Hot on the heels of the recent Sied Van Riel and Trent McDermott national Airport tour is the accompanying mix compilation, aptly titled, Airport. This dual disc offering blips the radar in a gratifyingly glossy and easily enjoyable partnership to revive the nights high fives in a Maverick and Goose kind of way. The album also provides an insightful snapshot into each DJ’s take on the genre, and while unashamedly a tour accessory and punter autograph pad, it needs a few listens before torpedoing you into total tuneful oblivion.

Sied Van Riel mixes disc one, and his Dutch pedigree proves trance courses through his veins. Tipped by Tiësto in 2008 as the, “hottest producer around”, his work ethic and performance credentials have accrued many admirers on both sides of the turntables, and from what I hear he continues to live up to it on this tour. Airport’s track one True Romance, opens the speakers in a warm arminesque kind of way and its orchestral ambience soon interlaces into some classic piano riffs and rollicking kick drum beats. One Day (Sied Van Riel remix) simmers with its infused rock styled lyrics before Sied drops into the anthem-like Trac3d & White by Karma. Galen Behr’s – Seconds Before We Landed With Our Eyes Closed, beyond being one of the longest track names I’ve ever encountered, flies into toe tapping trance tech territory sans any turbulence, but it’s Disfunktion’s Desolee (Radion 6 remix), which finally had me inwardly smiling with its clean lined goodness and smart sampling. The album’s middle sky writes further techy treats and punching with intensity are the dynamically pulsing Follower, and Versus (Maarten de Jong Edit) by Genix & Tigran Oganezov. Dark Star and Heist Manoeuvre are disc one’s track titans, and Sied weaves them well together, using Boiler and Van Riel’s melodic muscle to strong effect against the hands-in-air Above and Beyond like Matt Everson masterpiece. Punchbag, by Paul Webster, hammers hard and provides no pause for a mid-air refuelling, it pushes you back in the seat to end the album in the hope disc two will seamlessly deliver.

Trent McDermott, the Melbournian trance maestro currently ranked thirteenth in Australia’s inthemix Top 50 DJ poll, has supported the entire top echelon of trance touring royalty and disc two conveys it. Packed into its 70+ minutes are 16 turbo powered vocal and tribal nuanced tech tunes which I think would be even stronger if it delivered more Trent and less of that top echelon. Cadence Not Back (Unplugged mix), quickly delivers track one with a bruising bass line before Chris Reese’s Salvation (Jerome Isma-Ae & Daniel Portman mix) pulsates its proggy credentials. Feels Like a Prayer (Michael Woods remix) thunders solidly and uses a well worked and often heard sample, and triggers the albums apogee into the more techie trance side. Fear Factor and Right Back (Anton Firlich remix) are prime examples of this, particularly when *Yuri Kane’*s classic lights up with its synth surges midway through the piece. Marco V stewards the disc’s middle, collaborating with MoHawk on Spamarrest, and flying it solo with Stimulated 2010, from his PropagandaV2 album. DJ Eco’s People (Rafael Frost remix) provides a blacker than black twist before rolling into the happier sounding The Found by Mat Zo. Jes joins up with Richard Durand on NYC before Trent teams with Binary Finary to inject his own remix entitled, Freedom Seekers. This track is a slinky minx and really pushes the low end hard to make you want to hear it wound right up in a clubs cavernous darkness. Trent never lets the energy drop from here and the last three tracks, Shangri-La, Damager 02 (W & W remix), and Ali Wilson’s tribally Pandora complete the ride.

Airport passes you through the security checkpoints without being overzealously felt up by any exuberant pat downs. The albums take off and touchdown is a smooth but shallow ride, akin to travelling first class but being served the economy meal. However, don’t read this as a bad thing. Get it to satisfy your quick and impulsive side or to amp the gang up before a big night out, but should you be seeking a longer term listening savour, a pure artist album may be worth waiting standby for.

Airport is out now on 405 Recordings.