Tag: armin van buuren

REVIEW: Armin Van Buuren – ‘Intense’

Written by: Jason Haynes

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When it comes to trance, there is no bigger name in the field than Armin van Buuren who has established himself as the top representative of the genre. Not only has he been voted the number one DJ in the world for the past few years, but he has also maintained a massive presence in the EDM community with his highly popular State of Trance radio series and live shows worldwide. I was definitely curious, though, to see what direction Armin would take with his fifth studio album, considering his last release, Mirage, was something of a disappointment with its more commercialized sound. One had to wonder if Armin was going to follow the path of Tiesto and create more radio-friendly music, which would feel like a sellout to his true fans. Intense finds the highly acclaimed DJ trying to find his inner voice and moving forward and while the new release is an improvement over Mirage, fans are still left however with an enigma that never truly captures the vision and sound that originally catapulted Armin to fame.

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SONG OF THE DAY: HIIO ft Abigail Bailey – “Waiting for the Night”

If Chuckie calls it “loud and proud,” you know it’s got to be energetic. South American duo HiiO follows up their recent club hits “Something About You” and “Meant to Be” with “Waiting for the Night,” a big room electro stomper equally balanced between massive energy and chilled-out dropouts. What makes this track stand out (aside from the amazing vocal performance by Abigail Bailey) is the way the dropouts aren’t completely beatless and have a groove that will keep the dancefloor. The rhythm is quite memorable but driving my trainspotter brain crazy, I thinks it’s a bit of Lee and Cabrera “Shake It” mixed with Deep Dish “Flashdance” in there. The lyrics are quite strong, also taking a different direction on the same theme recently explored by Armin van Buuren & Fiora. If the lyrics could be fleshed out into a complete verse/chorus/verse structure, this could be the basis for quite a strong pop song in its own right. As it is, watch for “Waiting for the Night” to be a big room club smash for most of the summer and festival season.

Image Courtesy of InCharge/Be Yourself Music.

SONG OF THE DAY: Lange & Susana – “A Risk Worth Taking”

When we last heard from British producer Lange, it was “Our Brief Time In the Sun,” a beautiful and modern instrumental trance track with a bit of a classic feel.? Changing gears, this new single “Risk Worth Taking,” is more aggressive, with a harder electro feel that still shares the classic feel of one his harder mixes from the early 2000s, though completely modern in execution. The track is energetic, the vocal is quite strong, and the chorus is hooky and memorable.? It’s dark and light at the same time – if that makes sense.? One complaint though, in the extended version available on Beatport, a long patch of the vocals is over a massive beatless dropout – following the trend of many current EDM tracks.? The video version on YouTube, though, is a bit more commercial-sounding and so much more energetic- it really translates the emotion of the song to a higher degree.? It would be so nice for us DJs to be able to purchase an extended version – with intro and outro – of this version… Especially since not everyone spins in rooms that can handle extended dropouts.?? Other than that, “A Risk Worth Taking” is a brilliant vocal electro-trance record and it’s easy to see why the big guys like Gareth Emery, Armin Van Buuren, and Markus Schulz are supporting it.

Image Courtesy of Lange Music.