quote: | Originally posted by rattymouse
45 mins into this set now and I find it absolutely awesome. Thank you so much for the recommendation.
While I can recognize to a small extent how different it is from the trance that I am hearing today, I cannot put it down into words since I am so new at this. Can you state succinctly the differences? |
Glad you like it. If you can appreciate something that's twenty years old, there is a whole galaxy of music that awaits your exploration.
In all honesty, it's been a long, long time since I tuned in to anything Armin or A&B have played, but I find the stuff being made under the "trance" moniker in 2018 to be very crass, emotionally limited and lacking in any degree of subtlety. On a technical front I also find it really over-produced with far too many layers and no space in the mixdown. To me, trance these days is incredibly shrill and silly.
Of course, trance has never been the coolest genre of electronic music, and its critics down the years would say it's always been emotionally over-blown and overly busy. Even in 1997, there were people in the house, techno or jungle scenes who detested the kind of music PVD is playing in that Essential Mix. And those criticisms are true to some extent. There are big "cheesy" moments in that set as well. What has steadily happened in the 20 years since that era is that these aspects of the music have become amplified and amplified as each generation of musicians tries to raise the bar above their predecessors, and the restraint the older music had - which balanced out the cheesy moments - has long since been lost.
I think it's important with trance to note that this is, to some extent, inherently silly music. However, if you acknowledge that, you can get swept up in its exhilarating rush of sound. The expression I use for this double-think, this surrender to its charm, is "Putting your trance trousers on". Because even melodramatic music can be extremely well made, and the best trance music has some wonderfully complex, unique, twisted sounds in it that never get boring to listen to.
The biggest problem with a lot of trance fans is that they have been guilty of taking it all far too seriously.
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Mixes:
> Back To Deep [Deep Trippy House]
> Terra Nova [Modern Progressive Trance]
> Rough & Ready [Modern Trance]
>A Different Energy [Good Modern Trance]
> The Edale Mix [Panoramic Beats]
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