‘Hypnotised – A Journey Through American Trance Music’ Explores US Contributions to Genre

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**The latest Hypnotised compilation takes listeners through the history of US trance music.**

There is something special about how Hypnotised, the trance history series released under Black Hole Recordings, captures how the genre formed around the turn of the millennium. The journey started with a book detailing how the scene evolved, including music that influenced its growth, and how the legends of today’s trance market, well, became legends.

The book is a great pick up for those interested in the roots of one of the biggest genres of dance music, but it does not stand alone. Joining it is a continuing series of unmixed triple CD compilations which offer a glimpse into the world of trance from 1990 to 2005. Each is a collection worthy of space on your shelf, a sonic excursion into a single country’s contributions to trance before the wider global explosion of electronic dance music. This glimpse draws us into how the scene in each locale shaped global trends to come when famous, globe-trotting DJs started to share their passions with the masses beyond their local borders.

The Roots of Hypnotised

The first edition took us to one of the genre’s most prolific home countries: the Netherlands. Next, we explored how the British brought the explosion from dark warehouses to Ibiza. Not to be outdone, the next edition took us back to the dark rooms of the German scene and its explosion into the daylight. Finally, we dove into the cousin country of two prior countries in Belgium, where big festivals took on the norm as we ventured beyond its neighbors.

For the latest sonic showcase, Hypnotised settles in the United States of America. The triple compilation again selects slices of the back catalog of US-based labels, ones often overlooked for their thumbprint on the trance market. Labels like Nettwerk, Astralwerks, Fragrant, and Hallucination stand testament to the market’s long-standing reach and impact. These entities and others collided in the right time and place to directly influence the world’s tastes as trance evolved.

US Contributions to the Early Years of Trance

One could call out the big guns on the compilation as reasons to dive in: Rabbit In The Moon’s “O.B.E.”, Delerium’s “Silence,” or Markus Schulz’s “You Won’t See Me Cry.” However, diving into the deeper moments is where the golden nuggets are heard. Aurasphere’s “The Greenhouse Effect” calls forth the blend of breakbeats and melodies with which the early Internet era trance graced us. This rings true elsewhere, such as on BT’s “Dreaming,” where breakbeats, melodies, and vocals interweave to create a journey, not airplay-centered pop.

One can flip the station to another mood of US trance with the dark, brooding sounds of Disintegrator’s “Dark Black Ominous Clouds.” Here we blend the energetic low end of mid-1990s techno with a hypnotizing lead bounce that feels almost clinically maddening. Yet again, tune that dial and you’ll be greeted by the bubble goodness of “Pure Elements” from Pure Nova.

Sonic Bliss is About the Journey

Regardless of your sonic choices, the 27-track compilation offers plenty of variety and shows US contributions to the early history of trance as a music scene. It reinforces something that’s bugged this author for a while: that the creative energy of trance needs a wakeup call.

The compilation showcases the vivid moods of a genre that prioritized sonic journey over commercialized pop and explosive festival moments. While this still exists out there in some form (see the Deep Trance category on Beatport spearheaded by key acts in the genre), the full force and effort of it oozes from the selections on this compilation.

If you fancy a copy, grab it and add it to your digital library, or get it in CD or vinyl record format if you’re a collector. All of the above can be found on Bandcamp.