Trance Mission Episode 4 (Still with me?)
The fundamental question is: Are you Still with Me?
Apologies to all but I took a little break..
A few lines to frame the context:
I have had the set on my HD for now 4 months. I actually mixed it the day of the Charlie Hebdo massacre, hence the intro and then I kept it and kept it and .. kept it.
I had received a few pointedly true comments relating to the previous set, which, decent as it was, did contain a few too many poppy tracks. I may ( well I did...) have overdone the Sophie Ellis Bextor segment.. What can I say, I am just a weak old middle-aged straight man.. Not an excuse, just a statement.
Anyhow, I thought I would wait until Trance Mission Episode 4 was the best I could produce. Not inferring it is perfect ny now but the version I am publishing ticks all the boxes, covers all the criteria I had set for myself.
It is not just Trance, but House, Chill, Progressive, Tribal, Deep and also Trance.. It is what I call Trouse and is the genre I would love the most if it ever existed!
Let’s set the scene. At the start imagine yourself about 30 minutes from sunset, it’s hot, you are on the beach somewhere and are listenning to Tribal beats. From there let the music wave guide you, take control of your body. Feel the beat, feel the wave and let yourselves GO!
The sun will set and it will be time for the party to get on its way. It will start with Trance, Disco, Dance and House anthems culminating in a Trouse fest.. It's a Rave as an early listener mentioned..
Setting the bar high there, let’s see if I have delivered.
Playlist:
Highlights:
Absolute gem and a 2015 release is “Still with Me” from the new Chicane album “The Sum of Its Parts”. Originally the track was released in 2013 by Tritonal, Chicane took it to another level with Bo Bruce as a vocalist.. An absolute gem, classic Chicane, as good as Saltwater and his other massive tunes.. Love it!!
But perhaps because of the Tribal beat and the haunting melody, my absolute fav is “Now” from King Britt.. If you do not like the tune, stop following me because we are from different planets. In many ways it reminds of Ravel’s bolero.. Same structure, same false simplicity, same perfection.
Onto two classics with “Pressure” and “Hide U”.. Two of my “anchor tunes” and I do have a soft spot for Nadia Ali. The y fitted perfectly with the tribal beach vibe I wanted at the start of the set.
“Sun Goes Down” by Robyn Schulz, I heard the tune first on a live set from Chicane in Dubai. Though chilled and repetitive, I wanted to bring everything down looking at the sun going down and the tune fitted perfectly.
Once chilled and quiet down, time to party with a couple of Trance/Disco numbers. Starting with Umek’s very clever take on Moroder’s Chase from Midnight Express and a Freemason’s classic Pjanoo.. Should get everyone on their fit, with a wide smile ready for a BIG night.
Still with Me by Chicane.. Enough said, this is perfection in progressive or Trance or Trance..
Onto someone who first heard the unfinished set called “Rave music”.. Well it kind of is, but I tried rave music with a house twist throughout.
Starting with A&B “Lonely Girl”, I love the female vocalist , she is pitch perfect and the built and keys are what this style is all about.. Classical Music brought to EDM..
With “Only a Dream” we are now in full-on Trance but I thought that I could add a house anthem sample to make it more interesting and bring on what is pure Deep House here-after.. I shifted up the Larse remix of “Hallelujah Anyway” and with pure luck it worked!
“One Thousand Sun” by Chicane and Ferry Corsten , another good friend, Denise , to whom I sent an unpublished file, made the comment that she did not like the tune. As Viv, my wife, had already told me once she did not like it either I thought something had to be done.
The tune fails because the vocal version gets irritating, A very mediocre vocalist or just not the key he should be singing in.. Anyhow I stripped the vocals and lo and behold thought I could try to mash it up with KOT’s Finally… Big work with a half decent result.. But BOY did I have fun!! This is precisely why I do THIS, to sometimes create! Reintroduce a short version of the original vocal stem and went back to “Finally”. Can’t wait to see how this will work out live..
Two Chicane tracks to follow “ No More I Sleep” and “38 Weeks”… I just did not want to shy away from Trance by this stage.. Episode is called Trance Mission after all.. Tried again to mashup KOT’s “Finally” into “38 Weeks” with limited success..
I had been asked by no les than my son, to remix my edit of Chicane’s “Going Deep” [My First Time Edit].. I had lost it when I changed computer and he wanted it as a workable playable file with stems separated. I have had friend’s telling me that once they heard those edits, they always wait for the samples to kick in the original remixes.. This was as good a time as any to do it and save the stems.
Closing the set with the beautiful and uplifting Disco Citizen Mix of “Still with Me” as a reminder that it is the catalyst of the set..
So ARE YOU STILL WITH ME?
It will take a little while for me to return to Trance but there will be an episode 5 and 6 in the semi-near future.
As I mixed 9 sets of pure Deep House when I was on holidays in January, I will wait for this set to settled and upload one Deep one weekly.
A bientôt.
Christian
