I've been listening to trance for long enough now to recognise all the seperate sounds, styles and trends and I've identified what I really love to hear. And now I'm asking for recommendations.

I suppose the style is best encapsulated by what BT and PVD were doing in the mid-1990s: high tempo, high-energy, synth-driven trance that isn't hugely melodic but neither is it endlessly repetitive. A few examples:

BT - Divinity
BT & Jan Johnston - Sunblind
BT & PVD - Namistai
Mike Oldfield - Let There Be Light (BT's Ultraviolet Mix)
Paul Van Dyk - Forbidden Fruit (BT & PVD's Food Of Love Mix)
Age of Love - Age of Love (PVD's Love of Ages Mix)
Curve - Chinese Burn (PVD's Forbidden City Mix)
Sunday Club - Healing Dream (PVD's Inner Mind Mix)

And a couple that don't involve those two:

Lost Tribe - Gamemaster
ATB - Don't Stop (Quake Remake)
Ian Van Dahl - Reason (Hemstock & Jennings Remix)
Fluke - Slap It
PPK - ResuRection
Binary Finary - Cryogen

I hope you get what I'm pitching at here. Futuristic, dark, highly synthy tracks that are big and dramatic without resorting to the supersaws. Or hell- any trance that features lots of inventive and similar synthwork will do nicely.

Here's the catch: it has to be available on CD. An artist album or two would be brilliant, and it doesn't have to be 100% what I'm describing.

___________________
Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

i suggest tranceformer: the uplifting mix

it was a 2cd compilation that was released sometime in 1999

http://www.discogs.com/release/75820

i got given that as a gift and it was a gooden. srsly.

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Found Atlantis - Mixography [mix archive/mokumentary/my soul]?
i writed a song.

Since you're not new to trance, it may be too obvious. But the first thing which came to my mind is PLATIPUS, the whole label was about a type of trance that seems to have somewhat faded away. Some stuff to check out, platipus and not, is Art Of Trance, Cygnus X, Oliver Lieb/L.S.G., Man With No Name. The Platipus compilations are my specific recommendation. But maybe you're already familiar with them.

quote:

Originally posted by KilldaDJ i suggest tranceformer: the uplifting mix it was a 2cd compilation that was released sometime in 1999 http://www.discogs.com/release/75820 i got given that as a gift and it was a gooden. srsly.

Nah, I've heard most of those tracks and they seem to be mainly anthemic melodic stuff. Not what I'm talking about.

quote:

Originally posted by SMC Since you're not new to trance, it may be too obvious. But the first thing which came to my mind is PLATIPUS, the whole label was about a type of trance that seems to have somewhat faded away. Some stuff to check out, platipus and not, is Art Of Trance, Cygnus X, Oliver Lieb/L.S.G., Man With No Name. The Platipus compilations are my specific recommendation. But maybe you're already familiar with them.

Again, this isn't really what I'm talking about. Most of that is too old and is basically just trance. The stuff I'm talking about seemed to emerge in the aftermath of progressive, very much fuelled by the attention to production that crossed over from prog house. I guess the proto record for what I'm talking about is BT's Ima, which is still pretty soft and removed. I've got some LSG on order from Amazon so I'll have to see if it fits the bill (never really heard any Lieb in LSG guise, because it's bloody rare in the UK) but I definitely know that Lieb's Spicelab stuff and later stuff doesn't fit the description.

___________________
Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

Dumonde - Tomorrow (Moogwai Remix)

And I should very much advise you to hear what is perhaps my favorite latter-day trance mix (which I've owned since 00' and still never weary of): Electric Daisy Carnival

schranz?

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Found Atlantis - Mixography [mix archive/mokumentary/my soul]?
i writed a song.

I might be way off, but

Junkie XL - Future In Computer Hell (Part Two)

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Latest releases:
Endless Cycles [Capital Heaven]
The Charlatan [Morphosis]

http://www.discogs.com/release/261429

a lot of the second disc? a big stab in the dark but just thought id try.

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Ronski Speed B2B Tiesto
I DRANK AND MADE A MIX SERIES
Vol One-Vol Two-Vol Three-Vol Four-Vol Five-Vol Six
I ALSO LIVESTREAMED
THE LAST FLIGHT - PROGRESSIVE HOUSE/TRANCE

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Mystery I might be way off, but Junkie XL - Future In Computer Hell (Part Two)

I already have it anyway, but it's not what I'm talking about.

Ah shit. I can't go near a melodic trance thread without tripping over a Spirit5 list and I can't go near many other threads without Rebel9 and Ian selling me prog-psy like time-share, but I ask for something vaguely unique and I draw a blank?

Camwin: I'll look into it.

EDIT: Heh, I'm now rocking out to Heaven Scent on GU:13 after checking out the JXL track. Cheers.

___________________
Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

Last edited by SYSTEM-J on Oct-18-2006 at 23:03

I think it's just that what your asking for sound pretty vague. For instance...

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J Age of Love - Age of Love (PVD's Love of Ages Mix) ... Lost Tribe - Gamemaster ... Fluke - Slap It

To me, those three tracks sound completely different from one another.

The fact that you're not a complete trance n00b makes this even more confusing.

This is probably all about individual perception. To me those three tracks would fit together thematically in a set- they're dark, bassy, energetic and full of cutting edge synth sounds. But I appreciate that others could well see something completely different in each.

___________________
Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

System-J from what I'm gathering with the songs that you've listed, I recall from those types of tracks that there isn't really a Concrete Build-up to Climax - to break-down like other styles of trance do.

Gamemaster really comes to mind to me in this way as well, because the whole track is pretty energetic all the way from the first minute to the end.

Am I on the right track here at all? Or am I way off base? Sorry if I haven't been all that helpful.