nov 1998

Full on

yugoslavian vibes II

by Fred Giteau

international version

deutsche version

Bad mood

I'm in a bad mood after all the recent events in Serbia. There is a wonderful trance and techno scene in Begrade. The young Serbians are thirsty for culture and music but they have been in the middle of political fights for ages now. And the main problem in Serbia is the difficulty to reach culture and freedom. Also the media got big problems with censorship and their power have limits. Serbia is not only what we ear and what we see on TV. Some artists want to support freedom and media in Serbia as nearly all DJ's who went there really felt this big energy and this need of freedom, peace and happiness. We are working on a party with a group of artists and media that should take place in Germany. The benefits of the party will be in support of independent media in Serbia who transmit culture and information. The party will be supported by some amazing Serbian DJ's. We will keep you informed.

Let's All Chant !

Trance is now undergoing a mutation and many people are coming back from the "Goa" wave. But, to be honest, in a general way, trance is not at its best and we can't say it's a big trend any longer. Too much of the same has killed the whole movement! In France for example, we don't have a good system of distribution for trance. The main shops like FNAC are really not receptive for all kinds of music introduced as trance, even if it's an alternative kind. For them, Trance equals Goa and they've had quite enough "Goa" compilations. Today they don't want to hear anything about trance, even if you bring them more progressive music or more acid music, they will say it's just a new "Goa" record... Sad, sad, sad... But somehow it's possible to understand because many of them have absolutely no background in electronic music, they just can't give any opinion on this kind of music. It's hard for Trance, really hard, Fairway who was the main producer of "Trance-Goa" compilations went bankrupt after the summer and it was the main French customer for European labels... In England, Flying U.K which was one of main distributor for this kind of music and just stopped also for same reasons as the French company. This makes big problems for all the labels who were distributed by them, TIP for example. In the end the labels and artists suffer from this lack of distribution. The main problem remains that fewer people seem interested by the music... In fact, the "Goa" period was wonderful and trance grew up very fast. In just 2 years we got everything we could expect from this style and lots of young artists, with no musical background, started to make this kind of music and were successful. A whole fashion came with the fluoro shirts and kids started to find a new way of life. But it has not been long and to be honest, the underground group of people really linked to Goa are not the ones who buy the records... Too much of the same music which the audience finds no interest in anymore. Today, even the best artists and labels are having problems distributing their music. As you can see and in an Israeli term, we are in a big "balagan"! Most of the labels will tell you that it's getting hard and most of the artists feel it also. The other problem is that people now come in contact with trance only via open air or special events and there are not so many clubs in Europe dedicated to Trance. Germany is in a better position on this point than most of other countries in Europe. In France for example when we talk about Trance nights you don't have many choices except Gibus in Paris but it's not the ideal place to have fun anyway. In Germany it's better and you have more locations. You can feel it, if you are an artist or label, that the market is simply bigger there. This is also a question of culture as nobody will forget that the main trance period came from Germany and some labels like Harthouse and Eye-Q have been a big influence on the trance scene. But Germany is special because you have one of the best techno cultures in the world and nearly the biggest club scene. If you want to organise a bigger event, you don't have so many problems to find a location, as is the experience in some other countries. Added to this, you have a few countries where Trance could be an important scene but the people there are more focused on house and techno. In Spain for example you have a good potential for trance but there is not a big scene and nobody is requesting records and there is a lack in the distribution, the same goes for Italy! In Israel, you can sell Trance, but there, if it doesn't sound "Goa", then it's considered "House" - the market is still very limited to develop alternative psychedelic music... But there is a hope for Trance and today you get maybe the best productions from the past 2 years and people like to hear the music for the feelings more than for the fashion. On the artist side, you can also detect the evolution and many of the old Trance generation are looking for deeper messages and vibes in the music. Some artists like Moksha, Massimo Vivona, Der Dritte Raum have a very special touch and their own sound. All of these acts are producing different music from each others but all their productions are played by most of Trance DJ's and they can lead the movement because they can also seduce another audience who is discovering a Trance atmosphere through their composition... The labels start also to work more closely together and you have some new pool of distribution and promotion coming like Cosmophilia, the young distribution led by Yaniv and Bianca who are doing a good job on vinyl. Shakaree and the BTM crew are getting also very good results with a big investment on concepts and promotion. They have a deal with Rough Trade and this gives them the power to expand a bit more the sound in all German territory. In England, some alternative distributions are starting but a bigger exposure in this country would be very good for our music. England is a very good mirror as the press have an international impact, but today, except some small underground magazines which are nice and well done, the mainstream music magazines don't give any time to Trance, or such a small one that you need to read the mag three times before finding a few lines about your favourite music! In the meantime, labels must organise themselves to develop more direct distribution through the shops but you don't have many alternatives for a worldwide distribution as can be found in house or techno. Even if it's a bit hard sometimes, it needs to be worked on because the trance scene have the most wonderful party people and concept of Trance stands totally apart from the rest of the electronic culture. Good Trance can be very intellectual, maybe too much sometimes!
Come on let's work !
Fred Giteau