quote:

Originally posted by Cobalt Well, it's no one's fault, really. The progression of genres makes natural sense...

I don't see it that way. I see two reasons why dance music is now much more slow and much less emotional.

Ecstacy has been steadily watered down and now you have what's described as the "sleepy E" or whatever. Additionally, there's much more consumption of K (I'll never get my head around people taking a tranquiliser to dance with). As a result, less people have the stamina or the appetite for fast, energetic dance music.

Emotional emphasis in music, particularly towards the "euphoric", is associated (as you say) with 90s dance culture: superclubs, superstar DJs, glowsticks, smilies. All that was ruthlessly killed off in the aftermath of the "Death of Dance Music" as the scene reinvented itself with an emphasis on distance from what had previously defined it. It's seen as dated, uncool, regressive etc.

I think there will be a revival, regardless of the drugs, because I know for a fact there's a lot of people thoroughly sick with the new face of dance music and its bullshit revisionism.

___________________
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 Ecstacy has been steadily watered down and now you have what's described as the "sleepy E" or whatever. Additionally, there's much more consumption of K (I'll never get my head around people taking a tranquiliser to dance with). As a result, less people have the stamina or the appetite for fast, energetic dance music.

I think this isn't as much of an issue as people make it out to be. I was at a hardhouse night a few weeks ago and fuck, I haven't done much clubbing or anything but the way the main room was going off you'd think it was 98/99.

I think the problem is a lot of people take dance music too seriously, at the moment it's cool to say trance is moronic, generic, cheesy and what not, but it was, is and always has been music to have fun and dance to, not critically analyse etc.

I think that the energy fell off as the framework of the scene (production, getting "signed" to labels, promoting and organizing events, marketing and selling albums and compilations, etc.) became more professionalized, regulated, and infused with a business-like mentality. I don't know if the two are directly related, but I think there's at least a correlation.

quote:

Originally posted by Jono404 I think this isn't as much of an issue as people make it out to be. I was at a hardhouse night a few weeks ago and fuck, I haven't done much clubbing or anything but the way the main room was going off you'd think it was 98/99. I think the problem is a lot of people take dance music too seriously, at the moment it's cool to say trance is moronic, generic, cheesy and what not, but it was, is and always has been music to have fun and dance to, not critically analyse etc.

I don't take drugs myself, and even if I did I'd have to have taken them while clubbing for 18 years to be in a first-hand position to say what their relationship to music has been, but from what I've read and been told, it's certainly a factor.

It's a bit sad that this scene is so strongly linked to illegal substances, and that major stylistic shifts can be down to what people are getting fucked on, but it'd be naive to ignore it.

___________________
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/

So does anyone have a link to the Shanghai set?

This set was awesome, but my favorite out of all the oakey's 99 EM is the one at liverpool university.

___________________

quote:

[11:58] Bas //: fuck he's hot

http://westoceandjsets.com/07-trance.html
Should contain almost all of his 99 tour mixes

quote:

Originally posted by Cobalt Even if the music justified it, going mental to a set is uncool these days. You don't want to sound like some gushy '99 trance kid, do you? I agree, a shame. We're due for a change.

Thats unfortunate. You should come to a trance party in Toronto. We feed off each other's energy, and make sure our hands our pressed to the ceiling.

I didn't even realize how much I missed this type of music until I started re-listening to these sets.. I do like minimal and slower house/prog, but this type of music is my first love and it's always nice to go back and listen to it.

Hopefully the trend will be towards faster, more melodic trance..

quote:

Originally posted by Jono404 I think this isn't as much of an issue as people make it out to be. I was at a hardhouse night a few weeks ago and fuck, I haven't done much clubbing or anything but the way the main room was going off you'd think it was 98/99.

hard dance nights generally have a much better atmosphere to them than most; it's carefree music that doesn't give a fuck about staying cool or moving with the times, hence it attracts carefree clubbers that will still gladly dress up in cyber, get massively wasted & go mental to anything with a beat...

the problem is, as soon as you start slowing the music down & trying to make it sound more 'intelligent', scenes get divided. a once unified collective of fans will invariably end up splitting into the trend-hoppers, the elitists, those who try & champion the old sounds, those that will cluelessly go mad for anything popular & those who end up quitting because they 'don't like the way things have gone'... hard dance seems largely exempt from that

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J Ecstacy has been steadily watered down and now you have what's described as the "sleepy E" or whatever. Additionally, there's much more consumption of K (I'll never get my head around people taking a tranquiliser to dance with). As a result, less people have the stamina or the appetite for fast, energetic dance music.

hm, i'm not sure i agree with this. i've taken pure mdma a few times (in capsules) and whilst it hit alot stronger than a typical pill it didn't feel like a particularly dancey drug; i felt more enclined to mong out in the chillout area with my head on someone's shoulder. so from that (albeit limited) perspective i can't see how stronger pills would result in people more inclined to dance (unless pills were more likely to be cut with speed 'back then')


K is more of an afterparty drug.. you generally only get a few fuckups attempting to dance on it (yes, i'll admit to once being one of those fuckups in the past )

quote:

Originally posted by isoterra K is more of an afterparty drug.. you generally only get a few fuckups attempting to dance on it (yes, i'll admit to once being one of those fuckups in the past )

Mixmag ran an article not too long ago about the proliferation of K as a clubbing drug. I can't get my head round it, but apparently it is popular on dancefloors, particularly in some scenes.

About the E thing, based on anecdotal evidence, some people say completely the opposite to you. That's drugs for you, I guess.

___________________
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/