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Well, for the main, it’s trance in its purest, dawn-of-the-genre form. Effectively a handy tag that anchored the music to everything that came - stylistically at least - before 1997. It was trance music for those that were not yet ready to surrender to the sugary rush of the gated synth, the furious snare and the advanced tempos that, tsunami-like, rolled in, as the Nineties reached their peak.

No one however expected Progressive Trance to last more than a baton passing year or few. Nor that a myriad of labels and imprints would spring up in support of it, or that already supremely well-established ones would wholesale alter course and dedicate themselves to its leaner, more crafted stylings. Even, that entire production careers would be built off the back of it, while it caused other music-makers to heavily reconsider their artistic studio choices. 

Fast forward thirty years and, well … here we are, with the revered ‘Hypnotised’ series’ compendium of Prog Trance’s greatest moments …

And it’s had a few.

Prog Trance was for those that wanted their ‘T’ more meditative, thoughtful and ‘produced’. Oh, and voiceless- if it’s vocals you’re after, word-to-the-wise, you’ll be found wanting here!

It arrived on clubfloors atop of a more considered tempo – one that only further emphasised its elongated breaks and seemingly infinitely detailed productions. Ones that seemed to be designed to first be danced to and then - after hours - studied under the post-clubbing microscope, in the forlorn hope of discovering what nuance had snagged your subconscious to the degree it had.

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If there was one label axis above all others that typified Progressive House, it was that of Hooj Choons and Lost Language. In one of the greatest pirouetting pivots of electronic music times, within the space of a year Hooj moved from releasing the high octane likes of Felix and JX to Red Sun’s (Hooj owner Red Jerry)’s own ‘This Love’ track (duly featured on disc 1). From there Cultivate’s ‘Broken Pieces’, Lustral’s ‘Everytime’ (in its Nalin & Kane form) and ‘Last Flight’ from Karada all played their part in its new progressive vision.

Russel Coultart’s Automatic Records was another significant notable, providing the home planet for Cass & Slide’s ‘3Tyrants@thebonaparte’ and ‘First’ from Coutart’s own Private Taste. No progressive conversation could be complete either without mention of Hope Recordings, and in Starecase’s ‘Hopeless’ and Max Graham ‘Falling Together', ‘Hypnotised Presents Progressive Trance’ sports two of their finest.

Naturally enough, through the works of Oliver Lieb, Nalin & Kane, Joker Jam, Junk Project and others, Prog Trance was born in the same place trance itself was, Germany. As quickly though it was adopted/kidnapped by the UK but as the new millennium got properly underway, it was The Netherlands that’d picked up the mantle. As ‘Hypnotised – Progressive Trance’ moves onto its post-2000 Indoor and Outdoor discs, it was the likes of Perry O’Neil, Mark Otten and DJ Remy, and label houses like Black Hole Recordings, Electronic Elements/Armind, Banshee/Bonzai that held most sway over the genre’s onward progression.

To that, tracks like the deliriously blissful ‘Forever Waiting’ from Mr Sam, Laurent ‘Lolo’ Verronez’s ‘Extended Horizon’, Otten’s ‘So Serene’ and Remy’s peppily propellant ‘Backstabber’ all began taking progressive trance to new, far-and-wide places.

Across its 27 tracks, ‘Hypnotised presents Progressive Trance’ delivers the quintessential detailing of the genre. It’s available through all good digital streaming and sales platforms now, as well as in limited edition CD and vinyl forms.    

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