52 weeks, 52 radio shows, transmitted around the world on 60 + leading stations, in which Paul van Dyk brought over 600 tracks to the ears of VONYC Sessions ever-ready listenership in 2013. That though was the easy part! The audio artisans end-of-year challenge is to refine those playlists down into the most requested best of the best. From twelve richly packed months of Radio tracklists, hes landscaped those first-among-equal tunes into the-year-that-was mix - PvDs definitive 2013 encapsulation.
That Jan-to-December sonic-ride naturally includes tracks from some of electronic musics best-known practitioners. W&W, Ferry Corsten, Omnia, Cosmic Gate and many others are joined on its discs by newer-bloods, as VONYC 2013 delivers the latest/greatest studio-ware from the likes of Protoculture, Maarten de Jong, Estiva and Las Salinas. After another standout VANDIT year VONYC Sessions 2013 also kisses the speakers with a wealth of the labels audio. Sporting 2013 floor-quakes from Judge Jules, Alex M.O.R.P.H., Giuseppe Ottaviani and Shato & Paul Rockseek, naturally there’s also much from the maestro himself.
So sit back, hit up that Play button and enjoy the 2013 ride all over again!
The first mix heads straight into the thick of it, flashing back to summer highs with PvD & Arnejs techno-rific We Are One 2013. From there van Dyk reaches multiple points on the stylistic compass, building sonic mood and range into the mix’s map. Las Salinas Say Another What brings tech eclecticism, whilst the deep-dive of Immersion from Omnia and Alexander Popovs autumnal Moscow Subway splice in deliciously moody prog-trance shades.
Sweeping up the midsection comes Alex M.O.R.P.H. & Jerome Isma Aes propellant ‘Bang’, hotly chased by his new VANDIT slam-dunk ‘Magnum’. Through the infectious, intense frequencies of W&W/Ummet Ozcan co-production The Code and the vocal enigma of Nick The Kid & The Nameless Girl’s ‘Bright Light’, VONYC Sessions revisits the spring. Delivering the mix its conclusion, Paul invokes the atmospheric aura of his own Lost In Berlin and the self-propelled drum drama of Simon Patterson’s ‘The One’.
"Compiling the annual VONYC Sessions album is one of the most demanding, yet fulfilling tasks I do in a year", says van Dyk. "Selecting the best of the best from your most requested tracks in any 12 month period - especially one as alive with good music as 2013, is always a challenge. The perspective it brings to the end of each year though is the reward. With the release of this VONYC Sessions, collectively I feel weve brought a picture-perfect representation of the year. Hopefully its one you’ll return and listen to many times in the future and remember this great year that was!”
Disc 2 opens in inspired mash-up mode, fusing Ferry Corsten’s latest ‘Diss’ with the emotional sear of PvD & Plumb’s ‘I Don’t Deserve You’. ‘Open My Eyes’ makes it a van Dyk double and again opens the mix’s themes up wide. In quick succession the wistful trance of Protoculture’s ‘Talisman’, Heatbeat & Chris Schweizer’s tech-elec threat ‘Nasty’ and Estiva’s rapacious ‘Dino Drums’ all take their turn to hold sway.
‘VONYC’s mercury continues to rise with the introduction of some pure form trance courtesy of Giuseppe Ottaviani’s ‘Earthbeat’ and Matt Davey’s much-spun spin on the classic ‘Greece ‘2000’. The Christian Burns/PvD team-up ‘We Are Tonight’ and the big-room bombast of ‘Super Dad’ (the latest from Richard Durand) keep both tempo & tone spiked. Its final minutes bring the climactic audio combustion of Shato & Paul Rockseek’s early summer club-crusher ‘Deer Friends’, Maarten De Jong’s fierce ‘Face The World’ and Cosmic Gate crowd-rousing/rocking ‘So Get Up’. You can get a hold of Paul van Dyk’s audio annum from December the 16th!