First State ft. Sarah Howells – Skies on Fire
Loving this tune from First State at the moment, Sarah Howell's voice just works so well in this song. Got a nice bubbly vibe to it and it just sounds like of them feel-good kinda songs. Keeps me cheery 
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Lyrics:
Masif Saturdays pres. Roger Shah @ Space Nightclub
DJ/Roger Shah came to town on Saturday night for a 3 hour set at Space Nightclub to show off his new album entitled 'Openminded?!" and from his set, his style certainly has shifted from the slow gentle sets to something a little harder and with a stronger bassline.
Music for Balearic people
He still keeps to his Balearic roots with the ocean sounds as well as the guitar and piano riffs, nothing has changed in that department and in DJ Shah style, the midi keyboards come out as well.
Roger on the keyboards
Photographically, I tried out some more moody kinda shots without flash and tried shooting with the 70-200 for a longer perspective rather than my usual upclose wider angle type shots. Was a bit difficult with Roger as his two keyboards block the view and also the lights were at times, very strong in colour.
Roger Shah
Click the photo below for the gallery:
Click here for more
Ferry Corsten presents. Full On Ferry Ibiza
New compilation out by one of my favourite DJ's, Ferry Corsten, it's entitled Full On Ferry Ibiza, it's got a decent sound to it and from what I've listened to so far, progresses rather nicely and has nice appeal to a wide variety of trance lovers. I must warn though there is a bit of commercial sounding stuff but I think it's quite well balanced overall.
Full On Ferry Ibiza
As the title suggests, it's a representation of the music he's played on his Full On Ferry shows in Ibiza and being the summer time over there means the compilation has a love vibrant sound it. Great for casual listening and I rate it.
Tracklist below:
DJ ntranced is coming*
(*Ok, close but not really)
No idea when I'm actually going to make DJing happen but I've started off with a single piece of equipment, a mixer. Picked up a lovely Pioneer DJM-3000 4 channel professional mixer from a GraysOnline auction this morning and fired it up to make sure it all works and it does!
Pioneer DJM-3000
Don't have anything to compare it with really, but on first impression, it was heavier than I had expected. The rotaries feel nice and solid and the faders are quite loose but don't feel cheap. Pretty happy.
It's a shame I can't do much with it at the moment as I don't have any CDJs. But nonetheless it's a start . Check back in the near future when I'll hopefully get a pair off CDJs and a set of headphones and can start mixing up some trance.
Blast from the past – Max Graham ft Jessica Jacobs – I know you’re gone
Went through my music folder to find some tunes to run along to and came across a rather old compilation, Global Gathering '05. This song's the first track from the second CD and I heard this song again for a long time and just thought wow, this stuff was amazing. Such a mellow and beautiful tune.
Youtube video:
Might go through my song collection some more and dig up some old gems. So nostalgic.
Lyrics after the break:
Ministry of Sound – Chilled Afterhours 2011
Nabbed myself a copy of this last night and started listening to it and I gotta say, I quite like what I'm hearing. It's a bit different to my usual postings but I've been after something more easy listening for the times you want to unwind.
Chillout Afterhours 2011
Ministry of sound describes the compilation as:
Ministry of Sound continue explore the softer side of music by releasing the latest edition in the Chilled series. Afterhours is an alternative take on previous albums combining a mixture of genres & introducing new artists to create a brand new laidback listening experience.
It's a bit different to the regular chillout sessions that the Ministry of Sound bring out every year, so give it a shot if you find that a bit too slow. The 3 CD compilation has a different sound and vibe per disc so you could probably find something more suitable to your tastes. My personal perception of the music on the compilation would be somewhat like a modern electronic equivalent of Jazz.
Favourite song so far (aside from 'To Build a Home' by The Cinematic Orchestra) would be 'Pictures' by Benjamin Francis Leftwich.
Tracklist below:
Roger Shah ft Moya Brennan – Morning Star
Came across this song today on youtube today and absolutely love it! You may recognise the voice from a past trance hit known as Saltwater by Chicane. Sounds absolutely beautiful, almost heavenly.
Watch/Listen below:
Group Therapy now featuring Mat Zo and Jaytech
Above and Beyond have just announced word of two supporting acts to their highly anticipated Group Therapy tour coming down south in September this year. As quoted from the Above and Beyond website:
Fresh from the success of their "Group Therapy" album, Above & Beyond have announced the full line-up for theirSeptember tour of Australia. Joining Jono, Tony and Paavo on the tour will be Anjunadeep's mainstay Jaytech and the ever-innovative Mat Zo
Can't wait for that night to come, it's gonna be epic! Also can't wait for some remixes and a remix album to emerge.
Read the rest here: http://www.aboveandbeyond.nu/news/Above_and_Beyond_Group_Therapy_Australia_Tour_-_Line_Up_Announced.htm
Magic City 2011 – Preview
Last Saturday night I was one of the photographers working at Magic City and it was a rather awesome night, usually not my kind of music, but this time it was pretty good. JamX aka DuMonde brought back a lot of memories, especially my younger years when I started listening to trance, quite a few songs I never thought I'd ever hear played again so that was rather awesome. I don't know why I always seem to clock up some many photos with these events, always makes going through them so difficult, especially when they only want 100-150 photos.
So here's a little preview of the shots from the night.
Production
Lasers from the ground
Lasers from the air
Crowd
On stage
Other thing that was particularly special about the night was this shot...
View from the roof
Yes, that is from the roof of the Hordern, spectacular view there. Guess that's the privilege of being a photographer, and getting your own dressing room is nice too 
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Photographer's room
The best kind of therapy is Group Therapy
This morning something exciting happened, tickets were released to see Above and Beyond's Group Therapy tour come down under. I've got mine, have you got yours?
The Group Therapy album is already shaping up to be a very fine piece of work with certain songs already released, such as 'Sun and Moon' which has had a massive reception across A State of Trance 500. I personally cannot wait for it to be released and the eventual remixed album. It's one to look out for.
One of my favourite tunes at the moment is their own, 'thing called love', watch the video below:
For more updates and snippets of the Group Therapy album as they're unlocked, visit the Group Therapy Hub:
http://www.aboveandbeyond.nu/grouptherapyhub/
More information about the Australian tour at the following link:
Chicane – Giants
So one of my favourite Trance producers Chicane has released a new album and while I've only heard previews of it so far, quite digging the sounds I hear. It seems to have a very chilled laid back sound and will definitely be my choice of music on a lazy spring or summer afternoon. It features some tunes released a while back like Poppiholla and Hiding all the stars. Give it a listen if you're into your soft melodic Trance. Listening to bits of it just make me wish I could see 'em again as their last appearance at Stereosonic in 2009 was a bit disappointing due to the poor sound.
Here's a youtube video sampling all the songs from the album:
GODSKITCHEN in 3D
So the long weekend is quickly approaching and that means one thing for me, the night long party which is Godskitchen. It's been so long since a decent trance event has been on the Sydney calendar and there are some high expectations after the epic that was the Boombox, the same time last year. This year the Boombox has been packed away and the 3D trend is continuing on, with no idea what to expect, I'm quite excited. This year's line up is pretty good again with Andy Moor, Marcel Woods, John O Callaghan and Wippenberg representing Sydney's lineup (supported by locals VLN and Thomas Knight). It's a shame that us Sydney-siders miss out on Binary Finary but it's still a strong line up none-the-less.
Just to get you in the mood, I've linked some youtube videos to some tunes produced by the artists playing and will be what I'll be looking forward to.
Summer, where are you?
So it's almost the end of Winter and I'm seriously craving the warm summer days with the sun shining and just being able to kick back in the outdoors. Summer also means festivals for us Aussies and I really can't wait to get out and about with the music pumping and not having a thing to worry about.
So what's with this random post? I came across a tune by Tim Berg (aka Avicii) called Bromance and it's just hit me with it's amazing breezy and airy sound. It's just create this sudden rush of emotion and memories of days and nights out where the only thing that mattered was the music. So below is the song which has inspired this post and my excitement for the summer to come.
The video clip is quite hilarious and I urge you to watch the whole thing til the end, in my opinion though the song's title and video clip are completely irrelevant to the tune itself.
So really, what I'm looking forward to is Armin Only and SummaFieldDayze for a double dose of Armin Van Buuren over the New Year period.
Armin Van Buuren ft Sophie Ellis Bextor – Not Giving Up On Love
At first when I heard this song I thought it was quite cheesy and too poppy, but I found it grew on me and despite its cheesiness, I love it. Love the bassline and the drum overlay of the original. Hope you enjoy and see you at Armin Only in NYE 
Lyrics:
My 21st (B’day) Trance Mix
So I made a Trance mix for my 21st b'day party, sharing it around for all of you to enjoy, right click the link below and save as. Mixed using Mix Meister Fusion (yes i'm a noob).
Tracklist:
- Ferry Tayle & Static Blue - Trapeze (Arty Remix)
- Arnej - Strangers We've Become (Blake Jarrell Remix)
- Ben Preston ft. Susie - Remember Me (Daniel Kandi's Flashy Tribute Mix)
- Armin Van Buuren vs. Rank1 ft. Kush - This World is Watching Me
- DJ Shah ft. Adriana Thorpe - Who Will Find Me (Original Summer Sunrise Remix)
- Sophie Sugar vs. Sunlounger - Lost Together (Armin Van Buuren Mashup)
- Armin Van Buuren vs. Cosmic Gate - F.A.V. Rain (Armin Van Buuren Mashup)
- Cirez D. vs. Armin Van Buuren ft. Sharon Den Adel - On Off Love
- Tiesto vs. Deep Dish - I Will Say Hello (Myon and Shane 54 Mashup)
- Rank1 & Jochen Miller vs. Yuri Kane - The Great Escape Right Back
- Rank1 vs. Lisa Miskovsky - Symfo is Still Alove (Orient Mashup)
- Oceanlab vs. Gareth Emery - On A Metropolis Day (Myon and Shane 54 Mashup)
- Tiesto vs. Lange, Andy Moor & Komytea - Lethal Stadium Four (Gareth Emery Re-Edit)
- Tiesto - Traffic (Richard Durand Remix)
- Sander Van Doorn - Riff (Original Mix)
- Marcel Woods - Lemon Tree
- Olive - You're Not Alone (Paul Webster Remix)
- Filo & Peri ft. Eric Lumiere - Anthem (John O Callaghan Remix)
- Jer Martin vs. Armin Van Buuren - Ten Minutes of Burning Desire (Andy Van Hall Mashup)
- Jochen Miller vs. Armin Van Buuren ft. Sharon Den Adel - In and Out of Love Connection (Armin Van Buuren Mashup)
- Ferry Corsten - Radio Crash
- Alex MORPH & Rank1 - Life Less Ordinary
- Wippenberg - Chakalaka
- Binary Finary - 1998 (tyDi & Dennis Sheperd Remix)
- Simon Patterson - Taxi
- Tiesto - Louder Than Boom
- Kyau and Albert - Hooked on Infinity (Club Mix)
- Cosmic Gate - Exploration of Space
- Art of Trance - Madagascar (Richard Durand Remix)
- Veracocha - Carte Blanche (Richard Durand Remix)
- Dustin Zahn - Stranger (to Stability) (Len Faki Podium Remix)