Armin Van Buuren – A State of Trance Yearmix 2007 - B000XBYUCK

It is with great hesitancy that I decided to write this with Real Reviews in mind – after all, anything music that lifts me on a long run is not normally found on this page. That’s certainly not a criticism of this page, more a recognition that the words ‘dance’, let alone ‘trance’ are particularly absent. In the end, I narrowed it down to writing about this or ‘Kind of Blue’ by Miles David – and came to the conclusion the majority of readers on this page are already pretty familiar with the latter’s work.

Armin Van Buuren, for the trance novices out there, is a DJ whose weekly mixes grace the airwaves during the ‘A State of Trance’ podcast. The Yearmix is a two-hour long continuous mix of 2007’s best trance releases (all 85 of them). Rather than just merging the end of one track into the beginning of the next, acapellas, beats and rhythms are expertly re-jigged.
This is an album I’ve found myself listening to in a variety of situations, and I’ve found it uplifting on every occasion - stuck on the tube or the train (having moved to London this is often the case), on my daily runs up and down the side of the Thames, or through one headphone while at work.

Furthermore, like all good yearmixes should, it reminds me of the 365 days I’ve been lucky enough to experience - flying to and travelling around three continents, my daily runs up and down one of the most beautiful beaches you can imagine, or through one headphone while I’ve shared my iPod with countless friends.