Originally posted by Mr Game+Watch
Well, I have been a trance fan since 1999 and hearing a copy of Oakenfold's GU New York. But after 2004 or so, things seemed to go a bit downhill with regards to the epic trance scene. Of course I was a biiiig fan of prog (which had its own problems and struggles around this time) as well... but 2005, 2006, etc I found myself being really bored with stuff like ASOT, the big DJ mix albums, and lacking favorite songs. Starting to get disillusioned with the genre - too many vocals, everything got extremely formulaic, lots of soul-less tech trance, excessive sidechains and farty electro bass...
...then I downloaded sets by Luke Fair and Add2Basket at random, started hanging out on TA more, downloaded various TA amateur mixes, and now don't even feel compelled to seek new trance out anymore. It's all about house and techno for me. Though I can still pop in a CD like "In Search Of Sunrise 2" or "Tranceport 3" and love the older sounds...
totally agree! love the old ISOS's and stuff, and now am way more into techno (loooove some dirty tech!!)
however, it does seem that EVERYONE (even in the Toronto thread) agrees on the timeline....that 2004 date keeps repeating itself as the year that it all went downhill. While I dont find it surprising, since I feel the same way about the date, people usually have different opinions, and I was a little taken aback by the overwhelming comments about 2004 being "the year." Seems everyone can agree on that. wonder what changed for everyone? :conf: :disbelief
phoenixBEBE
i dunno, i thought 2005 still had it...
Armin's YearMix 2005 is still one of the most enjoyable for me. that was a year of GREAT songs <3 Not to mention all the parties of 2005 (Armin's residency at Spirit which is when I really started appreciating him, Ferry parties, PVD was still good imo. I think Nu NRG was still around too, right?? WMC and Ultra that year...w00t!!!) It was still a GREAT TIME no doubt :toothless
Mr Game+Watch
Overall, in terms of dance music, I think 2005 was such a turning point in that it was really the breakout year for stuff like Ableton, Internet distribution, songs written in digital sequencers rather than analog equipment, netlabels getting popular, the rise of Beatport and iTunes, etc. The music followed the technology to a tee, ideas and genres spread around the world faster than light (compare: in 1999 when 2-step garage started in London, very few people outside the UK were familiar with it... a far-flung evolution of the garage sound, dubstep, which started hitting its stride around 2005 also was birthed in the urban UK, but spread rapidly worldwide. Burial is practically a household name among electronic music fans, but how many people remember MJ Cole or the Dreem Teem?).
The barrier to entry for both DJing and producing became much lower - it used to be that you needed to invest in CDJs, 1200's, vinyl, CD singles, and do stuff like manually learn how to adjust pitch... but now anybody even remotely interested in dance music can buy a $200 MIDI controller, download a Virtual DJ trial, download the Beatport Top 10 and make a mix. Hell, even I have done this (well all except the Beatport Top 10 part :P).
Netlabels made it so that any old song could get a distribution, rather than only the top of the heap, plugins made it easier for people to create a track, music theory, classical training, intimate knowledge of synthesizer technology not necessary. In the trance genre, for instance, the newest breed of producers grew up listening religiously to ASOT as a reference point, with little outside influence or knowledge of EDM history... so they create music that fits the ASOT template to a tee, emulate rather than innovate.
So, a lot of the old guard either embraced the technology (Sasha turning to Ableton was seen by the vinyl diehards as blasphemy) or died off. How many EDM DJs do you know that still exclusively use turntables? Very few... The reign of superstar DJs started to end, as club promoters realized that it wasn't that much trouble to get a laptop and some equipment and do a competent imitation of a big name, for much cheaper... New names popped up, promoting styles different from the usual house and trance (minimal and electro being the most noted).
Oh well, those are my thoughts at least :)
SYNthSRI
Neo has a point. Yes, this thread is about trance and it's sad state. Overall tho, Trance is just a sub genre of EDM in whole, which in around 2005, got an influx of "talent" which in turn washed out quality in favor of quantity. The amount of quality EDM in whole, from my perspective, seems less. Where I listened to trance from the mid 90s through, not really digging the tech/house scenes, now I am just opening up to things in search of a good track as opposed to a good Trance track. Again, this could just be growing older and finding things that fit this particular point and time.
BiG MiKE
2003 was the climax for Trance. Every Trance record that came out (especially by big artists) were flawless productions.
listen to ASOT episode 100. I try to listen to it often. All sets were amazing. Right when Harry Lemon was pwning everyone as well as Marco V. Such an amazing time period for me in terms of EDM.
euphoria
quote:
Originally posted by phoenixBEBE
i dunno, i thought 2005 still had it...
Armin's YearMix 2005 is still one of the most enjoyable for me. that was a year of GREAT songs <3 Not to mention all the parties of 2005 (Armin's residency at Spirit which is when I really started appreciating him, Ferry parties, PVD was still good imo. I think Nu NRG was still around too, right?? WMC and Ultra that year...w00t!!!) It was still a GREAT TIME no doubt :toothless
I agree 2005 was a good year for releases. Nu-NRG was still around in 2005, but not the year after that. Ferry dropped some good tracks, but then again... he usually does. The PVD part I am going to have to disagree on, it was 2004 for me.
yankeeBaby
quote:
Originally posted by euphoria
I agree 2005 was a good year for releases. Nu-NRG was still around in 2005, but not the year after that. Ferry dropped some good tracks, but then again... he usually does. The PVD part I am going to have to disagree on, it was 2004 for me.
mmm Super 8 and DJ Tab had some BOMB songs in 2005. (Uhhhh Helsinski Scortchin!!!! I can only HOPE someone plays this track at a classics night....ZOMG TOTALL CHOOOON!!!)
:eyespop: :crazy: ^^this tune is one the same level as Burak hearing Lethal Industry for the first time....think about it. ;) :haha:
oh, and of COURSE when I started this thread, Ferry was automatically excluded. ;) the man is keeping my faith alive, singlehandedly!! :D :toocool:
euphoria
quote:
Originally posted by yankeeBaby
mmm Super 8 and DJ Tab had some BOMB songs in 2005. (Uhhhh Helsinski Scortchin!!!! I can only HOPE someone plays this track at a classics night....ZOMG TOTALL CHOOOON!!!)
:eyespop: :crazy: ^^this tune is one the same level as Burak hearing Lethal Industry for the first time....think about it. ;) :haha:
oh, and of COURSE when I started this thread, Ferry was automatically excluded. ;) the man is keeping my faith alive, singlehandedly!! :D :toocool:
You know im a total Super8 & Tab whore :D I'll tell ya what, if ur coming to Ali Wilson on 9/19 I'll play it for ya ;)
tknoxtc
Trance was cool when nobody knew who PVD was. Since trance is the gateway EDM to the most, every noob we encounter will worship AVB, Tiesto and PVD, and we end up hating ourselves for liking the same artists.
Commercial success of Trance attracted many unwanted producers/DJs just pumping out these mediocre tracks. They just cling onto the proven formula and make tracks that sound exactly the same. I can't feel the music or the emotion. They all sound generic these days.
I was listening to the Northern exposure series the other day and these sound very similar to what techno DJs play today. It's been more than 10 years! Is EDM as a genre, stuck?
As for the DJs. Yes, it was cool back in the days when we flew them in from Europe and it felt special. They felt special themselves and brought their A games. It was still underground movement and only the ones who knew about it showed up. Now, do we feel speical and underground when everyones cousin is showing up at these events?
And these super star DJs. 99% of them fell into the trap and became business men. They alll send me e-mail asking me to vote for them on DJ mag. They all have their own radio show pushing tracks from their own lables. They all have this crazy tour schedule that makes me wonder when they will find time to work on their sets.
I hope what happended to Disco happens to Trance QUICK. So we can go underground and let the new breeds of producers and DJs get creative once again.
kadomony
this is what i was talkin about earlier:
a current production with the quality of the past. :D
Leon
:eyes: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
yankeeBaby
quote:
Originally posted by euphoria
You know im a total Super8 & Tab whore :D I'll tell ya what, if ur coming to Ali Wilson on 9/19 I'll play it for ya ;)
