Modern trance playlist - just the good stuff
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 1158 posts since 6 Jan, 2015 from London, England
Many of us think that while trance used to be good in the 90s, it got a lot worse in the last couple of decades, succumbing to the loudness wars, always following the same tired old templates, with compression pumping at over 20 dB, massively overloud kicks, and so on.
Sami started a great thread just over a year ago, listing some of the trance classics. I'd like to start a new list of modern trance tracks. Tracks from the last few years that aren't overloud and overcompressed. Tracks that just sound good.
I know there are lots out there but I want to start off with just three of my current favourites, and it'd be great if you'd post some of yours.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm9BAvSm-Sg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AfO6cogsWA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIxtu3EfauE
Sami started a great thread just over a year ago, listing some of the trance classics. I'd like to start a new list of modern trance tracks. Tracks from the last few years that aren't overloud and overcompressed. Tracks that just sound good.
I know there are lots out there but I want to start off with just three of my current favourites, and it'd be great if you'd post some of yours.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm9BAvSm-Sg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AfO6cogsWA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIxtu3EfauE
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- KVRAF
- 5664 posts since 7 Feb, 2013
More or less recent tunes which I think are not bad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHUrNAjT9DQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arc-FTNW-xI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8Acuhd0FO4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_KuxFf7NCI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkwWYQdcNLM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6ZOLFgLg3E
But overall I fully agree with your description of the current state of trance and TBH I think that trance as a genre is essentially dead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHUrNAjT9DQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arc-FTNW-xI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8Acuhd0FO4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_KuxFf7NCI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkwWYQdcNLM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6ZOLFgLg3E
But overall I fully agree with your description of the current state of trance and TBH I think that trance as a genre is essentially dead.
You may think you can fly ... but you better not try
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 1158 posts since 6 Jan, 2015 from London, England
Nice list. Thanks! I particularly like that last one.recursive one wrote:More or less recent tunes which I think are not bad.
You could try telling that to Solarstone, Paul van Dyk, Paul Oakenfold, Armin van Buuren, DJ Tiesto, Markus Schulz, Judge Jules, Ferry Corsten, Above and Beyond, Gareth Emery, ATB, Kyau and Albert ... the list could go on and on. There must be at least hundreds of other DJs playing mainly trance. And who knows how many trance fans. But let's just wait another decade and see who's still around...recursive one wrote: But overall I fully agree with your description of the current state of trance and TBH I think that trance as a genre is essentially dead.
- KVRAF
- 5797 posts since 17 Aug, 2004 from Berlin, Germany
I don't like this Anjuna stuff... everybody copies the same ideas from others.. 7Skies, Kandi etc. they sounding so similar not to mention that sometimes they shameless copy other songs (7skies with "Sushi" vs Firewall "Sincere" where 7skies copied the complete idea).
IMO this kind of trance is dead... boring and copy & paste music.
The good stuff also by Above & Beyond is IMO more EDM and has not so much to do with trance. It's good mainstream EDM with vocals.
(if I hear Trance this days it's more Psytrance eg. from Astrix, Ace Ventura etc)
IMO this kind of trance is dead... boring and copy & paste music.
The good stuff also by Above & Beyond is IMO more EDM and has not so much to do with trance. It's good mainstream EDM with vocals.
(if I hear Trance this days it's more Psytrance eg. from Astrix, Ace Ventura etc)
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- KVRAF
- 5664 posts since 7 Feb, 2013
I didn't mean to say that nobody listens to or plays trance. But I think that we will unlikely see many fresh and inspiring tracks in this genre. Like you said, "always following the same tired old templates", even really talented artists mostly do so now.garryknight wrote:
You could try telling that to Solarstone, Paul van Dyk, Paul Oakenfold, Armin van Buuren, DJ Tiesto, Markus Schulz, Judge Jules, Ferry Corsten, Above and Beyond, Gareth Emery, ATB, Kyau and Albert ... the list could go on and on. There must be at least hundreds of other DJs playing mainly trance. And who knows how many trance fans. But let's just wait another decade and see who's still around...
I used to be a big trance fan but mostly swithed to psytrance now, much more divercity and innovation there.
You may think you can fly ... but you better not try
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 1158 posts since 6 Jan, 2015 from London, England
Solarstone is playing fresh tracks every week in his Pure Trance Radio sets. Well worth a listen.
https://soundcloud.com/solarstone
https://soundcloud.com/solarstone
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- KVRAF
- 5664 posts since 7 Feb, 2013
Listened to a couple of those sets. Well, this Solarstone guy has better taste than an average trance DJ, some really nice tracks. Thanks for posting this now I know where to look if I want this kind of trance.
But yet again, same sounds, same harmonies all over the place, and the best tarcks seems to be remixes of old stuff, like Sunscreem.
But yet again, same sounds, same harmonies all over the place, and the best tarcks seems to be remixes of old stuff, like Sunscreem.
You may think you can fly ... but you better not try
- KVRAF
- 8680 posts since 9 Jan, 2004 from leroyaumeuni
I'm possibly just an old fart stuck in my ways, but I don't like any of them. Apart from crisp production, there's absolutely nothing there to hook me. Just formulaic.. stuff. So for me, it doesn't even come close enough to late 90's trance to see it run off in the distance.garryknight wrote:Many of us think that while trance used to be good in the 90s, it got a lot worse in the last couple of decades, succumbing to the loudness wars, always following the same tired old templates, with compression pumping at over 20 dB, massively overloud kicks, and so on.
Sami started a great thread just over a year ago, listing some of the trance classics. I'd like to start a new list of modern trance tracks. Tracks from the last few years that aren't overloud and overcompressed. Tracks that just sound good.
I know there are lots out there but I want to start off with just three of my current favourites, and it'd be great if you'd post some of yours.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm9BAvSm-Sg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AfO6cogsWA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIxtu3EfauE
My other host is Bruce Forsyth
- KVRAF
- 8680 posts since 9 Jan, 2004 from leroyaumeuni
The first one is ok, and actually nodding slightly more to the early 00's trance. But with all of them, that enormous, overwhelming high-frequency wash going all over the track just completely spoils any grain of positive that might be found in there.recursive one wrote:More or less recent tunes which I think are not bad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHUrNAjT9DQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arc-FTNW-xI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8Acuhd0FO4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_KuxFf7NCI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkwWYQdcNLM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6ZOLFgLg3E
But overall I fully agree with your description of the current state of trance and TBH I think that trance as a genre is essentially dead.
And I know trance has always been a bit formulaic, but these days it's ridiculous. You can match tracks beat-for-beat in song structure. The break-downs are the very definition of cliché and mostly uninspired crap. It's like all the trance 'artists' stopped thinking completely 15 years ago.
There's absolutely no comparison with trance from the heydays,
such as this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5HSNxq1iMw
My other host is Bruce Forsyth
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 1158 posts since 6 Jan, 2015 from London, England
While I like that track a lot, it does sound very dated to me. Without going out of my way to look it up, I'm guessing that it predates Planet Perfecto's "Bullet in a Gun", back in the days when effects were still outboard and not pushed to their limits. Nothing wrong with being dated, as it certainly sounds good to me.
What I wanted was for people who are interested to post examples of good modern trance, just to get an idea of how much is actually out there. I could just listen to Pure Trance Radio (and DJ Sonia plays some good stuff too on her Trancedemic Sessions - if you can stand the new age comments) each week and post examples of what I think is good. But that would defeat the purpose, IMO.
Stating the obvious here, one problem with any genre of music is that it's a genre, which usually means that it follows a particular formula to a recognisable extent, whether it's in the logical structure, the repeated use of certain sounds or effects, or even just in the lyrics (rock, soul, blues, for examples of old genres). And if you get tired of the formula, you get tired of the genre. And if you change the formula, it's arguably no longer the same genre.
Anyway, even if there isn't much very good new trance, there's so much old stuff to re-listen to or discover for the first time, I'm going to be content for a few years yet.
What I wanted was for people who are interested to post examples of good modern trance, just to get an idea of how much is actually out there. I could just listen to Pure Trance Radio (and DJ Sonia plays some good stuff too on her Trancedemic Sessions - if you can stand the new age comments) each week and post examples of what I think is good. But that would defeat the purpose, IMO.
Stating the obvious here, one problem with any genre of music is that it's a genre, which usually means that it follows a particular formula to a recognisable extent, whether it's in the logical structure, the repeated use of certain sounds or effects, or even just in the lyrics (rock, soul, blues, for examples of old genres). And if you get tired of the formula, you get tired of the genre. And if you change the formula, it's arguably no longer the same genre.
Anyway, even if there isn't much very good new trance, there's so much old stuff to re-listen to or discover for the first time, I'm going to be content for a few years yet.
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- KVRAF
- 5664 posts since 7 Feb, 2013
What do you think about trance/psy crossovers?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxmhhsTZcyo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT4KLgwLnrY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftVWB9nsDRg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCYSicn ... e=youtu.be
I think, this music is much closer to the original idea behind trance, and these tracks are fairly new.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxmhhsTZcyo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT4KLgwLnrY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftVWB9nsDRg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCYSicn ... e=youtu.be
I think, this music is much closer to the original idea behind trance, and these tracks are fairly new.
You may think you can fly ... but you better not try
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- KVRian
- 852 posts since 28 Oct, 2004
Argh! Why does it all sound the same...same...same... Please surprise me - production wise so polished and excellent and not a glitch in sight, sigh... For me trance has turned into the ultimate elevator muzac now, baroque elements on endless repeat, all of it.
So back to listening to some italo disco/hi-nrg, captivatingly catchy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-erf8ADuvA0
So back to listening to some italo disco/hi-nrg, captivatingly catchy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-erf8ADuvA0
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- KVRian
- 576 posts since 28 Apr, 2004 from not where I want to be...
I know this sounds a lot like all other commercial stuff mentioned, but a dig it a lot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy1Iq1WCBz8
And this as a counterpart:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzit3xGJNKI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy1Iq1WCBz8
And this as a counterpart:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzit3xGJNKI
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- KVRian
- 553 posts since 24 Feb, 2005 from Prana
This
applies equally well to4damind wrote:I don't like this Anjuna stuff... everybody copies the same ideas from others.. 7Skies,
Kandi etc. they sounding so similar not to mention that sometimes they shameless copy other songs (7skies
with "Sushi" vs Firewall "Sincere" where 7skies copied the complete idea).
IMO this kind of trance is dead... boring and copy & paste music.
The subgenres of psy trance have been laughably formulaic for a decade now.4damind wrote: (if I hear Trance this days it's more Psytrance eg. from Astrix, Ace Ventura etc)
“Somebody said to me, ‘But the Beatles were antimaterialistic.’ That’s a huge myth. John and I literally used to sit down and say, ‘Now, let’s write a swimming pool.’ ”
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- KVRAF
- 5664 posts since 7 Feb, 2013
Hard to argue with that, but at least there are many different subgenres, various production schools etc, thus many different formulas to choose from. For some reason, much more than in the mainstream trance (or at least they are more different between themselves). As there are tons of different psy released daily you will get many good and diverse tracks when you filter out the necessary 90% of crap.jivamukti wrote: The subgenres of psy trance have been laughably formulaic for a decade now.
You may think you can fly ... but you better not try