and these are from 2010 and beyond (random picks from top tracks of the year lists):
seriously, what the happened? chem trails? fluoride in the water?
am i getting old or is this music seriously bad. where did the good music go? someone please help me
72hrpartyanimal
afrojack and guetta happened
DJ RANN
quote:
Originally posted by 72hrpartyanimal
afrojack and guetta happened
And the Swedish Muppets, Aviiiciii (or whatever his name is), and the EC Twats, etc.
Go see the thread in the Production studio about 2012 being the resurgence of Trance - there's a whole discussion there about why EDM, especially House and Trance became so dumbed down and commercial (so douchebags could go clubbing once hiphop puked on itself and died as a club medium).
darthseph
If you want an answer that doesn't sound angry...
Here's the gist:
Underground artists started getting recognition for the work by more than underground venues. In the late 1990's, clubs focused on the Trance-vibe in music. Granted, there was this stupid mysticism about the millennium change, and trance's focus on uplifting and drawn-out structures fed this atmosphere well. Simultaneously, it also became easier to access the music with the rapid growth of the internet and the simpler distribution methods in the mid-2000's (aka the death of the record shop).
Coinciding with this death of the record shop, the resurgence of general trends in "house" (aka dance in the US) music from the early 1990's ala Real McCoy, 2 Unlimited and such, struck during the later 2000's. Specifically I'd point to the mid-2000's surge of "electro."
The focus on the "new synth" and simpler melodies began to skyrocket sales. The commercial market began taking notice of the former underground darling, and clubs started gearing up to draw in the masses as much as possible. I'll point out during this time as examples of how the sounds changed. Take Armin, in the mid-2000's he released Shivers, which in my honest opinion remains his best and most artistic album to date. The next album however complete rebuffed the prior's art and took off the focus on the darker sounds of where trance was headed prior during the Tech Trance surge.
Another example is BT's sound. The Legendary kid of trance vibes from the earlier years completely changed into a house rocker. ISCM, Movement in Still Life and Emotional Technology all point greatly to the slow transformation BT took with his sound. Luckily he's still really into experimentation with sound, which means his art is still very much alive.
Or better yet the idiocy of Sasha or Digweed tracks of the mid-2000's.
These 12 minute long tracks had no market focus and were so stripped back that even most DJs didn't play them other than on their radio shows. I can honestly say I never heard any of the mid-2000's Sasha track played in a venue.
Early on Trance simply did not focus on the mainstream sounds. In the wake of that market loss, Electro and House surged. In part, this fueled the wave for "success" oriented music in the EDM genres being focused on simple note based melodies, "farty" electro bass lines, and simpler kick & snare drum roll transitions.
Today, we've gotten worse. I'm sorry for those that love the in this genre, but "dubstep" appeared mashing the breakdowns of a Drum and Bass tracks with House / Electro sounds. The music became devoid of musicality in my honest opinion. It became an exercise in LFO tweaking, which is where it currently rests as a genre with the poster child of the genre somehow getting 5 Grammy nominations. (Don't forget that poster child happens to be an ex-Rock band member... who suddenly changed his sounds and now earned more mainstream recognition.)
Who can blame labels for becoming solely focused on the bottom line: sales. I can't blame them for washing the market with mediocrity when the market is more than willing to buy it. I don't blame an artist by the way, I blame the idiot's that began to market it to the masses and make a growing musical genre revert back to a simpler focus. Trance followed suit in order to try and stay 1) relevant and 2) profitable. Point in case - Sander van Doorn. So many posted him in the mid-2000's as the next possible #1 DJ, but he's fallen a might way from the successes of his rise to fame. The only sides that seem to hold itself to its heritage for Trance are Uplifting Trance and Tech Trance. Uplifting Trance unfortunately too often falls into the same old formula of pluck builds, and Tech can be too dark or to hard pounding for many to focus on.
I'm sure though that most people will see this reply and say TL:DR. That's fine, but I felt like i should answer you as a reasonable person with a reasonable answer.
By the way, that's not to say that there are not great artists in the genre, you just have to dig more to find them. I'm not too sure on your tastes, but David West still produces amazing stuff. Solarstone is another to check out, and I'd also recommend anything on the labels in my signature. Another outlet to check out is the Proton (say someone like Shingo Nakamura) and Silk Music label groups. Heck, even Neuroscience puts out some great stuff. The issue is none of the groups have the mass marketing teams behind them. The labels are fine like that though because they get to operate on their musical tastes without some overhead agenda. Trance and Progressive House are still out there in their own way and doing some great things. It's just that the most recognized names are most recognized by the people who vote for them. In today's world, it is often ran by the people who spend far too much time on Facebook and Social Network sites instead of going out and having fun trying to develop and hone their tastes.
junkproject
trance peaked and now it's the new disco.. that genre has been beat down by trance dj like avb in 2001. Electronica music itself is fine, its just trance that is on it's way out from the top of the edm music scene.
duskykid
OP: If I'm not mistaken, most if not all the tracks you posted as pre-2010 were not on track of the year lists. (Not to say they aren't great songs, Reynosa is one of my all time faves).
It wouldn't be fair to compare those pre-2010 tracks to those found on "Top tracks of 2011 list etc." I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is still plenty of good music around; you just won't find too them by picking randomly from top track compilations. You got to do a little more digging. :)
Also, thank you darthseph for a very thoughtful and informative reply.
jonmitz
quote:
Originally posted by duskykid
OP: If I'm not mistaken, most if not all the tracks you posted as pre-2010 were not on track of the year lists. (Not to say they aren't great songs, Reynosa is one of my all time faves).
It wouldn't be fair to compare those pre-2010 tracks to those found on "Top tracks of 2011 list etc." I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is still plenty of good music around; you just won't find too them by picking randomly from top track compilations. You got to do a little more digging. :)
Also, thank you darthseph for a very thoughtful and informative reply.
ya, wasn't a fair comparison... but that's not the only reason i posted the thread. i cant find any (many) trance songs past 2009 that i find even remotely interesting. i spend probably 5-10 hours each week on beatport/juno.
most of the artists i used to like don't produce, and lots of the labels have gone silent. do you have any recommendations?? :) there must be something I'm missing
quote:
I'm sorry for those that love the in this genre, but "dubstep" appeared mashing the breakdowns of a Drum and Bass tracks with House / Electro sounds
yea man, all dubstep is just garbage d&b/electro.. :p
