Mason, Prankster / Sasha, Maor Levi - A Couple Trance Around The World Gems

As I have stated in a previous blog, there is an awesome resource for those who are fans of electronic music. That resource is Trance Around The World, which is a podcast that is provided 100% free through the iPod podcast service.  You can 'subscribe' to this podcast, and then every Monday, there is a brand new two hour pre-mixed session that has the ability to either bore you to death, or surprise you with some really fantastic and beautiful songs.

Now my guess is that most people are not much into electronic music, and with that, especially trance.  I can of course completely understand this, as most of the entire classification around trance is its beats per minute.  So naturally you have this very unnecessary similarity between every song, simply because the drum track is running at the same BPM as the previous song.  The other really disappointing thing that one can encounter is the repetitiveness of these songs, which I know can get old.

I think if you recognize the weaknesses that the genre has, and train your ear to ignore them on songs that really have something special in them, then you are able to appropriately acknowledge the beautiful artistry that can take place in this music genre.  I tinker with Digital Audio Workshops all the time, and it is no easy feat to create something that sounds so beautiful and ethereal.  I wouldn't equate the difficulty to that of creating a symphony with a pencil and blank sheet music, but some of that same genius still applies.

Unless you are a rave attending trance addict, this blog post may not entirely be for you.  However I would at the very least give it all a listen, and see what you think :)  I generally try and stay away from songs that don't give me that shiver down my spine the first time I hear some harmonic in it that I just can't get out of my head. As is always the case, this music comes with the "well... that's just the stuff that I like" music-taste-disclaimer.


MASON - YOU ARE NOT ALONE


This song was one that I ran across in Trance Around the World episode #321.  As you will hear in the Youtube video, the DJ Paavo from Above and Beyond exclaims that this song gives him goosebumps and was voted the record of the week.  Well, the same can be said for me.  The first time I heard this song, I was in love with it.  It has this really dark and eerie quality to it, and the base track is an utterly perfect compliment to everything else that was recorded.  Once again, you will notice the prominence of smooth female vocals.  That is something that just always gets me... Not sure why, it just does.  The other thing about this song that really gets me going is its simplicity.  I wouldn't proclaim to know how many tracks this song consisted of, but if my ear serves me correctly, it is somewhere in the neighborhood of 7-10.  It doesn't try to over-accomplish, and somehow that simplicity is beautiful to me.  I am also a huge fan of the harmonies created in this song.  Check it out.




SPOOKY - BELONG (SASHA INVOLVER REMIX) PRANKSTER EDIT

There are what appears to be three artists getting credit for this song.  They are Spooky, Sasha, and Prankster; and I have no idea who exactly to point the finger at.  I am not even 100% sure if Spooky is an artist, but I do know that Sasha and Prankster are.  With that being said, I ran across this one listening to episode #358 of TATW.  It is a repetitive tune, but one that I think is really well done.  It has some really tight layering, and the sounds that are used are quite gorgeous.  There really isn't that much more to say about this one other than that.  It is just a very interesting and cool tune to have playing in the background while doing something that requires concentration or artistic inspiration.  Do your best to ignore the first 40 seconds of another song ending, and the DJ explaining what is next.  Enjoy.





MAOR LEVI - REMIX OF SAMUEL JASON'S MORNING SUN

Maor Levi is about as big a name in the trance world as you can get.  This Israeli producer is an amazing remix artist, and someone who is a favorite among all the guys who really pay attention to this genre.  He spent some time in the Israeli army, which kept him from producing for quite some time, but he has now returned.  This particular work isn't one that he is by any means famous for, but it really is a solid sound-scape of what a great re-mixer he is.  It is once again a repetitive song, but one that really has some beautiful work in there.  Put the headphones on for this one.





You will inevitably see more of this stuff, hope that doesn't bum too many people out!  Thanks for reading!

-CS