Well, this month has been a good one in my eyes. There has been a release that I think I have listened to almost every day this month, its huge! Another track I have loved this month is similar to Tiesto’s work but the thing that got me with both these big tracks is the summery feel good melody flowing through the tracks.

Right, let’s get straight in the first track that I will be talking about is Michael S – Broke (Walden Remix) .The melody that enters the track at 47 seconds is one that could compete with Avicii’s levels feel good progressive style; it immediately puts a smile on your face which you find hard to remove until the songs end. Thank god for a replay button. The track has been worked well to create a happy atmosphere with the vocals, and the electro style ‘drops’ seem to work well although the first couple of times hearing this anthem I thought the electro had ruined the track. I would’ve preferred it being simply progressive however I now see how the electro breaks the track up which works very well.

The second release this month is York presents Lifted Emotion - iPhonic (XGenic Remix) which is a mouthful. It is a typical modern trance track but it has some deeper features that give it an edge over any other releases this month. It has an overly long and loud intro (which thankfully is overshadowed by the quality of the rest of the track) but when the first breakdown comes at around 2:20 we get to feel the atmosphere behind the track, however this is soon jumped upon by a nice plucked melody followed by an airy synthesizer. From this point the track builds some heavy electronic tension which climaxes and releases what can only be described as an insanely heavy electronic trance bass which will test the best of speakers. I would listen to this track right now!

The next release from Zouk recording is from the arrogantly named producer Brilliant (after listening to this track you will see why he has gone for that name) Brilliant-Higher is something of a production masterpiece, all the melodic sounds he uses at the beginning synchronize into one another effortlessly. Now I’m not sure whether this track is still within the trance genre boundaries but if it is, it’s close to crossing them, which is good in my eyes as trance as a genre needs to progress as we want it back into the clubs. Brilliant is a big thing for pushing the boundaries and I hope other producers can follow in his footsteps in creating a well balanced set of sub genres in the major genre of trance.

The final track I will be covering is Justin Michael feat Matt Beilis - Too Late Tomorrow because it is absolutely brilliant! I am going to find it hard to describe this track so I do strongly advise everyone should listen to this so you can fall in love with it as I did the first time I heard it. There is not one thing wrong with this track in my opinion and it has been released at a perfect time, just as the spring sun is emerging(feel good trance). The grand piano sound has to be the centre point of the track in producing such a beautiful melody, however this tracks vocals can’t go unnoticed as they simply make the song that much nicer to listen to.

I hope you listen to all these tracks I have mentioned as you will not be disappointed. Check out my Soundcloud page: http://soundcloud.com/voxmagna. Peace.

January 2012 Trance review
Trance is still, in my opinion, a background genre when it comes to dance music. However with this said I believe this year we will see it slowly progress into more and more mainstream tracks , it may not involve the classic style of trance people were listening to in the 90’s, so I believe it’s going to be more electronic and progressive trance that makes this transition.
My favourite track this month has to be Full Tilt feat Deirdre McLaughlin- Surrender (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX-nqRQio40&ob=av2e) Have a listen! Firstly this track is so upbeat and just simply fun to listen to; you can lose yourself in the song which is something I miss about tracks in the charts. When listening to this track you feel like you have done a workout  so you could imagine the hype of it in a club!
The next track of this month I’m covering is Cold Blue- Coconut simply for the preview he’s produced; I know it is being released on the 20th of February (Exclusively on Beatport on the 6th) but this is the kind of track I am talking about when I say trance will progress into the mainstream tracks. The subtle electro tone harmonises perfectly with the melodic trance to create this beautiful track. Definitely worth a listen when it’s released.
This next track gives me goose bumps every time I put my headphones on and listen to it. Boom Jinx & Daniel Kandi - Azzura is definitely a club worthy track. The track itself starts upbeat but around a minute into the track it becomes something magical, the progressive melody is incredibly soothing and places your mind on a tropical beach somewhere in the Pacific. Its tracks like this that made me fall in love with trance, not the hard acid trance but the melodic progressive trance.
The last track I’m covering for this article has to be Scot Project Press. Supermusique – Stop this feeling because of it’s all around great trance feel. There is a nice soft electro bass line running through the track, beautiful vocals, melodic progression and something a bit different about it that makes it stand out from most other tracks.
Thank you for reading my article, Next month I will update you on the new producer I am following on Sound cloud. Mean while why not have a listen to my tracks 
http://soundcloud.com/andrew80
,VoxMagna

M:UD the first edition

Trance/techno Review for 2011
These two genres haven’t broken into more mainstream tracks such as house and electro this year because trance has been a background genre for many years now, ever since house came to the stage in clubs. One of the great trance producers Tiesto has also adopted a more electro feel to his tracks but do not worry there a some very good up and coming producers that hopefully through 2012 will make it big.
There are fewer and fewer trance producers now as young producers have dreams of becoming rich & famous however very few techno or trance producers make it as far as Armin Van Buuren or Paul Van Dyk.  There are many different sub-genres  within trance ranging from acid trance to classic trance, the only problem for the new producers is that this music was at it’s peak of popularity in the 90’s and so the fan base won’t be at its largest so a lot of these producers will make tracks for self enjoyment. When browsing the trance group page on soundCloud I came across a track from IrfanIMG who is a young producer from Indonesia. Which is one of the main reasons I followed him, it just goes against a lot of what I thought – that trance was not as popular as it used to be, but with new technology such as YouTube people in Indonesia are listening to trance. His tracks start by using pads effectively creating an ambient feeling, then he brings the kick in which instantly creates a beautiful rhythmic beat. The middle 8 is my favourite part of all trance tracks as the beat slows down and all percussions are removed, which IrfanIMG achieves brilliantly.
Another trance producer that has only been on SoundCloud for around 2 months is Dr.Feri and in that time he has improved massively. He producers solely trance which shows his love for the genre. I hope to have more information on this producer in the next issue, however his future is bright.
Anyway these producers are ones to look out for in the future; I will keep you updated on their progress. Now I’m going to cover the producers that have risen during 2011. Mark Otten, already a big name in trance, released a great track late march of this year which could potentially revolutionise trance because of it high tempo, I loved it and if you haven’t heard make sure you give it a listen. In late summer Arty , the 21-year old Russian made himself heard with a great track called Kate (anjunabeats). The track has a summer feel to it and at such a young age his name will be everywhere in the trance scene during 2012.  Arty again in December of 2011 released a new track which was voted 5/5 in mixmag’s review, many other Russian trance and electro producers have developed as a result of Arty’s success . I look forward to this surge of Russian trance coming our way in 2012.
Cramp has also been shining bright this past year especially with his track back in November featuring Natalie Peris ‘More to this’ . The track has a chill out feel to it submerged in a soft bass line. Russia is the place to be for trance producers at this moment in time and new inspirations are being formed such as Arty.
 I love trance music and I hope it does find its way back into the clubs one day and I hope it is these producers that help make that happen
I hope to bring you online interviews with the latest producers in later issues and as M:UD grows, make sure you keep coming back to read the new articles and find the world’s best undiscovered producers.

Andrew Lee