Armin van Buuren – A State Of Trance Year Mix 2007
Pin ItOne album and heap of memories! Armin van Buuren brings you his annual offering – ‘A State Of Trance Year Mix 2007‘ confiding us in his unflawed mixing skills. What else can be a spectacular way to bid adieu the ending year listening to a set of the year’s best Trance tunes! Listeners generally rate the albums on traits like productions and compilation. However ‘A State Of Trance Year Mix 2007‘ solely stands on the mixing power Armin demonstrates by overlapping different tunes and creating a complete euphoric & dancy package.
Disc 1
The voyage takes off with futuristic male vocals welcoming us to a state of trance. By the time the announcement ends in "The Seven Deadly Sins And The Seven Heavenly Virtues", a receptive atmosphere to hear the tune surfaces and we hear the first track "Faxing Berlin" by Deadmau5 blended in with the vocals of "Light The Skies" by Cerf, Mitiska & Jaren. The sublimed beats of "Faxing Berlin" is perfectly topped with Jaren’s vocals expelling a blissful collaboration.
The smooth bass line of "Not Alone Tonight" by Marscruiser can be audibly sensed and is exactly lifted where Kendra’s vocals seem to have an aroused edge; not to forget Blake Jarrell’s amazing remix.
Michael Cassette’s "David" probably has the shortest share of it’s offering, but is a well deserved ASOTYM tune-runner.
"Invincible" by Jose Amnesia is blatantly introduced next, an addition on the ongoing intense set of vocal Trancers with a placid flow!
The break down of Dash Berlin’s "Till The Sky Falls Down" finally provides a momentary break from the vocal rush.
The beats of "Wouldn’t Change A Thing" by Jose Amnesia get rooted from Dash Berlin and end with "The Sound Of Goodbye" by Armin van Buuren, a calm transition of two massive vocal Trancers which Armin blows in Disc 1.
One can rarely feel Sunlounger’s "Another Day On The Terrace" until the massive "Falling" by First State treats your ears. The mixing is conventionally done till this point.
Armin introduces Jennifer again in "Fall To Pieces" by Jonas Steur and bombs yet another vocal – "Reasons To Forgive" by Kirsty Hawkshaw & Tenishia after pitching off from the former; hard to fathom the stance between the two tracks.
Blizzard’s remixes are consecutively repeated in "For You" by Envio. Both tracks, "Reasons To Forgive" and "For You" seem to be charged with the same digital melody that Blizzard is known to produce, hence the progression feels very flat.
Further, the tracks are lined up with simple yet catchy mixing of "The Truth" by Headstrong, "Mr. White" by Marcus Schössow, "Mexico Can Wait" by Roland Klinkenberg, "Needs To Feel" by Super8 & Tab, "Carry Me Away" by Chris Lake and "Roadkill" by Dubfire.
Little traces of Julian Jeweil’s "Air Conditionné" can be felt until the music flies you to the synth rich "Finished Symphony" by Hybrid in a Deadmau5 mix.
The mixing paces on to "Kalopsia" by The Blizzard which is brilliantly intermixed with Markus Schulz’s mix of Chakra’s "I Am"; the breaks merged up with Kalopsia’s nestling vocals – simply brilliant.
Departure’s voice emerges from "Cause You Know" by Markus Schulz and mixes well with Mungo’s "Summer Blush" which had to be a strong contender in ASOTYM being one of the latest craze in 07′s end.
In a seamless progression, Maor Levi’s "Shapes" and Super8 & Tab’s "Suru" are played and then the melodic outburst of the amazing "Metaphorique" by Cape Town is mixed, this tune is probably an underrated tune of 2007.
Next to root from the beats is Maor Levi’s "Reflect" which sets a suiting outro for "Metaphorique".
The break down of Vincent De Moor’s "Fly Away" is pieced out from "Reflect", and is elongated to the break down of "Firefly" by Mike Foyle.
When top break downs are rooted you get pure ecstasy! And tunes like Evbointh’s "One Wish", Deadmau5′s "Arguru" and Yanou’s "King Of My Castle"; different genres get amalgamated here and break into Nic Chagall’s "What You Need". Armin has conceptualized the mixing of break downs and showcased how finely moments of playback of these tunes can create an impact on us.
To change the mood, the male vocal Trancer "Anthem" by Filo & Peri comes in and is taken away by the beautiful dropout tune of Purple Mood’s "One Night In Tokyo".
Marked by Breakfast’s "The Horizon", Aruna’s voice is sampled in between The Thrillseekers’ "Waiting Here For You" on a seemingly higher BPM.
The ecstasy further witnesses beauties like Markus Schulz & Andy Moor’s "Daydream", Marc Marberg and Kyau & Albert’s "Megashira", Shawn Mitiska & Jaren’s "Silently".
The vocals of "Body Of Conflict" by Cosmic Gate is lifted from "Silently", mend in a stealthy technique, actually!
"The Sunlight" by Breakfast and Albert Vorne’s "Formentera What" complete the impressive Disc 1 as we switch on to Disc 2.
Disc 2
After Michael Dow’s "Ascent", the bass-grinding "Rush Hour" by Armin van Buuren himself surfaces.
The vocals of "Always A Fool" by Kyau & Albert fade up behind "Rush Hour’s" bass line that later set off in Above & Beyond’s "Home".
The next biggie i.e. John O’Callaghan’s "Big Sky" is blown up by Armin, by this time the speakers seem intact and in other cases they might get jacked, so to stabilize this euphoric fury, one might need real good subwoofers.
"Oceanic" by Tranquility Base affirms why ASOTYM showcases best of the best tunes in the rapid mixing session.
More works lie ahead for your speakers as tunes like Logistic’s "One More Night Out", Simon Patterson’s "Bulldozer", "W&W’s "Mustang", Bedrock’s "Heaven Scent" get blasted with a ripped up aftermath and till you think the sounds have become elusive, you hear Tranquility Base’s "Buzz", that just won’t let you and your speakers rest.
Piano and vocals change the mood in Dogzilla’s "Frozen" to a darker one in "Fly To Colors" by Markus Schulz with excessive practicing of dark pads.
Melody strikes big and beautiful with Duderstadt’s "Smile".
"Apologies" by Conrad S. takes over the music to the trippy vocal break down of Way Out West’s "The Fall".
Another brilliant stance of overlapping can be heard in DJ Shah’s "Who Will Find Me" where Armin replaces the tune of "Who Will Find Me" with Majesta’s "Not The End"; making me wish it was solely mixed to craft an anthem trancer.
The anthemic and uplifting "Saved Again" by Cerf, Mitiska & Jaren is always there to change the genre to fast progressive.
Disc 2 comparatively has more energetic side to it than Disc 1 because Aly & Fila are nicked in FKN’s "Why" and Deems’ "Tears Of Hope". By now my speakers seem exhausted just that I don’t witness any smoke coming out!
Ears give up on the energetic loud bass but how can one turn away when choons like Bissen’s "Quicksand", Meck’s "Feels Like Home" and Cold Blue & Del Mar’s "11 Days" are played – some massive additions to the chaotic listening experience!
ASOTYM gets progressive and progressive with Dave 202′s "Louvre" and M6′s "Destination 6", something to look forward to with Jahala’s vox hitting right after in with Aly & Fila & FKN’s "How Long?".
Armin van Buuren & Rank 1′s "This World Is Watching Me" – this long titled tech beauty coheres with Tiësto’s "In The Dark", the pinpoint is lost somewhere in the ongoing listening experience.
It always makes me wonder how easy or difficult it is to mix tech after progressive or any other genre . Armin knows for sure and we very well notice it with 4 Strings’ "Catch A Fall", yet another massive break down ridden tune thrown on the listeners.
"Platinum" by Nenes & Pascal Feliz makes it tech to progressive in Onova’s "Platitude"!
And just when we think we have had enough of tech and progressive in the mix, Ronski Speed’s "The Perspective Space" is probably the first featured mashup in the Disc.
Then my favourite pile of tunes comes in with JOC – The Doppler Effect’s "Beauty Hides In The Deep" and Talla 2XLC’s "No In Between" stay untraceable by what Armin has done to the break downs in both tracks, edited them or cut short, I could rarely make out, but the music sounds maddening for sure!
And even before Disc 2 ends we get hit again by the massive breakdown of Lost Witness & Sassot’s "Whatever".
My personal interpretation would say – that to end the ASOTYM 2K7 experience and foretell what ’08 holds for Trance, Armin does a deadly mashup of Mojado’s "Kaktus" and Sander van Doorn’s "Riff", teched up killers! Hard to explain, please witness it yourselves!
Armin closes the exhausting listening experience with "Back To Where The Skyline Awaits You".
Verdict
The featured tunes are the highlights of his ASOT radio show and he has started a cult of rapid mixing. People, who always get awed by Armin, know who unarguably mixes the best on the decks, on the earth!
For more info related to Armin van Buuren check out the following links:
www.arminvanbuuren.com
www.twitter.com/arminvanbuuren
www.facebook.com/arminvanbuuren
www.youtube.com/arminvanbuuren
