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-- What were the best years in dance music?

What were the best years in dance music?

Carl Cox said in his recent Cabin Fever session that 1991-1994 were the best years so it got me wondering, what were the best years for others?

Were your previous two threads just fever dreams, Matt?

'91-94 is definitely a golden era. The vibe from that period is unmistakable across many different styles of dance music. The music was also just that little bit more sophisticated than the somewhat primordial stuff from 1990 and before.

I also have a soft spot for '96-97. Atmospheric drum 'n bass was at its peak, trance/prog was going through a lovely summery phase courtesy of BT, PVD, Chicane, Blue Amazon, Way Out West, Sasha & Diggers in Northern Exposure mode etc. etc. and you had the likes of DJ Shadow dropping classic albums somewhere in the background.

Naturally I expect 1999 to feature quite heavily on a trance forum.

And for me personally, I've generally enjoyed the era from 2016 through to the corona-disrupted present day, as melody and energy have returned to dance music in abundance.

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J Were your previous two threads just fever dreams, Matt?

lol I have no comment

96-98 were all amazing.
2004 as well.

'98-'99 may very well be my favorites, as that was the year where I fully went all-in on electronic music. The rise of trance, funky disco house, 2-step garage, were all at their peaks here.

Also, I'm kinda partial to '05 - it was a very strange and confusing year, the scene was looking for a new type of music to fill the gap after the downturn of clubbing in the post-9/11 scene... and so there was a ton of different styles of music vying to step in. Sasha's EM in Maida Vale best exemplifies the diversity on order here. Unfortunately, we all know what eventually won out

98-2000 for me. Big name clubs all over the country running weekly events with massive line ups. Don't see that these days.

�98-�99 and �03-�05 were my favorite eras because of the melodies. As someone mentioned above, melody has made a comeback over the last few years, a good thing in my book.

quote:

Originally posted by DR!VE 98-2000 for me. Big name clubs all over the country running weekly events with massive line ups. Don't see that these days.

When clubs like Cream, Gatecrasher, and Twilo were around at the same time. damn.

1991-1994 and 1996-1998. Not sure why 1990, 1995, and 1999 were so awful.

99 was a great year for music and parties. Just gotta pick the right vibes, i guess. 98 to 2001 was having a choice of like 4 or 5 different killer parties with killer guest djs every single week here. Holiday weekend? Massive parties with like 80 000 people? Sure!

Partial to 00 as the founding of Mutek had a big impact in my tastes moving forward.

Not to mention that those were the times when everybody was throwing some kind of shindig, and you also got impromptu crazy events of just bonfires and decks in the wood with special guests dropping by after their gig in town was down.

Hard to beat in a time of tiny screens.

quote:

Originally posted by Lews 1991-1994 and 1996-1998. Not sure why 1990, 1995, and 1999 were so awful.

'95 is a weird year for me, maybe it's because it's right before I got into dance music, but I find it hard to recall many classic tracks from that year, aside from a few good eurodance ones. It definitely seemed like a transition year before house was ready to get a shot in the arm thanks to the French and before trance really started to dominate. What were the big genres of that time? I'm guessing the more hard-edged d&b maybe?

There are plenty of seminal electronic albums from 1995. Just from my own collection I can see the following:

BT - Ima
Carl Craig - Landcruising
The Chemical Brothers - Exit Planet Dust
Gas - Gas 0095
Goldie - Timeless
Leftfield - Leftism
Massive Attack Vs Mad Professor - No Protection
Nightmares On Wax - Smoker's Delight
Speedy J - G Spot

Doesn't seem that bad a year to me.

Wasn't 95 a huge year for UK Garage? Guilty pleasures all night long. 95-97 is around the time the big up became massif.

Acid Jazz/Trip hop lounges were also the thing.

Adding to the 1995 list from my own collection:

Aphex Twin - ...I Care Because You Do
Tricky - Maxinquaye
Coldcut - 70 Minutes Of Madness (I'm counting that as an album)
Boards of Canada - Twoism (wouldn't be super-high on my list, but it is for a lot of folks out there)
The Orb - Orbus Terrarum
The HIA - Freefloater
Psykosonik - Unlearn
Moby - Everything Is Wrong
Model 500 - Deep Space
Ken Ishii - Jelly Tones
Banco de Gaia - Last Train To Lhasa
Faithless - Insomnia single

Plus a lot of others that are more niche but highly regarded within those circles (Adahm Shaikh, Etnica, Juno Reactor, L.S.G., Spicelab)


Though when its all said and done, alt-rock and hip-hop truly had the killer year in '95.

"The first five years of the 90's were insane." - Pete Tong

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