Armin Van Buuren again reigns supreme, with Tiësto and David Guetta following in the #2 & #3 positions.

Here are the Top 10 DJs:

1. Armin van Buuren
2. Tiesto
3. David Guetta
4. Above & Beyond
5. Paul van Dyk
6. Deadmau5
7. Ferry Corsten
8. Markus Schulz
9. Gareth Emery
10. Sander van Doorn

Check out the full list below, and then leave a comment with your thoughts!

The Top 100 DJs For 2009

1. Armin van Buuren
2. Tiesto
3. David Guetta
4. Above & Beyond
5. Paul van Dyk
6. Deadmau5
7. Ferry Corsten
8. Markus Schulz
9. Gareth Emery
10. Sander van Doorn
11. ATB (
12. Infected Mushroom
13. Sasha
14. Axwell
15. Andy Moor
16. Bobina
17. John Digweed
18. Carl Cox
19. Cosmic Gate
20. Steve Angello
21. Roger Shah
22. Aly & Fila
23. Paul Oakenfold
24. John O’Callaghan
25. Sebastian Ingrosso
26. Benny Benassi
27. Laidback Luke
28. Richie Hawtin
29. Fedde Le Grand
30. DJ Feel
31. Lange
32. Hernan Cattaneo
33. Daft Punk
34. Eric Prydz
35. Bob Sinclar
36. Joachim Garraud
37. Kyau & Albert
38. James Zabiela
39. Umek
40. Christopher Lawrence
41. Eddie Halliwell
42. Simon Patterson
43. Offer Nissim
44. Judge Jules
45. Sean Tyas
46. Dubfire
47. Martin Solveig
48. Sven Vath
49. Richard Durand
50. Marco V
51. Kaskade
52. Tydi
53. Erick Morillo
54. Matt Darey
55. Astrix
56. Menno de Jong
57. The Thillseekers
58. Nick Warren
59. Dirty South
60. Roger Sanchez
61. Mark Knight
62. Wally Lopez
63. Leon Bolier
64. Blank & Jones
65. Justice
66. Laurent Wolf
67. Astral Projection
68. Boys Noize
69. Ronski Speed
70. Sander Kleinenberg
71. Ricardo Villalobos
72. Chuckie
73. Sharam
74. Marcel Woods
75. Lisa Lashes
76. Moonbeam
77. Rank 1
78. Sebastien Leger
79. Marcus Schossow
80. Steve Lawler
81. Skazi
82. Super8 & Tab
83. Pete Tong
84. Tocadisco
85. Sied van Riel
86. Tiga
87. Daniel Kandi
88. Mike Koglin
89. Luciano
90. Yahel
91. Myon & Shane 54
92. John B
93. Simon Posford
94. Fatboy Slim
95. Robbie Rivera
96. Antoine Clamaran
97. Nic Fanciulli
98. Gui Boratto
99. Alex M.O.R.P.H.
100. Andy C

Image: BryanSereny

DJMag via InTheMix

TrackItDown has announced the winners in the 2009 Trance Awards, and there aren’t a lot of surprises.

Top DJs include Paul van Dyk, Armin Van Buuren and Tiësto.

Best producers? Paul van Dyk, Armin Van Buuren and Tiësto.

Check out the winners below – and then leave a comment and let us know who you think should have won.

The 2009 Trance Awards

Best DJ

1. Paul Van Dyk
2. Armin Van Buuren
3. Tiësto

Best Producer

1. Paul Van Dyk
2. Armin Van Buuren
3. Tiësto

Best Label

1. Armada
2. Vandit
3. Anjunabeats

Best Remixer

1. Tiësto
2. Gareth Emery
3. Paul Van Dyk

Best New Face

1. Claudia Cazacu
2. Mat Zo
3. Ashley Wallbridge

Best Club

1. Judgement Sundays @ Eden
2. Cream @ Amnesia
3. Armada @ Amnesia

Best Event

1. Global Gathering
2. Trance Energy
3. Nature One

Best Website

1. Trance.nu
2. Afterhours.fm
3. Trackitdown.net

Best Resident

1. Armin Van Buuren @ Armada Ibiza
2. Tiësto @ Privilege Ibiza
3. Paul Van Dyk @ Cream Ibiza

Best Album

1. Armin Van Buuren – Imagine
2. Paul Van Dyk – Volume
3. A State Of Trance 2009

Best Radio Show

1. A State Of Trance – Armin Van Buuren
2. Trance Around The World – Above & Beyond
3. Club Life – Tiësto

Best Track

1. Paul Van Dyk Feat Johnny McDaid – Home
2. Paul Van Dyk – For An Angel 2009
3. Dash Berlin – Man On the Run

Armin van Buuren discusses the benefits of Pioneer’s new CDJ-2000.

Armin van Buuren is back, with a video for his track Shivers.

A lot of people are going to hate this video and for good reasons:

• It starts with the slow motion babe shots and then quickly introduces the theme of the slow motion babe missing van Buuren
• Slow motion babe takes time out to dream about van Buuren
• Time out – for the slow motion babe to get naked and wet in slow motion, and then…..
• OMG! He’s in the f***** shower!
• But it was just a dream….not a creepy stalking incident.
• Oh yeah – it’s mainstream trance!
• Slow motion babe finds hope for redemption at the end.

Yes – it’s formulaic – and long-time Synthtopia readers know that we tend to like videos that involve DJing with decapitated heads, thousands of Legos reproducing classic 8-bit graphics or Thriller in the Nude.

But you know what? van Buuren totally nails this sh**. He’s committed. If you want to make trance, you could do worse than to study everything van Buuren does.

I’m not sure if there’s anything to be learned from this – but if you’re laboring away making music in an obscure electronic niche, you might want to consider adding slow motion babe/hunk shots to your next video.

via arminvanbuuren

Here’s a list of some of the top DJs on Twitter, via genxglow:

• Axwell
• Armin Van Buuren
  
• Ferry Corsten
• John Digweed
• Sander Van Doorn
• Paul Van Dyk
• David Guetta
• Eddie Halliwell
• Richie Hawtin
• Andy Moor
• Paul Oakenfold
• Markus Schulz
• Tiesto
• James Zabiela

This is a good start, but if you’re a DJ and you’re using Twitter, or if there are DJs that you follow, leave a Twitter page link or @ name below.

And if you’re not subscribed yet, follow me on Twitter for updates and twisted detritus from around the web: podcasting_news

Jean Michel Jarre posted this photo of himself and Armin van Buuren, after his Amsterdam concert:

After the show, I met Armin van Buuren. He told me he was a great fan of mine and that my music inspired him to become a musician!

I felt really honored coming from one of the 2 or 3 best DJs in the world.

We discussed about how my music has influenced trance music, which is so huge all over the world, except in France where we are more electro. I definitely feel part of that trance family. Armin is also a great human being and we promised to each other to keep the contact and to collaborate on one project, one of these days.

It’s a great photo – because superstar DJ Armin van Buren has the same look on his face as every other musician meeting one of his heroes.

That look that says “This is so awesome that my brain can’t entirely process it!”

Here’s Jarre with another fan after the same show, Michel van Osenbruggen, aka Synth.nl:

Osenbruggen describes his meeting like this:

I was in such a rush of adrenaline that I hope I didn’t say anything stupid

Well it was a big honor for me to finally meet the man that put my to buying my first synthesizer and inspired me to start composing and producing my own music. It will be a long life memory for me for sure.

I’ve had similiar experiences, meeting personal heroes like BT,  Ken Jordan of The Crystal Method or ambient artist Robert Rich. In each case, I ended up impressed with how gracious these artists are with their fans – even fans that may be temporarily inarticulate.

Have you had an experience like this – as either a musician or as a fan?

The UMF will take place during the 24th annual Winter Music Conference at the waterfront location of Bicentennial Park in downtown Miami (the same grounds it has occupied since 2006). 

The line-up for the festival is pretty insane:

• Tiësto
• Bloc Party
• The Ting Tings
• Roni Size Reprazent
• Cut Copy
• Deadmau5
• Crystal Castles
• The Presets
• Hercules and Love Affair
• Simian Mobile Disco
• Busy P.
• Carl Cox
• The Prodigy
• Pendulum
• Paul Van Dyk
• Armin Van Buuren
• Moby

Other acts that are newly confirmed for UMF include: David Guetta, Above and Beyond, Erick Morillo, Booka Shade, the Swedish House Mafia featuring (Steve Angello, Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso), Benny Benassi, Rabbit In The Moon, Infected Mushroom, Fedde Le Grand, Richie Hawtin, Luciano, Tiga, Perry Farrell, ATB, M.A.N.D.Y. v. Tiefschwarz, Kraak & Smaak, Dirty South, Pete Tong, Loco Dice, Steve Lawler, Boys Noize, Markus Schulz, Kaskade, Late of the Pier, Planet of the Drums, Andy C + MC GQ and The Whip.

Sounds like a line-up, huh?

In addition to the annual Miami festival, UMF has expanded internationally to include events in Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte, San Juan, Madrid and Ibiza.

A recent interview with Armin van Buuren recorded recently during a visit to New York.

I’m surprised to see Infected Mushroom in the top 10. And where are the female DJs?

Let me know what you think of the list in the comments.

DJ Mag Top 100 DJs 2008

01. Armin van Buuren

02. Tiësto

03. Paul van Dyk

04. Above & Beyond

05. David Guetta

06. Ferry Corsten

07. Sasha

08. Markus Schulz

09. John Digweed

10. Infected Mushroom

11. Deadmau5

12. Carl Cox

13. Sander van Doorn

14. Paul Oakenfold

15. Richie Hawtin

16. Hernan Cattaneo

17. James Zabiela

18. Andy Moor

19. Eddie Halliwell

20. Axwell

21. Eric Prydz

22. Kyau & Albert

23. Gareth Emery

24. Sven Väth

25. ATB

26. Anderson Noise

27. Joachim Garraud

28. Bobina

29. Fedde le Grand

30. Dubfire

31. Aly & Fila

32. Judge Jules

33. Umek

34. Matt Darey

35. Ricky Stone

36. Ricardo Villalobos

37. Lange

38. Daft Punk

39. Benny Benassi

40. Bob Sinclair

41. Deep Dish

42. Mark Knight

43. Astrix

44. Marco V

45. The Thrillseekers

46. Laidback Luke

47. Danny Tenaglia

48. Menno de Jong

49. Marco Lenzi

50. Andy C

51. Offer Nissim

52. Martin Solveig

53. Adam Sheridan

54. Sean Tyas

55. DJ Feel

56. Yahel

57. Roger Sanchez

58. DJ Shah

59. Sander Kleinenberg

60. John O’Callaghan

61. Blank & Jones

62. Cosmic Gate

63. Steve Angello

64. Simon Patterson

65. Gabriel & Dresden

66. Richard Durand

67. Laurent Wolf

68. Matt Hardwick

69. Chris Liebing

70. Erick Morillo

71. DJ Hype

72. Signum

73. Justice

74. Dirty South

75. Wally Lopez

76. Magda

77. Lisa Lashes

78. Pete Tong

79. DJ Vibe

80. Bad Boy Bill

81. Tiddey

82. Greg Downey

83. Marcel Woods

84. Nick Warren

85. Solar System

86. Skazi

87. Mike Koglin

88. Mauro Picotto

89. Sébastien Léger

90. The Chemical Brothers

91. Steve Lawler

92. Fatboy Slim

93. Solarstone

94. Astral Projection

95. Leon Bolier

96. Nic Fanciulli

97. Ronski Speed

98. Tocadisco

99. Booka Shade

100. Alex M.O.R.P.H. & Woody van Eyden

Image: tricky

The release is a double-CD set of remixes of iiO’s 2002 club hit Rapture. Does anybody really need 18 remixes of any track?

After giving the release a few listens, though, I’ve changed my attitude.

Rapture Reconstructed brings together some of the strongest talent in the world of club remixes and showcases what a great remixer can do with a strong track. There are versions by Armin Van Buuren, Starkillers, Paul Van Dyk and Deep Dish – and that’s just getting started. Hardware & Orue take the track into electro land, and the Lametta Made2Chill Remix turns Rapture into a chillout slow dance.

If you’re interested in remixing, iiO’s Rapture Reconstructed is a case study in how it’s done.

Van Buuren’s remix shows how he can take a song that’s already a strong club track and make it even harder and tighter. It also shows how you can stretch an intro to three minutes – as long as the typical pop song – and still keep things moving.

Starkillers turn in four remixes – all of them different, but also all with a Starkillers twist.

The highlight of the disk is Deep Dish’s Space Remix. Deep Dish take Rapture and slap it up, flip it and rub it down, dropping the vocals and stretching the track into a 10:57 techno house opus.

18 versions of one song isn’t going to be everybody’s cup of tea. If you’re interested in remixing, though iiO’s Rapture Reconstructed isn’t just a fantastic collection of remixes of a classic house track, it’s like going to remix school.

The second CD is also an enhanced CD that contains two versions of the Blade Runner-esque Rapture video. Unfortunately, the video is presented in a fairly low resolution – not much better than what you’d get from YouTube.

Tracks:

Disc: 1
1. Reconstruction [Starkillers Dirt Girl Made Single Edit]
2. Reconstruction [Starkillers Dirty Girl Remix]
3. Reconstruction [Starkillers Undone Made Single Edit]
4. Reconstruction [Starkillers Undone Remix]
5. Reconstruction [Hardware & Orue Electro Remix]
6. Reconstruction [Hardware & Orue Electro Dub]
7. Reconstruction [Friscia & Lamboy Remix]
8. Reconstruction [Friscia & Lamboy Dub]
9. Reconstruction [Lametta Harmony Remix]
10. Reconstruction [Lametta MADE2CHILL Remix]

Disc: 2
1. Reconstruction [Armin Van Buuren Remix]
2. Reconstruction [Paul Van Dyk Remix]
3. Reconstruction [Deep Dish Space Remix]
4. Reconstruction [Riva Remix]
5. Reconstruction [Creamer & K Remix]
6. Reconstruction [Aloud Remix]
7. Reconstruction [Soulside Remix]
8. Reconstruction [Original Extended Mix]
9. Rapture [Limited Edit][*][Multimedia Track]

Armin Van Buuren

Born in Leiden, Holland (on December 25, 1976) to a musical family – his dad had a serious penchant for a diverse range of genres including punk and electronica “to get rid of the stress of everyday life”, while his brother is a prodigious guitar player – Armin indulged his passion for music from a young age, blowing all the money from his paper round on records. He progressed from making the usual tapes for his friends, put together on a cheap set of decks that he wore out learning to mix, after discovering his uncle experimenting with different sequences on his computer. According to Buuren, “I was so amazed at what he was doing, since that moment I’ve been addicted to creating music!”

In the early 90s, Holland’s upfront dance scene meant that although Armin was too young to go clubbing, he knew the music inside out from listening to the radio. “I loved dance music immediately – this great rebellious sound that was so different to the ‘beautiful’ songs of the 80s”. Citing electro pioneer (famed for his awesome visuals as well as his groundbreaking synth sounds) Jean Michel Jarre as a major influence, as well as Dutch producer Ben Liebrand, who later mentored him in his mixing and producing, Armin was soon cracking out consistently stand-out tunes that graced compilations across the globe, and his dj bookings were looking pretty healthy to boot. But despite his music career taking off at such an early age, Armin thought it was wise to have something extra in case the djing didn’t work out, and studied for a law degree. He actually got a job offer with a law firm but says it’s not really his thing, though he does acknowledge he’d look good in a suit…

The final year of his course was inevitably stretched as he juggled his studies with his increasingly hectic schedule; his meteoric rise to fame included a slew of acclaimed productions and remixes, as well as playing out to packed clubs every weekend resonating with the vibe of thousands of happy party people. He took three years to graduate, but with typical determination saw it out to the end.

Armin’s Blue Fear, a Sasha and Digweed staple, previewed his signature style: divine layering of sounds, lush chords and a continuous driving beat with that intangible added extra, the unique essence that sets quality tunes apart when you hear them in a set. His subsequent productions and remixes  include Communication, Sound Of Goodbye, Burned With Desire, Touch Me, Solid Sessions’ Janeiro, and Madison Avenue’s Don’t Call Me Baby.

With remix offers now flood in, Armin is selective about taking on tracks. His compilations strive to follow that precedent, always comprising the cream of his current favourite tracks and mixes. Armin started his own label, Armada, in 2002.

“Maykel Piron was head of A&R for Warner Music, and we always said we’d start a label together, though there was always an element of bragging! I took him to Ibiza for a weekend, and during the trip we sat on the terrace and started talking. He felt like he wanted a new challenge, and so did I”. Armin and co. went the distance, teaming up with a third partner, David Lewis, who’d managed Armin, and the current number #1 and #6 djs. “The market’s changed so much. What we wanted was a company that could offer everything for an artist: representation, a booking agency, and a record company. Artists can choose full manaagement; or to just release a record or play out at gigs. Armada lets the artists choose what they want without telling them what to do”.

His three year old radio show, A State Of Trance, goes out every Thursday, 8-10pm on ID&T. Armin modestly puts this obviously successful venture down to a happy accident. “A friend of  mine [Jaydee, of Plastic Dreams fame] was radio director and he asked me to have my own show. I was stunned! I went to the studio to talk about it and took some records to do a demo; that became my first show! It was great, it’s given me a chance to experiment with stuff, and it’s all about a universal party feeling, a warm up for your weekend, as opposed to being about me… I want people to enjoy the show without thinking it’s some sort of Armin love-in…”

Add to that his current status as No. 3 in DJ Mag’s Top 100 Poll – behind Paul Van Dyk and Tiesto, with whom he regularly shares the bill at clubnights around the world – and it seems things couldn’t be looking rosier for the trance scene or its young protégée.

Armin refuses to be constrained by the labels of genres, and says the spirit behind his brand of trance has stayed true to its origins – “I was playing proper trance before it became diluted and commercialised, before it became a dirty word!” It’s this total commitment to his music and making sure everyone has the best clubbing experience possible that make him a leading force in this exciting and burgeoning scene.

“Trance for me as a genre refers to the old Oakenfold sound, the warm melodic driving music, not the euphoric cheese with vocals, predictable breaks and drumrolls that you hear now in the charts. There are a lot of different definitions of the genre, but to me it’s just warm electronic dance music, anything from progressive to techno. Don’t be a prisoner of your own style, is what I always say; don’t get caught up in the bullshit of your own creativity!”

Armin honed his sound on his debut artist album, 76, for which he’s just scored a prestigious Dancestar Award 2004 nomination (Best New Artist Album). “I’d always wanted to do an album, but there’d never been the time or the money. Scoring the number five position in DJ’s Top 100 poll the previous year helped to get labels interested, and I finally got to go into the studio. Now basically everything I’ve learned in the past 10 years fiddling around in my bedroom with equipment has culminated in this album – it’s a great feeling!”