(This is a repost/expansion of a post I did last year at EDMTunes. Give them some love & help me thank them for giving me the opportunity to yell in long form on the internet about music people don’t listen to anymore)
As fans of Armin Van Buuren, Paul Van Dyk, Tiesto, Ferry Corsten and others can tell you, Trance has been around, but it’s been a while since it’s been at the forefront of the dance music consciousness. But how long has it been around for, and how did it get here? I’d like to take you on a brief trip, from Trance’s humble beginnings, through its boom around the millenium & all the way up to New Years 2014.
It’s Monday night. Congratulations, you made it. It’s all downhill to Friday from here. To help recharge you, I give you this sick minimix the great new hope of Trance, Andrew Rayel, put together to get you excited for his new album. That’s right, the guy who you’ve been hearing on ASOT podcasts and seeing at Trance shows hadn’t put out an album until now. This guy is responsible for so many of my favorite Trance tracks over the last couple of years. The minimix gives me hope for Trance. The vibe is unmistakably hopeful and full of the shimmering positivity that I demand from my Trance. It’s mixed in a tantalizing way, which means I’m totally hitting this album hard. Each track looks to be fun and if you’ve listened to Trance podcasts over the last few months you’ve already heard a few of these. Preorder the thing on iTunes and swim around the puddle of serotonin this album is eventually gonna bring out. (h/t to EDMTunes for the minimix tip off)
It’s that time again! As March has left us and we’re shining in the new April sun, here’s my backwards-looking monthly playlist once again. While there are a few neo-swing tracks on the set, there’s a chilled lady lyricist named SAMMUS, a bunch of great drum & bass by a kid named Keeno, an experimental piece by Andrew Rayel (probably the only non-trance track you’ll ever hear from him, as the other track by him on the set is MASSIVE trance from ASOT 600 in Miami) & a sweet guitar piece by newly formed rocky/VG’y group Chronicles of Sound. Additionally, another track by my underground favorite MitiS, a super heavy track (not to be played in big rooms) by Candyland, a meditative track by Exist Strategy and a fun little bollywood ditty by DJ Prashant Kakad, of the Jai Ho dance parties in Portland & Seattle. Oh, and Star Wars themed trap from LA, because, IT’S A TRAP!
Peep the tunes and of course, get at the artists if you like what they’re dropping 😀
Coming at you again with another 25 tracks that dropped in the last month, I think you’re going to like the collection I’ve put together here. A bit more trance heavy than last month, which is always a plus for the trance people out there, some really deep dubby stuff, a few chilled out tunes, a track off that sick Arkasia EP I raved about a week ago, a track by Flexstyle that can only be described as Trance-Hop and a few choice tunes from MixMag, who has been killing it lately when it comes to their Soundcloud stream.
Also at the end is my favorite mix of the month, the magnificent Luvstep IV done by Flufftronix & Dirty South Joe. It’s one of my most favorite mixes of the year, and if you don’t know it, get at it 😀
Get at them and post up your favorites in the comments!
This is more of a public service announcement than anything else. This week, Armin’s ASOT podcast counted down the top 20 trance (progressive, epic & uplifting) tracks for the year. This 2 hour compilation is a round up of the favorites that were voted on. And because it’s Armin, the votes number in the 5-6 digits from people around the world. I still cannot imagine that this guy has been putting out 120 minutes of Trance weekly for the last…592 weeks. I’m a huge fan of Armin, here’s a track you probably haven’t heard by him:
10 years of trance. And people still assume that the genre is encapsulated by Sandstorm, Children and that one time they saw/heard Oakenfold back in the late 90’s. Armin’s track recommendations have become a staple of the trance community, influencing dozens of weekly/monthly podcasts by other EDM artists, from Ferry Corsten (Corsten’s Countdown) to Tiesto (Club Life) to Paul Oakenfold’s wonderful Fluoro series. The proliferation of regular music/mixes being put out by the best (and the newest) artists regularly is something that we would have killed for back in the days of sharing music over AIM, Napster, NewsGroups and trading beats/midis with floppy disks.
The track selection is definitely a great representation of trance in 2012, with huge favorites like “I’ll Listen” by AvB & Ana Criado, multiple tracks by Andrew Rayel, who almost seems genetically engineered to produce tracks for ASOT. W&W, Markus Schultz, Solarstone and Aly & Fila also made the list with some stunning tracks, plus a new favorite for me, Giuseppie Ottaviani, an Italian trance producer I’d just never heard of before. Definitely someone I’ll have to keep my eye on.
Great mix of tracks for traveling, cleaning up the house before relatives arrive or just celebrating the season.
This is Terry Gotham.
Peace on Earth & Good Will Towards Men.
Terry Gotham 