With new generations being introduced to the addictive sound of EDM, we’re beginning to see several attempts to plot the genre’s history. Not so long ago, we had a look at MOMEM–an exciting project in Frankfurt to build an EDM museum–and now it seems Trance music is going to its moment in the spotlight.
So what will this encyclopedia of trance contain?
Arjan Rietveld has painstakingly assembled a 322-page history/discography, delving deep into hundreds of tracks, their influence on the genre, and the artists who made them. The book will feature artists like Paul Van Dyk, DJ Tiësto, Ferry Corsten, and many more. That being said, the book will focus exclusively on music put out between 1990 and 2005.
Why only cover those fifteen years?
Well, the fact is that there’s a lot to cover. In the early ‘90s, trance music was developed by artists wishing to engender a trance-like state in listeners. Though a distinct movement, the genre was born out of various influences, including ambient, house, German techno, and British new wave, to name just a few. The key was to take these styles and create something that would, in essence, hypnotize the listener. In that time, there was a vast variety of exploration and experimentation happening within the medium from countless artists.
In short, the book is a highly detailed archive of everything trance during the most influential period of the genre’s history. To move beyond that scope and look at modern developments in the same level of detail would probably require another book.
”Most don’t know that the power of repetition was already understood by classical musicians. Their works can warp you into a trance-like state. Trance was built on those same principles, and its influence on popular music has been widespread ever since. Although I am lucky enough to be part of trance since the late nineties, I still learned a great deal from this book.”
If you’d like to pick up a copy of Arjan Rietveld’s Hypnotised: A Journey Through Trance, or its accompanying album, then head on over to Mary Go Wild and learn all about the history of the genre you love.
