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"Proto-trance", that is, music which precipitated the "formal" foundation of trance as a coherent genre in 1990-92 Frankfurt, can be classed in four major groupings:
1. Ambient. Tangerine Dream, Brian Eno, and their many imitators in years following laid the foundation for repetitive, atmospheric textures. Though this was usually beatless, some ambient productions from the late 70s and 80s do use repetitive elements of percussion. Some parts of Phaedra sound remarkably trance-like, and that was 1974.
2. Belgian EBM / New Beat. A lot of industral music from late-80s Belgium was beat-driven, and incorporated repetitive synthesizer loops. Belgian New Beat heavily influenced the German club scene in the late 80s, just prior to trance, and had a shaping influence on its emergence. The classic example of a direct connection between EBM and trance is Force Legato - System by Oliver Lieb and Torsten Fenslau, which was released in 1989.
3. Techno. The diaspora of techno directly preceded the emergence of trance. Stuff from Derrick May and Juan Atkins, which ignited the German techno scene in Berlin around the same time, also shaped trance. Listen to Rhythim Is Rhythim - Strings Of Life, from 1987, which is quite smooth, rolling, and repetitive.
4. The KLF. Okay, maybe acid house. But seriously, they deserve their own category.
I would be tempted to include house selections, but house really didn't affect trance until progressive house started crossing over in the early 90s. If anthing, it was trance that affected progressive house.
Last edited by Cobalt on Sep-12-2006 at 06:17
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