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Dance 2 Trance - Moon Spirits (COMA Records 1992)
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moondancer
IsraTrance Junior Member
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Posted : Sep 1, 2004 10:23
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1 Kayenta (6:20)
2 We Came In Peace (Desert Mix) (5:05)
3 Freaks (6:22)
4 Sit Together (5:10)
5 Hello San Francisco (Golden Gate Mix) (6:44)
6 Mr. Cannabis (9:19)
7 P.ower Of A.merican N.atives (5:56)
8 Atlantis (5:10)
9 Remember Exxon Valdez (7:46)
10 Where Is Dag? (6:11)
Dance 2 Trance (Jam El Mar from Jam& Spoon and DJ Dag) have a very interesting story: they were one of THE very first artists to make electronic trance music in tha late 80s/ early 90s, and definaltley one of the most influential artists on what was later to become "goatrance". I've heard discussions trying to trace THE first trance track that started it all and some say that it was Dance 2 Trance's We Came in Peace. As a side note it was Jam& Spoon's remix of The Age of Love that was a big hit in the early 90s as well so these guys definatley had a golden touch back then. However you probably know Dance 2 Trance from their commercial sucess Power of American Natives. Yes, this was outplayed on MTV back in the days but keep in mind that the original version was longer and didn't have vocals.
So on to the review.
Kayenta is an ambient track. Very mystical amosphere, reminds me a bit of TIP's Mystical Experiences.
Alas instead of the original verion of We Came in Peace which had a nice catchy melody here we have a remix. Probably that by the time this album was released, We Came in Peace was already outplayed... It is a nice airy track, much in the vein of The Age of Love but since I heard the original version, I'm kindof dissapointed by this one, they completely took away the catchy melody!!
Now comes my surpsire: listen to that intro melody in Freaks . Now I don't know if it's just me but it sounds strikingly similar to BotFB's Hippie Crack Pannick . It's almost like the Hippie Crack Panick is a remix of this... very strange. So this track has a pretty freaky spooky feeling to it, definatley the earliest dark trance track I've listened to!
Sit Together is more on the lighter side of things, mostly chill-out but sounds a bit cheezy.
Again, sadly instead of the original Hello San Francisco we have a remix here that is 100 times worse than the original, especially since the original is one of my top trance track ever! As with We Came in Peace, this was probably already outplayed by the time the album was out hence the remix. The wonderfull melancholic melody was replaced by an dance acid-housy track... it's a real shame they didn't keep the original version 
Mr Cannabis is probably the first psychedellic dub track ever. Yes, that's WAY before Dub Trees and Hallucinogen's In Dub ... It's a nice track with a reggae sample (I can't make out what it says because of the heave Jamaican accent) and then goes on with a very nice synth line. It still has its value in a chill-out set ourdays!
You probably already know Power of American Natives as it has been repeated ad nauseam by commercial music TV and radio stations everywhere. i was lucky enough to get the early pressings with the instrumental version of the track, however infos show that in later pressings (once the track hit commercial success) it was replaced by the vocal version. I can only hope you find an early pressing of the CD... However if we sit back and listen to the track, the production values and progression definatley was revolutionary for the time. I'd compare this to AP's Mahadeva : a brilliant track for it's time but WAY outplayed. Then again, if you're new to the scene, then maybe you don't already know this track? I envy you...
Atlantis is a very nice chill-out track, very dreamy.
Remember Exxon Valdez really reflects the hippy nature of the time. in case you don't remember/ are too young, Exxon Valdez was an oil tanker that sunk spilling tons of oil in the sea and killing a lot of marine wildlife. As you'd probably expect, the general feeling of the track is sad, it has samples of dolphins, but contrary to other dolphin samples in trance tracks these actually sound like the dolphins are suffering! Then later in the track there's a guitar sample (first ever trance track with a guitar sample?) that sounds very melancholic. Like with Aquila's Aqua Divae track, I consider the artists to be geniuses to send such powerfull messages through music only, there isn't a SINGLE lyric in the track, yet you can FEEL everything the artist was trying to tell you. It's a briliant track albeit a bit depressive because of the sad feeling. It also makes me sad because i realize that back then artists actually HAD a message to deliver other than "let's all get high and have a party". In the beginning, trance was MUCH more than just another music genre, it was a way of life, a philosophy... none of that anymore. Now it's just a hip underground form of electronica...
On to happier realms with Where is Dag? , it's a very repetitive trance-inducing track with a chicken sample!  It's funny and myserious at the same time, I like this one very much as well.
Conclusion like the Aquila album I consider this to be one of THE absolute best early trance albums!! Production-wise it's dated but the creativity in there beats the hell out of stuff released these days! 10/10
Lemmiwinks (aka moondancer from older psynews reviews) |
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Old Skool
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Posted : Sep 1, 2004 11:17
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Great review!! I envy you so much that you have this album. The sound of Dance 2 Trance is just so BEAUTIFUL.
My favorite track of them is probably Take a Freefall.
Jam El Mar back in early 90s is just PURE MAGIC.
Jam & Spoon Right in the Night/Follow ME!
AGE OF LOVE-AGE OF LOVE
Other great sounds like:Cosmic Baby, Visions of Shiva, Sven Vath, Vernon, Zyon, Hardfloor
German Trance sounds made in early 91 to 94
is so SPECIAL. Nothing is better.
When I hear this music I get such a good feeling/pure trance. Which I never could expect to get in recent trance. This is the ultimate diiference for me.
I wish I was in Germany to live that GOLDEN ERA. |
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Mr.Hanky
Ace Ventura
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1088
Posted : Sep 1, 2004 11:41
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ahhhh these Flutes from Power of American Natives send chills down my spine whenever i hear them.....
THOSE WERE THE DAYS
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Acidhive
IsraTrance Full Member
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2014
Posted : Sep 1, 2004 20:00
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Agreed that trance in those days was pretty good, especially some tracks of Cosmic Baby... (space track for example) but what is this doing on a psytrance site? To me Dance 2 Trance has nothing to do whatsoever with the psyscene in general. |
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moondancer
IsraTrance Junior Member
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Posted : Sep 1, 2004 20:09
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Quote:
| To me Dance 2 Trance has nothing to do whatsoever with the psyscene in general. |
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didn't you read my review? This has EVERYTHING to do with psytrance!!! If stuff like this wasn't made in the early 90s then your psytrance might never have existed!!! Geez it's like saying that Goa Gil is just some old geezer with dreadlocks and you never understood what all the hype was about... |
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Acidhive
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Sep 2, 2004 18:27
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Ok, I admit tracks like these have been an influence on psytrance. But in my eyes Dance 2 Trance was a commercial trance band. That song Power of American Natives for example was a big hit here in The Netherlands. It's been remixed several times by people like DJ Quicksilver for instance. And in my mind commercial trance has nothing to do with psytrance. And to me this album that you talk about is nothing special at all. I've listened to it some times when I borrowed it from a friend and have found it to be not my taste. But, credit where credit is due. They have made some contribution, I'll give you that.
 "Subconscious unravels at the point of death, and all time it has known erupts into a moment. As death extinguishes us, so we become it."
[Esoteric: Subconscious Dissolution Into The Continuum] |
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Old Skool
Started Topics :
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Posted : Sep 3, 2004 05:24
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Just because it is a big hit it is commercial and it sucks! What a theory!!
It was a big hit because it was good.
Just like Cafe Del Mar and Age of Love.
It reaches people's mind and stays.
There is quality present which is appreciated.
The word commercial fits better to the psytrance scene today. Like xxx World selling the most boring music just for the money. They are fully aware that they are deliberately making INSTANT shallow trance for quick bucks. Marketing to people who really don't know what quality trance is.
Like people who wil buy because its a trance or psyrance CD or OH it is xxx World.
Their recent releases does't reach pepoples mind at all. After 2 or 3 weeks after the release the existance is totally forgotten.
Releasing quality music which is loved for ages and remains a classic is totally different. |
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shahar
IsraTrance Team
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2035
Posted : Sep 3, 2004 09:16
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Acidhive, trance as you know it was concieved with ppl dancing madly in forests and beaches to what kind of music?
Can you guess?
Yep- dance to trance- and let me tell you man- this was so much of a psychedelic experience....
Nice review there, I probably should get this on CD, I have it somewhere on tape, and it's probably really overused...
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"Be the change you want to see in the world!"
M.K. Gandhi
"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self."
Aldous Huxley
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Le Lotus Bleu
IsraTrance Full Member
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114
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438
Posted : Sep 3, 2004 10:04
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For the Dance 2 Trance fans, i wanted to reveal the existence of another project Peyote (always Jam & Dj Dag)-Alcatraz in a hypnotic-indian trancey style. It was released on R&S records & is also featuring on The History Of Trance part 1 (Sub Terranean).
From what i know, Jam El Mar has declared in interviews to have some american native origins (don't know if real or not), that's a source of explanaition of all the covers & title referring to these populations. |
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goa-ganges
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Sep 3, 2004 16:22
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Moondancer, you got style. D2T is classic. My favorite is "Hello San Francisco",@but not this remixed version in the album. There's another version that I may say was the very track that made me sense what the word trance means. Try to find it, you will love it.
And Acidhive, are you typing from moon? Psy not being commercial? Have you landed lately on Earth and gone to any big festival? And you should study a little more about 80's trance, it was there before psy and apparently you didn't know about it. Clueless.
Peace and Love |
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RebeL9
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
47
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Posted : Sep 5, 2004 07:35
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oh this is one of my alltime favourite albums.
i managed to find this album on 12" in excellent condition for $8 on ebay! 
I also found Power of American Natives both disks.
What a true classic. My favourite remix is Power of American Natives (Join The Tribe remix), I think its entitled "Dance 2 Trance remix" on some releases.
This remix is more trancier than the others. It uses almost no vocals and the flute melody differs. Check it out! |
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tv@oxygen
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
33
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256
Posted : Sep 5, 2004 18:09
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beautifull remember-thanxx for reminding!!
..my hovercraft is full of eels...
***Oxygenrecords.com***
*current releases*
2st digital release out soon - Protonica and Suntree |
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Acidhive
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
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2014
Posted : Sep 5, 2004 22:39
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@ Goa Ganges: I think I have a lot more knowledge about the whole trance scene than you might think. Anyway, it's MY opinion for fuck's sake! Why can't you just accept that and move on? Dance 2 Trance wasn't all that great in my opinion. And I have listened trance since the very beginning. Dance 2 Trance is just not my taste and although they might have had an influence on the psyscene, I just don't like their music at all!! That enough for you?? And consider this: just because GMS has a big influence on the scene, does it mean you lay down and kiss their feet and say their albums are classic? No! In fact: most people severely hate GMS because they are so copy paste. But they did have influence on the scene... Think about that! Just because an artist has influence, it doesn't mean you have to like their music. |
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goa-ganges
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Sep 7, 2004 13:14
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Acidhive, you still clueless...take a Prozac, you're in need of it. LOL.
Peace and Love
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