[lonewolfny42]

I'd like a copy...who do I PM....

[Rob Babcock]

PM me your addy & I'll send a copy on to you.

[lonewolfny42]

PM me your addy & I'll send a copy on to you.

Thanks Rob...PM on the way.....

[PJ]

Man, I can't believe I missed this thread...right up my alley.

I have been into electronic for about 5 years, with 90% of my CD collection being electronic. I own over 300 CD's. Initially I listened to trance, the stuff made in 1998-2000, which considered (and in my opinion, still is), the best trance ever made. This was the "hey-day" of trance.

However, I haven't heard a decent trance CD that has been released in at least 3 years. It's all commercial crap IMO. Hasn't changed in years.

My genre of choice over the past couple of years has been progressive. Sasha & Digweed are probably the highlight of this genre, although both have had their poor moments, with their lowlight being "Communicate."

Progressive has recently turned into heavily breaks orientated (ie Sasha - Involver, which is IMO OK, but not nearly his best work).

IMO, the best electronic CD's released are:

1. Sasha & John Digweed - Northern Exposure (Original) - 1996

Simply the best. All class, original, and almost 10 years old, with some songs 15 years old. Laid back. If your only going to buy one electronic CD in your life, this had better be it

2. John Digweed - Global Underground - Los Angeles - 2001

THE definitive progressive house CD. Essentially invented a genre. As dark and minimal as it gets, and not for a casual listener or someone trying to get into electronic music....

3. Sasha & John Digweed - Renaissance (3 Disc set) - 1994
 
Disc two is crap, but the others (esp. disc 3) are timeless. Currently selling for $$$$ on ebay.

For those looking for what sasha can really do, see if you can download a copy of his live set in Beirut late last year.

However, now that I have a set of decks I can buy the songs I like..maybe when I get a little better i'll post a mix for you guys to listen too.

[dave_c]

Hey PJ, I've heard that the Digweed LA disc is dope.  Is it better than the Sasha San Francisco?  I think that's one of the best I've heard.

[PJ]

They are very different. I own both. I prefer Digweeds....easily.

Sasha's is essentially progressive trance, whilst Digweeds is progressive house. Digweed's is FAR more minimal, with that unmistakable tribal feel. However, if this is not your thing, it is possible you will like San Fransisco more. I have never heard another CD that I have been able to compare to Digweeds (many have tried), wereas there are many mixes "similar" to Sasha's. On the other hand, both San Francisco and Ibiza (Sasha's other GU mix) are better than Digweed's Sydney and Hong Kong GU mixes.

To be honest, I am not sure what I think about San Francisco. Both have parts that are stunningly good (ie their openings), but I think both discs just have one to many crap "filler" songs. However, some people may think every song on Digweed's is a "filler" song  

[dave_c]

Interesting take on it.  I'm more of a house guy, but I always thought that San Francisco mix was on point.  I have the Hong Kong Digweed mix which has its moments, but overall doesn't get me going.  Check out the Nite:Life H Foundation for some dope house action.

[PJ]

Couldn't agree more about the Hong Kong mix. Has some really good songs, but is only an average all-round CD. Los Angeles is more minimal and tribal again.

The best CD I have bought recently is James Holden - Balance 005. CD1 is the better of the discs, but it is REALLY good. It is more trancy than most stuff released recently. Perfectly mixed.

You used to be able to listen to Digweed's Kiss100 mixes on johndigweed.com, but they are currently down. They should come back up again soon.

Other artists I currently like are:

G-Pal (Greece)
Luke Chable (Australia)
Chris Fortier (UK)
Tone Depth & Sultan

However, they mostly only release stuff on vinyl. They feature heavily on Digweed's Kiss100, a 2 hour set, 1 hour by digweed, and 1 hour by a guest.

[Mag]

Got a chance to sample Digweeds Hong Kong Underground today. I skimmed over it quickly, found it to be listenable but didn't peak my interest enough to fork over $27 bucks.  The Sasha Involver is more my style, so any suggestions similar to this will be appreciated.
Thanx

[PJ]

They are very different CD's, with Sasha's being typical Sasha stuff and Digweed's being typical Digweed stuff . Having said that, as a Digweed fan, Hong Kong is average...

You must also remember that Hong Kong is over 5 years old, Involver was released this year....

Involver is progressive, with a strong breaks influence to it. The breaks thing is also a recent change, meaning very few CD's will be similar. BTW, many of the songs on Involver are old, which Sasha remixed for the album. What I am saying is the old stuff may also appeal to you.

FWIW, I have already got a little bored of Involver, and I haven't really listened to it that many times...so it failed my test as a classic  . Perhaps it's because it really doesn't break any new ground for me.

Albums with a similar "feel" to them are:

Sasha & John Digweed - Northern Exposure (original).
Sasha & John Digweed - Renaissance.

Both of these are defining moments for electronic music. Unanimously being accepted as the best progressive trance/house CD's ever released.

The later is out of print and impossible to find cheap, so it's mp3 only...

I find the two work well together. Digweed has a far more experimental taste in music IMO, and is prepared to take the odd risk...Sasha on the other hand tends to lighten it all up a bit, and restict Digweed a little.

[PJ]

One more thing..."skimming over" electronic CD's is often the best way to buy a "dud". The ones which quickly grab your attention are usually junk, filled with annoying "anthems". OK songs for a dance floor with a bunch of people wired out of their brains, but have a short life-span for serious listening.

[lonewolfny42]

I received a copy of the Tech-Trance cdr from Rob today. I'll burn a copy and then I'll be mailing it on to klh. So it's making the rounds.....

[Rob Babcock]

The one thing I'm not really sure it just what is techno and what is trance?  My thinking was that trance was more that repetitive, insistent tribal sounding thing.  No?  And it seems like a goodly amount of the "artists" here are merely DJs mixing someone elses stuff.  Who actually writes and records original stuff?  I might be interested in the songs themselves.

I really liked some of the stuff on the sampler, but some of it wasn't really my cup of tea.  Surprisingly, I found the Tangerine Dream stuff to be among the most monotonous of the tracks- given their fame, somehow I assumed they'd be the most accessible.  The Ian Boddy ones I consistenly enjoyed.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to make it- I'll no doubt be buying a few CDs by some of the artists on the sampler.

[mcgsxr]

I also enjoyed the Ian Boddy, as did a couple of my "non Circle" friends, for whom I burned a "best of".

Mark

[Mag]

The techno stuff would be the tracks like Radikal Techno, DJ Kim. Darube. Trance like Redshift, Royskopp and the pioneer track Trans Europe Express by Kraftwerk . Mike Oldfields and Jean Michel Jarre is actually New Age electronic with a techno style beat.
   Tangerine Dream is also classified as New Age but by todays terms would be more ambient. The TD sample songs have more of a techno style but the vast majority of their stuff is more like Ian Boddy. You may not like the TD style, but you have to realize that most of todays electronic music has been influences by either them or Krafwerk.
   Gary Numan's (early 80's stuff) 'Cars' song is his most familiar song but not his best. He has some very creative work with kind of a morbid sound. Living Ornaments being his best work.
   I regret not having added some tracks for Ron Boots 'Differnent Stories and Twisted Tales' I think you would have liked this more than Ian Boddy's Uncertainty Principle.
Thanx

[PJ]

There are formal definitions of what defines each genre, but many vary somewhat and are rather vague...

"Techno" is typically more commercially orientated electronic "pop" music. Moby is a great example of a Techno artist. Typically pretty easy to get into, is usually quite simple, repetitive, and (not that this defines a genre) often consists of short user-friendly length songs of 3-5 minutes.

The more "underground" genres are Trance, Progressive, House, Breaks,, Drum & Bass, etc. Many songs/albums contain elements of two or more. There are shining examples and shocking examples of all genres. Songs are often (but not necessarily) much longer, being over 10mins. The songs are usually much more complex, but also more subtle.

Bad trance is highly repetitive and is known as "cheesy" trance. It is the kind of stuff that gives all electronic music it's bad name.

Almost all modern music (with perhaps D&B being the exception - but dont quote me on this!) is based on a 32 beat cycle.

Rob, as for DJ's "only playing other peoples music," you just need to hear a good DJ . Most professional DJ's take 20+ years to master their art, and the "best" are few and far between. It's easy to play one song after another....but there is a touch more too it than that...

I'll upload of couple of songs off my vinyl collection to give you a listen of what I consider to be the best of what is currently new. I'll do it in a few hours.

[Rob Babcock]

I certainly didn't mean that in a bad way, PJ.  I've DJ'ed before, and I can attest that it's an art.  I merely meant that someone must actually make similar music instead of just cutting & splicing existing material.

Maybe cheesey trance is what I like!   There's an element to a rhythmic, repetitive beat with "riffing" or improvising over the top that's really hypnotic.  Sory of like the music of Phillip Glass, except that is doesn't make you want to put an ice pick thru your ears.   A good example of what I mean is the music of Rusted Root.

I'd love to hear anything you could put together, and I'd sure paypal you a few bucks for shipping & your time.

[Scott F.]

Hi Guys,

Thought I'd throw in a few choices too. These aren't necessarily Trance or Techno but they sort of fit into Chill Out, Downtempo or Acid Jazz (I think). I still haven't figured out how they catagorize some of the new(er) music.

Over the past few weeks I went on a music buying spree at Amazon. I came up with some really good stuff.

Zero7 - When it Falls
Zero7 - Simple Things (CD and Vinyl)
Weekend Players - Pursuit of Happiness
Morcheeba - Big Calm
Hooverphonic - A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Goldfrapp - Felt Mountain

I use Amazon to sample albums all the time. They give you 5 or 6, 30 second samples of an album. Granted 30 seconds isn't much but it gives you a pretty good feel for the sound of the album/group.

When I use Amazons "Music Sampler" rather than the Windows Media or Real Player formats, at the bottom of the pop-up screen Amazon lists Related Albums. I've found tons of good music using this feature.

Of the albums I listed, Zero7 is the standout. Reeeeeallly good stuff, highly recommended. Weekend Players, Moorcheeba and Hooverphonic are nearly on the same par as Zero7 though they occasionally have songs that come close to Trance or the House beats. Massive Attack and Goldfrapp are really good too but they have a dark feel to them. You almost have to be in a certain mood to get into them completely.

[dave_c]

I second the Zero 7.  I don't have the new one, but Simple Things is a great CD.  More recommended downtempo stuff:

Fila Brazillia - Brazillification
Bonobo - Dial M for Monkey
Jon Kennedy - Take My Drum to England

[PJ]

Well I posted one, but the file turned out larger than I anticipated (haven't used mp3's in a while). Its VBR mp3 and can be played with winamp etc. May size it down and post a couple more.

The Flash Brothers - Deep Love (GPal's Unforgettable Mix). Swift Records.

18.2Mb.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~margj/D - Deep Love (GPal's Unforgettable Mix).mp3

Song is one of current favourite songs within my 12" vinyl collection at the moment. Genre is progressive. Released late 2003. This song never has, and probably never will be, released on any commercial mix CD. Most good electronic never even makes it to CD in any shape or form.

BTW, this is the full 12" vinyl version meaning it has a longer intro than some may expect.