Author Archives: James Moyers

[MP3 Playlist] The Trance Dojo #3

It’s that time of the week again, Ninjas, when the lifeless Thursday afternoon is shocked back into life through your weekly helping of Trance. Before getting into this weeks playlist, let’s look back over the amazing Monday when the great Armin Van Buuren supplied the world’s speakers all the way from Ibiza. While the rest of the world is settling into their Fall routine, the Ibiza summer season just officially came to a close. To mark the end of the season and the end of A State Of Trance‘s Invasion, Armin put on an epic night at Privilege in Ibiza — six hours straight of music courtesy of W&W, Markus Schulz, Dash Berlin, and of course Armin himself. To truly understand what trance is all about check out Armin’s, Dash Berlin’s, and Markus Schulz sets.

Now to get into this week’s Trance offerings. This playlist starts out with a massive remix of Markus Schulz Love Rain Down On Me by Myon & Shane. Brilliantly swooping through a range of progressive synths and the gorgeous voice of Seri this track defines what can be done when build ups are intertwined with raw human emotion. This past Monday an absolute bombshell of a track was dropped by one of the trance originals Paul Oakenfold titled “Come Together”. Striking with all his mighty force, Oakenfold delivers this eccentric combination of harsh electro sounds with gentle vocals to show off the great versatility that trance exudes. Norin & Rad deliver their aptly titled “Five Finger Death Punch”. Continue on through the playlist will lead to some irresistible soundcloud finds. Syntek delivers a gorgeous song in his “Virtual Reality,” while Shanno shows of the darker side of trance with his song “Stranger”. Finishing off with a scintillating bootleg from Andrew D of Kaskade and Deadmau5’s “Move for Me”. Sitting on top of all those tracks down below is a continuous mix of all the tracks in this weeks dojo. Much love Ninjas Enjoy.

’Trance Dojo #3 Continous Mix’
’Love Rain Down (Myon & Shane 54 Summer Of Love Mix)’
’Come Together (Original Mix)’
’Five Finger Death Punch (Original Mix)’
’Virtual Reality’
’Stranger’
’Move For Me (Andrew D Bootleg)’

Another Thursday means that we are all blessed with a new A State of Trance mixed by Armin Van Buuren starting at 2pm EST. To listen in click on the lin here to be taken to Di.FM. Move your mouse over to the Listen Now section the go down to the Trance channel and click on your pick of the stream to listen through iTunes.

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Band of Horses – Mirage Rock (Album Review)

Evolution, it’s a fact of life for a band trying to grow and push forward after being together nearly 10 years. Since first being recognized Sub Pop, an indie label based in their hometown of Seattle and one that’s spawned the careers of bands like Nirvana, Beach House and The Postal Service, the indie rock veterans Band of Horses have progressed through three albums, a major label leap to Columbia and even a Grammy nomination. They continue their journey on their latest album, Mirage Rock. Able to affect so many people in the past with their music, their success has also become somewhat of a double-edged sword: the expectations for this album were stratospheric. But they managed to deliver, just not exactly in the way we might have anticipated.

“Knock, Knock” starts off the record as an homage to Infinite Arms and the success that that album brought to the band. The lyrics to this song are as creative as ever, nearly leading the band to its victory lap, despite being the first track. Later, through a somber and acoustic Ben Bridwell, “Slow Cruel Hands of Time” begins to unveil an underlying theme of struggle. “Trapped for a moment / The sheriff’s department got the wrong guy / The town is revealed the lone / Visible winds through the fog” can be heard near the end of this ballad, perhaps conveying how difficult it might have been for Band of Horses to cope with their success.

’Knock Knock’

’Slow Cruel Hands Of Time’

To read the rest of the review & listen to more of Mirage Rock

Continue reading

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[MP3 Playlist] Introducing The Trance Dojo

     

Welcome, Ninjas, to the first installment of the Trance Dojo. All the contributors working behind the scenes on this site revel in being able to introduce readers to snippets of a sonic world that previously may have seemed inexistent to them.

We filter through mass amounts of music to find and bring to you what we all think is the best and most unique, and we do this through our Dojos and everyday posts. The foundation of the ninja experience revolves around this music discovery. The masterful Trap and Chill Dojos help to cover a gap in an area of electronic music that was once missing from this site. This newest Dojo promises to deliver the same thing.

Electro moves the feet, Dubstep filths the faces, and Progressive House basses the heart away. But Trance…Trance reaches into the soul. While listening through this list, trance harmonies will rain down through judgment-free 8-bar patterns to leave no person unloved and no breath untaken. Legendary names like Tiesto and Sander Van Doorn built their early careers by delivering trance anthems to the world. By no means is this a new genre just exploding on to the scene. Ever since breaking out in the early 1990’s the kingdom of trance has been lead by the one, the only… Armin Van Buuren.

Featuring Armin’s newest track, “I’ll Listen,” this playlist shows off a mix of releases from artists available only through Beatport, with a few songs available for free download. From Wezz Devall’s newest release to the masterful New Hero remix we are proud to present to you the very first Trance Dojo. Enjoy.

’Wezz Devall – We are the future (Original Mix)’
’Armin Van Buuren – Ill Listen (Original Mix)’
’Genix – Destinations’
’AliPa – Trancentimental Journey (Original Mix) ‘
’The Crusher – Original’
’W&W – Moscow (New Hero Bootleg)’

    If that is not enough trance for one day, understandable, then have a listen to Armin Van Buuren’s weekly broadcast A State of Trance Ep. 578. This week’s broadcast was simply amazing.

’Armin van Buuren – A State of Trance 578 – 13.09.2012 ‘
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[Electro] Ostblockschlampen – Dog Safari EP Preview

This duo hailing from Germany give us only two more days to prepare for when they let loose this massive wall of pure electro power. Prepare yourselves, ninjas, it’s about to get filthy. The first song, which has been appropriately titled “Swag,” and the second called “Big Splash” will leave absolutely no one with their feet solidly planted to the ground. Dangerous bass and jumpy hooks leave no room for the faint of heart in this preview. Those two songs just lead up to what is a massive attack of a track, simply called “Dog Safari”. I think the description from the Soundcloud page really says it best: “The faces you’ll make when you hear this EP will match those of most people that try to pronounce their (Ostblockschlampen) name.” Couldn’t have said it better myself. Enjoy.

Be sure to grab this when it releases September 14th on the Oh My God Its Techno Music label.

’OSTBLOCKSCHLAMPEN – DOG SAFARI EP’
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[Indie] Taken By Trees – Large

Sometimes a gorgeous day collides with just the perfect sound. For the magnificent hump day, the perfect sound comes courtesy of the shimmering new release from Taken By Trees, the solo project of Victoria Bergsman. Guided by a strong Swedish pop influence that is no doubt carried over from her former days as front woman of The Concretes, this second single from her upcoming album seems to reverberate through space with a whimsical, yet dramatic soundscape.

Taken By Trees forthcoming album, Other Worlds, will be available October 2nd. Pre-order the album through Taken By Trees label Secretly Canadian here.

’Taken By Trees – Large’
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[Indie] Wickerbird – Druids (Official Video)

After hours of hiking with a heavy pack firmly attached, all it takes is one parting of the trees to show a landscape that will inspire many stories and many moments of reflection for those who come. Anyone who has taken a vast hike can attest to the overwhelming euphoria that envelopes the soul upon seeing such a landscape. This song manages to capture that moment throughout its entirety. Blake Cowan, AKA Wickerbird, lends us home video footage so that we can revel in the pure spirit of what the song is all about.

Sitting atop a 12,400 ft mountain in New Mexico I will never be able to explain the serene feeling I had while watching a plane fly below me in the valley — just emphatically enjoying the beautiful view that went on for miles, states even. But this song comes pretty darn close to expressing that moment in its most raw form. All the intense emotions from such a trip came rushing back because of “Druids,” as the Washington-based artist sets his music amidst a mesmerizing, but nostalgic realm. To experience more of his music visit his Bandcamp page by clicking here. Wickerbird’s debut album, The Crow Mother, comes out September 25th.

’Druids’
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[Aftermovie] Tomorrowland 2012

If you were lucky enough to be one of the 120,000 people in attendance, then you get to relive a small part of what must have been a life-changing weekend. For those of us who couldn’t make it out to Belgium this summer, the next 20 minutes will truly be extraordinary. You are about to be transported to the most theatric and stunning festival this world very well may have to offer. The main stage itself has so much detail to it, not to mention just the sheer magnitude of it. One wet, wild, and crazy dance extravaganza is waiting for you next summer, all you have to do is skip over the little pond to Europe. Easy, right?

While watching this video, you’ll get goosebumps and probably grow pretty envious, it’s only natural. My biggest hope for everyone reading this is that you get to experience a festival of this caliber at some point in your life. Enjoy, ninjas!

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