Reviews

Lucas Mast for djmixed.com

Founder of Black Hole Recordings and one of a growing breed of superstar caliber progressive trance DJs like Sasha, Digweed and Christopher Lawrence, Holland’s DJ Tiesto brings forth a new record chock full of the mastery people have come to expect. Although Tiesto has held residencies around the Netherlands since 1985, most people were first exposed to Tiesto’s work when he remixed the Delerium/Sarah McLaughlin track Silence. It was played out in clubs around the world and picked up by mainstream radio stations, thereby exposing electronic music to the masses on a wider scale. Buoyed by the track Flight 643, the artist-driven In My Memory has the potential to cross over into the radio stations and clubs of those who are less familiar with electronic music. Set to release a number of live CDs under the Majik section of his label, DJ Tiesto has been one of the hardest working DJs around. From producing original tracks, discovering and promoting artists and maintaining a frenzied touring schedule—all exposing his hard work and his music to a market that has seen a great demand for quality progressive trance. Look no further than DJ Tiesto and your thirst will be quenched.

thedjlist.com

With a massive following in Europe, club culture has propelled itself into the mainstream, thereby bringing its players a higher profile. This is the birth of a new, fresh generation of performers, artists and producers. Tijs Verwest, a.k.a. DJ Tiesto, is coming to North America and aficianados of progressive electronic dance music had better take note.

A mainstay in his native Holland, DJ Tiesto has long had a passion for sharing music and first played records at drive-in disco shows early in his career. He soon moved to the clubs where his sound focused on club and popular music from the Dutch chart parade. Eventually he narrowed his scope mainly to house music, a simple hybrid of beats laden over a bass-heavy groove, and started to create his own distinctive style.

This recipe makes for an exciting time as Nettwerk Records presents to you DJ Tiesto: Summer Breeze, a hand-picked selection of anthems that will make your head sway. The opening track is "Dido", a beautiful progressive trance track with vocal samples derived from a Henry Purcell opera and remixed by Armin Van Buuren (DJ Tiesto's collaborator on projects such as Major League and Alibi) to give us a taste of the future. Also featured is Oliver Lieb's dark treatment of the Kamaya Painters (DJ Tiesto and M.B. de Goeij) track "Far From Over." John Johnson, master of deep progressive trance, gives us his reconstruction of Dawnseekers' "Gothic Dream", and one of DJ Tiesto's own productions is a massive tune entitled "Sparkles" (a chart topper earlier this year played by all the top progressive DJs overseas - Euro diva Sonique had this one in her charts for weeks). Representing North America's premier electronic dance acts are Nettwerk artists BT (Libra's mix of "Dreaming") and Delerium featuring Sarah McLachlan (DJ Tiesto does an epic mix of "Silence"). DJ Tiesto's producer skills are highlighted as well, namely on his Magikal Remake of Yahel's gorgeous "Going Up;" on Jaimy & Kenny D's pumping club anthem "Caught Me Running;" and with Major League, which gives us the frantic frenzy of "Wonder?" in its true original form.

While many DJs tend to follow the alluring trend of playing only massive tunes with minimal appeal, DJ Tiesto sets himself apart from the pack by hand-picking tunes that will linger with people hours after the club has closed. With this seamlessly mixed spectrum of songs, DJ Tiesto wants you - whether you're an avid club jester or just someone who yearns to be swept away - to take Summer Breeze as a testimony to his passion for sharing music.

Personally

I was introduced to DJ Tiesto through his remix of Silence.  After hearing that track, I decided to go and find more of his stuff.  I found mixes on other artists' CDs and eventually found some of Tiesto CDs.  DJ Tiesto is in the genre of artists like Paul Oakenfold.  His music is progressive trance that delivers powerful energy.  His CDs are released as continuous mix discs.  My favorite works of his include Magik 4, 5, 7 and Summerbreeze. All of his CDs have terrific energetic, experimenting, and riveting electronic music.   He ranks in the top 5 of club DJs.  He put on a really good show in Minneapolis.  He looked like he was having as much fun delivering the music as the crowd was hearing it.  His Magik and Forbidden Paradise mixes were hard to find and sold as imports.

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