It's been four years since the last Portals feature (what kind of Portal is that?!). As a quick reminder, this series serves as my way to highlight a specific concept or deep dive into an aspect of music I enjoy, no matter the style. We've had Power Ambient, New New Age, Music For Sleeping, a reinterpretation of the KLF's Chill Out, and Classic Trance Loops amongst others.
For this next episode, we're going back into the world of Trance music again. Maybe our latest Trance-infused release with Mikkel Rev was the inspiration to get another Portals going after that 4-year absence...
Throughout the 1990s, the Trancemaster compilation series documented that evolution of the genre in real time. Across sprawling multi-disc releases, it brought together records from the emerging edges of trance, techno and progressive music (even some random nu-wave track I found), tracks that were often difficult to find outside specialist record shops and European clubs at the time, placing them into a shared world.
Before trance became a global industry, it was a sound still figuring out what it wanted to be. For many listeners, Trancemaster was a map of an evolving landscape that despite being called Trance, still shifted through variations of ambient, chill downtempo and techno, through its early themed compilations such as 'The Goa Gap, 'Tribal Chill Out' and 'Aural Brainfood' to name just a few. which soon dissolved into general Trancemaster compilations as the genre continued to find its sound.
Follow the names buried in these compilations and you could disappear into entire labels, scenes, cities and new strains of electronic music. Across the decades, the series captured Trance as it moved from something darker, stranger and more experimental into the soaring melodies and enormous emotional architecture that would eventually fill clubs around the world in the early 00's, with the label behind the compilation "Vision Soundcarriers" eventually calling it a day on the series in 2012 (citing piracy no less).
The result of this series is a catalog of hundreds of tracks, that became a definitive blueprint of the genre. Unknown gems and deep digs feature alongside many of the biggest classic hits you can think of (BBE, Three Drives, Lustral, Gouryella , Tiesto, etc all sit alongside the many unknowns).
For this edition of Portals, I've dug through the entire Trancemaster compilations through the early years of 1992–1999 (numbers 01 to 23 to be exact - the best years, dare I say?). Seven years of records that helped define a genre, and a reminder of just how wide, weird, and beautiful Trance once was. This true excavation led me into many different places, and it was interesting to see how the sound evolved over the years (especially when compared to the compilations post year 2000).
The Chill Out Room vibe was still apparent, and tracks were being spun by José Padilla (I remember the Max 404 track appearing after an ad break in José’s 1993 Essential Mix). Acid house was still a massive influence, with Choice, Josh Wink and many more creating head-buzzing anthems of the time. And the Goa Trance sound was still gloriously shifting BPMs to keep everyone guessing as to what went down in those far-away hedonistic times.
Dolphins, didgeridoos, that distinct bird sound from FSOL (!), chanted mantras and German spoken-word — Trancemaster has all the wonderful excess of a scene discovering just how far it could go, with little sense of the impact it would have. Beneath those unmistakable fingerprints of the era lies an extraordinary run of music: strange, euphoric, hypnotic and, at its best, remarkably timeless. Here are a few gems and personal favorites that capture just how broad Trance could be at the time, from ambient and downtempo, to techno, acid, progressive and the more euphoric sound that would eventually come to define it.
Download MP3, listen on Soundcloud, the ASIP Podcast or the 9128.live iOS and Android app.
Tracklist:
01. Gaia – Primitive (Intro) – Trancemaster 04
02. TM 02 – Intro (Whales In Space) – Trancemaster 02
03. (Outro) – Conditions Of Mental Abstraction – Trancemaster 09
04. Max 404 – Quiddity (Last Visit) – Trancemaster 11
05. Komakino – Frogs In Space (Trance Mix) – Trancemaster 01
06. Sleepwalker – The Pink Zone – Trancemaster 10
07. Bas Molendyk – Just Married – Trancemaster 09
08. Frank De Wulf – Afrika's Rhyme – Trancemaster 01
09. Pentaura – Ulma Gets To Linger (Pentatonik Mix) – Trancemaster 11
10. Ravebusters – Rave Bangin' (Atmos' Mix) – Trancemaster 10
11. The Irresistible Force – Space Is The Place (Intergalactic Ambient Mix) – Trancemaster 01
12. Space Cube – Dolphins – Trancemaster 01
13. Gary D. – E-Mojonal: Make E Move – Trancemaster 02
14. E-Mojonal – Silence Of Water – Trancemaster 03
15. FUSE – UVA – Trancemaster 10
16. Redeye – Acid Etch – Trancemaster 07
17. Traumatic – Tribal Symphony – Trancemaster 08
18. Delegate – Crying Over Faith (98 Remix) – Trancemaster 17
19. Microwave Prince – Eternal Light – Trancemaster 11
20. Loophole – Fakeland – Trancemaster 13
21. Sterac – Asphyx – Trancemaster 11
22. Choice – Acid Eiffel – Trancemaster 04
23. Keyload – Unknown Quantities – Trancemaster 13
24. Yum Yum – 3 Minute Warning (Scope Mix) – Trancemaster 08
25. Me & Jack – Viva House (Secret Cinema Mix) – Trancemaster 12
26. Station Rose – Public Brain Session – Trancemaster 01
27. Perry & Rhodan – The Beat Goes Straight On And On (Intro) – Trancemaster 06
Trancemaster on Discogs
Trancemaster on Bandcamp
Trancemaster.de
