TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Music Discussion
-- "the future of trance?" 'Deconstructed Trance' / 'Trancework'

"the future of trance?" 'Deconstructed Trance' / 'Trancework'

http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/517-h...ance-and-grime/

Thoughts? Has trance become so uncool that it's become something for hipster producers to appropriate and re-package in half-ironic fashion? Although I suppose the Richard H. Kirk release proves that this has been going on for a long time.

Either way, I think this is a really interesting trend. The fact that even someone like Mike Paradinas, that tends to have his his finger right at the pulse of the time, would put out a mixtape called "Trancework" shows that there is interest by producers to play around with trance tropes, but they also know there's no way to do so in the established genre framework while retaining credibility. So they go the 'artistic' route and 'deconstruct' those tropes in the slight hope of coming up with something decent.

Is this the ultimate death of trance? A genre that's only useful for deconstructing it into ironic art pieces? Or a sign of an incoming renaissance with forward-thinking and credible producers having renewed interest in the genre?

I dunno, people have been making trance-not-trance for a long time now. That Richard H Kirk thing the article mentions is from 2001, after all. There was Kompakt and neo-trance, and my copy of Petar Dundov's album Ideas From The Pond had a quote from a German music magazine stating it was one of the best trance albums ever, even if not everyone agreed on the category. Is there anything new here?

Doing anything in a "half-ironic" fashion just makes me want to hurl.

Sounds IDM-ish, which I suppose is also somewhat of a deconstruction or abstraction of EDM.

I'm pretty sure AraabMuzik already did the deconstruction-of-trance thing, to glowing plaudits because "LOL, trance ironically"; Hip-hop has been raiding trance melodies for a while now too. And like J' said, Dundov's been doing "don't call it trance" trance since at least his Escapements LP, which is sort of the other end of the spectrum that Kompact started. A 'take back trance' movement, if in spirit only:



And it's not like Kirk hasn't traveled this line before either. Here's an oldie by him that threads the techno-trance divide like so much early stuff did:



These sort of tunes would have easily found comfortable homes on trance compilations of the early '90s. It was after the influence of Cream and Gatecrasher marketing that trance became exclusively associated with the sound of anthems and such.

The commercial EuroTrance stuff will always be ripe for 'artistic deconstruction', as anything pop orientated is easy pickings for that scene (oh hi, vaporwank). On the other hand, I can see non-EuroTrance trance continuing a cautious, non-ironic showing of support by producers who appreciate the hypnotic potential of the genre, even if they remain hesitant to promote it as trance.

Skimmed through the Paradinas Trancework set. Yeah, I don't really hear the 'trance' in it, beyond a few recognizable anthems. It sounded more like a throwback rave set that happened to have 'happy, uplifting' bits in it. Hardly a trance exclusive, that.

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J There was Kompakt and neo-trance, and my copy of Petar Dundov's album Ideas From The Pond had a quote from a German music magazine stating it was one of the best trance albums ever, even if not everyone agreed on the category. Is there anything new here?

Well, the difference between that and this is that the Kompakt and Petar Dundov trance-not-trance tries really, really hard to be "trance" without being trance if that makes any sense. This actually doesn't shy away from using trance tropes like cheesy supersaw synths, which Peter Dundov or the Kompakt producers would never do.

I did think about AraabMuzik while making this thread, but his attempt felt more like a lazy-ripoff by an electronic music outsider (I doubt any hip-hop listener could trainspot a bunch of cheesy trance samples), rather than a deliberate "deconstruction, which is what this is. So I guess what I think makes this new is the combination of both the deliberateness and the actual use of trance sounds and genre tropes.

Re: "the future of trance?" 'Deconstructed Trance' / 'Trancework'

quote:

Originally posted by Woony Is this the ultimate death of trance?

Depends on your opinion about uplifting, of which I'm pretty sure is not within your field of view.

Re: Re: "the future of trance?" 'Deconstructed Trance' / 'Trancework'

quote:

Originally posted by Trance-M Depends on your opinion about uplifting

Armin van Schulzenyond 4ever.

Re: Re: Re: "the future of trance?" 'Deconstructed Trance' / 'Trancework'

quote:

Originally posted by Chimney Armin van Schulzenyond 4ever.

Nothing lasts 4ever.

I listened to that Mike Paradinas set, just sounded like he took the riffs from all these old trance songs from 1999-2000 and layered them over spastic 90's 'ardcore breakbeats. Don't see what's so 'revolutionary' about that. Nor am I a fan of anything done 'half ironically' like Mr. Mystery.

The Petar Dundov and Sandoz stuff posted in this thread is much more appealing. I like that whole kompakt 'neo trance' stuff, probably the best thing to come out of that whole mnml era:

I'll just throw this in the mix here:



I think it's one of the better examples of the modern techno sound evolving towards trance. Not the anjunabeats trance of course, but rather the original archetypical trance. Which I'm not sure I can define by words

quote:

Originally posted by Woony Well, the difference between that and this is that the Kompakt and Petar Dundov trance-not-trance tries really, really hard to be "trance" without being trance if that makes any sense. This actually doesn't shy away from using trance tropes like cheesy supersaw synths, which Peter Dundov or the Kompakt producers would never do.

Yeah, but everyone is already doing that and has been doing for years. Half the pop music in the charts sounds one step removed from Alice Deejay. I think the true fate of trance is pretty much the same as old skool rave/hardcore - to have long-since died as a functional scene (the odd throwback and persistent revivalists aside) but to have a lasting influence on loads of other music.

I'm not sure if there is anything necessarily new here- there have been trance revivalists through every iteration of the genre dating back as far as I can remember listening. By the time the mighty Armada took over, people were looking to artists like Moogwai and Union Jack as preservationists of the genere's authentic sound.

But this also emphasizes the difference between perspectives that see a genre change into a different form, and those that see a genre change into a form that's no longer of that genre. That's also why this and similar discussions are so difficult to have, because depending upon who you ask, there's virtually no such thing as trance anymore in the first place.

Next thing you know, people will be side-chaining in the name of trance revivalism.

psy trance seems to be grabbing s decent a foothold though....everywhere, and not that annoying elephant buddha psytrance....but well-composed deeper melodic darker psytrance...with some great sounds...

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.