Armin van Buuren recaps best of 2012 with annual Year Mix
At the end of every year, Armin van Buuren releases a Year Mix, compiling the best of trance and progressive into one impressive mega-mix. Fans of Armin know the value of these mixes; they are expertly crafted representations of his layering, beat matching, and mixing skills -- demonstrative of how and why he tops international DJ charts year after year. For those of you who cannot wait until this pops up on Soundcloud or airs on ASOT, you can purchase the full two CD set now on iTunes.
Above & Beyond announces the end of their legendary Trance Around The World radio show
Trance fans all over the world were both shocked and saddened with the announcement on this week's Trance Around The World #449 that their special 450 show in Bangalore would be their last ever. They began the episode as a retrospective, but only framed it as a lead up to TATW 450. The episode itself is a beautiful recap of some of the most beautiful Anjunabeats releases we've seen and now surely will be looked to as a major turning point for the Above & Beyond and Anjunabeats fans all over. Opening with Parker & Hanson's "Arabesque," and moving through favorites from Jaytech, Mat Zo, Super8 & Tab, Mike Koglin, Andrew Bayer, Nitrous Oxide, Arty, and many more, the trio appropriately ends with their own Analogue Haven remix of OceanLab's "Breaking Ties." To conclude the episode's final track, the trio, who have been releasing this radio show weekly for the past nine years, state "finally some news just in.. Trance Around the World 450 will be the last ever Trance Around the World.. bye for now." We have not heard what this means about the future of the group itself and future releases or touring, but it is definitely the end of a wonderful era of trance music and a hard pill to swallow for many around the world. We will update if and when we hear more back from Anjunabeats.
‘Cream Ibiza’ mixed by Above & Beyond (album review)
If you simply you can't get enough Anjuna, then "Cream Ibiza, mixed by Above & Beyond" is everything you want it to be, a brilliant portrait of the label's recent successes. With appearances by Arty, Mat Zo, Andrew Bayer, Norin & Rad, Parker & Hanson, and Jaytech, it's a snapshot of Above & Beyond as they are in the summer of 2012 -- It's a little slice of trance 2.0, preserved forever. Oh, and Eric Prydz, Markus Schulz, and Jerome Isma-Ae feature, too.