Mr. Matrix, our friend from the decks, informs us that Armin Van Buuren will be coming @ageHa in November, the 23rd exactly.

As usual with ageHa, you are better off buying advance tickets, to avoid the 2+ hours long line for those without tickets.

..more info on advance ticket on a later post.

Yesterday I went to AMRAX in Shibuya with a couple of friends. It was my first time at the club, or so I thought. AMRAX is actually a new name for the good old Simoon.

The club extends o two floors. The entrance with a bar, some sofas and a DJ mixing lighter tunes, and the main dance floor below.

It was fairly crowded when we got in by 12, but by 2 AM, when the time Yoji took his turn, the dance floor was really packed.

There was a fair number of foreigners, and a good chunk of male "Shibuyans" (spiky hair, overly tanned skin).
Also a nice assortment of girls.

I was particularly happy with the performance because of a good dose of Trance mixes.

The ¥4000/1D admission price was certainly quite steep, but a link to the flyer from our Google Calendar above provided an "hefty" ¥500 discount.. wow 8)

One thing I didn't like so much was the drinks consistency. Lot's of juice and not much alcohol, for ¥700 a pop.
Tequila and Vodka shots seemed like better options at ¥600, and Red Bull + spirits was actually only ¥800 !!

Anyhow, until next time..
Enjoy your Golden Week 8)

Ferry Corsten @ ageHa in May, Saturday the 17th !

If Tiesto performance is anything to go by, you better buy those thickets in advance and be there early.
At the Tiesto's event this month, some of hour friends got in at 1 am with tickets and were told that they had to stay in line for about 1 hour !

Lawson Ticket: code 75702

Flash news.. Tiesto coming @ ageHa in April, Saturday the 12th !

Se also our entry on Google Calendar !

See you at ageHa !!

Electronica/House/Trance at Club Asia in Shibuya!

Pulume @ Club Asia (Special Guest DJ Glenn Morrison)
2/2 (SAT) @CLUB ASIA in Shibuya (渋谷)

See also:

• http://www.iflyer.jp/tokyo/#/venue/asia/flyer/13738/
• http://www.iflyer.jp/tokyo/#/performer/7686
• http://d.hatena.ne.jp/zigeuner/20080202/1200295074

Hope to see you there!
- matrix

Paul Van Dyk will be briefly touching base in Tokyo on February the 21st (Thursday) to perform at club Unit in Ebisu/Daikanyama.

Would have been better on a weekend, but, oh well !

See also:

• Club Unit entry at TokyoClubbers.com
• Club Unit 's schedule for February
• Matrix's review with samples of PVD's latest album
• Paul Van Dyk on MySpace
• Paul Van Dyk's official site (made in Flash.. very slow !)
• A little taste of PVD's music: White Lies, Let Go, La Dolce Vita

Click on the image to see the album

Yoda

Japanese DJ always performing before the main artist set.

Highlights

Adam K & Soha - Twilight (video)
Michael Cassette - David

DJ Remy

Professional DJ with House-Groovy tunes and quite good taste.

Armin van Buuren

Armin proved that he fully deserves the #2 DJ spot in the World's top DJ list and he can definitely aim for more!
This time around he gave us a superbly smooth mix done to perfection.. freaking amazing!

Equipment

• CDJ-1000MK3
• EFX-1000

The Tunes

A partial list in random order:

• Veracocha - Carte Blanche (Marcus Schossow Remix)
• Michael Dow - Ascent
• Paul Van Dyk Feat. Ashley Tomberlin - New York City
• Jose Amnesia Feat. Jennifer Rene - Louder (Jon O'Birn Remix)
• Above & Boyond - Oceanic
• Paul Van Dyk & Giuseppe Ottaviani - La Dolce Vita
• Breakfast - The Sunlight
• Markus Schulz - Fly To Colors (Genix Remix)
• Armin van Buuren - Rush Hour
• Dave202 - Louvre
• Armin vs MIKE - Interlude
• Onova - Platitude
• Talla 2XLC - No In Between (John O'Callaghan Remix) / John O'Callaghan Feat. Audrey Gallagher - Big Sky (video) (Agnelli & Nelson Remix) (as episode 312 of ASOT)
• Filo & Peri Feat Eric Lumiere - Anthem (Nic Chagall Remix)
• Ronski Speed Feat Sir Adrian - The Space We Are (acappella)
• Lost Witness vs Sassot - Whatever (Aly & Fila remix)
• Thomas Bronzwaer - Resound (Original Mix)
• Bart Claessen - First Light
• Armin Van Buuren - Shivers (Rising Star remix)
• System F Feat. Armin van Buuren - Exhale
• Sean Tyas presents Logistic - One More Night Out
• Armin van Buuren Feat Racoon - Love You More
• Tiesto - Adagio For Strings (Danjo & Styles Remix)
• Armin van Buuren vs Rank 1 - This World Is Watching Me (feat Kush)
• Vincent De Moor - Fly Away (Cosmic Gate remix)
• Last Encore: Burned With Desire (Feat. Justine Suisse - Rising Star mix)

Samples from www.juno.co.uk

The Crowd

Very few people attending the event (maybe less than 1000?). It might be a warning: is trance dead in Japan??? 1/3 of the audience was composed by foreigners ... uhm

Until the next event,
Matrix

It seems that on October the 13th (Saturday) Armin van Buuren will be performing at ageHa in Shinkiba !

We'll definitely be there for this event.
If you are planning to go as well, here are a couple hints for you:

• Do bring your ID with you !
• Get an advance ticket unless you are willing to wait 1-2 hours in line..
• Picture taking is sadly not allowed. So, expect having to leave your camera in the locker 8(
  

CD Review: Tiesto "Elements Of Life"
Release Date: April 10, 2007

From stadium concert devoted exclusively to him,  to the status of the world's "number 1 DJ" multiple times, to his own shoe (no joke), Dutchman Tijs Verwest's (Tiesto) accolades continue to increase in length and diversity and his spotlight status as one of Dance music's most recognizable names is becoming further cemented. Tiesto hasn't release a full length own CD since Just Be in 2004.
Surprisingly, this new release starts off fairly limp and uninspired: Ten Seconds Before Sunrise sounds like a Moby's tune.

It's with track number 7 (Bright Morningstar) that the album finally starts getting oriented towards trance sounds: the tempo is moving with a dark dance floor feel leading to the most impressive track of the project: Break My Fall, featuring BT on lead vocals as happened in the past for the massive hit Love Comes Again from the album Just Be.
It really kicks in around the 1 minute mark and then the vocals on the second minute.

Its trancier feel and catchy chorus & programming make for a memorable tune regardless of the big-name association.
Also interesting the dance track In the Dark featuring the male vocalist Christian Burns and clearly involving some solid programming.
Dance4Life (written as the anthem for the CD release of the same name supporting HIV/AIDS research) features Maxi Jazz of Faithless on lead spoken vocals. Musically, it is serious with a club feel.
Instrumental title cut Elements of Life is a trance experience and a good way to round out the project.
Tiesto's remix of He's a Pirate is thrown in as a final Bonus Track for those of you who do not already have it from the "Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" soundtrack or the remixes single.

Expect most of the tracks to be long, clocking at over 6 minutes.
Perhaps not a must-have for the casual dance listener, this CD might disappoint fans who loved Tiesto's own studio albums In My Memory (2001) and Just Be (2004).
Tiesto will surely keep the audience excited with spectacular live shows and other remixes but these new experimental sounds are likely to bore more than one listener.

My verdict: 3/5 -- Disappointing with some exception.

See Also:

• Elements Of Life on Wikipedia
• Good quality samples over at www.juno.co.uk