Date summons the bulky electro within, while Noisecontrollers and Pyschic Type provide an unexpected dubstep flare.
Just in time for some serious Miami Music Week exposure, the remix package for Hardwell‘s “Apollo” receives its first Revealed Records sneak peak. As the label continues to dominate the release circuit, Hardwell‘s budding imprint delivers a 4-track package featuring Dash Berlin, Noisecontrollers, Lucky Date and Psychic Type. Each producer lends their own unique style to Hardwell’s anthemic original, using Amba Shepherd’s vocals as a creative springboard for their heavily remixed iterations. Dash Berlin’s 4am remix pulses with ethereal trance progressions before it’s thunderous drop, while electro-duo Noisecontrollers intertwine dub and electro into a twisted shell of frothy bass. Lucky Date arrives with his signature frantic bass lines in tow and reminds us why — when it comes to energy — electro house reigns king before Canadian newcomer Psychic Type subdues the tempo and develops his own swinging dub-trap hybrid.
Hear the remixes live at the Revealed Recordings showcase at Mansion Miami on March 21st.
While the original “Fool For Life” was a soft, emotive vocal track off #musicislife, Dash Berlin has revamped the tranquil trance original with a “4 AM Remix.” Preserving the arcing melody and yearning vocals of the original, the true difference surmounts on the track’s ramping build up and gated, distorted electro drop. Dash Berlin says of the track, “This is what I call the ’4 AM’ sound, whenever I take the more experimental route with a track. At 4 at night people are ready for crazy stuff like this; that is where that comes from.” The heavier “4 AM” remix of “Fool For Life” is set to be released on February 28th on Aropa Records.
Armin van Buuren won’t be the first DJ to perform at a sold out Madison Square Garden, but he will be the first to perform there while video chatting with his fans. The legendary trance producer has announced that during all live shows on his upcoming A State of Trance 600‘The Expedition’ world tour, fans will have the opportunity to attend a virtual Goolge+ hangout. These sessions will allow members of the trance family to interact with, and ask questions of, not only Armin van Buuren but also Markus Schulz, Dash Berlin, and W&W. While only select fans will have the opportunity to actually participate in chat, all will be able to watch.
“Every week, more than 20 million people tune into my show, so for these special live shows I’d like to take it one step further. Via the Google+ Hangouts, I can turn the listeners into viewers and offer them a front row seat.”
Even if you were unable to snag tickets to the show, you now have three ways to participate — radio broadcast, video broadcast, and/or Google+ hangout. Click below the jump to find out how to get involved.
Pasquale Rotella and Insomniac have just announced via Twitter the full lineup for this year’s White Wonderland event in Anaheim on New Year’s Eve. We were already pretty sure about some of the headliners, but the event’s website now confirms the full lineup will include the following: Above & Beyond, Avicii, Bingo Players, Dannic, Darin Epsilon, Dash Berlin, Ferry Corsten, Hardwell, Madeon, Sebastian Ingrosso, and Tritonal. Purchase your tickets here.
Insomniac‘s White Wonderland New Year’s Eve celebration will return for its second year at the Anaheim Convention Center on December 31st. The EDC promoter has cut the event down from two to only one night this year, but the theme and location will remain the same. No word of a line-up yet.
Last year brought big names like Paul van Dyk, Kaskade (although weather prevented him from actually performing), Dada Life, Steve Angello, Benny Benassi, AN21 & Max Vangeli, and Thomas Gold. Tickets are now on sale for both general admission — $89 — and VIP — $175. Click past the break to get your tickets now. White attire is mandatory and the event is 21+.
Update: our observant readers pointed out Pasquale Rotella confirmed Dash Berlin, Above & Beyond, Hardwell, and Bingo Players on the line-up yesterday in a tweet:
Trance fans suffered a hard loss this week following Above & Beyond’s announcement that the next episode of TATW would be their last. Hopefully, Ferry Corsten’s remix of “When You Were Around” will relieve some of that sadness. Ferry’s deft production skills breathe new life into the Dash Berlin original. Emotionally evocative with airy chord progressions, Corsten gives the track a sound facelift allowing Kate Walsh’s silky smooth vocals to breathe amongst energetic kicks and enchanting synth pops.
Taking risks and having them pay off is the result of Dash Berlin’s latest rework to 2pac and Dr Dre’s classic hip hop anthem, “California Love.” Combining hip hop and trance isn’t something we see everyday, but Dash takes the soulful lyrics from “California Love,” and makes them work so effortlessly. Dance music has experienced an overabundance of remixes and rerubs, so its nice to see some real innovation and risk taking. We have no doubt that this track will receive resonate ovation in any live setting and are pleased to see Dash give it away as a free download.
4 Strings caught our attention with the release of “Cheesecake” – a single that received massive support from trance heavyweight Markus Schulz. This time around he uses his big-room, anthem-like trance sound to take on Dash Berlin’s “Silence In Your Heart.” The track begins with spouts of words over a repetitive hi-hat that goes into an unaltered segment of the vocals. Then comes the 4 Strings touch; a dreamy piano line turns into epic synth work with a crashing anthemic drop. If you loved the original but were hoping for a harder hitting edge, this version certainly fills the void.
Dash Berlin – Silence In Your Heart (4 Strings Remix)
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