quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J I personally think it was too hard to make for it to become more widespread. The production quality of the music was very, very good for its day and the highly melodic nature of the music over a long period demanded a lot of compositional competence. Perhaps the music was simply too long, too grandiose- it outgrew itself. That Blue Amazon remix of the Lighthouse Family is seventeen minutes long. It's quite possible that producers just decided to simplify and shorten the music, bringing track lengths under ten minutes and not having so much happening in one track. I would like to see this kind of music back again, or at least an attempt to adopt its ethos into contemporary styles.

Hmm, I can see your point. The last thing a DJ would want to do is make a dull set and also the fact that those tracks had such lenght that kind of stripped a DJ out of making something dynamic.

Even today if one listens to classic such as "Sunblind" it's fairly notable how amazing and well produced songs of that era were - everything from a solid bassline to interesting twists that left the listener with a good impression. Today things are different and many of the clowns calling themselves producers use default sounds that follow along with software.

I'm open for epic-house track suggestions, except the BT-tracks you mentioned earlier, of course. Can't really recall of it was you or someone else that mentioned in a thread some time ago, something about a limited "Blue Amazon" vinyl which was only pressed in 50 copies world-wide.

I really love that Sasha EM until he throws down Your Loving Arms. I just don't feel like it fits at all.

quote:

Originally posted by Chimney I'm open for epic-house track suggestions, except the BT-tracks you mentioned earlier, of course. Can't really recall of it was you or someone else that mentioned in a thread some time ago, something about a limited "Blue Amazon" vinyl which was only pressed in 50 copies world-wide.

That was the full-length version of Paradise Regime. There's a two minute excerpt on their excellent album The Javelin, but the full version is incredibly rare. Sasha used it on that Essential Mix compilation I linked to earlier, which is the only place normal souls can hear it.

I know I'm being shameless, but if you want to check out some epic house, try the mixes in my sig. They're free and right there to download, where as most epic house singles or compilations are out of print and slightly fiddly to track down. As an introduction to the genre I think they're very good because they cover most of the notable names and tracks which you can track down yourself if you want the full versions.

___________________
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 That was the full-length version of Paradise Regime. There's a two minute excerpt on their excellent album The Javelin, but the full version is incredibly rare. Sasha used it on that Essential Mix compilation I linked to earlier, which is the only place normal souls can hear it. I know I'm being shameless, but if you want to check out some epic house, try the mixes in my sig. They're free and right there to download, where as most epic house singles or compilations are out of print and slightly fiddly to track down. As an introduction to the genre I think they're very good because they cover most of the notable names and tracks which you can track down yourself if you want the full versions.

I'll download the mixes as soon as I have the bandwith. Any idea how long the full version of "Paradise Regime" is? Checked out discogs but could only find the 2 min version which you talked about. No luck on finding the Lighthouse Family track either.

quote:

Originally posted by Chimney I'll download the mixes as soon as I have the bandwith. Any idea how long the full version of "Paradise Regime" is? Checked out discogs but could only find the 2 min version which you talked about. No luck on finding the Lighthouse Family track either.

Remix of Lighthouse Family -> http://www.discogs.com/release/84259

I'm not sure how long Paradise Regime is. Sasha plays it for about ten minutes, but mixes out. The vinyl is incredibly rare- it's not on Discogs. I've seen a photo of it on a website, but I can't even find the website anymore.

___________________
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/

Mixes like this show the utter superiority of 90s EDM compared to today. Sasha and Digweed during those times were in a league of their own. It's truly sad they'll never play stuff like this again, nor will music like this ever be produced.

That "Don't bring me down track" imo was the highlight of the mix along with the transitions into change and be as one. Truly a classic.

quote:

Originally posted by enydo I really love that Sasha EM until he throws down Your Loving Arms. I just don't feel like it fits at all.

Blasphemy.

Just kidding, but the 2nd half of the mix was essentially a mostly epic house mix compared to the 1st half so I thought it fit in fine.

quote:

Originally posted by Nostalgic It's truly sad they'll never play stuff like this again, nor will music like this ever be produced.

I've learnt a lot of things go in cycles, I remember a thread earlier this year saying that nu-disco (or something) was gaining popularity. Give 20 or so years and maybe trance will be sound like it was made in the 90's

quote:

Originally posted by Nostalgic Mixes like this show the utter superiority of 90s EDM compared to today. Sasha and Digweed during those times were in a league of their own. It's truly sad they'll never play stuff like this again, nor will music like this ever be produced.

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J I would like to see this kind of music back again, or at least an attempt to adopt its ethos into contemporary styles.

quote:

Originally posted by Chimney Maybe it's time for someone to bring it back. Maybe we're mature now and able to revive a lost sound.

These things have been said so many times on so many threads about the old prog and epic house...

Today I listened to sets of the stuff for hours: SYSTEM-J's epic house mixes and Progressive '93, the Digweed mix from this thread, a couple of old Sasha mixes, and the Courtyard mixes recently posted by samuellamont in DJ Promotion -- and of course it gave me the same exhilarating feelings that it always does. When I stopped listening, though, I felt kind of sad that most of the people here who really love this music also seem to think that it's gone for good, or at least extremely unlikely to return anytime soon.

The first time I ever wanted to make electronic music is when I heard the synths in Bedrock's "For What You Dream Of." This stuff is what inspired me to get into production in the first place. I've wandered through a lot of different territory since then, but now I'm feeling very much drawn back to my original inspiration. So I've made a resolution: from now until the end of 2009 I'm going to devote most of my production time and resources to making the kind of lush, synth-rich, melodic dance music that we prog and epic house lovers enjoy. Stuff in the spirit of '90s Bedrock and Quivver and Humate and Spooky and the other artists featured in the mixes I talked about above.

I don't have enormous musical talent, but I think I do have some and I certainly have the passion that will drive me to put in lots of hard work. I hope that by the end of next year I'll have produced at least a track or two that can inspire the same kind of feelings as those old tracks we always talk about. Right now I can think of no kind of music that would give me more pleasure to create.

Stay tuned I suppose.

Why not just work some of those older gems into more "modern" sounding sets? I know it can be done if you go about it properly, and if I had high quality versions of a lot of these tracks I know I'd throw them down with techno / tech-house / whatever. Of course, I know not everyone is of that opinion.

quote:

Originally posted by enydo Why not just work some of those older gems into more "modern" sounding sets?

Because I'm not a DJ. Never have been.

Certainly I'd encourage any DJ who loves this sound and also plays lots of more recent stuff to do that...