Brain exploding... too many good trance tracks around at the moment . Ibiza regular and Hindsight head Honcho Nick the Kid gives us his December rundown of top tuneage in his new role as exclusive trance reviewer for us at Core Magazine ... 

 

 

Gareth Emery - Tokyo (Ben Gold Remix) - Garuda

 

Fantastic reworking from Ben Gold on this with his trademark filtered arp-bass sound. With everything he touches of late turning to gold (excuse the pun), this one is definitely no exception. Bags of euphoria, clever edits, great use of vocals and an original melody culminate in one of his best tunes to date. Emery's original is a great track also and well worth a listen, but, between you and me, I would reach for this . Amazing stuff. 10/10

 

Vicky Devine - Give Me Love - Slinky Digital 

 

Part of the Ibiza furniture and Judgement Sundays resident Vicky Devine really comes up trumps here as she takes on seminal 90's hardbag anthem 'Give Me Love' by Diddy. She mantains the original vibe of the track, with all the nostalgia and euphoria from 1994 still very much in tact. New synths and big fresh production really make this stand out, it's a fantastic rework with a big ravey edge. Coming in two mixes, a warm up edit and a pacier end of night tech trance version, this is sure to be well recieved on both the commercial trance floors and by fans of the original trade anthem alike. My choice is the warm up tech mix with it's rolling percussion and slower groovier feel. 8/10 

 

Jordan Suckley - Flames 2011 (Sneijder 1am remix) - Goodgreef Digital

 

UK based Sneijder remixes 2009 anthem 'Flames' by man-of-the-moment Jordan Suckley. Upping the tempo of the original considerably with fierce driving percussion, rolling stabs and a perfectly short lived breakdown, he delivers this peak time trancer which will be a sure thing for fans of Sub Culture and the like. With the Original picking up support from the likes of Halliwell , Emery and Armin, it was always going to be a tough track to remix but this harder edit takes the original arp riff and original feel of the track to new heights. Definite win . 9/10

 

Nick The Kid - Enigma 2011 (Trance Mixes) - Hindsight Digital

 

Here I am going to review fresh remixes of probably one of my most succesful solo productions to date. Without being biased, of course (haha). Katy Perry bootlegger Digital Self teams up with South West DJ/Producer Tek-Tonic and between them deliver a huge big room trance edit that is already picking up support from the likes of Markus Schulz, Rank 1, Jordan Suckley and more! Sitting at 134 BPM, they have gone for a much more current approach with cool electro-esque bassline, percusssion drops, a haunting fresh sub riff and a clever take on the original melody. Amazing stuff . 

 

For fans of the more classic sound, Brett Wood leaves the main melody in tact and delivers this 'trance with balls' salute to the original with added whispered vocals and a breakdown to die for. Coming soon on Hindsight along with harder mixes from Andrea Montorsi and DJ Husband!  9/10

 

BT & Adam K - Tomahawk - Armada 

 

A very interesting track here from the man that brought us classics such as 'Loving You More' and 'Flaming June'. Here he teams up with the awesome Adam K with devastating effect. Soft kicks and lush sidechained strings give the track that almost Deadmau5 progressive feel. Just as you think you are in blissed-out trance heaven, it's almost as though Miles Dyson has gatecrashed the party and the track launches into one of dirtiest electro drops known to man . Absolutely brilliant. This will be wreaking havoc out there on the dancefloors for a long time to come . 10/10

 

Lee Haslem - Crash, Bang,  Wallop - Discover Dark

 

Slinky's Lee Haslem delivers a monster here. I played this in Exeter a few weeks ago and the reaction was incredible. Sinister classical chords, rolling riffs and huge stabs are the order of the day, all driven along by some meaty tech-based percussion. I can't quite put my finger on why I like this track so much but overall I think it's cause it dares to be different... and wins! 9/10

 

Talla 2XLC - Sitara / The Realm of India (Akoto Mix) - Tetsuo  

Two great tracks here from one of the trance scene's longest serving DJ's. Sitara is the track that stands out for me, with its big atmospheric intro, percussive stabs and sweeping soundscape all building to the main hook which is simple but highly effective! I'm not overly keen on the dubstep interlude in the breakdown (which only lasts for 14 secs) but putting that aside a really great track that I will be featuring in my sets for sure! The Realm of India is also worth checking out but the chanted vocals fail to compliment the track completely in my opinion.    8/10   

 

Photos courtesy of : Bert Dog Photography - www.bertdogphotos.co.uk - 07412013895