Cosmic Gate: Master of Zombie Trance
Half of Earthmover is "mcprog" or "zombie prog", and even the faster tunes are unlistenable garbage. I regret buying this, even though it was on ITunes for 10 clams.

Another nail in the trance coffin, eh?

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Originally posted by SYSTEM-J Is that "NC's in Love With Prog Mix"? I found that mix potentially interesting, but practically a load of gash due to a jaw-lockingly boring breakdown and shit percussion.

Yeah, that's the one. It's not a masterpiece, but for what it is it's a pretty flawless track imo. I like the percussion, kinda dirty sounding with that shuffled shakey thing. The vocals are ok, he used only a portion of them in this mix, fits the stripped down character of the track. Then what else do we have? That really simple brooding melody that is the essence of the track. If you like it as much as Nic Chagall does you do a 3 minute break with it. If you don't like it you might get bored. Personally i think it's great, it creates such a nice atmosphere and it's actually entrancing in it's repetitiveness. And the loooooong breakdown that ends up going absolutely nowhere is so deliberately anti-climatic it actually becomes cool.

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Originally posted by SMC And the loooooong breakdown that ends up going absolutely nowhere is so deliberately anti-climatic it actually becomes cool.

I can't see that perception applying to many people. You're basically admitting the breakdown is pointless- it adds no drama to the track and has no pay-off remotely in scale with itself. Cutting the momentum from the track for three minutes surely destroys the "entrancing" effect and it does nothing for the dancefloor.

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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/

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J I can't see that perception applying to many people. You're basically admitting the breakdown is pointless- it adds no drama to the track and has no pay-off remotely in scale with itself. Cutting the momentum from the track for three minutes surely destroys the "entrancing" effect and it does nothing for the dancefloor.

Well i don't think anything in music has an inherent "point". How the "pay-off" is perceived depends totally on what the listener expects/wants to hear. Personally i think this break creates a lot of suspense and is in a way the climax of the track. And i don't think it destroys the entrancing effect at all because, for me, the beat is not a requisite for something to be entrancing.

As for the dancefloor, i'm not sure, but honestly i don't care. Dancefloor potential is a secondary matter to me.

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Originally posted by SMC Well i don't think anything in music has an inherent "point".

I think everything in music has an inherent point. If the musician didn't have an effect in mind when he/she put something into a track, then all music is composed without direction.

___________________
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/

Never been a real fan of 'What You Need' thought it was just ok, but nothing mind blowing. But then again you gotta give Nick credit from making a huge transition from hard trance to prog.

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Originally posted by SYSTEM-J I think everything in music has an inherent point.

Then nothing can be pointless, as in "the breakdown is pointless".

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Originally posted by SMC Then nothing can be pointless, as in "the breakdown is pointless".

I've never said the breakdown was pointless- I took that from your post. The breakdown has a point, and it's judging how well that point is executed that gives us useful evaluation of music. Empirical examination of why NC put that breakdown there, considered against his other productions, leads me to believe it's just a poorly executed breakdown that doesn't fulfill the intended point.

___________________
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/

Is there any other kind?

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J I've never said the breakdown was pointless- I took that from your post. The breakdown has a point, and it's judging how well that point is executed that gives us useful evaluation of music. Empirical examination of why NC put that breakdown there, considered against his other productions, leads me to believe it's just a poorly executed breakdown that doesn't fulfill the intended point.

That is only relevant to your personal opinion of the track. You don't like it because of 'see above'. I have no problem with that, but don't make it sound like there is something objectively wrong with the track, which would imply i'm ignorant for not acknowledging it.

I didn't say the breakdown is pointless, i just said that it goes nowhere in a self-ironic kind of way. It was a way of describing what happens soundwise over a period of time with words that are not my own, so to speak. And as i have explained, i like that breakdown.

quote:

Originally posted by SMC I didn't say the breakdown is pointless, i just said that it goes nowhere in a self-ironic kind of way. It was a way of describing what happens soundwise over a period of time with words that are not my own, so to speak. And as i have explained, i like that breakdown.

Somehow, I can't imagine Nic being self-ironic, but we'd have to ask the man himself to know for sure.

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Everyone has an opinion. Mine just happens to be a little more informed than most.
Electronic Music Critic: Near-Daily Ruminations Of Music I Own, In Alphabetical Order!