September 21, 2006

Armin van Buurin, A State of Trance 2006
Ultra Records, 2006

Examining and grading a mix burn could begin and end with the saw about opinions: everybody?s got one. Trance legend Armin van Buurin does a fair job of removing most genre-specific hokiness (police whistles, overlong snare rolls signaling jump-and-go-nuts points) but the real question is whether or not this twin-CD set provides the vein-popping adrenaline rush one would expect. The answer is a mostly yes and a kinda-no. Disk 1 is subtitled the ?On the Beach? mix, the drawn-out intro of which portended another unwanted invasion of slowbie progressive house similar to ASOT 2005, but eventually things crank into gear with several gorgeous high-BPM numbers, beginning with Matthew Dekay?s ?Timeless? and closing with Envio?s appropriately beachy ?For You.? Disk 2 (the ?In the Club? mix) eventually builds to a mind-crushing climax in and around Hiroyuki Oda?s painfully sexy ?Transmigration? but flashes a blinking sign plainly reading ?Get Thee to the Bar? upon Stoneface & Terminal?s ?Venus? and van Buuren?s own ?Control Freak.? Yes, it?s a pisser, but the danceus interruptus right at the brink of total slaughter is a wussy move. B

? Eric W. Saeger