TIMELESS: Razormane Selects The GTOAT

2025-07-14

It has been 20 years since I fell so deeply in love with Electronic Music through Trance that I knew it was never going to leave me. One could argue this love story started in 2003 already but from 2005 onward I more or less completely ignored regular radio and focus merely on radio shows, mix compilation and artist albums from these incredible electronic music genres. I believe this milestone deserves to be celebrated, an occasion so momentous is as good an excuse as any to put the Music Of My Life on a Pedestal so I may cherish it forever more. If this music had been a living, breathing person, she would have been the Love Of My Life, the catalyst for the full range of emotions that live inside of me. For every occasion, she would have the right words, the right song. There is only one selection of tracks I could fall back on for this very Special Selection: every single Tune Of The Year I've ever heralded as such, put together in the ultimate playlist to dedicate my Love to The Greatest Genres Of Music There Will Ever Be. Will you join me on my Perfect Sonic Journey? *extends hand*

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2013]
⬇️ Pete Oak - An Ode To My Love When I was at the peak of my House phase, I discovered this magnificent, smooth, swagger of a gem by Pete Oak. Get this: he shared this as a freebie on Soundcloud at the time. Unbelievable. This track perfectly embodied the majority of my 2013: the sabbatical era of chill after I got my Bachelor's degree in Cultural Anthropology. Hanging out with my ASOT Forum family, doing these self-made mix marathons as I provided tracks/intro's every now and then, drowing into the Mass Effect Trilogy for four months straight, making some cool tracks that were a level above what I made the year prior... It was the perfect "Last Year" of my old life so to speak. What an anthem that year got. :)

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2017]
⬇️ Ben Liebrand ft. James 'D-Train' Williams - Weekend 2017 was a horrendous private year, especially the start. But it had one of the catchiest, grooviest and most uplifting Tune Of The Year's I've ever heard. Armin van Buuren's "Jedi Master" Ben Liebrand delivers a funk-personified masterpiece built around the impeccable vocals delivered by James 'D-Train' Williams. His voice is full of Soul, full of LUV, and they elevate the production to a realm of dancing with happiness and with freedom. I can't dance but I promise you, when this one comes on, even I have to BUST a MOVE! :D And man... The synthesizer "solos"... I just smile thinking about them. I don't think the TGIF ethos could have a more perfect Theme than this one does.

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2011]
⬇️ Kraak & Smaak - Built For Love In 2011, my love for Trance was severly tested during the Swedish House Maffia-unleashed "Trouse" pandemic, so more than ever, I sought refuge in Deep-, Funk-, Tech- and Progressive House. Add2Basket & Luke Fair's - The Rogue Show and Jody Wisternoff - Intensified were the balms to soothe my Trance heartbreak and showed me that Electronic Music had so much more to offer me then I had thus far explored. It is during one of those Intensified episodes I ran into this incredibly crafted a smoooooth cocktail of Endless Cool, Swagger and Passion. The late Romanthony provided the perfect mix of timbre, rhythm and Soul in these vocals while the K&S boys created the perfect production to blend them with... Listening to this track I was just dreaming of one day singing it to That Special Lady. Over a decade later and it still reigns supreme. What a jam!!

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2020]
⬇️ Faithless ft. Nathan Ball - Synthesizer 00:00; "Well you see, I have no time for this idea that Electronic Music it has no Soul. I mean, in the best synthesizers we make, we always include a fully, working, Soul. Obviously these instruments are Top Of The Range. Very VIP... But we always make sure we give prototypes to a band, like Faithless for instance, who KNOW how to use them". You see, I love that; that speaks to me on all levels. I do indeed have no time for people that disregard or sh*t on Electronic Music. Get out of my sight. Furthermore... Could there be a more adequate addition to This List than a song that has its vocalist praising a hypothetical love, only to admit that there is a greater object of his affection in the guise of the Mighty Synthesizer? Sister Bliss showing once again why Faithless are beyond comparison with that Divine Lead. 2020 was an odd year music wise since I barely hunted new music and instead went on a nostalgia bender. On the upside, I went out of my way to buy and listen through all the Faithless albums, including this one that came out in the final quarter of the year. Synthesizer, without doubt, its very brightest star.

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2010]
⬇️ Randolph & Mortimer - ORBTL (Yapacc Remix) Sadly, the only missing TOTY in this list. 2010 was a curious year: I was enjoying my Trance, but there was space for some excursions into deeper stuff as well. Through one of the ASOT Forum's music veterans I then discovered Intensified and on it I ran into this 10 minute masterpiece. There is so much detail and layering in it, the arrangements flow effortlessly as Yapacc plays with percussion, synth teases, pads and echoing effects, whitenoise swoops and whatnot... The overall track is deep and trippy but there is this violin that serves as a guiding light through the dark... It's has something reassuring about it. A calming, cheerful presence as we are slowly lead into the track's most melodic segment. Then, at 04:44 we are greeted by a Pluck/piano synth (sounds likt the one often used in (Oldskool) Techno, but usually in a more agressive manner). Through a single note stabs it plays a melody of sorts while the percussion backs it gently. A minute later the most humble of strings swell and gently join in. I can't quite grasp how this track has actually made me emotional on occasions, perhaps because throughout its elements and arrangements, it feels like a story, maybe more so then any other entry in this list. There is something profound about this track... Perhaps because it showcases so many of the qualities that make Electronic Music such a brilliant musical direction... Just when you thought we were headed back to the deep, dark atmosphere the track is built on, at 07:40 the earlier violins join in with the breakdown synth. Pfffffft... Beautiful...

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2021]
⬇️ Highlandr - I Want You (''12 Extended Remix) Shortly before my life reached its lowest point in April 2021, I ran into this absolutely magnificent melancholic masterpiece by Factor B under his Highlandr alias. The intro draws you in with its gentle melodic elements. About a minute in, this firm bassline groove enters the fray. About a minute-and-a-half in the track's main motif is teased, when a female voice suddenly echoes "I want you". A short piano melody is added and suddenly the track feels increasingly nostalgic. The breakdown hits and the motif tease fades away. Now it's main lead starts playing. It sounds increasinlgy fiercer and beatitufully haunting. There is something Soul-stirring in this combination of melody and synth... It strongly reminds me of Rank 1's Opus 17 as that melody too just unleashes powerful emotions. I would say that alongside the track's title, this melody embodied the crippling desire I had to be free from the never-ending misery that had been my life for the past seven years. I just wanted to be free. The "I want you" felt like I cry to that freedom I longed for. Instead I was chained and sinking deeper and deeper into a pitchblack void. I never knew that I had to go through such blinding Darkness to ultimately find my Light. One of the most Powerful Tracks Of All Time.

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2012]
⬇️ Rank 1 - 7 Instead Of 8 (Original Mix) It just had to be Rank 1, didn't it? In an era where their peers abondoned Trance one by one and adopted a very high-and-mighty trashy attitude whilst doing so, Rank 1 said "Nope, not us. We're gonna bring back the oldskool feelings, melodies and deep arrangements". And so Rank 1's 7 Instead Of 8 fully and completely restored my dwindling belief in Trance music. Its deep kick, its eerie build-up, its mysterious sad-ish breakdown, its epic melodic hooks, its haunting and iconic Theremin-esque backing synth, its unusual 7/8th rhythm, it slightly altered reprise and its spooky ending... 7 Instead Of 8 embodied the essence of everything I loved and still love about Trance. It embodies everything I love about Rank 1 as well. Less is often times indeed More and Simplicity is indeed King. This record was a statement at the time and the only downside to it is it never got the recognition of kickstarting the return of proper Trance in the scene that it should have got. Everyone always raves about Dimension - Origami or Gouryella - Anahera and though those track deserve all the praise in the world, for me Rank 1, as well as M.I.K.E., were the first to truly bring back Retrofied Trance. As always, the guys were Way Ahead Of Their Time...

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2007]
⬇️ JOOP - The Future (Leon Bolier Remix) Oh 2007... The Ultimate Nostalgic Year! A "bridge" year between the personal life disaster that was 2006 and the absolutele glorious party that was 2008. There I was, recovered from my kidney-related surgery, reeling from the hell that was the previous year, hopelessly in love with girl that was not my gf, dreaming of better times when I heard this remix. Leon Bolier had been one of the standout discovers of late 2006 for me with Bonaire and Poseidon each making great impressions. He had co-produced the incredibly powerful JOOP - The Future and now he had his own mix as well?? I think the first listen confused me a bit: but not long after that something about this remix completely hooked me and never let go. It became the perfect firm, dreamy track for me to put on as I went on walks during my free hours from school. Always ruminating, always wondering about, no joke, the future and what it held for me. I think that floaty, daydreaming, pensive mood could not have been better encapsulated then by this track that so heavily relies on its reverbs, delayed fx and trippy pads. It could not be more opposite to its original source material but somehow it ended up transcending it.
Honorable Mention: shout-out to Headstrong - Symphony Of Soul (Tenishia Progressive Mix), which was my TOTY in terms of tracks that got played on ASOT in 2007. Over the years I dropped the ASOT-requirement for a track to be my Tune Of The Year but at the time it held the 2007 crown.

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2014]
⬇️ Relaunch - Camis Minor (Original Mix) Every now and then you will run into a producer that seemingly out of nowhere just drops some incredibly cutting-edge tracks that sound like nothing you've heard before. Relaunch was one such producer. The first track by him I heard was Datenstrom through a mix by my good friend Rok. It was a breed of heavy-duty Progressive with occassional Techy sounds/fx that instantly appealed to me. Datenstrom was incredible. But Camis Minor seemed to take that Progressive / Tech blend even further: it's breakdown leaned on the atmospheric bliss of the deeper Progressive Trance style whilst its overall build and groove were drenched in Tech Trancey fx/sounds. I've always loved those border-tracks that seem to exist where two contrasting genres intersect. Heck, I grew up with High Contrast Recordings, a label whose origins lay into blending Trance with Techno, Electro and Progressive into loads of different and epic configurations. Now I wouldn't say that Camis Minor sounded like a High Contrast track from those days but it sure blended like one. I was just instantly blown away by it when I first heard it and over the course of the bleak year that 2014, it stuck with me. One of the coolest mindblowers out there.

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2008]
⬇️ Orjan Nilsen - La Guitarra (Original Mix) The year is 2008. The radioshow is A State Of Trance Episode #338. It was a Friday and while I was at school I got to sneak a peak on the tracklist: the new Rank 1 vs. Jochen Miller - And Then was dropped, as Tune Of The Week no less. So after school I rushed to the Internet Cafe (ha, remember those??) to download the episode. I went home, put it on my mp3 player, locked the door of the room and just chilled on the bed. As I was eagerly awaiting the collab, track 3 started playing. By now, I had already developed some weird obsesison with that Classic Techno synth and when the La Guitarra was being mixed in I didnt know what was happening: suddenly this funky electro-ish groove takes over with these female vocal chops. I'm like "okaaaay this is really nice, what the hell is this?". Then that Techno synth returns, fully unshackled from its filters."Damn this is SICK! What is this??" I am just headbopping like mad and then... The pads and THE Guitar Of All Guitars appear as the Techno synth is filtered out... An incredible Latin-style Guitar solo starts playing and the most beautiful pads back it. My eyes are wide open, my jaw is dropping. What an incredibly beautiful track!!!! The beat returns to add that earlier Electo-groove to the mix and man... Just bliss, I am grooving, I am smiling, this is pure joy!! But then a gorgeous but heartstring-pulling high pad hits as the guitar takes a step back: this particular element would hit me twice as harder with subsequent replays (I'll explain why shortly). I'm just losing it. This is magnificent. This is gorgeous. THIS IS MUSIC!!! The guitar and pad duo return for a final time and then it's back to the Techno synth. Afterwards "And Then..." came and it was the first time ever I felt Rank 1 had not desevred the Tune Of The Week accolade. A week later Armin would play La Guitarra again and this time he would explain that Orjan Nilsen wrote La Guitarra in memory of his brother who passed away in December a few months earlier. Man... There and then, there was not going to be ANY other Tune Of The Year 2008 for me but La Guitarra.

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2022]
⬇️ Kyau & Albert - Falling Anywhere (David Broaders Extended Remix) Sometimes you encounter a remix that completely revamps the original and as a result, takes it all the way to the stratosphere and beyond... In 2022, that honor fell upon the shoulders of David Broaders. Even though I had bought his addicintg single "Rumspringa" in 2018, it wasn't until "Pink Clouding" came out at the beginning of '22, that he caught my attention. PInk Clouding is a nostalgic masterpiece full of longing. It was in fact, a potential Tune Of The Year Candidate. But then I heard this remix. The build-up is what I've come to know David for: top-notch Progressive vibes, atmospheric pads, gentle percusison, excellent use of fx and proper sound design. It has hints of 2006-2008 slightly more polished, slightly more modern. Two minutes in you can tell we are about to enter the break. And boy, those sublime strings of heaven great you like the Sun does when it breaks through in the early morning or when it finally shatters the Grey and Gloom of a rainy day. Then... That serene comforting pluck melody starts playing. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I reach this part I cannot surpress a big smile, a smile from the bottom of my heart. Because this right there, this perfect harmony of a magical melody in both pattern and sound, coupled with the never-failing majesty of strings; this playful, joyful melody; this boundless joyous FEELING it evokes... THIS is what Trance music can do.

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2024]
⬇️ Ferry Corsten & Marsh - Fulfillment (Extended Mix) In 2024 we were treated to a sublime collaboration bringing two completely different worlds together. Marsh, the Crown Prince of modern day Progressive soundscapes alongside Ferry Corsten, perhaps Trance music Truest Champion (after Rank 1 of course hehehe, you can't effin' guard me!) since the late '90s. At first it might not be a collaboration you'd think of. But then if you look closely at Marsh' discography, you will see the man has remixed and re-imagined quite a few Trance Classics into his enchanting, magical, dreamy and atmospheric productions. Ferry meanwhile has a knack for collaborating with many great and diverse talents in Electronic Music (and beyond! Remember Gury?). These two masterminds coming together proved to be a masterstroke. The one thing I have to point out immediately is 01:00. Because f*** me, THAT bassline!! That bassline sunk its groove into me deeper and deeper over the course of 2024 and eventually led to the inevitable: this track would become my Tune Of The Year 2024. The build is as dreamy as they come, with the perfect contrast of the heavy, well-defined bass that carries. The breakdown has a melody that somehow is perfect for the slower, deeper Progressive but works perfectly for the Tranciest production as well. The way it progresses towards its climax is a thing of beauty and when the drop finally hits, the bassline sends it out of the park. As you are immersed in the bliss of an iconic track, your smile gets even bigger. So that's why they called it Fulfillment. It does exactly what it promises. ;)

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2023]
⬇️ Estiva - Via Infinita (Extended Mix) I can't put into words what it is, why it feels like it does but when the PERFECT Via Infinita hook has its first minor climax from 02:27 onward, only to submerge again right after... There is THAT moment. At 02:35. That crash/cymbal that hits JUST a second later then you'd expect when the next loop has started. I can't explain what it is about this exact moment but I feel a release of pure, unfiltered, borderless joy in my Soul. Estiva, this melody... It is perfection. Imagine Electronic music STILL being able to reach levels like this 20 years since you first started listening to it... Aren't we blessed??

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2019]
⬇️ Lifelike & Kris Menace - Discopolis 2.0 (Sander van Doorn Extended Remix) -

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2018]
⬇️ Jochen Miller & Rebourne - Revenge (Jochen Miller's Extended Festival Mix) -

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2009]
⬇️ Rank 1 - L.E.D. There Be Light (Extended Mix) -
Honorable Mention: shout-out to Gaia - Tuvan (Original Mix), a.k.a. as Serenity and Opus 17's Lovechild, which was my TOTY in terms of tracks that got played on ASOT in 2009. Over the years I dropped the ASOT-requirement for a track to be my Tune Of The Year but at the time it very briefly held the 2009 crown.

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2016]
⬇️ M.I.K.E. Push - Circa (Original Mix) -

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2015]
⬇️ Orkidea - Harmonia -

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2006]
⬇️ Fable - Above (Original Mix) -

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2003]
⬇️ Sensation (Rank 1) - The Anthem 2003 (Original Mix) My Year Zero in Electronic Music. Of course my undisputed G.O.A.T. would be the one to deliver my very first Tune Of The Year. Rank 1 = #1

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2004]
⬇️ Tiesto - Forever Today (Original Mix) -

[Razormane Tune Of The Year 2005]
⬇️ Rank 1 - Opus 17 (Original Mix) Last, but definitely not least, we will end this Selection with the track that made me a lifelong fanboy of Rank 1 and by extension, Electronic Music. The year is 2005. The track is Opus 17 This melancholic melody, this tearjerker breakdown, this haunting build-up, this incredible moody intro and outro... This track is quite simply as perfect as Instrumental Music can possibly be. I never knew music could move the way it did until the very first time I heard Opus 17. That moment will forever be etched into my Heart, Mind and Soul.

Stream on Spotify

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For more Themed Selections, check the list below:
TIMELESS: Rank 1's Radio Rush Era [April 2025]
TIMELESS: 17 Years Later - Yearlist 2007 [September 2024]
TIMELESS: Journeys Across Dreams [July 2024]
TIMELESS: Guitarriffic Chill & Trance [June 2024]
TIMELESS: ASOT Openers [December 2023]
TIMELESS: Sensation Anthems [July 2023]
TIMELESS: Trance Energy Anthems [March 2023]

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Spotify (playlists) || Youtube (playlists) || Rank 1 Fan Blog || Symsonic1 Blog || Symsonic2 Blog
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