trance | The Ranting Raver

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Archive for the ‘trance’ Category

Artist Review: Andrew Rayel

What are the chances that I would write an Artist Spotlight on Andrew Rayel and then a few days later find out he is playing in a city near me? It’s fate I’m telling you. Considering this is the first time in over a year that I’ve seen a live EDM act (I’ve been living under a rock OK?), I was pretty much jumping out of my skin the second he took the stage. I attended the event at Club Cubic in Macau, China; what an amazing venue and crowd I must say. Everything he did was perfection and I found that his set was actually quite moving and emotional. He paid homage to all the great trance tunes of this decade as well as some of the newer soon-to-be classics. Every aspect of his set was so heartfelt that I was glued to my spot in the front row from the second he got on the decks to the second he got off. Being so young himself, I felt that he easily was able to connect with the crowd and share this experience with us rather than just pose as an entertainer. He most definitely had a memorable set, and you would be out of your mind to miss him. I loved that I felt like I was at a true trance show and didn’t have to listen to any of the mainstream BS I feel that I so often hear. Even though he is still fairly new to the trance scene, I can already tell he is going to be a great staple and he’s on his way to becoming a trance legend.

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Artist Spotlight, trance

Artist Spotlight: Andrew Rayel

For some time, I have been meaning to write this raving review about how much I love Andrew Rayel. But just like everything else of mere importance in my life, I had said I would do it “tomorrow”. Before I knew it, “tomorrow” became eternal and 6 months later I still find myself justifying “tomorrow”. Well “tomorrow” is today and I finally have a new review. Andrew Rayel has long been on my list of djs to watch and he has quickly made a name for himself with Armada music and even taking part in the big ASOT festivals (650 and 600). His trance is exactly what I need in my life; exactly what we ALL need in life. Not many of his original tracks are vocal but he tends to remix a lot of vocal tracks (beautifully, I might add). What I love most about his music is I feel that it truly speaks to the heart. As much as I love a song that you can sing along to, his music sings directly to you without the distraction of having to pay attention to lyrics. I can feel the emotion in all of his music and rather than happy, upbeat trance, I like that its a little dark and sometimes sad (but in a beautiful way of course). On top of that, his dark tunes will definitely make you dance your ass off if you are listening to one of his sets. Because of the rise in popularity of all EDM genres and the influx of new DJs and producers, its hard to find originality these days. For the most part, a lot of the stuff sounds the same. All the producers make music that sounds the same and all the DJs seem to use to same songs (I’m basing this off of all the Ultra sets I listened to). However, I feel like Andrew Rayel has stayed original and is truly a legendary trance producer. He doesn’t produce mindless party tunes, he really digs deep and elicits an emotional response with his music. Below are my 3 favorite tracks by him. I hope you enjoy and love hims just as much as I do: