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[Release] Solarstone & Evan Henzi - Revelation [Black Hole]

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On a late February Rotterdam night, midway through his standout  ASOT 2024 performance , Solarstone took the wraps off his new single … and it proved to be every bit the  ‘Revelation’ . Having started the year with his Stine Grove -vocalled  ‘The One’ , the Pure Trance titan’s swapped the chromosomes for an equally debut-some vocal number with Evan Henzi . Evan’s will be a fresh name to some, but (through his work with Gareth Emery, Ashley Wallbridge and others), already embedded for others. For Solar watchers however, it’ll be his teaming with Kristina Sky and Danny Stubbs on Pure Trance Recordings’ ‘Rollercoaster’ that’ll bring the quickest finger-snap of recognition. With an artistic synergy that’s impossible to miss, together the pair have conjured something comparably irresistible. Solarstone’s string-strung overture (major ‘4ever’ vibes!) gives way to a bassy, floor-forceful-drive. Further in, Vangelis-like feels affect a mellow drama to its midsection, before his beauti
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[Release] Dinaire+Bissen - Better Off Alone [HalfwayHaus]

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  /// Prefer Audio or Video? Enjoy this on  YouTube  or  Soundcloud ! Long-time collaborators Victor Dinaire and Georg Bissen are heralded for their prolific decade-long collaboration that has yielded dozens of original and major label remix releases, and has garnered them millions of streams and hundreds of thousands of compilations sold. Coming together as Dinaire+Bissen, the formation of their own label, imprint, and subculture brand HalfwayHaus was a natural evolution of their collaboration. The name stems from the fact that their music cannot always be easily placed neatly into one of the myriads of EDM’s subgenre, which we're seeing proliferate here in 2024. This release, only the 3 rd on the imprint, speaks volumes to their sound and style, and when it dropped in our inbox we had to reach out to know more about the reboot of this iconic classic. What was the inspiration to reboot such a massive classic? The inspiration came to me quite randomly. I have a close frien
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[Event] Groove Cruise announces a massive lineup for 2025 with a dominating House / Techno presence

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One of the biggest lineups I've ever had the opportunity to experience in what will be my 10th Groove Cruise and 7th time performing as Trance Jesus launched last week and broke the internet! Groove Cruise has adopted several exciting brands to represent popular genres, with Abyss and Embark celebrating over a decade since their inception in 2011, Siren's Echo and Taking Back Emo seeing their brands being created during the pandemic, and Rising Tides being introduced on Miami 2023 It's exciting to compare last year's line to see there are 54 artists retrning from the #GCMIA24 with several of them moving to the main lineup (shoutout to our friend 22 Weeks along with talented ladies like my lovely wife Jen Blackburn , Brookie , and Kyliente ).  For #GCMIA25 we're seeing 48 new names on the lineup - such as the LONG sought and most requested Eric Prydz and the technical genius James Hype - and return artists who haven't graced the roster is several years, suc
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[Release] Cosmic Gate & Christian Burns - Brave + North America Tour [Wake Your Mind]

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NIC & BOSSI REVEAL FIRST FRESH 2024 MATERIAL AT ASOT NL Bathed in the  moodsome blue light of the titan Ahoy  arena, in the opening minutes of their  ASOT 2024 set , Cosmic Gate premiered their new single. The response  ‘Brave’  received from the tens of thousands gathered in Rotterdam was greater than even the duo dared hope.  ‘Brave’  represents the first material, post ‘MOSAIIK - Chapters One & Two’ - the twin albums that definitively reset  Cosmic Gate’s sonic to something “ deeper, more progressive and song-led”.  The music that followed was only going to advance that ethic further. The single sees Cosmic Gate in a first-time collaboration with multi-award winning singer/songwriter Christian Burns , but as the three acknowledge,  ‘Brave’ s creation was not without its own challenges. Working on something together has been on the cards for quite some time ”, says Christian. “ It was never about doing  a  track … but doing the right one though. ” “ The moment we hear
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[Release] Angelus - Deus Volente [Regenerate]

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  /// Prefer audio or video? Enjoy this on YouTube or Soundcloud ! When we received this promo here at the Church of Trance from one of our favorite artists on one of our favorite labels Regenerate  we ecstatically reached out to Jan De Jong, otherwise know as  Angelus  (and how can we not love the name) to learn more about Deus Valente, its heavenly inspired origins, and what big things he has on the radar for 2024. What is the definition of Deus Valente and what does it mean to you? It came from the phrase the Latin phrase 'Deo Valente' which means 'God Willing' which I thought was a positive message, but rather than just copy that and use it word for word me and Sean [Tyas] we just wanted something that was just still a little bit different and that's how it ended up as 'Deus'. Also massive into video games and sci-fi so I know I've seen Deus, Deus Ex and like Deus Ex Machina I remember seeing those titles and it was like, wow, it sounded powerful
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[Event] Unkonscious 2024 - Review

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Unkonscious is known as the biggest trance festival in Asia, so of course I had to make my way over there and find out for myself after all the wonderful reviews from other attendees. The festival takes place in Thailand which was always a bucket list location! This was my second time attending the festival and after last year’s experience I knew I had to return. For those who don't know about me, I currently live in the US, Midwest area. Most of my travels depart from Chicago. It takes just about 2 days to arrive in Thailand depending on layovers. This time, I flew to South Korea (15hr flight) had approx. a 5hr layover and lastly a 6hr flight to Bangkok. I left the US on Jan 27th 0600 and arrived Jan 29th 0000 (Jet lag for days). So unless you’re flying first class, be prepared with sleeping aids and compression socks lol. I tend to pay for my seats so I don’t get stuck in the middle rows. It’s normally < $50 per seat (depending on the airlines) but it’s worth it for me. The co
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[Interview] Solarstone and Cold Blue at ASOT 2024 Festival

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  During the last weekend of February 2024, the yearly ASOT weekend festival took place, and this year it saw the return to it's former home, Ahoy in Rotterdam. This year the line-up once again spanned, in my view, many solid/strong names, as well as more unknown/new and upcoming names on the scene, and a great diversity within electronic music genres.  During the 2 days, I caught and attended a part or the entire sets of Miss Monique, Solarstone, Cold Blue, Anamé, Kyau & Albert, Cosmic Gate, John Askew and ReOrder . And they all delivered their best in my opinion and ears. The new location, Ahoy, was easy to find your way around inside, and I think, compared to Jaarbeurs, that the distances between the different areas/stages felt/was a bit shorter in Ahoy, which was a good thing, and there was also plenty of bars and food options to choose from. On Saturday of the event, I had the opportunity to sit down and interview both Solarstone and Cold Blue , you can find my intervie
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