So, What's Your Opinion of Trance?

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Yeah, you know, trance.

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 29 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It's shite.

― Judd Nelson, Monday, 29 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

somehwere, somwhere there HAS to be a trance apologist/fan on ILM...

(...who isn't someone who finds this via googling 6 mos. later.)

― jess, Monday, 29 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

much maligned of course (which makes me wonder, hmm, maybe there is more to it, after all, what music snobs detest is usually where the fun is)

funny to think that circa 93-4 trance was critically lauded in the uk (at the expense of rave (and jungle initially)). somewhere along the line trance got detached from the acid/techno lineage, and got this weird life of its own. who are the trance superstars now? perhaps only paul van dyk has survived from the first wave (and he was peripheral then so...)

i really don't know my opinion, but i played cygnus x's superstring the other day (boutsen? hildenbautel?) and it was ace. how is it different from todays stuff? is it different? i'm not sure. perhaps i wouldn't listen to it properly if i was under the impression it came from today? isn't the fault with me, the listener, in that case?

the kneejerk answer is, theres a lack of funkyness, a lack of acid purpose in todays trance, too many arpeggios or whatever, but how true is this? since when were eye-q tracks funky anyway? and isn't that missing the point?

i still think the fascistic narcoticism of jones & stephensons first rebirth somehow altered trance music though, although i am not entirely sure how and why...

― gareth, Monday, 29 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

as for me, music the color of the grease stains left at the bottom of happy meal boxes. no music is all bad, and like prog house i'm sure there are trance records i like, as well as trance records which bear uncanny similarities to records i like in "other" genres. also, attracts fans who say things like, "you don't dance to the rhythm in trance, you dance to the melody." dire.

― jess, Monday, 29 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

gareth popped in with a much more sensible answer than my own at the same time.

also, when did this stuff conquer america?! am i the only person to have seen the ads for "that trance mix" (yes, that's the title) on late nite tv? if you go into any borders (still, bafflingly, the only major chain retailer in america to stock a signifigant amount of dance music in my experience) it's almost 75% trance! (with the rest being given up to minstry of sound style stadium house, and a slim percentage for "other" where everything from mille plateaux to 2-step goes.)

― jess, Monday, 29 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

thread one

thread two

there was another, better thread somewhere, but i cant find it

― gareth, Monday, 29 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i was at a trance night on saturday night. thank you. i had much fun. now i must go home and sleep.

― Alan T, Monday, 29 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I only know the stuff which gets into the UK charts, which people who like "real trance" write off as cheesy pop shit - maybe with this one genre they're right, I wouldn't know. It strikes me perhaps that dancing to it is fantastic in the right circs - well you'd hope so given the hordes of people who do - and that of all dance musics it makes the crossover into the bigger music-discourse arena (of being listened to, written about, thought about) the worst. If so would that be a reason to dislike it? Not really, I'd say.

― Tom, Monday, 29 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

There's a night at the Fortress in london where they play what's basically trance (big euphoric breakdowns and all) but with a much more biting detroit-style beat and it's fantastic. Really fun to dance to and the kind of thing you can get totally lost in. Was a bit of a revelation to me as someone who had roundedly cussed the entire genre for years. Dunno who produces any of those tunes though...

― jacob, Monday, 29 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I dunno, I quite like bits of it. The harder, squelchier end of the genre where it bleeds into acid techno makes for good functional dance music. Of course, being chemically messy helps immensely, and it doesn't really translate well to home listening, but I've had too many damn good nights out dancing to the stuff to condemn it entirely. Saying that, the chart stuff is normally bollocks.

― RickyT, Monday, 29 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

APOPTYGMA BERZERK!!!!!!!!!!!

― Dan Perry, Monday, 29 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

testify, Mr. Perry

― Tracer hand, Monday, 29 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/dre200/e278/e2 78171xjgg.jpgThis sort of visually sums it up for me. Trance is too religious, too much about lifting you up to the ceiling. I feel like I'm stuck in Hell. I don't mind the overuse of synths, and the fact there's so little change rhythmically. But there's no counteraction (?), which I hate. Then again I love Aphex Twin's work as well as R&S Records.

― nathalie, Monday, 29 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

what about the political element??

(dammit this will never really be the disco thread, will it)

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 29 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Trance is my least favorite of the basic forms of electronic dance music. My body moves to hard beats and syncopation, and trance generally aims to erase all that in favor of a synthetically-smooth flow. If I wanted that I'd go find some swirly goth music. Not to mention the fact that most trance tracks are composed of the same build-and-release mechanism.

Still, as always, it depends on the DJ. I was witness to Paul van Dyk for three hours at a rave, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. Of course the atmosphere had just as much to do with that, lights streaming and people dancing and wandering around and generally looking blissfully stoopid.

― Dare, Monday, 29 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I said it before, and I will say it again:

Just Say No To Trance.

― mt, Wednesday, 1 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Come on, y'all... you *know* you wanna call it "soulless"!

― Clarke B., Wednesday, 1 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I know next to nothing about trance, but I find it amusing how many REDNECKS like it! When rednecks say "Yeah, man, I like some o' that teck noe stuff," they really mean they like trance. What the hell is up with that? Pretty soon there'll be stickers on Chevy trucks with Calvin pissing on a picture of Paul Van Dyk.

― Clarke B., Wednesday, 1 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oh, here we go with all the elitist "trance is soul-less" arguments. Why is this? Because it's somewhat popular? Because the kids like it? I can't explain exactly WHY I like trance ("trance apologist" that I am), but I like all of it. From the most mainstream radio friendly "trance" (which is actually much closer to what I'd consider Euro-dance) to the most druggy, trippy mid-90s psy-trance. What can I say. The "trance is soulless" thing bugs me. This from people who would have me believe that a band like the Strokes has soul coming out of every orifice. It's just an opinion, but I don't think it can be denied that "soul" in music means different things to different people. I think having a good time dancing to energetic trance all night is a soulful activity. I don't know how else to explain. You get it, you get it.....if you don't, you don't. There was a time when I hated trance too, prior to 1996. I thought it was the exclusive domain of a bunch of drugged-up promiscuous morons; it wasn't *serious music*. Then I was introduced to Orbital - "In Sides," that very summer, summer of 1996 when it was released. A love of all electronic music subgenres followed, and continues to this day. What a sorry asshole I was before then, insisting on listening only to such "serious" music.

― patrick, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Well.... simple homogeneous rhythms, pretensions towards "progression", self-consciously attempted catharsis, hackneyed melodies, and really tired sounding synth tones..... it's all very opposed to even the most ambiguous notions of "soul". I understand that not allllll trance must be this way and that I'll probably be blamed for stereotyping the genre because I only know about some stupid guilty strand of trance that is misrepresentative, but oh well. Quite frankly, the point where I start liking the music is when it deviates far enough from the qualities described above to be considered a different genre altogether.

― Honda, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Patrick, my comment wasn't meant to be taken as directly as perhaps you took it. I was egging on das ILM Massiv b/c a lot of the answers were sounding suspciously like the type of "this-is-funkless/soulless- ergo-crap" complaints that normally get shot down with a vengeance 'round these parts (and, I think, for good reason). I can't exactly fault people for liking trance - like I said, I know pretty much nothing about the genre.

― Clarke B., Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

self-consciously attempted catharsis

This is pretty much the definition of "soul", surely.

― Tom, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Well... ok. I was more trying to describe why "soulless" has become such the consensus adjective for degrading trance rather than attempt to define the word myself. In context, the type of catharsis found in big trance breakdown/builds is not perceived using such a charged term as "soulful" by many I would presume. That's all.

― Honda, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hell if it gets rednecks dancing/hugging and not fighting it cant be all bad! The spirituality is not ment to be taken as gospel folks. Honda- news flash: its not something to analyse to tucked up in bed with a milo on your headphones. Like most pop its cheesy, shallow, catchy and sometimes even uplifting . Sure it may be the burger king of the dance world but its easy and fun. Oh and dont go by yourself, find some friends and leave your pens and notebooks behind!

― kiwi, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

WARNING!! Trance may adverslley affect yours speling and grammer

― kiwi, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Trance = leave yr penis behind.

― Andrew L, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

its not something to analyse to tucked up in bed with a milo on your headphones

But then.... neither is hip hop, UK Garage, drum and bass, house, or straight up pop, all of which I enjoy.

― Honda, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

So you have been to some *good* hard trance clubs then?

― kiwi, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Mauro Piccotto has this amazing track from before he started making the WORST SONGS EVER. It's more techno than trance but I suspect the line may have been blurred at one point.

― Ronan, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I have been to clubs that have played trance. And even with friends! But I can't say whether it was *good* or not as the whole tamale doesn't quite go down right with me. I've danced to it before too, believe it or not (no headphones, yeah), but since then I've found there's a lot of stuff providing similar fun, while being much more agreeable to my taste buds.

― Honda, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i didnt mean to imply you had no friends, as so often with my munted grasp on english it came out wrong. I was trying to say that to enjoy the nite you would need to drag a few keen friends along.I can honestly say that Ive never met anyone who didnt enjoy a night out at U4ria in the Catain Cook pub but that probably reflects more on me and my friends than anything else.

― kiwi, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Trance doesn't *excite* me the way other dance genres do but that's no reason for me to write it off; when it comes to embracing or dismissing a dance genre context is everything. I popped a pill dancing to a hybrid strain of trance and hard house a couple of months ago and it sounded like the best stuff ever. Yes, it was the pill talking, but another experience like that and I'll probably start spending cash (it's only financial considerations that are making me treat this is an enjoyable one-off).

The thing with trance - and pop-trance especially - is that complaining of how insultingly cheesy it is assumes that "insultingly cheesy" is automatically a bad thing. What I like about stuff by Fragma, ATB etc. is how it introduces cheese on every level. Not only are the melodies disgustingly insistent, but the textures, the production, everything is so swirly effervescent and blissful. Go out dancing with people who enjoy it and it suddenly seems amazing.

― Tim, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

reading through the thread i realise that its not really that clear *what* we actually mean by trance, i don't really know what i mean by it. a lot of different things seem to be being conflated here, but i don't exactly know what.

― gareth, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Andy Farley, Ian M, Matt Clarke, Anne Savage Pants & Corset , Lab 4, Nick Sentience, Phil Reynolds Riksta, Si Fevah, Carl Nicholson, Stimulant D.J's Steve Blake, Owen B, Skol, Roosta, Johnny Dangerous, Raymondo, Eamonn Fevah, Thermobee, Oberon, Steve Ryan, Dan Madams, Jon Walford, Tom Real, Hawk Dawson, Tom Neville

― kiwi, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

trance is great great great dance music, esp if you are on drugs and can't really dance well anyway. It is pretty boring for home listening, except it can work well as background music or driving music.

― g, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

yeah, what is trance? All the electronica sub sub micro genres make the head spin. I was thinking along th elines of BT, Paul Van Dyk, etc. people who actually make albums rather than DJs or singles folx

― g, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I've never even taken a pill. I don't need them to dance all night. And yeah, someone made a good point - when we speak of "Trance" here, I'm almost positive we are all talking about different things. Can we even agree on what trance is? I have a feeling that our definitions of it are substantially different.

I didn't mean to lash out and piss anyone off. It's just that I tend to get a bit defensive when people start ganging up on "trance," as seems fashionable these days.

― patrick, Saturday, 4 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

one year passes...

Could we pick this up again and try to map out what we mean by "trance" and specific varieties of it? Cause I've belatedly decided that I'm seriously in love with big evil teethgrinding hard trance and some epic and bits of bordering-on-Eurodance blissy pop-trance and and and I want to hear more from you suckers. Yeah, that's right, I've been downloading tracks off of Tranceaddict and when I saw that game commercial with a DJ Darkzone track on it I was all "ooo, what's that?" That's right, bring it.

― nabisco (nabisco), Thursday, 29 May 2003 20:52 (twenty-three years ago)

When people talk about that annoyingly "repetitive" techno, which always seems to come up as a complain about techno music, whenever I've discussed it; well, they're talking about trance. It turns a lot of people off to a lot of good music.

― David Allen, Thursday, 29 May 2003 21:34 (twenty-three years ago)

i think i've revised my opinion somewhat from my post up there. the stuff gareth sent me - the harder, more acid-inflected end from the early days (?) - i quite liked, and as all i know, i wuv wuv wuv cheesy pop trance of the alice deejay/ivan van dahl/dj sammy variety. but still, largely crap.

― jess (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 29 May 2003 21:46 (twenty-three years ago)

It's the same as with every genre definition, it has two central aspects: aesthetics and spirit/intention. There's always going to be big debates on whether music that has the sounds but clearly doesn't work within the paradigms of the genre should be classified as such, and trance is no different. So you have the aesthetic side of it (the arpeggiators, strings and what have you), and the spirit (epic, immersive, transcendental).

Personally, I've been addicted to trance ever since the Frankfurt days of '92-'93, and it hasn't bored me yet, because there has always been something new going on somewhere - the once pretty singular genre has mutated into so many strains that sound nothing like its origins (the cheesy Eurodance side, the UK Hardhouse and Hi-NRG side, Israeli goa/psytrance, German/Swiss-style hardtrance, Dutch uber-melodic trance, the trance/house hybrid Progressive, hard 'n dark techtrance, trance with breaks, electro/trance) that there's always something people can hate about it. But I suppose you want tune recommendations?

― Siegbran (eofor), Thursday, 29 May 2003 22:03 (twenty-three years ago)

When people talk about that annoyingly "repetitive" techno, which always seems to come up as a complain about techno music, whenever I've discussed it; well, they're talking about trance.

That's pretty daft conclusion, how would those people like techno (as in the Detroit definition) or house (as in the beefed-up-disco/Chicago definition) then? Those are far more repetitive than trance (note: I am a massive house and techno fan too), they're essentially loop/groove based rather than structured in an epic way. There's a lot of things that can be said against (some forms of) trance (formulaic/cheesy/unfunky/etc) but lack of variety and dynamics within the tunes isn't among them.

― Siegbran (eofor), Thursday, 29 May 2003 22:13 (twenty-three years ago)

Thomas Heckmann's 'Amphetamine' is right on the line between techno and trance wouldnt you say? i know thats mainly cos its several years older and things were more blurred then perhaps...

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 29 May 2003 22:35 (twenty-three years ago)

What about trance, the mental state? It occurs to me that today's techno is more entrancing on a the psychopysiological level than, say, the material played by Oakenfold et al. So maybe, in the true sense of the word, techno is the real trance. And trance in the latter sense is just, well... Eurodisco cheese.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Friday, 30 May 2003 00:36 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't know by whom it was played abroad, but Amphetamine was always classified as techno in Germany, at least from a DJ point of view (record stores, playlists, etc). But it is a tune that can work well in a harder trance set too, yes - although that can also be said of Vitalic La Rock 01 or Umek Gatex. I'm all for combining techno and trance by the way, the way DJs like Marco V spin their sets with 50% techno/50% techtrance is much more interesting than hearing 3 hours of the same full-on uplifting stuff (which really should only be enjoyed in moderate doses).

For me, trance really works best when it's more of a sinister, minor key thing rather than a barrage of happy eurodance riffs. As long as it's suitably dark, I don't really care in what form they choose to use, subtly melodic or banging hard, an euphoric rollercoaster ride or a slowly building, repetitive drone. And I'm not complaining at the moment, there are lots of those tracks around now, certainly compared to the '97-'00 years.

― Siegbran (eofor), Friday, 30 May 2003 09:43 (twenty-three years ago)

i don't understand the essential difference between techno and trance - what's the difference?

― dog latin, Friday, 30 May 2003 11:08 (twenty-three years ago)

In the strict sense of the words, Techno is essentially loop-based,repetitive, percussive, minimalist and electro-funky, Trance is maximalist, structured in an epic way with well-defined buildups & breakdowns, and melodic with (typically) big strings and arpeggiators.

Techno makes your body the slave of the funky electronic rhythm through irresistable repetition, Trance submerges you in a huge warm bath of melody and euphoria.

― Siegbran (eofor), Friday, 30 May 2003 18:56 (twenty-three years ago)

The trance that absolutely sickens me is that which has a pulsing bass note on the off beat. The more atmospheric stuff with actual bass lines, like say, Blank & Jones I have (surprisingly) taken a liking to.

It seems to me that lately there has been a lot of trance techno and less pure trance. Take, for instance, "Who Do You Love Now?" by Riva (with Dannii Minogue). Although that could be mistaken for trance, it's about 85% techno.

― blutroniq (blutroniq), Friday, 30 May 2003 19:32 (twenty-three years ago)

The trance that absolutely sickens me is that which has a pulsing bass note on the off beat.

= UK Hardhouse, Hardtrance, Hardstyle (basically, the DJs that kiwi above lists). Especially the UK hardhouse producers are far too guilty of overusing that loud off-beat bass sound. It all works fine on a big soundsystem, but gets hugely annoying at home. I only hear the odd UK track over here so it's not that bad but I can imagine that the average Brit hates it with a passion by now, after years of Fergie/Lisa Lashes/etc on the radio.

"Who Do You Love Now?" by Riva

= progressive trance (lush, gentle, no big buildups and breakdowns). I wouldn't call it techno, at least not in the way it is stocked by vinyl shops or played by DJ's, but it *is* more in that direction in the sense that it is more of a looped, minimalist thing. If you're looking for more of this kind of stuff, Solid Sessions Janeiro (Pronti & Kalmani Mix), Sander Kleinenberg My Lexicon, Scott Bond vs Solar Stone 3rd Earth and Holden & Thompson Nothing (93 Returning Mix) are all well worth a look. That Riva track is still absolutely brilliant by the way, although I would have preferred it if they left it instrumental (it was first released as Stringer without vocals). And sadly, Riva have only produced carbon copies of that track since - what the hell is the matter with all those producers that seem to have only one soundbank?

― Siegbran (eofor), Friday, 30 May 2003 21:03 (twenty-three years ago)

Skipping 31 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

Stella is a wonderful track. See also Paul Van Dyke's mix of 'Flaming June'.

Trance feels like a part of my past. I often return to various elements of my record collection, but never the trance stuff. I sued to adore it. The other week I dug out a load of my old Gatecrasher compilations, but the buzz and the joy (on the whole) wasn't there. What it did provoke was a whole load of nostalgia. Loving trance was responsible for me getting my first job, so I feel I owe it a bit more love. Genre guilt.

― Anna (Anna), Sunday, 20 March 2005 17:46 (twenty-one years ago)

i like satoshi tomiies nubreed 006 mix a lot. and tiestos in search of sunrise 3. and both the prog and vocal trance radio channels at di.fm. its all just so pleasant and mellow and listenable

― fe zaffe (fezaffe), Thursday, 24 March 2005 23:59 (twenty-one years ago)

im sorry :\

― fe zaffe (fezaffe), Thursday, 24 March 2005 23:59 (twenty-one years ago)

trance is awesome, is what it is!

― cozen (Cozen), Thursday, 24 March 2005 23:59 (twenty-one years ago)

fe zaffe return your golden ILM key and leave immediately

― Ronan (Ronan), Friday, 25 March 2005 12:53 (twenty-one years ago)

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000066NPW.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

― strng hlkngtn (dubplatestyle), Friday, 25 March 2005 13:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I used to love it, the cheesier the better as well. But now I hate it.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Friday, 25 March 2005 18:56 (twenty-one years ago)

there's still a handful of trance trax i love

deepsky - cosmic dancer
katcha - touched by god (alfie conn mix)
denki groove - niji (ten forward mix)
lost tribbe - angel
way out west - the gift
solar stone - the calling / my soul / seven cities
hardkiss - raincry
veracocha - carte blanche

a lot of this has to do with my first experiences with E and a great trance dj and a local club with a terrific soundsysytem and just so many terrific memories of utterly perfect nights out where euphoric trance was the soundtrack.

i always preferred my tance with a helthy breakbeat underneath, and it still sounds good to me even today. when they got too many tuneless wannabe euro-chanteuse vixens trying to sing over the top, it kinda lost the plot for me

― rentboy (rentboy), Friday, 25 March 2005 20:04 (twenty-one years ago)

What killed it for me is what's killed it for a lot of club music - the fours. I fucking cannot stand the fours. If I hear them, I want it to stop. If people make records using the fours, I want them to die. If people listen to records using the fours, I want them to die as well. Enough already, for fukc's sake.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Saturday, 26 March 2005 16:40 (twenty-one years ago)

ihttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B00000JNMT/ref=dp_product-image-only_0/104-2447083-7267105?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=5174&s=music

― Paul in Santa Cruz (Paul in Santa Cruz), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 04:57 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

christ almighty what a thread

― gaseous (gaseous), Tuesday, 21 November 2006 09:37 (nineteen years ago)

I did my first pill to psytrance, and even that hasn't instilled any affection for it in me. It just seems so insular - other genres of dance music will periodically have phases of introducing elements from other forms of music and then transmute into something else. If I went to a psytrance night now I imagine it would sound much the same as it did that night, jesus, eleven years ago now.

Of course, I still love dancing to old hardcore, so I guess what it really boils down to is 'I don't like it.'

― chap who would dare to welcome our new stingray masters (chap), Tuesday, 21 November 2006 13:07 (nineteen years ago)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7428851501542847413

― PRKLTR (flezaffe), Tuesday, 21 November 2006 13:48 (nineteen years ago)

four months pass...

so then...

― fandango, Monday, 26 March 2007 23:08 (nineteen years ago)

Passantino on Cascada at StylusMagazine.com OTM.

― Dom Passantino, Monday, 26 March 2007 23:20 (nineteen years ago)

There was a bout of hand-wringing in 2002 over the notion that Dance Music Had Died. It hadn’t, it just shifted its base from inside the M25 up to ~~your Wigans, your Blackburns, your Birkenheads.~~ Germany. The dance press got shook, pretended to a man that this kind of stuff wasn’t going, and tried to convince themselves that there was more mileage in ~~Fischerspooner than Ultrabeat.~~ Breaks. Then ~~they went bankrupt.~~ Jockey Slut moved to London and died, and everyone started appreciating the "honesty" of a good guitar band instead.

― fandango, Monday, 26 March 2007 23:32 (nineteen years ago)

that old skool ibiza comp i posted the picture of two years ago is still the shit

― strongohulkington, Monday, 26 March 2007 23:37 (nineteen years ago)

APOPTYGMA BERZERK!!!!!!!!!!!

Dan Perry on Sunday, April 28, 2002 8:00 PM (4 years ago)

Dan Perry otm!!!

― Curt1s Stephens, Monday, 26 March 2007 23:42 (nineteen years ago)

Pop trance >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> deep trance, btw.

― Dom Passantino, Monday, 26 March 2007 23:47 (nineteen years ago)

Trance was sweet when I was a 19 year old pill munching monkey knobend fuck face.

..maybe I'll go and listen to some trance right now.

― Drooone, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 00:24 (nineteen years ago)

Currently six trance-related I Love Music threads. Let's just stop it.

― paulhw, Tuesday, 27 March 2007 00:31 (nineteen years ago)

two years pass...

I'm working on compiling a playlist of ultimate over-the-top epic trance anthems. I don't know if there's another thread for this sort of thing I'm missing out on. I think some of the few trance tracks I like were suggested by ILM in the past but I'm not sure where. It seems like that other thread actually turned out to be "trance that holds sentimental value for you" rather than GOOD trance. Some of that going on here too, but this:

Really Awesome Trance Songs That I'm A Fan Of:

"Children (Dream Version)" is right on. Other songs in a similar vein I've come up with:

Age of Love - "Age of Love" (the original trance anthem?)
Humate - "Love Stimulation (PvD's Love Club Mix)"
PvD - "For An Angel"
Kernkraft - "Zombie Nation"

It seems like some of the stuff from Air Liquide in the mid-90s definitely toes the line between trance and techno. I'm not going to shit up this thread with a bunch of YouTube links but this song - Liquid Air (Bionaut Mix) could certainly be called trance. For that matter, if we're going to include "Raincry" by Hardkiss as trance, couldn't you call most of FSOL's output "trance" too?

there's still a handful of trance trax i love

Some good recommendations there too. "Angel" by Lost Tribe may have been flogged by Sasha but it's still outstanding. I'd hardly call it trance except for the melody. The rhythm is really unique. In light of the recent love being heaped on whatever came between speed garage and 2-step, I feel like the weird breakdown in "Angel" is much more worthy of imitation. I guess that probably be too much like dubstep-trance though.

Seems like quite a bit of the early 90's stuff is being overlooked here too. For example, "Solar Plexus" by Solar Plexus. Purely effervescent. Hardfloor got a brief mention, but he nailed it quite a few times. His mix of "Circus Bells" is a masterpiece of acid manipulation. And Spooky may also be played out but they made some pretty innovative strides too.

Any more suggestions along these lines would be much appreciated.

― viborg, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 07:20 (sixteen years ago)

Two Full Moons and a Trout by Union Jack, can't remember now if it's the Caspar Pound or 14" mix that's the best but I think they're both good. Anyway, check out that and also the Eye Q compilations called Behind The Eye. Vol. 1 is great, Vol. 2 has great moments.

http://www.discogs.com/Various-Behind-The-Eye-Eye-Q-Compilation-Vol-1/release/53011

http://www.discogs.com/Various-Behind-The-Eye-Vol-II/release/31969?ev=rr

― brotherlovesdub, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 19:17 (sixteen years ago)

^brotherlovesdub is correct

Also, sorry to be pedantic, but Hardfloor is a duo, but not one guy (xxpost)

― Tannenbaum Schmidt, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 20:08 (sixteen years ago)

The finest trance/techno (when the boundary lines were blurred completely) compilation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trance_Europe_Express

I don't know much about trance post-2000

― Tannenbaum Schmidt, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 20:10 (sixteen years ago)

i don't know anything about trance but aren't zombie nation the act not the song title?

― NI, Wednesday, 16 December 2009 01:25 (sixteen years ago)

isn't, even

― NI, Wednesday, 16 December 2009 01:26 (sixteen years ago)

yeah, it is, and the song is Kernkraft 400. surprised to see it named as trance!

― an terror has occurred (sic), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 03:59 (sixteen years ago)

Whoops. A few glaring errors in my post there. I don't know why "Kernkraft 400" wouldn't be trance, unless you're some kind of old school trance purist. It has the trance rhythm for certain.

I thought I'd heard most of the stuff from the Eye-Q and Trance Europe Express compilations but not all the titles look that familiar. I'll have to dig a little deeper there. Aphex Twin is "trance". Lol.Really appreciate the recommend on "Two Full Moons and a Trout". I prefer the Casper Pound mix, which is quite haunting, the 14" version is more acid-heavy. There is sublime trance, after all. That also led me to Humate "3.1" which is another stunning tune. There's one song I'm looking for that was on some mix CD that has this really haunting piano intro that's heavy on the echo. Yes, the word for the day is "haunting".

― viborg, Wednesday, 16 December 2009 19:48 (sixteen years ago)

*appreciate the recommendation

― viborg, Wednesday, 16 December 2009 19:49 (sixteen years ago)

I have a soft spot for post-2000 epic trance, but since we're talking about 90s stuff, this comp is pretty great.

― richie aprile (rockapads), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 20:24 (sixteen years ago)

Just bought this old V/A, LSG's 'Blueprint' is such a sweet tune.

― no-nonsense, Wednesday, 16 December 2009 20:55 (sixteen years ago)

Dude, check out "Space Brothers" or "Chromoplastic" or "Time Code #3" or "Die Reise im Teekessel 3", they're definitely trance - or at least what was called trance back then. Air Liquide is probably not high on the "epic" scale, but anything they did between 1991 and 1994 is well worth checking out if you like freaky cosmic electronic music.

Tannenbaum is correct that the Trance Europe Express comps are a good source for some nice early 90s trance tunes.

― Tuomas, Wednesday, 16 December 2009 21:29 (sixteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C5-rzpfA98

― you are wrong I'm bone thugs in harmon (omar little), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 21:33 (sixteen years ago)

Here's a few trance anthems from the early 90s you might enjoy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34FE_CLkBTg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOZKiOjJYlM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycV3vIbaBiM

― Tuomas, Wednesday, 16 December 2009 21:38 (sixteen years ago)

As for Paul van Dyk, this one is my favourite of his early 90s stuff. It takes quite a while to build up, but once the release comes, it feels sublime:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn9XHmuCMFA

― Tuomas, Wednesday, 16 December 2009 21:41 (sixteen years ago)

This was a big trance anthem in 1994, I think it still sounds very nice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2YGrLC8PKc

― Tuomas, Wednesday, 16 December 2009 21:46 (sixteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrL0zsz8BHw

This one's a personal favourite of mine; I'm not sure what's it about the synth sound that kicks in at 1:25, but it sounds very pretty and also kinda sad. If this tune was slower it could pass for Robert Miles style "dream house".

― Tuomas, Wednesday, 16 December 2009 21:53 (sixteen years ago)

don't forget "sugar daddy" by secret knowledge -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ekzs-v_Fpmc

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 16 December 2009 22:04 (sixteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm_i4clRXz0

On Electronic Highway, C.J. Bolland tried to marry trance with d&b/breaks. It was a surprisingly successful effort, but I've never really heard anyone do anything like this after that.

― Tuomas, Wednesday, 16 December 2009 22:06 (sixteen years ago)

Yeah that CJ Bolland is pretty nice. I'm not really hearing the d&b influence too much, but it's definitely kind of a big beat/trance sound he's got there. Thanks.

― viborg, Thursday, 17 December 2009 01:39 (sixteen years ago)

So while we're on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrHvrQEobHU

Is this trance? It sounds really slowed down compared to the version I'm familiar with, dunno.

― viborg, Thursday, 17 December 2009 01:45 (sixteen years ago)

Speaking of breakbeats, is this trance?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSNrOJJmGEY

― viborg, Thursday, 17 December 2009 01:57 (sixteen years ago)

Part n in a series of is there any way this could be trance?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqBbdvBzl24

― viborg, Thursday, 17 December 2009 01:58 (sixteen years ago)

Yeah that CJ Bolland is pretty nice. I'm not really hearing the d&b influence too much, but it's definitely kind of a big beat/trance sound he's got there. Thanks.

The d&b influence is not so obvious on "Con Spirito", but the rest of Electronic Highway has more drum'n'bassy tunes. It's not the most perfect album or anything, but it's well worth checking out, the sort of midpoint between trance, d&b, and techno Bolland is searching there sounds pretty unique.

― Tuomas, Thursday, 17 December 2009 10:16 (sixteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSrNMGvd9bY

whole album is pretty great

― poster x (ledge), Thursday, 17 December 2009 10:23 (sixteen years ago)

Spent the night partying with a bunch of Brazilians. I don't want to generalize too much, but I'm sure the beer will help. It seems almost like when people from most of the rest of the world (outside coastal US, UK, Berlin/Köln, Tokyo) think of "electronic music", they pretty much think of trance. These folks were well content to play the same PvD tune over and over again and bliss out to it. It was a decent track, but after a certain point, Paul van Dyk is just Paul van Dyk, amirite? Afterwards I went in search of a club where Claude VonStroke was supposed to be playing but ended up at a d&b club instead. There's still a thriving d&b scene in SF? Who knew? It wasn't half bad.

― viborg, Thursday, 17 December 2009 10:46 (sixteen years ago)

That Lush vid..wow. Who would subject a band to such a thing? British shoegaze band forced to make uncomfortable mid 90's bus tour across America, as a precursor of just how ugly and sick the USA will become in the coming millennium.

― viborg, Thursday, 17 December 2009 10:59 (sixteen years ago)

I'll soon wrap this up but i did go on an Air Liquide trip probably inspired by some ILM post (maybe by you Tuomas, thanks). I'm more drawn to their ambient/techno-insprired stuff like "Tanz der Lemminge" and "Uludag Pt 4", don't really feel that much personal connection with the tracks you mentioned but thanks for the recommendation all the same.

― viborg, Thursday, 17 December 2009 11:18 (sixteen years ago)

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