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

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

New State Digital has announced that the $1.99 Paul van Dyk iPhone DJ app PvD (App Store link) is now available:

PvD DJ App features:

• BPM Counter: Tap the screen to get the beats per minute
• Frequency Analyser: Displays a frequency graph of the audio input in real time
• Noise Levels: Gives readout of the sound intensity levels
• Seismic Reader: Uses accelerometers to detect tremors and vibrations
• Virtual Glow Stick: Never be with out a glow stick again
• Torch: A handy torch with a strobe effect
• Itinerary Manager: Flight times, hotel details or who put you on the guest list …and much more!

That “Never be without a glow stick again” may haunt Paul van Dyk…..

NOTE: iPod Touch users will need to connect a microphone headset to use audio-driven features.

Paul van Dyk gives Trance Energy’s flummoxed interviewer an earful, calling most of today’s vocal trance “really cheesy shit music”.

“To be really honest a lot of the stuff, when we started in the early 1990s and then suddenly it was called trance there was a deeper feel to it,” said van Dyk, “and a lot of the music that is being called trance these days is actually really cheesy shit music.”

via Beatportal

Paul van Dyk and his tech team have come up with the PvD DJ App for the iPhone.

Here, van Dyk gives an overiew of the features of this new app.

Note: The app doesn’t appear to be in the app store yet, and no pricing has been announced.

via paulvandyk

This is an interview with DJ and trance/dance music producer Paul Van Dyk from the Winter Music Conference, via Armani Exchange A|X Music Lounge.

via armaniexchange

Paul van Dyk talks about the anatomy of a mix, via remixhotel, with an emphasis on compression.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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.

Germany’s Paul van Dyk is looking for producers to remix his track with Giuseppe Ottaviani, Far Away, on Beatport.

The remix competition is open to producers from all genres, as van Dyk is looking for innovative, cutting-edge and thought-provoking mixes of his track.

You can download two of the track’s parts for remixing for free. To get all the parts, it costs $3.99.

I’m ambivalent about these remix contests where you basically have to pay to take part in them. While it may be another opportunity for van Dyk to make a little money, it seems like he’s asking some of his biggest fans to pay to promote his music.

van Dyk would probably get a lot more mileage out of this sort of competition if he’d release the remix parts for free, like NIN has done, and get a lot more people interested in making remixes.

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]

Apple has an interesting profile on DJ Paul Van Dyk. It looks at how he’s working now, and also provides a current look at the gear he uses:

“I’ve developed the same passion I have for making music as I have for DJing over the last 15 years,” he says. “It’s the ultimate thing to be able to combine both. I can use my production skills as well as my skills as a DJ together to create new things live. The whole experience of me playing music is much more intense because it fits the atmosphere of the moment, of the set, of the venue, and of the crowd.”
Paul Van Dyk’s Studio Gear

When he’s not on the road, van Dyk turns out tracks at his Berlin studio. The electronic music laboratory is packed with old analog gear and the latest Macs running Logic Studio.

Hardware

• MacBook Pro
• Mac Pro (in the studio)
• Logic Studio
• Ableton Live
• Spectrasonics

Outboard Gear

• Euphonix EuCon Console
• Allen & Heath 3D Mixer
• Evolution UC33e USB MIDI Controller
• Akai MIDI controllers

Vintage Outboard Gear:

• Roland Juno 60
• Roland Juno 106
• Roland TR-808
• Roland TR-909
• Roland TB-303

“My music production starts in Logic,” he says. “I usually nail down a speed, then get a nice drum loop going for some rhythm. Then I lay down chords or a bass line or some piano—some stuff like that. When I feel the musical idea I have is coming across, and I can feel it, I get to properly blowing it up and doing drum programming and better bass line sequences.”

Van Dyk grabs sounds from the Logic Studio library and records riffs from his old gear. “Most of the stuff is not samples,” he says. “It’s all tweaked synthesizer. In Logic I use the ES1, ES2, EVP88 and the like.”

“It provides the perfect surrounding for searching for the right sound,” says van Dyk. “It’s great how you can dive into the synthesizers, grab those different sort of resonances and look through the library to find exactly what you need. And once you’ve found what you’re looking for, there are a lot of possibilities to produce a unique song. You can use filters—put a gate on it or use the envelope or compression to make it crisp and shine through whatever else is going on.”

Paul Van Dyk’s Touring Rig

On tour for his latest album, In Between, Van Dyk uses two 17-inch MacBook Pros running Logic Studio and Ableton Live.

“One computer is for the audio library, the other computer is where the software synthesizers are for sequencing,” he says. “The computers are connected through an interface and an Allen & Heath 3D mixer, which is also a MIDI controller. I have 19 software synths installed and I have two MIDI keyboards, so I play a lot of things live. I also have a UC-33 controller, an Akai controller and some other things that I can play with when I’m up there. With all these things I’m able to do some crazy stuff.”

Van Dyk essentially creates remixes of his tracks live, tweaking them to suit the vibe. “I could play your favorite tune and it sounds completely different—different bass line, different drums,” he says, “but it would sound so much better at that particular moment of the set.”

New remixes are often born out of that spontaneous intensity. “Some of the remixes I’ve done in the last few years are basically the outcome of me playing a certain track live,” he says. “Then I just redid exactly what I did live in the studio and it was a remix. The live performance is influencing the production work and vice versa. When you go to the studio to do a remix you think about it a lot. When you create it in front of people, it’s part of the set, an element of the journey. You don’t really think so much about it, you’re just influenced by the vibe. You may do things that you never come up with [in the studio] because you’re in the flow. It’s very inspiring.”

It’s a far cry from the days of vinyl. “I’m so busy when I play now,” says van Dyk. “The other day I was wondering, what did I actually do once the record was playing? Wait for eight minutes to mix in the next one? How boring.”

In celebration of the anniversary, innovators Paul van Dyk and organizers Made Event will offer a special limited edition version of his upcoming artist album In Between (out August 14th on Mute Records). Fans who attend the Central Park concerts will have an opportunity to purchase combination special ticket packages, with the CD available for pickup only at Central Park.

From it’s inception in 2003 what began as a one time, late afternoon event has transformed into a 2-day concert extravaganza. Paul van Dyk’s incomparable DJ style ensures that no two concerts are ever the same due in part to his one-of-a-kind rig that has taken the art of DJing to an entirely new level.

Tickets for Paul van Dyk in Central Park are available for $40 dollars per ticket for the Friday, August 17th concert and $45 dollars per ticket for the Saturday, August 18th concert.

“You have the right to choose – you have the right to vote” – Paul Van Dyk

Rock the vote – or in Van Dyk’s case – DJ the vote!

After disappearing from the scene for a few years, Vocalist Nadia Ali  & producer Markus Moser are back with their debut CD, Poetica. According to Iio, Poetica represents a mix of poetry and electronica. The CD is a clever mix of electronic dance rhythms, sultry vocals and lyrics that are cut above the average club fare.

Poetica is primarily made of up disco and house tracks, but there are a few downtempo tracks, including the slow-jam Smooth and the abstract Poetica. Highlights of the CD include the singles Rapture and At the End, early singles , and Tantric, which has an interesting middle-eastern vibe. Throughout the CD, Moser delivers quirky, original production.

Iio’s Poetica shows that Rapture was no fluke – the CD is a collection of club-friendly tracks that features lyrics as stimulating as the beats.

Tracks:

• Rapture
• At the End
• Smooth
• Runaway
• Kiss You
• Chastity
• Tantric
• Rebel
• Is It Love
• Be It
• Give It Up
• Hangin On
• One
• What a Way
• Poetica

The album emphasis pop song forms within a trance context. The result is cuts that are well-crafted, but that often could use more of an edge. Several songs on this CD sound like vintage Van Dyk, including “Crush”, the title track “Reflections”, and “Nothing But You”. “Crush” open the album, and features an epic build-up that draws you into the song. The cut uses the climax-release formula of classic trance cuts effectively.

Unfortunately, there are also a few cuts that will make you reach for your remote, too, including “Like a Friend”. This track goes Sting, trying to save the world in a pop song.

There is a lot to like on Reflections. There’s some good vocal trance cuts, a few great instrumentals, and enough variety to avoid boredom. However, it sounds like Van Dyk may be trying to branch out beyond his strengths, like BT did on emotionaltechnology. Both albums have great production and many good songs, but would benefit from some editing.

Pure Trance has a lot of good cuts. ATB’s “You’re Not Alone” is presented in an Air Play mix. Tatana’s “Global Thinking” is a blueprint for trance/dance cut. It’s got the filtered synth arpeggios, string synth pads, drum builds, and even the vocal diva. This mix takes a long time to build up; it’s almost three minutes into the song before the drum kicks in for real.

Arome’s “Hands Up” is a great bliss-out trance cut. It slowly builds for about a minute, with the synthesizers getting brighter and brighter until the drums and vocals kick in. There are several other greatest hits cuts: Paul Van Dyk’s “Tell me why”,  DJ Tiesto’s “Suburban Train”, and Moby’s “We are all made of stars.”

Overall, it’s a good “greatest hits” introduction to trance. The cd isn’t a mix cd, which many trance fance may miss. The CD suffers a little from it’s top 40 approach, but does a great job of showcasing some of the best mainstream trance music.

The CD is a mix that contains Van Dyk’s most popular cuts, including “Tell me why”, and “Together we will conquer”. The music walks the line between trance and straight ahead dance music, which is why Van Dyk calls his music “electronic dance music”. There’s an element of euphoric trance in his work, but he never strays too far from the dance floor.

The CD includes a couple of new cuts, “Animacion”, and “My World”. The last cuts sums up the album and Van Dyk’s place in the world of DJs. On Global, he collects music from his international DJ career and sums up his current place in the electronica world.

The discography has track listings and details on each listing. It includes information on a variety of boogleg releases, too.

His touring diary is incredibly busy, with regular stops at major venues in London, Tel Aviv, Mexico, New York and Singapore. At the site, you can view videos and sample his tracks and remixes.