The weekend has finally arrived! And most of us are getting excited to party again. Or even Halloween, whatever floats your boat. To me neither appeals at the moment. I still try to avoid partying due to COVID cases rising again (and personal reasons), and Halloween has never been my thing. I am happy to stay at home and enjoy the music found on any cloud based server. Today's mix might be a familiar one, as I've already reviewed this one before (last year), but I thought it would be disrespectful NOT to re-review it again, as it's one epic mix....
So why the re-review? Well, it's because I recently found this mix among my favourite list on Soundcloud, and decided to give this another go. I already loved it from the first time I heard it, and still one year later it makes me happy. I am a sucker for excellent music, and even though some of you might think this is a crap set, or even judge the event (which, according to Partyflock, had mixed reviews). I cannot judge that, because I've not been to this Trance Energy (I think).
But, to be fair, the line up for the 2001 smaller edition was kind of good, if not excellent: Push, Safri Duo, ATB, Jean, Johan Gielen, Mark Spoon, Mauro Picotto, and Rank 1. So yeah, a decent line up, don't you think? Well, maybe Safri Duo were just there because of their one-big-hit. To me the one set I would have loved to listen to (at the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht), has got to be Mauro Picotto's set. Or, as the female presenter called him, Mauro Popocino. What the actual fuck??
Sometimes you just hear a set and think it's epic, and then there are sets you hear that will never leave you alone. It goes around in your head, grabs your throat, and throws you around like a rag doll. This is one of those sets. The music that Mauro made back in the early Millennium years was exactly what I needed, once Hardcore died. I needed something with a kick, and his music just fitted my raving requirements.
The set is so damn good, I am writing about it again. I need you to understand that this set is among my top 10 all-time favourite sets EVER. Seriously impressive tunes, and they still hold their value, even 20 years later. The Hard Trance/Tech Trance sound is still a much loved style, and if you love Trance to be a tad faster, rougher and tougher, look no further. Mauro has got your back!
Joy Kitikonti - Agrimonyzer (Fly Zone Mix)
Mauro Picotto - Baguette
Mario Piu - Mathmos
Mauro Picotto - Like This Like That (Tea Mix)
Mauro Picotto - Like This Like That (Megavoices Mix)
Saccoman - The Recall (Picotto Answer Mix)
John Thomas - Undisputed Life (Technasia Mix 2)
Megamind - Taub? (Picotto Mix)
Adam Beyer - Drumcode 2 (Marco Carola Mix)
Sonus Terrarum - Sacrifice (Secundus Mix)
L-X-Carbo - Dance Of The Crazy Pill (Blue Pill Mix)
Duo Blank - Genetica
Mauro Picotto - Verdi
Mario Piu a.k.a. DJ Arabesque - The Vision (Vision 1 Mix)
Mauro Picotto - Lounge/Pegasus Intro
Mauro Picotto - Komodo/Save A Soul (Picotto's Private)
Mauro Picotto - Pulsar (Picotto Mix)
Joy Kitikonti - Energizer (Psico Mix)
Joman - Raggatack (Attack Mix)
Mauro Picotto - Freetown
Mauro Picotto - Like This Like That (3AM Mix)
Mauro Picotto - Proximus (Megavoices Claxxix Mix)
This is just insane. Bonkers. Yes, I've said it. But it's all meant in good spirit. Back in the early 2000s I was hooked on this badly. My CD collection only consisted of Hard Trance CDs (mostly), and I've spent many thousands of guilders/euros on CDs. It became an obsession, and Mauro was partly responsible for this unusual craving for Hard Trance music.
I did like this commercial side, like 'Komodo' and 'Proximus', which were big hits in NL, but I wanted more. Rougher and harder. And this set has got everything in it I would have listened to back in the day. I even remember hearing these tunes in clubs all over NL. Did it make me rave just a tad harder? Yes, hell yes.
The set is roughly an hour and a half, and within those 90 minutes, you are treated to the finest records from 2001. And I've said it before multiple times in other reviews, but Mauro Picotto's 'Verdi' is such a monster anthem. But, hearing this mix for the 38977234 time, I have to change my favourite song of this set. Yes, can you Adam and Eve it (believe it?)?
'Raggatack' is big, Undisputed Life' a really cool classic anthem, 'Taub?' gets everyone going, but 'Freetown' is the one for me right now. That's the track that gets me going more than ever before. And it's one of Mauro's most underrated songs. Come on, just have a listen to it, and acknowledge that this track is fire!
This is seriously one of the best sets I've ever heard. Yes, it might have an annoying mid section where it cuts out during 'Verdi' and goes to an advert (fuck adverts!), and it might have some small mixing errors, but the tracks are fucking tight as hell. Trust me when I say that you won't be disappointed hearing this set, and wish you could go back in time, to when Mauro dominated the dance charts all over the world, and he delivered one of the finest sets I've ever heard!
DJ: Mauro Picotto
Genre/Style: Hard Trance, Trance, Techno, Hard Dance
Liveset Info: Recorded @ Trance Energy 2001
Length Liveset: 01:27:42
Tracks: 22 (twenty-two)
Download/Listen (via Soundcloud): DOWNLOAD/LISTEN
File Size: 80.2 MB
File Type: mp3
Release Year; 2001 - 2015
Audio: Stereo
Bitspeed: 128kbps
More Information: Mauro Picotto - Official Website