The Phil-Harmonic Podcast Episode 45 - THAT WAS 2012 - Part 1

THAT WAS 2012 – PART 1

Here we are again. At the end of another year. Inevitably, the conclusion of that year signals the opportunity to review the mayhem that has ensued in trance music in the preceding 12 months.

The podcast unfortunately and, dare I say it, unusually missed a few weeks recently. Some pretty colossal changes in my life have meant that my decks haven’t been at hand in the last 5-6 weeks. But putting the podcast on ice for a while hasn't stopped me planning my usual review of the year’s trance music. And I've done my best to mirror last year’s format as much as possible. One or two tweaks here and there.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is That Was 2012. 5 hours, 2 mixes, 1 podcast! Every ‘Tune Of The Episode’ from each of this year’s 16 regular episodes, plus many favourites from friends and listeners of the show. Hopefully, this review of the year is as truly outstanding as my 2012 has been.

THAT WAS 2012

So what has 2012 been like?

On a personal level, 2012 for me has been ...well, all over the place. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster, mentally testing but full of change, growth, important life lessons and special memories. I look at this year’s That Was tracklists and see an emotionally charged year of change and contrast.

It all started with that mental month in January when I visited London 4 out of 5 weekends; a few of those weekends being among the finest I've ever had. The incredible high of all that was turned on its head immediately afterwards with the death of my grandfather at the start of February. That hit me a lot harder than I expected it would and, in all honesty, I was bit of a mess for a good few months after that. Doing the podcast was the only way I could constructively distract myself.

Later on came Ibiza 2012. In a way, the fact that Ibiza was sandwiched between some incredible and surreal goings on at either end of 2012 means that Ibiza doesn't dominate my memories of the year in the same way our trip in 2011 did. That’s not to say it wasn't memorable. It most definitely was. Sander Van Doorn at Space, Cream and Pacha will live long in the memory and my crazed antics earlier in the holiday were both fine anecdote material and striking life lessons at an important juncture in my life.

However, whereas Ibiza 2011 was a mind-blowing experience exploding at the centre of 12 months of working mundanity, Ibiza 2012 was a surreal week at the centre of 12 months of memorable goings on and seesawing emotions.

Post-Ibiza was a period of frustration and reflection. Noticing that I’d done absolutely nothing to make my New Year’s Resolution of moving out of the family home become a reality, I handed in my notice at work, packed my bags and, like a young Dick Whittington, headed for London. On reflection, it was absolutely the boldest thing I’ve ever done. If you break it down, it might have appeared downright absurd. Maybe it only seems remarkable because of the number of times I told myself moving to London would be really hard, or maybe even impossible. For once in my life I actually chased a dream and didn't care about failure.

A combination of fortunate circumstance, the incredible support of friends and positive thinking found me employed in London in just over 3 weeks; a crazy turn of events that has now handed me the opportunity to live, work and DJ in one of the most exciting cities in the world. For a lot of people around the world the Olympics will be a striking memory from 2012. Whereas for me, the phrase ‘London 2012’ now carries a much greater personal significance.

The new company I work for, Ink Global, produce a yearly in-house publication called ‘Happiness’ which gives employees the opportunity to talk about what happiness means for them and what has brought them joy in the year just passed. Sadly, only being there 4 weeks, I missed the boat in terms of getting involved in that project this year, but reading it does make you think about what it is you really want out of life. To borrow a very relevant recent phrase from trance music, there is an element of corporate “Group Therapy” that is good for the soul.

The more I live the more I appreciate that happiness is about your connection to other people. The vast majority of any unhappiness I have experienced in life can be attributed to not fostering enough of those connections, being too solitary. While the best times, particularly my days in Bristol, have been those where I've been constantly meeting new people. With that in mind, swapping an isolated market town home to 15,000 people for a sprawling metropolis of over 8 million inhabitants has me moving in a positive direction.

I don’t want to jump the gun too much because there’s still plenty of hard work and settling in to be done. But the speed of this change in my life has been remarkable and bodes well for 2013. In a weird way, my 2012 more or less ended when I left my job in Chester on the 9^th of November. There was a New Year style rebirth right there and then. But a calendar year is a calendar year.

Oh, and there I haven’t even mentioned the incredible weekend that was Armin Van Buuren at Warehouse Project in Manchester, my first Trance Sanctuary party at The Egg and my cousin getting married, all in the space of a month or so around leaving my old job. Mental!

Normally, I wouldn't talk so explicitly about my personal life in a review like this. But the year’s personal triumphs and disasters have been enhanced, magnified and given meaning by a flourishing trance scene and the love that continues to flow through and from it. Feeling particularly inspired by Ink’s ‘Happiness’ book, it seems only right to talk about the back drop. I've had an amazing year; so far removed from the boredom, frustration and sense of aimlessness of late 2008 to 2010.

“Life is just a series of peaks and troughs, and you don't whether you're in a trough until you're climbing out, or on a peak until you're coming down. And that's it, you know, you never know what's round the corner. But it's all good. "If you want the rainbow you've got to put up with the rain". Do you know which "philosopher" said that? Dolly Parton. And people say she's just a big pair of tits.” 

- David Brent, The Office

Trance music itself has continued where it left off in 2011 in terms of being a huge part of what is a globally thriving ‘EDM scene’. EDM is a term that a lot of people are starting to associate with corporate divas and a ‘new generation’ of producers that enjoy bitching more than they do playing for crowds. EDM to me was always just an acronym that meant ‘Electronic Dance Music’; a catch all term for dance music less painful than the previous incarnation, ‘electronica’.

In 2012, it has come to refer to something wholly more unpleasant or, at the very least, anti-clubbing. Girls in high heels, champagne glasses, VIP areas, laptops, endlessly promoted festivals and artists who like their music even less than they like you.

I've continued to frequent the Ibiza-Spotlight forums this year and some interesting discussions on there have pointed out that significant sections of this EDM phenomenon have lost touch, and in some cases deliberately so, with the fundamental roots of early house music. This new breed does have an obvious relevance and is often very effective club music, but it is noticeably starting to distance itself from the values which made club culture a phenomenon in the first place. Deadmau5, who has always been a tech geek and never a loyal clubber, is the obvious example. There is a divide opening up; a separation of production wizards from the DJing old guard.

Sadly, the scene at large has suffered from an undercurrent of negativity recently. Within trance music it hasn’t been as bad, but certain things stand out to me as hopeless purists trying in vain to wrestle back the genre from the younger, more sycophantically loved up generation of trance clubbers.

A good example for me was a little moment that occurred in the middle of Armin Van Buuren’s set at Warehouse Project. I had my hands in the air and some guy came over and pointed at a badge on his t-shirt which was someone making a heart shape with their hands with a red line through it. I just causally said, "Not from me mate". Which is true - I'm not a major culprit for it. But in my head I thought, "F*ck you, you dancefloor fascist". Really can't be doing with this negativity in the genre. Telling people what they can and cannot do on a dancefloor is the antithesis of traditional clubbing/trance values.

Interestingly, from what I remember, it was Armin himself who started the trend of making heart shapes with the hands and Armin was the one this member of the dancefloor police had come to see. Good one, dumb nuts!

Armin flying back into top spot in the DJ Mag poll certainly gave the crowd a big lift that night. It was his first gig after the announcement was made. As much as I love seeing trance artists get big plaudits and recognition, I couldn't help but think looking down the list that Armin being top was a slight embarrassment. He was a bizarre shining anomaly at the top of a mess of populist, ‘here today gone tomorrow’ nonsense. This year I didn't even bother to vote because the whole thing has lost its meaning.

But those last 7 or so paragraphs are as far as my negativity for 2012 will stretch. I feel slightly privileged that I’ve lived through a number of phases of the dance scene’s evolution and many listeners of EDM and its variants don’t realise how good we’ve got it at the moment.

2012 has been another fantastic year for trance music; in particular, one for the epic peaking in Markus Schulz’s dark, aggressive Coldharbour sound (the likes of Mr. Pit, Arnej and KhoMha have made huge waves) and the noticeable resurgence of ‘proper’ 138+ uplifting trance music. There is a fresh enthusiasm in the air for darker and/or faster sounds it seems. The grip of trouse is being loosened to an extent.

The podcast itself has continued to grow and many a quieter weekend has been spent honing what is now quite a polished effort. I feel like I've got a good formula now and one I can really build on in 2013. The next step, of course, is to get some gigs here in the South of the country.

For now we shall leave it there...On with the music.

THE PHIL-HARMONIC PODCAST 045 – THAT WAS 2012 – PART 1

1. Pryda – Allein
[May / Virgin UK]
Featured In TPHP: Episode 34
Chosen By: Sam Hind

Eric Prydz has really started to carve out a niche as one of the most consistent, innovative and universally appreciated producers in electronic music and his double Pryda album and new podcast really hammered that home in 2012. Allein holds big memories for me from Sander Van Doorn’s set at Space.

2. Chris Goy – Metamorphic

[October / Lange Recordings]
Featured In TPHP: Episode 42 (Tune Of The Episode)

Position in Top 40: #18

A cracking tune from a completely unknown producer that I found whilst trawling Beatport one evening, I was really surprising I didn’t hear this in more podcasts. A belter!

3. Sander Van Doorn & Julian Jordan – Kangaroo

[August / Doorn Records]
Featured In TPHP: Episode 38
Chosen By: Ben Williams

Obvious shades of Koko in this one but a smooth progressive build and a slamming electro drop set this apart as something new and fresh. A big Ibiza record for our 2012 crew.

4. Sean Tyas – Leveled

[May / Burn The Fire]
Featured In TPHP: Episode 33

OMG! Sean Tyas doing 128s? F*ck it, Sean Tyas proves that it doesn’t matter what tempo he’s working at he has an ear for a first class melody and a rousing breakdown.

5. Solis & Sean Truby – Marina (Aaron Camz Remix)
[January / Interstate Recordings]
Featured In TPHP: Episode 27 (Tune Of The Episode)

Position in Top 40: #19

Aaron Camz was one to watch in 2012, forging a sound that was a staple of Markus Schulz’s dark, pulsating sets. This was his best work.

6. Gotye feat. Kimbra - Somebody That I Used to Know (Tiësto Remix)

[April / Musical Madness]
Featured In TPHP: Episode 37 (Tune Of The Episode)
Chosen By: Cara M, Ben W & The Ibiza Group

Anyone who went to Ibiza this summer will know that the voices of Gotye and Kimbra were all over the island in various remixes, to the point of it being practically inescapable. This Tiësto remix of it was absolutely indisputably our group’s ‘Tune Of Ibiza 2012’, following on from where Koko had done the collective damage the year before. I can see myself playing this one for years to come.

7. Mike Koglin vs. Genix – Dyno

[January / Anjunabeats]
Featured In TPHP: Episode 24 (Tune Of The Episode)

Position in Top 40: #26

Mike Koglin really did the business this year and this neat little collaboration with Genix exemplified his new found knack for a slamming funky drop. ‘Tune Of The Episode’ from one of my most complimented podcasts to date.

8. W&W – Invasion (ASOT 550 Anthem)

[February / A State Of Trance]
Featured In TPHP: Episode 27

Position in Top 40: #20                

Chosen By: Chris Newell

A big favourite of many trance fans this year. Chosen by two people for Request Of The Villa Guests, only narrowly pipped for ‘Tune Of The Episode’ in Episode 27 and very much A State Of Trance’s main anthem for 2012. W&W have made huge strides in the popularity stakes in 2012.

9. Markus Schulz & Dennis Sheperd - Go!

[April / Coldharbour Recordings]
Featured In TPHP: Episode 29

In my blog for Episode 29 I described this as “as clear a meshing of two artists’ styles as I’ve EVER heard”.  That assessment I absolutely stand by – you can really hear both artists in this track. Even had a few people ask me about this one when I dropped it at our ‘Pool Comp Party’ in November.

10. Quake & Rob Tissera - The Day Will Come (Heatbeat Remix)

[October / Maelstrom Records]
Featured In TPHP: Episode 40

Position in Top 40: #28

Argentina’s finest did the damage in a big way with this unexpected remix of an old 1998 classic. Quite a sparing use of that memorable vocal but, my word, that final drop is huge. Was always going to be a big one for me this, as the hard dance versions were staples for me back in 2005.

11. Super8 & Tab – Awakenings (Tritonal Remix)

[February / Anjunabeats]
Featured In TPHP: Episode 26 (Tune Of The Episode)

Position in Top 40: #33

Probably a surprising choice for Episode 26’s ‘Tune Of The Episode’ but, in the end, I was completely sold by that fresh take on Awakenings’ main riff. Very fat electro drop as well, as you would expect from the Tritonal boys. Original of this was also massive.

12. Ferry Corsten feat. Aruna - Live Forever (Shogun Remix)

[May / Flashover Recordings]
Featured In TPHP: Episode 34 (Tune Of The Episode)

Position in Top 40: #32

Despite not being so keen on the recent work of Ferry Corsten, this track alongside Aruna had one of the best vocals of 2012. Shogun providing the sick drop on the remix. Unfortunately, the mixes in and out of this one aren’t the best, putting it mildly. Slightly annoying.

13. Super8 & Tab feat. Jan Burton - Black Is Back (Classic Vocal Mix)

[May / Anjunabeats]
Featured In TPHP: Episode 37

Position in Top 40: #15

Super8 & Tab took themselves back to their more traditional sound with this ‘Classic’ mix; a fantastically smooth, spine-tingling (and slightly operatic) trancer that makes a very simple melody shine. Jan Burton’s short but soulful vocal take this onto another level.

14. Erick Strong vs. Dart Rayne – Shamballa

[July / Armada]
Featured In TPHP: Episode 33 (Tune Of The Episode)

Position in Top 40: #7

We all waited ages for this to come out but it was well worth the wait. Probably the best breakdown of 2012. Futuristic shit!

15. Wiegel Meirmans Snitker - Nova Zembla (Armin Van Buuren Remix)

[January / Armada Digital]

Featured In TPHP: Episode 28

Position in Top 40: #29

Technically speaking this came out at the very end of 2011, but it didn’t come to my attention until well into 2012 and didn’t feature in the podcast until April. This was the usual Armin magic on a haunting, operatic vocal from the theme of a Belgian-made, Dutch language film.

16. Richard Durand – Chopstick

[January / Magik Muzik]

Featured In TPHP: Episode 25

Position in Top 40: #11

This tune was downright scary; a demonic tech trancer of mammoth proportions straight from the Durand old skool. First heard listening to Schossow’s Tone Diary on my way down for one of those huge London weekends back in January.

17. Wezz Devall - Kill Of The Year (Dave Schiemann MILF Revenge Remix)

[April / Captivating Sounds]

Featured In TPHP: Episode 29

Position in Top 40: #4

Not quite Kill Of The Year, but really not far off. This absurdly titled remix from Poland’s Dawid Schiemann was a rhythmic, nasty, vengeful little number. Main riff is devastating.

18. Ashley Wallbridge feat. Elleah - Keep The Fire (Sean Tyas Remix)

[August / AVA Recordings]

Featured In TPHP: Episode 39

Position in Top 40: #14

In my humble opinion, the best vocal of 2012 (yes, better than Concrete Angel) and Sean Tyas worked some magic on this remix. A great pulsing mid-tempo trancer with a fantastic breakdown.

19. C-Systems & Bushi - Ari (Suncatcher Remix)

[July / Enhanced Recordings]

Featured In TPHP: Episode 39

Position in Top 40: #38

So many great Suncatcher releases this year; he was a man on fire. In the final shakedown for this review it was a straight choice between his remixes of At The End Of The Day and Ari. I’ve gone for the slightly more ‘traditional’, subtle feel of the operatic Ari.

20. Stonevalley – Hybrid

[January / Enhanced Recordings]

Featured In TPHP: Episode 25 (Tune Of The Episode)

Position in Top 40: #5

A very big year for 138+ trancers this year and, coming out on my 25^th birthday, there were few in the uplifting bracket better than this one from Stonevalley. Enhanced shining once again. Deserves it’s Top 5 placing.

21. RAM – RAMplify

[April / Digital Society Recordings]

Featured In TPHP: Episode 30

Position in Top 40: #12

Formerly one half of Dutch hard trance outfit Bas & Ram, Ram Boon is a man whose had a hand in making some pretty impressive trancers in the last 3 or 4 years, most notably RAMsterdam in 2009. Continuing with the clever puns, RAMplify took his productions onto another level. Top draw uplifting and one of the best this year.

22. Jimmy Chou - Echoes (Johan Ekman Remix)

[April / Diverted Music]

Featured In TPHP: Episode 33

Position in Top 40: #31

With a bassline bordering on hard trance, this was absolutely one of the ballsiest 140s of 2012. Definitely my bag.

23. Abstract Vision & Elite Electronic vs. Photographer – Legion

[April / Music En Route]

Featured In TPHP: Episode 30 (Tune Of The Episode)

Position in Top 40: #17

A new name has emerged in uplifting trance in 2012, Ukrainian producer Photographer, and this was the first we heard of him; a collaboration with Abstract Vision and Electronic Elite and another great release from the month of April. A devastating bassline and a great melody.

24. Wellenrausch - Shape of Berlin (Enoh Remix) 

[April / Afterglow Records]

Featured In TPHP: Episode 30

Position in Top 40: #40

Quite a dark, moody release here and one that was a big favourite of Markus Schulz. This was my pick of the remixes mainly because of the cracking bassline and enormous final drop.

25. Gareth Emery feat. Christina Novelli – Concrete Angel (John O’Callaghan Remix)

[March / Garuda]

Featured In TPHP: Episode 28

Position in Top 40: #16

It’s been a very long time since there’s been a record in trance music that has created as much of a buzz as this one. If anything, probably a bit overplayed but, no doubt, one of the most popular trance anthems of recent years. A new ‘Big Sky’ in the making. Gareth Emery’s original was voted Tune Of The Year by A State Of Trance listeners.

26. Touchstone – Senza Fine

[February / Digitized Recordings]

Featured In TPHP: Episode 27

Position in Top 40: #36

Few producers were as prolific as Touchstone this year and this was the best of his work. Really as euphoric as trance comes.

Well, that’s it for Part 1. Plenty of tuneage to stuff down with your Turkey. Enjoy your Christmases. I will see you very shortly for Part 2.