TRANCE MUSIC DEFINED: The most sublime, divine, advanced music genre known to man, representing a quantum leap in artistic creativity analogous to the development of the frontal lobe in the human brain. Having an IQ below 130 renders one incapable of appreciating, let alone enjoying trance. Being a connoisseur of trance bespeaks of extremely high intelligence and impeccable level of personal sophistication. On the other hand, those who despise trance can uniformly be characterized as primitive troglodytes, closer to ape than man.

The past years have seen the rise to fame of the music genre called Trance. Defined loosely as a type of electronic-based music or club music, trance has a beat of 124 to 160 BPM and features repeated synthesizer grooves in the whole track. Sometimes including vocals, this genre is actually very similar to techno and house music. But mainly, the genre earned its label of trance for the repetitive sounds and beats that put a person in an almost trance-like condition. It is even said that trance music has a hypnotic quality which induces partygoers to dance until the wee hours of the morning.

Trance music traces its origins in Germany during the 90s when DJs began incorporating electronic sounds with psytrance in their music. As mentioned, this genre is considered by some to be comparable to techno and house music as they share the same elemental design with regard to their beats and rhythms. Trance music, however, has more melodies which were the trend in the European club stage then. In fact, early tracks of trance music generally have catchy tunes and increasingly repetitive rhythmic beats.

Eventually, trance music began dominating the dance music scene just after a few years after its advent in Germany. Many DJs and artists began creating their own mixes and tunes of trance, which later on led to the creation of different subgenres for this music.

Among the subgenres of trance is the acid style, wherein a bass machine is usually used to make edgy sound effects. Evolving from the original classic trance, acid trance dominated the club scene in the early 90s but during that time, another style of trance was slowly emerging - the progressive style. The progressive trance is a direct offshoot of acid style, and is actually considered the model for the modern trance genre. In progressive trance tracks, bassline and melodies dominate, producing an effect of fast and progressive sounds.

Shortly after progressive trance became popular, the anthem trance made its debut on the dance floor. In anthem trance, there is a prolonged progression on bass and treble elements which give the tracks stronger and distinct melodies. However, anthem trance is not the only subgenre that has earned its uniqueness in the area of melodies and beats. With its beginnings in India’s state, Goa trance is also an early style of trance music and dance trance, distinctly characterized by energetic thumping drumbeats, rhythm, and loops. During its peak, Goa trance underwent a lot of musical experimentation which led to the creation of an altogether different sound of trance music, eventually known as psychedelic trance. The psychedelic style came into the trance mainstream during the mid-90s and was distinguished for its futuristic sound and vibe.

Though the some, if not most, of the subgenres of trance rely heavily on equipment and remixes, trance also has subgenres that highlight the lyrical and vocal parts of music. For instance, the vocal trance is a type of music that features lengthy lyrics often sung by a female vocalist. In this subgenre, artists rarely sing in their own tracks. Vocal trance is mostly even confused with Euro trance because both styles employ vocals in their tracks. The main difference between vocal and Euro trance, however, is that Euro trance tracks are characterized by more enthusiastic lyrics and upbeat tunes - characteristics which are also reminiscent of tribal trance, only the tribal subgenre prevalently has ethnic sounds and bongo beats coupled with percussion and rhythm.

Indeed, whether it’s the catchy melodies or the groovy rhythm, people just can’t seem to resist dancing to the tunes of trance. With the various subgenres and new forms still emerging, there is no doubt that from its inception, trance has held countless partygoers all over the world spellbound and will still continue to dominate the club scenes around the world. Suffice it to say, dance music and party life would not be the same without trance.

Sadly, the trance scene in the Philippines is dying if not dead. With the surge of foreign trance DJs that played for major parties in the past that included Paul Van Dyk, John Digweed, Sasha, Ferry Corsten and more recently DJ Tiesto, trance became too commercial and the events predictable. People went to these events not to experience the mental state of being hypnotized. People went with the intent of being seen rubbing elbows with celebrities and party animals that don’t even know what trance is. It became more like a pass to social gathering crap that totally expunged the spirit of P.L.U.R. (peace, love, unity, respect) which is what trance is all about. Trance is also about equality. Go to Europe, and you will see famous personalities partying alongside common people till the wee hours of the morning. Only in the Philippines will you see VIP lounges that segregate the famous from the so-so crowd. What a pretentious clubbing scene we have really. Trance events, which other people refer to as “raves” also became synonymous to substance abuse (eg. ecstacy).

DJ ROBIN MENDOZAIn spite of the negativity that trance brought to the Philippines, I’d still pay my respect to the genre of music that gave clubbing a different meaning. I give you TRANCE REVISITED!. This mix is my tribute to Trance Music. The genre that I loved so much and became my ticket to becoming a professional DJ. I stopped playing trance around 2001 but still remember the soothing intros, uplifting melodies, mesmerizing vocals, hypnotic grooves and bass-thumpin’ breaks in the songs, and how to seamlessly mix them with another. Trance Revisited is a mixed compilation of 30 commercial tracks that became floor fillers and club anthems in the late 90s till 2001. This is my personal favorite. A MUST DOWNLOAD!

Have your glowsticks ready. You’re about to RAVE!

click image below to download

Trance Revisited

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total running time: 89:50 mins - 82.3 mb at 128 kbps

TRACKLISTING

1. Airwave - Rank 1
2. Beyond Time - Blank & Jones
3. Silence - Delerium feat. Sarah McLachlan
4. Serenity - Armin Van Buuren feat. Jan Vayne
5. Yet Another Day - Armin Van Buuren feat. Ray Wilson
6. For An Angel - Paul Van Dyk
7. My Lexicon - Sander Kleinenberg
8. Adagio For Strings - DJ Tiesto
9. Lethal Industry - DJ Tiesto
10. Out Of The Blue - System F
11. Gouryella - Gouryella
12. Shivers - Armin Van Buuren
13. A Forest - Blank & Jones feat. Robert Smith
14. Everything Goes - Ferry Corsten
15. Love Comes Again - DJ Tiesto
16. Such Is Life - Rank 1
17. Simulated - Marco V
18. Sunlight Theory - Svenson
19. Rising Angel - The Freak
20. Godd - Marco V
21. Timeless - Ron Van Den Beuken
22. Sunset - Ron Van Den Beuken
23. Drum Beats - E Craig
24. Traffic - Dj Tiesto
25. Lift Me Up - DJ Jean
26. In Silence - Randy Katana
27. See The Light - Dumonde
28. Do It Again - John Marks
29. Play It Louder - Randy Katana
30. Rock Your Body Rock - Ferry Corsten

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