The new edition of your essential trance news mailer has landed with updates on Moonbeam and JES forthcoming artist LPs, Tom Colontonio and your chance to win the latest Digitally Enhanced compilation...

Its competitions galore in this months Trance International with Moonbeam's and JES artist works up for grabs as well as the new enTrance compilation and third edition of Digitally Enhanced! Not just giving the albums away but all the very latest regarding them and updates on state side trance jock Tom Colontonio and the very latest from Fenology Records. The best news mailer dedicated to trance and if you missed it through you letter box (Have a word with the digital dog that ate it eh?) you can check out this month's right here!

COMPILATION SPOTLIGHT: enTrance Presents High Contrast:

Taking label/club cooperation to new heights this month, High Contrast and well-established Polish institution, enTrance have gotten together to make sure that this year’s event kicks… extra hard! A big 1-2-3 of interconnected happenings are on their collective agenda – read on!

The drum started to beat on this big trifecta back in January when Armin van Buuren plucked a (till that point) secret collaboration weapon out of his bag for the first ASOT of 2010. Rank 1 & Jochen Miller’s ‘The Great Escape’ promptly scored the ‘Tune of the Week’ gong and was also unveiled as the enTrance 2010 anthem.

That though was merely an oer d’oeuvre warm-up, as hot on its heels came news of ‘enTrance Presents High Contrast’ – a Rank 1 & Jochen Miller 2XCD mix-fest. Ablaze with a fusillade of new High Contrast (and others!) audio-tronics, by any measure it’s a speaker-roaster of a collection! The latest floor-weapons from artists including Marco V, Richard Durand, Marcus Schossow, Alex Kunnari, Cor Fijneman, DJ Preach & Re-Ward are all onboard. ‘enTrance Presents High Contrast’ was released last Monday, which was just in time for…

The big event itself! Last Saturday iIn Bydgoszcz (just north of Warsaw) High Contrast hosted their own stage at this year’s mighty enTrance (think Poland’s answer to Trance Energy!). Fielding a heavy-hitting team of DJ’s including Wippenberg, Jonas Stenberg and, yes, pivotally Rank 1 & Jochen Miller, they brought High Contrast’s hybrid soundscape to the Polish clubbing masses.

WIN A COPY

We’ve got 3 copies of ‘enTrance Presents High Contrast’ up for grabs! To be in with a chance of winning one just tell us the name of your favourite High Contrast artist! You can also order the album from the High Contrast Web Shop now.



ALBUM SPOTLIGHT: Moonbean - Around The World

In terms of speed of success, Moonbeam’s progression from fledgling spinners & singles-only act to that of Top 100 DJs and now album artist might look like an ‘overnighter’.
The truth however is somewhat different…

The brothers-in-arms pairing of Russians Pavel and Vitaly Khavleev spent a good deal of their formative career operating off the established trance radar. Recording for labels like Distraekt, Portugal’s Feed Me, Flow Records and the wonderfully named Traum Schallplatten (!) there was a fair degree of behind-the-scenes striving on the path to recognition.

In 2007 when ‘I Love Mornings’ was picked up on by Black Hole subsid Songbird though, it all started to click into place. Since then things have moved at a somewhere between ‘fast’ and ‘a blur’. Just 3 years on they’ve reached that crucial artist album option.

In terms of its tone, well to the greater degree, let’s say that ‘Around The World’ is not an album to listen to whilst operating heavy machinery! The opportunities to get lost in its melodic concentration are near-limitless. Opening track ‘Life Tree’, ‘The Lift and ‘Through a Frog’ (a title that had us Googling frantically for a clue to its origins!) are just some of its many fine drift-away moments. While the bias is at the tranquil, transcendental end, other bases are touched on. ‘Look Around’ & ‘Evelyn’ display an adult, Marco V-ish edge to the male vocals, while other numbers like ‘Song For A Girl’ and ‘Forever Sun’ hint at more experimental vistas.

WIN A SIGNED COPY

We’ve got 5 signed copies of Moonbeam’s ‘Around The World’ to give away; to do to be in with a chance of getting one is to e-mail us and say: I’d like one of those! The album is out on March the 26th and available to pre-order through Amazon now.



ALBUM SPOTLIGHT: Digitall Enhanced Volume 3

Scaling the sheer rock face that is the trance label rankings is the hardest challenge facing the boss of any imprint. It’s a less-than-comfortable fact of EDM life that, in terms of all-round clout & standing, typically where a label starts, is where it stays.

Over the course of the last two years Enhanced have successively and successfully been bucking that trend. The secret of their success? Well, loading your roster with new artists who have real, genuine studio-skills is an asset to be prized above most others. Temple One, Estiva, Solarity, Arty, Ferry Tayle – all unheard of names 18 months ago, each one now a genuine breakout threat for 2010. One could be considered lucky. Five? Well that’s just stellar A&Ring.

Which brings us to Digitally Enhanced Volume Three – a compilation quite simply packed out with theirs (and others) latest wares… Mixed by Will Holland - the man at the centre of it all – the third chapter again lays down the label’s melodic/euphoric ethic with absolute precision. Picking out particular high-points from Volume 3 caused a level of debate in the Trance International best described as ‘intense’. Arty’s ‘Gentle Touch’, Mike Sonar and The Flyers ‘Reveal’ & Ferry Tayle & Static Blue’s ‘Trapeze’ were all fierce contenders. What was finally ‘agreed’ upon though is that Estiva’s goose-bump factory ‘Dalmatia’ is our current front runner for tune of the year.

WIN A COPY

Digitally Enhanced Vol 3 is out now and available via Beatport and iTunes. If you’d like to try and win one of the 3 copies currently sat on our desk though just tell us the name of one other compilation release from the Enhanced camp!

:: Enhanced's Website



LABEL UPDATE: FENology Records

FENology, is the absolute antithesis of the ‘fire and forget’ label culture. As opposed to the ‘one or two a month, every month, come-what-may’ methodology, theirs - as label boss Woody van Eyden goes on to explain - is ‘fineness-first’ ethic.

"We have to be really sure about a FENology release. The quality has to be there, but additionally is also has to be the right sound at the right time. Sometimes there just aren’t the tunes in our inbox; we aren’t shy about going 3 months without a release if it means our operating procedure remains locked", continues the Dutchman. “It’s through this system that we’ve uncovered the enduring talents of artists like Alex M.O.R.P.H. – it’s very much the right route for us.”

The second quarter of this year though is going to provide more of a cluster of the label’s releases. JayB’s double-header ‘Eleven Thirty’ / ‘Signals’ has provoked its share of buzz recently, with Above & Beyond providing some heavyweight support on TATW and Armin selecting it for his ASOT Radio Top 15 compilation in February.

Next that out of the FENology gate will be Chapter XJ’s ‘Infinity’... After his successful ‘Resurrection’ release and a blazing remix for Alex M.O.R.P.H.'s ‘Break the Light’ on VANDIT, the young German returns with a double caffeine-injected shot uplifter. Further releases will feature artists like Simon Hunt, Nurettin Colak and the label have also just revealed some fantastic news on the compilation front. FENology will also be playing a core role in the just-announced release of the Alex M.O.R.P.H. B2B Woody van Eyden-mixed HeavensGate compilation, which will be out in the early summer. Future’s bright, future will most certainly need shades!

:: fenology.com
:: woodyvaneyden.com



ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Tom Colontonio

Long ago, in a land far, far away, T.I. detected an unusual disturbance (or maybe, more accurately that should be ‘imbalance’!) in the trance music force… In a country the size and scale of the United States there are an unusually low number of trance producers & DJs per capita.

If anything though that just only aids the ones that there are, which brings us to Mr Tom Colontonio. We thought we’d check in and see what the young Philadelphian had up his sleeve for early 2010 and found, to no one’s great surprise, him fully focused on keeping the US end up!

On the singles side there are a good few original productions on fast release approach. Already on the receiving end of a not-inconsiderable promo push from Mr Van Dyk, ‘The One’ will soon be out on VANDIT. Proving a man of quite some multitasking ability, the single is not only produced by Tom but also features him on vocals and lead guitar duties!

Elsewhere on the singles scope the honours for his ‘Subdued’ track have gone to Discover - Mike Nichols on remix duties there, and he's also just signed a fresh-off-the-desk track to John O'Callaghan's new Subculture imprint. Keep an eye out for more info on that soon.

Every bit as much a DJ as he is a producer these days, Tom has recently been deck-side at Pacha in New York with Marco V and he’ll soon be back in the Big Apple do the now-annual team-up gig with Sean Tyas and Simon Patterson. And speaking of returns, having played Guvernment last year, in April will return once again to Canada to to spin at Club Vola in Toronto on April the 16th. Busy lad!

:: www.tomcolontonio.com
:: www.myspace.com/djtommyboy
:: www.twitter.com/tomcolontonio
:: www.facebook.com (Search Tom Colontonio official)



LABEL UPDATE: Spinnin Records

Into 2010 and could things get any more digital? Well the short answer is ‘yes’! That bastion of all things ‘EDM’, Spinnin’ Records have a drop dead good YouTube channel that’s just itching to be viewed. Currently clocking up a retina-burning two million views a month (!), its servicing all your audio/video early morning/late night needs. Hit it up by clicking and see what’s on offer! As ever one lucky subscriber to the Spinnin Records Podcast will win a label record bag packed full of their latest goodies! Just click the icon link below to throw your name into their hat

Ellrich & Plaice – Fucking Society (Ummet Ozcan Remix) [DOORN RECORDS]
The original mix was already a huge bomb last year played by all the big jocks and we’re proud to give you some brand new mixes by Olav Basoski and Ummet Ozcan that will rock even harder!! Guaranteed dancefloor killers! Who's Spinnin' it? The proverbial shedload! Guetta, Sander van Doorn, Carl Cox, Laidback Luke, Chris Lake, Joachim Garraud and Eddie Halliwell all hammering hard!

Jan Oostdyk – Heidi [2PLAY RECORDINGS]
Dutch producer Jan Oostdyk has fast become one of the hottest trance talents, and continues his rise with his latest release called: ‘Heidi’. Who's Spinnin' it? Armin van Buuren, Ferry Corsten, Gareth Emery, Bobina, Alex M.O.R.P.H. all delivering due deck damage with it.

Radion 6 – Up We Go [OXYGEN RECORDINGS]
Packed with soaring pads and blissful melody lines, backed up by a beastly bottom end this is a real crowd pleaser. With a huge breakdown, giving one of those classic hands in the air moments, this will no doubt be a stand out track!

Marcus Schossow & Reeves – Light [TONE DIARY]
A stellar collaboration here on Tone Diary with two leading names on top of their game joining forces. To top it all off Stoneface & Terminal and Mike Shiver both made killer remixes to complete the package! Played by Armin van Buuren in ‘A State Of Trance’

:: Spinnin Records



ALBUM SPOTLIGHT: JES - High Glow

In the world of electronic dance music, DJ/producers have long been richly represented when it comes to polls, charts & all things award-like. That, we think we’re right in saying is somewhat less the case when it comes to the vocalists featured on their tracks! A slightly inequitable situation when you consider the contribution they actually make to the music we listen and dance to? Perhaps Trance International should get off its collective backside and get a ballot rolling there. We’ve just put a collective ‘note to selves’ up on the office wall.

The impact JES’ would make in that list would undoubtedly be considerable. Other vocalists have sung on 10 times as many tracks as she has and still not managed to have the same meteor-like impact on the scene.

Said impact is no better demonstrated than on ‘Disconnect’ – her 2007 long-player which launched her as a solo artist. Now, with her follow-up, ‘High Glow’, she’s looking to consolidate. An impressive 16 strong tracker, the album is effectively a super-collider of music genres, old and new. JES (channelling both La Roux and Gaga, and giving them both a run for their money) sums ‘High Glow’ up as “Rocktronica”. The guitar-heavy ‘Awaken’, the refried electro of ‘See Through’ and ‘Closer’ - a Eurythmics touchstone if ever we’ve heard one - all do their part in defining ‘High Glow’s widescreen, multi-decade composite.

WIN A COPY

It has to be said though that across the breadth of the album, you can always that trance lick still sat there, pulsating away in the background. Fancy a signed copy? We've got 5! To be in with a chance just tell us what label 'High Glow' is coming out on! or cut out the middle-man and secure one now thru Amazon pre-order. It's out next Monday.

:: Planet JES
:: JES On MySpace
:: Black Hole Recordings