VA - A State of Trance 2023 (Mixed by Armin van Buuren) [Armada]

[Quethas]

I noticed The Blizzard will have few tracks in the next ASOT compilation. Now, I personally think these have been average at best for years. It is the compilation series of the most popular trance(related) DJ though so it is worthy of topic even if this definitely won't get our collective praise. And to be fair, while just based on tracklist the compilation seems pretty generic and rather uninspired, it could be worse and less trancey.

And then to ads

As some may recall, there used to be a time when trance music was stylistically boxed in. Either it fit the predominant view of high-energy uplifting to a tee, or a barrage of “this is not trance” comments would be imminent. But over time, even the most headstrong purists came to realize that trance music can’t, won’t and shouldn’t be pigeonholed. It’s about breaking the mold instead, to capture that particular feeling no matter the tempo or the sound. And that notion is echoed by the twentieth installment of his A State of Trance mix album series: ‘A State of Trance 2023 (Mixed by Armin van Buuren)’.

Brandishing tracks from artists such as Bryan Kearney, Maarten de Jong and Maddix across three sides rather than the usual two, ‘A State Of Trance 2023 (Mixed by Armin van Buuren)’ shows that the essence of trance music reaches far, wide and beyond the once-imposed borders. From the slower, melodic house & techno-tinged tracks you hear on the beach to the crossbreed bangers played in the club to the highly energetic Who’s Afraid Of 138?! tunes that tears the dance floor apart, the mix album imparts that the genre’s diversity is a major strength rather than a flaw. And if we could just take that view and apply it to the grand scheme of things, the world may just become a much better place.

Mix 1 – On The Beach

1. Armin van Buuren & HRRTZ feat. Julia Church – Fire With Fire
2. BetweenUs – Escape
3. KASIA – Universal Nation
4. Sonicvibe & Tachyean – Deep Dive
5. Hel:sløwed & That Girl – Hold Onto This
6. The Blizzard- Rabagast
7. ChangedFaces & Harry Diamond feat. Émilie Rachel – Home
8. UUFO – Energize
9. The Blizzard – Kalopsia (Matt Fax Remix)
10. Cubicore – Bifrost
11. Ferry Corsten – Reborn (Jonas Saalbach Remix)
12. Super8 & Tab and Crowd+Ctrl feat. Jess Ball – Incomplete
13. Laura van Dam – Needing You

Mix 2 – In The Club

1. Eelke Kleijn – Transmission (Armin van Buuren Remix)
2. Giuseppe Ottaviani & Ilan Bluestone – Futuro
3. DIM3NSION – Adagio In G Minor
4. JODA – Breaking Down Walls (Myon’s Return To 2000 Mix)
5. Norni – Odyssey
6. Ahmed Helmy – Glitch
7. Armin van Buuren & Ahmed Helmy – Rhythm Inside
8. Ahmed Helmy & D72 – Analogy
9. Maarten de Jong, Frank Spector & Luca Morris – Minuetto
10. Luke Bond x M6 – Nexus
11. Whiteout – Stay Focused
12. Daxson – Who We Are
13. Armin van Buuren feat. Stuart Crichton – Dayglow (Bryan Kearney Remix)
14. Solarstone – Solarcoaster (Maarten de Jong Remix)

Mix 3 – Who’s Afraid of 138?!

1. Armin van Buuren & Vini Vici feat. ALBA – When We Come Alive
2. Frank Spector & Doppenberg – GENESIS
3. Mhammed El Alami – Healing
4. Armin van Buuren feat. Justine Suissa – Burned With Desire (Bryan Kearney Remix)
5. Armin van Buuren feat. Vanessa Campagna – Vulnerable (Bogdan Vix & UUFO Remix)
6. Driftmoon – Feel The Waves
7. Artento Divini x XiJaro & Pitch – Bad Boys
8. Ben Gold – Ultrasonic (Maarten de Jong Remix)
9. Armin van Buuren – Computers Take Over The World (Maddix Remix)
10. John Askew – Aces Hi
11. Miditekk – Slow The World Down
12. Inoblivion – When Darkness Falls
13. Steve Dekay – Black Magic
14. David Forbes – Dreamstate

Links

Armin van Buuren - A State of Trance 2023 (Mixed by Armin van Buuren)

Listen to A State of Trance 2023 (Mixed by Armin van Buuren) by Armin van Buuren.

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A State Of Trance 2023 (Mixed by Armin van Buuren)

Release date: 26 May 2023 As some may recall, there used to be a time when trance music was stylistically boxed in. Either it fit the predominant view of high-energy uplifting to a tee, or a barrage of “this is not trance” comments would be imminent. But over time, even the most headstrong...

shop.armadamusic.com

Out Now

As some may recall, there used to be a time when trance music was stylistically boxed in. Either it fit the predominant view of high-energy uplifting to a tee, or a barrage of

www.astateoftrance.com

Physical release date is 26 May 2023. Probably the same applies to streaming services.

 

[Magnevi]

Well, I do look forward hearing DIM3NSION – Adagio In G Minor. It's one of my favorite classical pieces for trance music. Curious to hear what he made of it.

 

[Z Dobrej Woli]

Ok, there are a few pretty interesting titles, including a comeback of Sonicvibe and Tachyean on CD1

Sonicvibe had an EP on @BlueSoho in 2014, as far I remember, with some older, earlier unreleased tracks, incl. one with Tachyean (Allegoria) and brilliant "Moonsnack":

 

[Enlusion]

But over time, even the most headstrong purists came to realize that trance music can’t, won’t and shouldn’t be pigeonholed.

Even the most headstrong purists did, but not Armada.

 

[BlueSoho]

Ok, there are a few pretty interesting titles, including a comeback of Sonicvibe and Tachyean on CD1

Sonicvibe had an EP on @BlueSoho in 2014, as far I remember, with some older, earlier unreleased tracks, incl. one with Tachyean (Allegoria) and brilliant "Moonsnack":

one of our favorites both tracks were stellar.

 

[Atragun91091]

Really excited to see Sonicvibe and Tachyean back! According to Sonicvibe(on his FB fan page) its been 15 years since he last produced trance. Also Mhammed El Alami-Healing might just be my TOTY(At least at this point). Overall though I'm a little disappointed in this years TL. Especially after last years stellar entry.

 

[TeardropNL]

ilan bluestone -futuro

 

[Gijs]

Physical release date is 26 May 2023. Probably the same applies to streaming services.

The third and second CDs are already available on Spotify, the full album releases on the 12th of May on iTunes so I'm assuming the streaming services will follow as well.

I do find it interesting how Armin decided after 20 years to drop the 2 70-80 minute mixes format in favour of 3 ~45 minute mixes. Don't really understand why that change was made, but I'm not stopping him if it makes him happy of course. From scanning the two released mixes it honestly sounds somewhat better than I expected, will be giving this a listen once it releases (not as a trance album but as an EDM album in general).

 

[aSeb]

14. Solarstone – Solarcoaster (Maarten de Jong Remix)

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

 

[Gijs]

Don't know about you guys, but I do think that the tracklist on iTunes kinda slaps

This is literally how the album released, only the tracks from the third CD and two instant gratifications from the second CD have names. Is this Armada's way of encouraging people to only listen on streaming services?

 

[Quethas]

Well. Armin has been busy boy making tracks.

 

[Magnevi]

encouraging people to only listen on streaming services?

Hmm not sure if that would be logical. A person needs to stream hundreds of times, if not thousands, to get the 1.29 from the purchase.

Maybe it will be fixed later, and they didn’t add a tracklist yet to avoid revealing too soon.

What I dislike more is ASOT on Spotify where talking (interviews) is cut into multiple 30 second “parts”, just to get more streams out of the show. User-friendly content is not their goal…

 

[jetflag]

“the mix album imparts that the genre’s diversity is a major strength rather than a flaw. And if we could just take that view and apply it to the grand scheme of things, the world may just become a much better place.”

Ah yes, Slapping the label “trance” on as many Garrix clone tracks for social Justus! That’ll surely usher in the World Utopia people

Give me break please...

Armin…. You’re a dj/ entertainer, basically a preforming monkey with a (single) trick.

-You’re not a worldchanger
-You’re not a “trance purist” educator
-You’re not MLK

Just do your trick and let the crowd decide if they like it or not. 0 need for that cringy preachy i'm-an-actor-in-hollywood-and-I-just-won-an-oscar stuff in advance.. a good product speaks for itself (or not)

 

[Gijs]

Maybe it will be fixed later, and they didn’t add a tracklist yet to avoid revealing too soon.

I can assure you that's not the case, the tracklist was published on the Armada website at the same time as the pre-order. Either way, I just find it very strange they failed to complete it before releasing the compilation itself.

 

[Progrez]

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

He has slowed it down something feels a bit off

 

[Hot Tuna]

“the mix album imparts that the genre’s diversity is a major strength rather than a flaw. And if we could just take that view and apply it to the grand scheme of things, the world may just become a much better place.”

Ah yes, Slapping the label “trance” on as many Garrix clone tracks for social Justus! That’ll surely usher in the World Utopia people

Give me break please...

Armin…. You’re a dj/ entertainer, basically a preforming monkey with a (single) trick.

-You’re not a worldchanger
-You’re not a “trance purist” educator
-You’re not MLK

Just do your trick and let the crowd decide if they like it or not. 0 need for that cringy preachy i'm-an-actor-in-hollywood-and-I-just-won-an-oscar stuff in advance.. a good product speaks for itself (or not)

Triggered

 

[Magnevi]

It's on Spotify so you can judge the tracks if you want.

CD 1 is bleepy '2023 cosmic gate armin progessive' trance.
CD 2 is bigroom ASOT-trance.
CD 3 is steroids.

And that's basically it. There are a few enjoyable ones, but ultimately, it's Armin in 2023, so yeah...

I enjoy Loreen - Tatoo a lot more lol. And the Belgium one is cool too.

 

[jetflag]

It's on Spotify so you can judge the tracks if you want.

CD 1 is bleepy '2023 cosmic gate armin progessive' trance.
CD 2 is bigroom ASOT-trance.
CD 3 is steroids.

And that's basically it. There are a few enjoyable ones, but ultimately, it's Armin in 2023, so yeah...

Gotta say, having heard the eelke klein track a couple of times on the radio now it’s catchy.

but the whole comp is probably not something I would spend money for a physical copy on

 

[dmgtz96]

Just from a quick glance I kinda like CD1. I don't immediately hate the tracks, and I thought Home sounded neat. Sadly many of these tracks sound pretty same-y, as if they were created by the same producer.
The remix of Kalopsia is a big improvement over the original. Never liked that somehow, lol.

Edit: I don't think this CD feels like "the beach", though. Maybe I'm just out of touch with the modern trance/EDM scene, but this CD doesn't give beach or summery vibes at all.

 

[dmgtz96]

The Dimension track was pretty meh. CD2 was kinda weak tbh except for the climax of Myon's Return to 2000 remix. "Return to 2008" would have been more accurate, but I appreciate that this producer tried.