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2023-01-01
Happy New Year to all of you out there! Had I not been so absorbed in World Cup and Scorito-mania, this Razormane Selects would have been revealed for December, but at least I can still catch up on some of the late gems of 2022 this way. So yes, this is more of a reflection of the last 4 months of 2022 but given how it was another pretty good year for music, I won't complain.
Massive props to Armin and the Cosmics who invoke that Rank 1-ish 2010's Bigroom Anthem Trance vibes with REFLEXION. Fun fact: Olaf Dieckmann, better known as Wippenberg is also credited on the track! Alongside Claus Terhoeven (Nic Chagall) and Benno de Goeij (Rank 1), this kind of makes REFLEXION the spiritual successor to Nic Chagall, Rank 1 & Wippenberg - 100, from 2010, but this time around Armin is in too for a Titan of a four-way collab. Obviously Frank Spector's take on La Nuit as well as Solarstone's Hope are some of the Darker and Lighter Trance high points of this selection. The former feels like it was heavily inspired by Gaia's ULMF 2014 rendition of In Principio whereas Hope brings organic beauty to the table, sprinkled with some vocal chopped bliss on top of a pumping bassline. Emotion-wise it picks up where Sovereign left and encapsulate that typical Solarstone Euphoria that us Tranceheads love.
One of the very best on the list is the last one imo, Trancemaster's Anthem, which brings back the feeling and energy of the good ol' early '90s Eye-Q Trance imprint! Future Rave might have been 2022's hype genre, but actual oldskool Rave is still where its at and Anthem mixes elements of that with Trance. '90 ftw baby <3 David Broaders strikes again with another fantastic euphoric/emotional hybrid of a melody through For A Lifetime whilst IN5UM give an extra melodic twist to the typical groovy brilliance of Envotion.
Pig&Dan are also back at last, the Techno Maestros return with a heavy-duty, mesmerizing floorstomper called For The Music: the chopped arpeggio vaguely reminds me of the legendary Mauro Picotto and is a nice change of pace tone-wise, following that almost feverish mechanical warmth that intensifies over the course of the infectious build-up.
Finally, let's pay some respect to Nhato. Last year's Blind Anger ended up in my Top 30 2022 and rightfully so, it is a typical haywire Razormane Tech bomba... But my my my, what about this TOXIC RAVE!! It's like a triggered Blind Anger On Steroids packing weapons left and right... Heavy on distortion, glitches/intentional interruptions and a friggin' angry Rave-inspired beast riff of a melody. I just... OOF. I played it while enjoying the fireworks during New Year's Eve and it couldn't have had more fitting visual guidance really. Dune hails from the same EP (Techy Works Vol. 2) and also features classic Techno/Rave influences throughout but with a strong dash of mid '00s Tech Trance think E-Craig or more particular Fred Baker vs. Greg Nash - Atlantis City vibes. I LOVE that typical reverbed Techno synth <3 But unlike TR, Dune also offers this delightfully mystical melody in its breakdown where Nhato's signature melody rhythms shine brightly. After that magical segment, it goes HARD. Damn it, Nhato is truly and fully back! :D
And so 2023 kicks off in style with these bombas that cover a wiiiide BPM Spectrum from 107 to friggin 148!! I've only given attention to my current faves of the list, but the others are well worth your attention as well. Go check 'em out!
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Purchases:
Armin van Buuren & Cosmic Gate - REFLEXION (ASOT 2023 Anthem) (Extended Mix)
Envotion - Turnover (IN5UM Remix)
Siskin - Always You (Club Mix)
Marcan Liav - Oucha (Nick Warren X Nicolas Rada Remix)
Laura van Dam - The Journey (Extended Mix)
Equinox - Mesmerize (Extended Mix)
Lufthaus - To The Light (Fideles Extended Remix)
David Broaders - For A Lifetime (Extended Mix)
Little Foot - Cera (Original Mix)
Leon Bolier & Daniel Wanrooy - Cosmos (Extended Mix)
Ahmed Helmy - Something Inside (Extended Mix)
Pig&Dan - For The Music (Original Mix)
Super-Frog Saves Tokyo - Kill'em Quick (Extended Mix)
Shogun - Cielo (Original Mix)
Solarstone - Hope (Extended Mix)
Nhato - Dune (Original Mix)
Nhato - Toxic Rave (Original Mix)
Maarten de Jong & Frank Spector - La Nuit (Frank Spector Extended Mix)
Trancemaster - Perfect Fear (Original Mix)
Jase Thirlwall - Scary Spice (Extended Mix)
Trancemaster - Anthem (Original Mix)
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That's all for now, until next time! You can find the previous selection here.
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