Progressive House / Trance Mixes - S/D

I think in 92/92 the lines were blurred indeed. You had these great 'Trance' compilations from Rumour records and all the Guerilla records that were probably early progressive house. Then the two genres definitely 'split' and you got the cheesy trance peddled by the likes of Ferry Corsten et al and the overlong, nothing really happens for fourteen minutes progressive house tracks championed by the likes of Sasha & Digweed

That first Sasha & Digweed Renaissance Mix is still ace though

if nothing really happens for 14 minutes then it clearly wasn't prog-house

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKqvmpuXzSc&feature=player_embedded

I'm getting increasingly curious about the original class of 91-94 progressive house. Mostly because Simon Reynolds declared it anathema, and that hardcore was the one true bolshevik rave option. I want to get my middlebrow on, if anyone will indulge me. Feels like early trance left a lot weird little trends behind when it got mainstream.

That and I'm very very bored with most house right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duYIZA7u-ho&feature=player_embedded

Some of this stuff is really weird, ravey breakbeats and all manner of "bad taste" layered with things I actually like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ffMGwOE7ZeQ

Like these guys, completely unknown to me, I was all of 6 years old in 92.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n--zJCzs9wo&feature=player_embedded

In retrospect it's bizarre how much overlap there was between the Warp artist roster and early trance compilations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edS4urkN9Pc&feature=player_embedded#!

Even some of early Juno Reactor sounds more like decent techno than terrible psy.

I got all of these from a DJ History Forum thread btw, if anyone wants to point me at more it'd be appreciated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L93YoPG1Wt0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb8Nha7nRt4&feature=player_embedded

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBGbLBTZPRU&feature=player_embedded

The line between "progressive house" and "breakbeat hardcore" was really slippery back then, funny since Simon popularized both labels.

What this music was initially : acid house with dub basslines, is entirely my thing. What it turned into: Sasha and Digweed crap, is entirely not.

eh none of this stuff is very good actually, let it rest in the dustbin of history

well that's not entirely true, i got a soft spot for JBO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuOo3SvHvlk&feature=related

in general it's too corny sounding though, you might as well put on like utah saints or whatever and have actual cheese whiz out of the can as opposed to like a fake-fancy grocery store cheese log

can't listen to other stuff right now, but i will say that those holy ghost inc records are truly wicked

It's sort of right between what's tolerable and what's a little too cheesy, but a couple of those Holy Ghost tracks are indeed pretty good.

And I like that RAC track quite a bit, reminds me of the nicer end of electrobreaks. More of my sordid past effecting my taste, I guess.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SmYfzD0Bm4

Things were happening in a very similar manner on the West Coast at the same time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzutrE85HZw

If I had to list off the early trance that I actually like it would be: The Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia, and Jam and Spoon, the Coil tracks that flirted with trance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHH-ex99Xys

The West Coast stuff strays too far into hippie Burner territory, and the UK stuff ended up with the late 90s prog hegemony.

Still I've got this feeling there's some stuff worth digging up, if only to satisfy my curiosity.

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

I like everything that lead up to the Dutch scene, New Beat and Balearic mixed from what I can tell. And then rave hits and everything drops off a cliff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rw3ZBRtb7U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1Mmw5cnum4

Its a Derrick May track, with samples! I think I bought this one for 50 cents.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_t7CPXRo6g

This is Mr. Shakir, apparently it got some play at the Loft, so did those Holy Ghost tracks.

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

Man, did rave music ever twist techno into some strange shapes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgICbO7fDIc&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVwB56gb7dc&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5lRlFUHZH4

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

I honestly don't know what this is, it's Move D but I'd say its definitely more in line with Mouse on Mar's Vulvaland or early minimal techno.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPANiWSLF9o&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKk7VEQv7ec

I'm looking for stuff that is legitimately trance inducing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU4DVJ7emUQ

This is Plaid and Jonah Sharp, Reflective was a really strange label.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h6N10MGqqg&feature=related

I think Mike Banks would beat me up if I compared his music to progressive house.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bOVBQHKk0lU#!

OK, I think my love of the Black Dog is showing through here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRyf6kKxgy8&feature=related

And I'm going to sleep.

Dunno how well it fits here, but early 90s housey trance is my thing, I practically grew up with that shit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyKEeT14YVA

This was an utter classic back then:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YakZl5Y5f2Y

As well as this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqfeEa83nmc

I think a lot of this stuff has aged much better than cheesy UK hardcore from the same era; "Sacred Cycles", for example, still sounds sublime.

Then there's Air Liquide, of course - my favourite 90s electronic act of them all:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEmPOw6ZlgY

This shit still sounds majestic!

i love this song!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8iacryQGt4&ob=av2e

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nplbC2d-0N4&feature=related

Air Liquide seems to be right up there with PWOG for that weird Euro rave techno feel. Stuff where I'm not sure if its IDM or trance or what exactly.

Yeah, between 1992 and 1995 AL released stuff ranging from banging acid techno to cosmic trance to weird breakbeat excursions (like the track that sample Cypress Hill) to straight beatless ambient, sometimes on the same record. I'd recommend acquiring pretty much anything they released in that period, it's all good. Or if you want just one record, The Increased Difficulty Of Concentration comp is a good overall look to to their sound; it's neatly divided between a dance and a non-dance disc. In the late 90s they went electro though, IMO their post-'95 material is decent but mostly forgettable.

feeling profound gratitude for what this music is doing for my morning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4EfwOUTztI

progressive house is so boring. not enough melody to be catchy. not enough rhythm to move. fades immediately to the background. every time i sample a dj's progressive house set i hear danny wolfers saying "wanky white boy music" in my head.

no it's nice

i don’t think that prog house is boring, it’s just that when it’s boring (which is often) it’s boring to a greater degree
it’s easier to listen to a boring techno mix than a boring prog house mix