My two cents-agree / disagree?

In Defence of Trance

“I hate trance music” is an all too common response from a musically benighted subclass, who predicate their argument without any conceptual understanding of what trance actually is. They often confuse their disdain for acid and e-fuelled hard house or the perceived monotony of ‘progressive’ which, far from being sub-categories of trance, instead need to be viewed as entirely separate genres. Moreover, the depth of variety within trance necessitates a knowledge of this before any such categorical pejorative statements could be justified. Similarly, to analogize, it would be foolhardy to ascertain that one dislikes tequila on the basis of a hatred for Jose Cuervo, arguably the most freely available tequila in the UK, when there are over three hundred different bottles, all with wildly different tastes. Only when a few dozen have been discounted can one really lay claim to such absolute statements.

Trance music, especially of the euphoric kind, culminating wholly or periodically in climactic moments has a primal aura about it. Lyrics are deliberately restricted or even absent and this gives the listener complete freedom, for it is the passion, emotion and rawness of feeling that the music incites that is important, not some meaningless lyrical meanderings which may only have evanescent appeal. Lyrics confine songs to a specific meaning, and within the philosophy of art the true value of any artistic piece comes not from what is revealed but what is not revealed, i.e. what thoughts, views and emotion have gone into the work. This is why a copy can never be valued in the same way as an original. It is much harder to gain satisfaction from a piece of art’s intrusive properties than its extrusive properties because it is often hard to access what an artist was trying to achieve, even though it is this that comprises its true value. The beauty of trance is that it eschews the need for this in that it cares less about what goes into specific productions, and more about the emotive musical output. Lyrics, where present, are usually there to guide the listener along a very vague path, and the piece then succeeds or fails on the basis of the resultant sound. Whilst this approach may invalidate any claim for artistic genius within trance, it makes the genre more accessible.

Trance in its purest sense should hold no loyalties as the producer becomes secondary to their own productions. Acclaim for Tiesto, Corsten or Gabriel and Dresden is dependent less on their personal appeal but on their continued quality of production. Anathematic in trance would be unbridled, uncritical praise or baseless loyalty like there is in other genres like Britpop. No amount of personal magnetism could push through and sell a poor quality trance song. In the same way trance can be viewed as having parallels with modern classical music, and it is often in conjunction with this that trance can show its true musical potency. Indeed any lyrical lacuna can often be filled with libretti; operatic trance being a beautiful assimilation.

Trance music is an inspirational genre, replete with staggering diversity in production and technique. A good song will divest the listener from the mundane repetitions of life and take them on a journey that is emotionally and spiritually enriching, with a climactic moment that can all at once be breathtaking, uplifting, sensational and moving. As long as the sonority of trance remains so deeply fulfilling no defence of the genre is necessary.