Is Trance becoming a dirty word?

Ddisco · 17-12-2008 12:47AM #1

Seems to me that Trance has lost/is losing its credability with a lot of Dj's - any opionion's on this?

L1011 · 17-12-2008 12:57AM

Lost its credibility with a lot of DJs who either never played it, or have moved on.

People move on, there are new people replacing them all the time.

gsparx · 17-12-2008 01:39AM

it became a dirty word around 1999. people started sporting "trance sucks" t-shirts and the big names (oakenfold, sasha at al) started moving away from it.
it seemed to survive all that and the..."WORLD'S BEST DJ'S"....seem to spin trance. i suppose, because it can be the most accessible genre of dance music.
has it come full circle?

FruitLover · 17-12-2008 01:50AM

Ddisco wrote: »

Seems to me that Trance has lost/is losing its credability with a lot of Dj's - any opionion's on this?

I did about ten years ago, when trance started getting sh1t. I'll have to try to remember what they were now.

Executive Steve · 17-12-2008 11:27AM

jaysus, have you been in a coma since 1996?

17-12-2008 11:33AM

People will listen to mainstream ****e and that is and always has been dirty but there are still some very decent trance albums floating around if you are willing to look.

pallepille · 17-12-2008 11:45AM

gsparx wrote: »

it became a dirty word around 1999. people started sporting "trance sucks" t-shirts and the big names (oakenfold, sasha at al) started moving away from it.
it seemed to survive all that and the..."WORLD'S BEST DJ'S"....seem to spin trance. i suppose, because it can be the most accessible genre of dance music.
has it come full circle?

dont know about that tbh, oakenfold still drops some nasty trance bombs to this day, fcukin pants he is anyway. I do agree though, I think a lot of people initially get into the music through trance and then move away the more experienced/matured their taste gets. For me it started to sound samey quite quickly. All those 12 minute (well u know what mean) epics with their generic 4 minute breaks do feel quite monotonous after a period of time (did to me anyway).............Having said that though its still a thriving business and probably always will be (just as long as their is 16 year olds haha), as someone else said more people will always jump in where others left off. Personally i couldnt sit and listen to a full 80 minute trance mix with only like 11 tracks on it though.

pallepille · 17-12-2008 11:46AM

sorry bout the sh*tty quoting, dunno whats goin there

joker77 · 17-12-2008 12:03PM

FruitLover wrote: »

I did about ten years ago, when trance started getting sh1t. I'll have to try to remember what they were now.

+1

[cm]tyranny wrote: »

jaysus, have you been in a coma since 1996?

+1

I used to love trance music, stuff on Platipus records from the UK (Union Jack - 2 Full Moons and a Trout And Art of Trance - Gloria), Eye-Q records from Germany (Cygnus X, Earth Nation, Odyssee Of Noises), Visions of Shiva, some of the Reactivate albums, all that stuff.

Such a shame that it was hi-jacked into the sh*te that followed

hottstuff · 17-12-2008 12:15PM

Agreed , i stopped playing trance back in 98.
Most Clubbers hate trance IMO.

17-12-2008 12:55PM

are people here saying that there is no good trance around now?

joker77 · 17-12-2008 12:59PM

Jay D wrote: »

are people here saying that there is no good trance around now?

I stopped listening to it a long time ago, so wouldn't know.

Are you saying there is? Post up a youtube clip of something if you are

pallepille · 17-12-2008 01:08PM

Jay D wrote: »

are people here saying that there is no good trance around now?

i personally dont thinks its just as simple as that, what i mean is trance like a lot of other genre's isnt just black and white, there are sub-genre's of sub-genre's if you know what i mean. If your talkin about epic stadium trance then for me absolutely not the next one is as bad as the last, however i do know there is some more techier edged stuff out there now and even some more proggy stuff that wouldnt be quite as blatantly obvious and could grab my attention a lil bit more (doubt id ever play it tho), hell even deadmau5's stuff was being classed as electro-trance at one stage i think. So to just say no there is no good trance at all whatsoever is a pretty broad statement to make if ya get me, just my opinion tho.

Ddisco · 17-12-2008 02:09PM

[cm]tyranny wrote: »

jaysus, have you been in a coma since 1996?

Lol - one up for you!!

The missus might agree with you! I would agree that its popularity comes and go's - and has come full circle again to complete rubbish.

seannash · 17-12-2008 02:19PM

Ddisco wrote: »

Lol - one up for you!!

The missus might agree with you! I would agree that its popularity comes and go's - and has come full circle again to complete rubbish.

seems like the perfect time to swoop in with a link ha ha ha ha

http://www.zshare.net/audio/5273774517bb528a/

now i dont particularly like trance anymore but i did this for a friend of mine,
not proud of it but he liked it:D

L1011 · 17-12-2008 04:02PM

hottstuff wrote: »

Agreed , i stopped playing trance back in 98.
Most Clubbers hate trance IMO.

You think "most clubbers hate trance" because people you associate with hate trance. I'd suspect if you added up the attendences at trance events in Dublin this year they'd outnumber any individual other genre. Nationwide you'd have two mostly trance festivals - PLSS and Reincarnation - to factor in too.

If I take the same approach, "most clubbers despise house", because people I associate with usually can't stand it.

SteveDon · 17-12-2008 04:43PM

All the old classics have some charm, reminds me of ibiza uncovered on sky one, never played trance as a dj tho, in my opinion its a very one dimensional genre and in comparison to all the techno/minimal/house songs out there now the production of trance music is very lackluster and univentive when compared to these genres. Also playing trance limits you to only trance really considering most of the songs (well atleast they used to be) where produced at about 140 bpm or so, so it doesnt really work in a mix if you are crossing genres. The circles i hang around with depise trance and it is indeed a dirty word, I remember going to play a set one night and the promotor asked me what kind of tunes ill be playing, i jokingly said trance and his face went as white as a ghost only for him to wipe his brow in relief when i told him i was messing! I was just looking through the beatport top ten of trance there to see if i was wrong, but it has only reaffirmed my opinion that trance is a dead end genre, really utter ****e being released these days...

kilmovee · 17-12-2008 07:38PM

And the promoters face lit up when you told him you were playing Hi Nrg disco

pallepille · 17-12-2008 07:40PM

kilmovee wrote: »

And the promoters face lit up when you told him you were playing Hi Nrg disco

hahaha,, nah r&b followed by scousehouse, get in there hehehe

DarkJager · 17-12-2008 08:21PM

I don't agree that Trance is a dead genre, in fact far from it. It has unfortunately been taken on as a genre for the scumbag subset in this country which has tarnished its name. However, people who subscribe to the school of thought that "it must be **** if the scummers like it", are seriously missing out on what real trance is.

Real trance isn't about what tune tiesto is putting out next, its not about the sped up **** that parades itself as trance when it couldn't be further away, its not about the people who listen to it and what they do. Real trance is that track that hypnotizes you for 5-6 minutes, taking you somewhere different if only for a short length of time and leaving you feeling something. That sort of feeling has not been produced by anything the usual turdmeisters of commericalism have released...

If I was to point to one label today that I could say is the definition of how trance should be, it would have to be Anjunabeats. The variety of styles & talent of the producers (Super8 & DJ Tab, Daniel Kandi, Boom Jinx, etc) on their label have resulted in some of the most consistently brilliant trance releases over the past few years. See example below - thats trance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0JBVaHgfEc

So yeah lads, if the first act that springs to mind when you think of trance is Tiesto ,then you have already made up your mind of what trance is and probably won't give the due attention to the genre. But as I've said above, Tiesto is not the true side of trance, and if you just look a little deeper in the genre, I'll guarantee you will find a few tracks that will just grab you and won't let go.

In Trance We Trust

joker77 · 17-12-2008 08:33PM

Had a listen to that track, and it confirmed what I thought.

The 'trance' of today is nothing like what it was mid-90s. It's an almost completely different genre if you ask me.

If I had to label that, I'd call it some kind of Euro-dance. Not my bag. I hate that sound - big breakdown, hi-pitched keys + crescendo drumroll, girl singing over it. It's pretty formulaic and not hard to knock out ten-a-penny - that's why there's so much bad stuff out there and why a lot of house / techno people would steer well clear of modern day 'trance' (or as I say Euro-dance to me).

To me, that sounds nothing like the trance music that I was into years ago.

So to finish - if the OP is asking is trance a dirty word - if it's anything like that track just posted then a big YES from me.

DarkJager · 17-12-2008 08:54PM

joker77 wrote: »

Had a listen to that track, and it confirmed what I thought.

The 'trance' of today is nothing like what it was mid-90s. It's an almost completely different genre if you ask me.

If I had to label that, I'd call it some kind of Euro-dance. Not my bag. I hate that sound - big breakdown, hi-pitched keys + crescendo drumroll, girl singing over it. It's pretty formulaic and not hard to knock out ten-a-penny - that's why there's so much bad stuff out there and why a lot of house / techno people would steer well clear of modern day 'trance' (or as I say Euro-dance to me).

To me, that sounds nothing like the trance music that I was into years ago.

So to finish - if the OP is asking is trance a dirty word - if it's anything like that track just posted then a big YES from me.

Thats exactly the flaw in your agruement. You are looking for todays trance to sound like it did back whenever you were listening to it. If you understand music, you understand it evolves?

As for knocking that track, it might not be your cup of tea but it certainly is not "bad". What genre exactly do you listen to? And sorry to piss on your parade buddy, but that is no way shape or form "Euro Dance". Nowhere near it and never will be in a million years.

Jev/N · 17-12-2008 09:01PM

For the record, I don't play trance anymore but I used to for a good few years....
I love the way everyone here thinks they're the height of coolness because they realised trance wasn't cool 10 years ago or 15 years ago...musical snobbery is hilarious like that, people think they're the **** for having not liked something before that was the general consensus. There were people who were laughing at you when you listened to trance because they never liked trance and always thought it was **** :rolleyes:

DarkJager · 17-12-2008 09:05PM

And funnily enough, its always the techno & house fans that I hear ripping into Trance - shame really that they can't see their own genres have their fair share of insufferable ****. Ah well, musical nazis will always be musical nazis- the rest of us can just enjoy what they miss out on.

joker77 · 17-12-2008 09:08PM

DarkJager wrote: »

Thats exactly the flaw in your agruement. You are looking for todays trance to sound like it did back whenever you were listening to it. If you understand music, you understand it evolves?

As for knocking that track, it might not be your cup of tea but it certainly is not "bad". What genre exactly do you listen to? And sorry to piss on your parade buddy, but that is no way shape or form "Euro Dance". Nowhere near it and never will be in a million years.

ha ha ha - jaysus keep your shirt on there chief!

You're right - music evolves, and in general most genres that come under the terms Dance & Electronic have evolved. But in my opinion 'trance' has not - if anything it's become more formulaic, and more stagnant.

When you say it's certainly not "bad", I never actually said it was bad, I said it wasn't my bag and I hate that overall sound. Given that I listed the reasons why I didn't like it and you could not come back with anything to the contrary, ok, I'll go so far as to say I think that it's bad. Poor quality music and forumlaic. Ok? (yes in respect to trance - formulaic is my word of the day :cool:)

P*ssing on my parade? Hardly - I'm open-minded enough to have actually listened to the track. And yes, in my opinion it's not trance, I don't know how to label it exactly but it would definitely be prepended with the word 'Euro'!

What genre do I listen to? Anything except trance!

Nah seriously, I'll give anything a listen, but in terms of electronic music I'd mostly listen to tech-house, techno, minimal, house, deep house, a little bit of progressive (used to listen to it a lot more), etc etc.
Those pidgeon holes of a particular genre don't fit me

joker77 · 17-12-2008 09:12PM

Jev/N wrote: »

For the record, I don't play trance anymore but I used to for a good few years....
I love the way everyone here thinks they're the height of coolness because they realised trance wasn't cool 10 years ago or 15 years ago...musical snobbery is hilarious like that, people think they're the **** for having not liked something before that was the general consensus. There were people who were laughing at you when you listened to trance because they never liked trance and always thought it was **** :rolleyes:

I don't care if what I like is cool or not. I like what I like, and if I think something is sh*te I'll say it

DarkJager wrote: »

And funnily enough, its always the techno & house fans that I hear ripping into Trance - shame really that they can't see their own genres have their fair share of insufferable ****. Ah well, musical nazis will always be musical nazis- the rest of us can just enjoy what they miss out on.

Why are you getting so upset? Chill out

Musical nazis? You do realise most people would listen to many genres, but you are the one eulogising about 1 particular thing... That's pretty ironic when you bring up nazis

DarkJager · 17-12-2008 09:25PM

joker77 wrote: »

ha ha ha - jaysus keep your shirt on there chief!

You're right - music evolves, and in general most genres that come under the terms Dance & Electronic have evolved. But in my opinion 'trance' has not - if anything it's become more formulaic, and more stagnant.

When you say it's certainly not "bad", I never actually said it was bad, I said it wasn't my bag and I hate that overall sound. Given that I listed the reasons why I didn't like it and you could not come back with anything to the contrary, ok, I'll go so far as to say I think that it's bad. Poor quality music and forumlaic. Ok? (yes in respect to trance - formulaic is my word of the day :cool:)

I don't agree with you there either. Trance has certainly not become stagnant, if only for the simple fact that as a genre, its mainly based around the quality of the central melody and the breakdown - Trance Dj's are continually experimenting with both and the results will always be interesting. I posted one track, which you disliked, but there could be one out there which grabs you. Now judging by your tastes in music, you like music which flows in a much different way to Trance - so I fully understand why you don't like it. there's not much point to me arguing a defence of the genre to you as you've already dismissed the core elements of a trance track as being not to your taste.

P*ssing on my parade? Hardly - I'm open-minded enough to have actually listened to the track. And yes, in my opinion it's not trance, I don't know how to label it exactly but it would definitely be prepended with the word 'Euro'!

Its "Euphoric Trance" if you want to label it something, but certainly not Euro Dance in any shape or form.

joker77 · 17-12-2008 09:35PM

DarkJager wrote: »

I don't agree with you there either. Trance has certainly not become stagnant, if only for the simple fact that as a genre, its mainly based around the quality of the central melody and the breakdown - Trance Dj's are continually experimenting with both and the results will always be interesting. I posted one track, which you disliked, but there could be one out there which grabs you. Now judging by your tastes in music, you like music which flows in a much different way to Trance - so I fully understand why you don't like it. there's not much point to me arguing a defence of the genre to you as you've already dismissed the core elements of a trance track as being not to your taste.

Its "Euphoric Trance" if you want to label it something, but certainly not Euro Dance in any shape or form.

Ok I've a question for you - how long have you been listening to trance music in it's current form?

The reason I'm asking is that you agree that I've identified the core elements of a trance track. Now ok, people can mess around with it a little bit and do something slightly different with the breakdown, but the core is the same - buildup, breakdown, crescendo with drum rolls, hi-pitched keys with female vocal, end of crescendo + repeat, track over.
That to me is stagnation. And after a while listening to it, it becomes boring to the vast majority of people.

As you say - I'm sure there are some trance tracks that would grab me, I like electronic music so it's highly likely - and I was asking above in this thread for someone to post up something recent. But as a genre, no I don't think it's something I'd listen to.

DarkJager · 17-12-2008 09:47PM

joker77 wrote: »

Ok I've a question for you - how long have you been listening to trance music in it's current form?

The reason I'm asking is that you agree that I've identified the core elements of a trance track. Now ok, people can mess around with it a little bit and do something slightly different with the breakdown, but the core is the same - buildup, breakdown, crescendo with drum rolls, hi-pitched keys with female vocal, end of crescendo + repeat, track over.
That to me is stagnation. And after a while listening to it, it becomes boring to the vast majority of people.

As you say - I'm sure there are some trance tracks that would grab me, I like electronic music so it's highly likely - and I was asking above in this thread for someone to post up something recent. But as a genre, no I don't think it's something I'd listen to.

A good solid 4-5 years now at least. I listened to a lot of house, hard house (shame

) & of course old school trance before I ventured out looking for something new to interest me.

As for the "formula", you are nearly right in your description of it apart from the female vocals! The ****ty thing about trance is that it has so many of these stupid "sub genres". Trance with female vocals is called (surprise surprise, Vocal Trance) and its one sub genre that I actually don't like at all (Suru, the track above doesn't actually have any vocals only female "sounds"

). I feel adding lyrics to a trance track cheapens it. Sure it can be great when its done right, but why do you need lyrics in trance, when its the actual melody and track itself that is supposed to make you feel something?

As for another example of Trance, I'll post this one - you might like it?! :P:D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RRCCGv4JMI

petrochemical · 17-12-2008 11:38PM

It's a good idea to have more music than sense because tastes change- stuff you hate today you'll like tomorrow, and vice versa. All genres have good and bad. I quite often don't trust my own taste because of the Emperors New Clothes factor, and peer pressure. People are acutely aware of what's "cool" and if admitting to liking a song in public would result in massive humiliating slaggings and loss of face within the oh-so-la-de-da-uber-cool community of dance musique connoisseurs. This means that secretly liking cheesy trance is a great shame which must stay hidden until the day you die...:pac:

Ddisco · 18-12-2008 12:47AM

Well at least my original post brought about some decent debate/opinion - even if i have been in a coma since 1996!! Fair play lads

Is Trance becoming a dirty word?

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