Hi Guys,

I'd like to join the conversation here as it's a great debate.
Every human being has subjective views that are personal to them, my previous greatest Trance track was completely overlooked and miss understood, but to me it hit the nail on the head to what is my take personal take on the essence of Trance, especially as I saw first hand what it did to dance floors each week. Others will have a completely different choice, there is no right or wrong.
Here's the track:



I've been known to have the odd rant now and then, but that is when I was in a frustrated lost place due to not being able to find the music I wanted. I've learnt by venting words doesn't make this music appear, it just makes people talk about it, and usually reminisce about old times. So I now take action. There's constant talk about the lack of serious Trance, this doesn't exactly encourage producers to get in the studio to make this style thinking it's a style that no one wants, especially in the current climate of people following 'trends' set by A lists.
Yes recently I've been openly saying positive things about the more serious side of Trance becoming more active, because I'm personally seeing it due to being one of the rare DJ’s that supports. It's surprising how many producers get motivated when a well know DJ speaks out supporting the more underground scene, especially at a time when you feel you're swimming upstream against the masses, it can be a lonely place I've been to many times.

I’ve never sold my dignity and will always stay true to what I believe in musically, though this can often be a frustrating journey not being able to find the music that I need. Psy has been a faithful friend over the past decade filling a musical void in the harder parts of my sets, but not a perfect fit, especially with this world starting to fall victim of fashion and starting to sound ‘samish’ like its all coming from the same studio. My recent sets and radio shows reflect this, with me playing less.

So what is next for Trance? Do I lose my faith, keep quiet and watch the commercial machines continue to control their monopoly. It would be easy for me to jump ship to something more mainstream and enjoy the finical rewards, but I’ve been with Trance since it was born in the early 90’s and have faith in its ever evolving sound..yes things have got stale in the past few years, but as history shows, Trance will come through again and I’m seeing the very same signs that I’ve seen previously.

John


Re a comment regarding JOOF releases, JOOF tracks are not meant to be memorable they are DJs tools aimed squarely for the dance floor and not for radio. That's always been my ethos, being a traditional DJ.

quote:

Originally posted by Light The Fuse i simply enjoy it for the fact that its here, i enjoy it and its a new to me. gotta live in the now man.

I think that's a strange thing to say when you've made a thread called "Good old fashioned trance". For me, "living in the now" means moving on from trying to find "good old fashioned trance" with modern production and actually embrace all the great club music being made. I'll still go see J00F because he's a fantastic DJ, and artists like Cosmithex and Solar Fields are still world class, but I've given up scraping around on Beatport for the one half decent track out of every 100.

___________________
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 Euforix I definitely am one of those who think trance music mainly lived during 91-95. When reading through this thread, I just get more convinced that not just trance music "is dead", but it would also be pointless to have it "living". There simply is no use.

91-95? As one of those who actually listened to Trance back then IMO only 1994 could pass for "living".

___________________

Longest (classic) Trance playlist on YouTube (5000 tracks released up to and including 1997), click here

quote:

Originally posted by kosmotika Well, let's not kid ourselves now...afterall, this is a real thing: That is by far the shittiest thing I've ever owned. A gabber christmas album.

By Ferry Corsten at the time Thunderdome already peaked when I remember correctly, I don't think this had a lot of influence:

http://www.discogs.com/DJ-Sno-White...release/1813979

___________________

Longest (classic) Trance playlist on YouTube (5000 tracks released up to and including 1997), click here

quote:

Originally posted by John 00 Fleming Re a comment regarding JOOF releases, JOOF tracks are not meant to be memorable they are DJs tools aimed squarely for the dance floor and not for radio. That's always been my ethos, being a traditional DJ.

Well I didn't mean to take a shit on you if that's how it came off, I follow JOOF closely...but yeah I'm just a listener who likes Trance, so I shouldn't talk. I look forward to your releases the most as I never expect what you'll put out, but many others find a comfort zone.I like how more heavy Techno is being released and Breaks as well, are there plans to do any kind of downtempo/chill out thing? Thanks for bringing Platipus back too.


Come to Chicago!

___________________
Help me ID these sets:
Sasha - Live @ Logic, Santa Monica, CA 12-21-97 - Groove 103.1 FM
John Digweed - Live @ Axis, Boston 28-07-1997



Old & New Electronic Music Channel
Soundcloud Mixes

Last edited by Syntonic on Apr-13-2014 at 16:28

quote:

Originally posted by John 00 Fleming Hi Guys, I'd like to join the conversation here as it's a great debate. Every human being has subjective views that are personal to them, my previous greatest Trance track was completely overlooked and miss understood, but to me it hit the nail on the head to what is my take personal take on the essence of Trance, especially as I saw first hand what it did to dance floors each week. Others will have a completely different choice, there is no right or wrong. Here's the track: I've been known to have the odd rant now and then, but that is when I was in a frustrated lost place due to not being able to find the music I wanted. I've learnt by venting words doesn't make this music appear, it just makes people talk about it, and usually reminisce about old times. So I now take action. There's constant talk about the lack of serious Trance, this doesn't exactly encourage producers to get in the studio to make this style thinking it's a style that no one wants, especially in the current climate of people following 'trends' set by A lists. Yes recently I've been openly saying positive things about the more serious side of Trance becoming more active, because I'm personally seeing it due to being one of the rare DJ’s that supports. It's surprising how many producers get motivated when a well know DJ speaks out supporting the more underground scene, especially at a time when you feel you're swimming upstream against the masses, it can be a lonely place I've been to many times. I’ve never sold my dignity and will always stay true to what I believe in musically, though this can often be a frustrating journey not being able to find the music that I need. Psy has been a faithful friend over the past decade filling a musical void in the harder parts of my sets, but not a perfect fit, especially with this world starting to fall victim of fashion and starting to sound ‘samish’ like its all coming from the same studio. My recent sets and radio shows reflect this, with me playing less. So what is next for Trance? Do I lose my faith, keep quiet and watch the commercial machines continue to control their monopoly. It would be easy for me to jump ship to something more mainstream and enjoy the finical rewards, but I’ve been with Trance since it was born in the early 90’s and have faith in its ever evolving sound..yes things have got stale in the past few years, but as history shows, Trance will come through again and I’m seeing the very same signs that I’ve seen previously. John Re a comment regarding JOOF releases, JOOF tracks are not meant to be memorable they are DJs tools aimed squarely for the dance floor and not for radio. That's always been my ethos, being a traditional DJ.

Those metallic synths in the beginning are really otherworldly! Glad it's a progressive tune that actually progresses somewhere...lots of progressive stuff nowdays just kind of relapses to the same thing frm the beginning, which is completely the opposite of progressive.
I don't think I could ever say with all the subgenres out there what is the definitive representation of trance.
As for the push for serious noncommercial producers, I think it's great that you're a strong supporter of it. For every movement, there will be a counter movement as history has shown, and I suppose that is what we are a part of.
I've definitely noticed that about psytrance, I went to see a Cosmic E.G.G. show, 4 hours long and it was mostly just tracks with the same kick / double offbeat bass / occasional squelchy noises the entire time. I remember psytrance having a bit of well...trance in it.
I agree 100% with that last bit, these newer styles are just fads; flavors of the week...they come and go, but the traditional sounds of trance remain forever embedded in the hearts and minds of the fans...even a hardstyle dj I went to see played a trance classics set recently! Lost it when he dropped a Tandu track in there...
There's still a lot of love for the real trance sound, not much love involved for the newer stuff...not in listening to it and certainly not in making it. People will become tired of hollow music that all sounds the same. I believe that's why "purists" for lack of a better word, will come out on top in the end.

___________________
Elitist and smalltime label owner
PM me your oldschool style trance tunes for potential worldwide digital releasing and free mastering!
RIP Little Jam, DJ Energy, Tillmann Uhrmacher & Gary D

Maybe nice to post here, today Airwave and Kay Cee at Airwave's Facebook page:

Airwave:

quote:

Have a nice weekend my friends. I think we have reached a big turning point in the Trance scene. This is its second split some of us have been waiting for. We had that in the late 90's when Trance was cluttered with vocal and commercial records (which I respect though, no offence here) and the elite guild left the boat creating a league of their own, better or worse, who are we to judge… We have this happening again with the strong rise of underground trance next to the rise of a slightly bit more accessible progressive house. And it happens for the same reason, as people of our generation discover themselves more and more, find their homes in terms of art, know at least what they don't like and distanciate themselves from that because they stop wasting their time ranting about it. I tend to think my fans and I have this concrete and strong yet invisible link with each other, and every single day comforts me into this state of mind. One step at a time, you and I have built this incredible relationship. That's why I'm sharing my thoughts with you. In a society that teaches us how to get rich and famous but not how to get together to address the main issues and the cancers of our mankind, the only logical move I can do is to always treat you with respect and gratitude, as it's where we all should start, because I know that at the end of the day, some of you will always be there and make sure that I can keep doing what I am supposed to do on this planet, just like I'll do with some of you as well. Some of you literally feed my little kids, and they don't even realize it. So thank you for being so supportive, and thanks for them. Thank the other fans, the enthusiasts, and everyone else who keeps the true spirit of music alive.

Kay Cee:

quote:

Wow. Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts Laurent! You are one of my top favorite electronic artists since the 90s and you have never disappointed. Yes, never my 2 cents in here is that, imo, it is the american society that teaches the world how to put aside passion and certain values for the sake of being rich and famous. Europe doesn't have this kind of pop culture. The EDM scene as a whole, imo, started changing drastically when some DJs decided to conquer the american market and adapt their business strategies to that market. Of course, even in USA there are people who feel truly passionate about electronic music, but the way i see it, they are a minority. I am so happy that the Underground Trance is so strong and on the rise. For example John 00 Fleming is doing an absolutely fantastic job with his show, promoting the best music from the Underground, whether it's Trance, Breaks, Techno, Housey stuff or PsyTrance. I can't wait for the day when this commercial tsunami will leave the EDM scene for good

___________________

Longest (classic) Trance playlist on YouTube (5000 tracks released up to and including 1997), click here

As an american, I can say that is a completely accurate analysis by Kay Cee (Didn't know they were still around! Good news!)
That is exactly how it works. It's like Tiesto forgot all about how he was the ONLY trance producer/DJ that has EVER had ANYTHING to do with the olympics, let alone being someone who plays during the parade of nations. He got a whiff of the american cash cow, started working with mainstream vocalists and rappers and all of a sudden we get this corny, rehashed earsplitting electro crap he puts out nowdays.
He used to have entire arenas of people from all walks of life screaming his name...what does he get now I wonder?
We've always had some commercial acts in the trance scene, but it was still trance through and through, and these were groups that did have the potential to make an amazing tune.

Track is actually IVD's remix of "The One" not "Forever" btw
But this shit now, what could you even call this? It's not even "guilty pleasure" music like commercial trance was back then. It's just formulaic garbage spat out at the speed of light by money grubbing hacks.
Fucking Armin van Buuren man, if we got rid of that one guy, you'd see the ENTIRE electronic music scene change for the better. His Armada label has effectively destroyed trance, house, techno, progressive, etc. I wouldn't sign to that label or any of its subs even if every song I ever made would be a guaranteed hit.
Doesn't help that the guy is an arrogant fucking prick who thinks he's the messiah of electronic music and some sort of philosopher who constantly talks out his ass. God damn, I hate that guy. I'll respect a producer that makes a crap tune so long as he makes it with integrity. Armin is the only guy I will ever rip on because of the way he has completely bastardized nearly every form of *grits teeth* "ee dee emm."
Hell, even back in the day, the commercial stuff was only successful because people cared enough to buy the music and DJs would spin it...now it's just shoved down your throat. If record shops were still the main source of buying music, imagine going into a store and having some guy come up to you right as soon as you get in the doors holding a bunch of shitty Armada records, blocking your path until you've gone through each and every thing in their catalogue.
This is how the digital market works, you have to wade through all this forced crap to be able to even see anything that isn't buried under the pile of garbage which is commercialized electro-nonsense. Smaller artists and labels never have a shot. Absolutely hate that. There's good tunes out there no doubt but we'll never notice them because we're constantly being force fed these horrible, awful songs.

___________________
Elitist and smalltime label owner
PM me your oldschool style trance tunes for potential worldwide digital releasing and free mastering!
RIP Little Jam, DJ Energy, Tillmann Uhrmacher & Gary D

Last edited by kosmotika on Apr-13-2014 at 20:37

quote:

Originally posted by Syntonic Well I didn't mean to take a shit on you if that's how it came off, I follow JOOF closely...but yeah I'm just a listener who likes Trance, so I shouldn't talk. I look forward to your releases the most as I never expect what you'll put out, but many others find a comfort zone.I like how more heavy Techno is being released and Breaks as well, are there plans to do any kind of downtempo/chill out thing? Thanks for bringing Platipus back too. Come to Chicago!

It didn't come across that way at all don't worry, I like to clarify what the ethos of the label is all about, we're not a hit making factory.

When Trance was born, it was along side Techno so I always see the two as being related. The two work well together as Olive Lieb proved, and I'm finding more tracks like this today, history repeating itself?

Saving Platipus was a long journey that you must also thank the team from Bonzai and Airwave. Simon seems really motivated at the moment with new music arriving as we speak

i think the biggest thing that jumps out at me when i listen to the modern tunes in this thread compared to older songs is really just the different approach to production today's artists take.

i tend to find a lot of newer stuff over processed and that's why i'm not a big fan of it, but what are you gonna do right?

You don't have to kill Armin Kosmotika, the ASOT guard is basically just fighting over scraps now.

I went to a big ASOT gig earlier this year, and what I found there was mostly a bunch of 35+ year old manchildren, possibly dragged along by their much younger girlfriends or maybe they are people of the trance-M type, I don't know. Point is they were just standing around in an XTC daze doing things that don't involve dancing. They get fewer people each year as well, it's dying.

The DJ's running armada are a bunch of dinosaurs who have no clue on how to make people dance any more, they've done a stellar job milking all the reputation their marketing teams managed to scrap up for them but they're running out of people to fool. They've done eastern Europe and Asia now. The US may well sustain them for a while longer, but in Europe things are changing rapidly.
Techno is booming and attracting hordes of young people, and the current sound of techno is pretty damn old-school. It wouldn't surprise me if we're indeed going trough the motions again. We've got the big silly rave music of today going on in the house scene with the whole dubstep- electro- hardstyle-house movement paired with gritty straight-forward techno in the more underground establishments.
Trance lurks somewhere in between, it's in the overlap, and people may well find it as they move in between the two extremes. But who knows eh?

___________________
Mixes: Alaé (Conceptional ambient dub)
AOTSE (Experimental)

Listens:
http://www.last.fm/user/bierheld

quote:

Originally posted by Bierheld Techno is booming and attracting hordes of young people, and the current sound of techno is pretty damn old-school. It wouldn't surprise me if we're indeed going trough the motions again. We've got the big silly rave music of today going on in the house scene with the whole dubstep- electro- hardstyle-house movement paired with gritty straight-forward techno in the more underground establishments. Trance lurks somewhere in between, it's in the overlap, and people may well find it as they move in between the two extremes. But who knows eh?

I'd say the overlap is inhabited by the deep/garage house sound that's so big right now. It's populist and accessible enough for kids to like it but it retains enough classic house dancefloor universalism not to be written off by serious music fans. I know loads of people who never had any real interest in club music who are suddenly asking me if I can recommend them deep house DJs. And, of course, Rudimental and Disclosure have crossed over into the charts in a massive way. Trance music is completely off the radar by comparison. I doubt a lot of teenagers even know what "trance music" is supposed to mean nowadays.

___________________
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/