# How do I identify trance music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 4, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-identify-trance-music/173082 "2003-05-04T22:24:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-identify-trance-music/173082/1 "2003-05-04T22:24:34Z")
If there’s some elementary solution to this problem, I’m gonna kick myself. Please be gentle. I _really_ enjoy listening to trance-style music. I tend to listen to a lot of streaming audio trance stations, and every so often, I’ll buy a random trance CD in the hopes of getting a good sampler. The problem I’ve always had is that radio stations never identify who the artist is! I suppose it’s impracticable, but I’m largely in the dark on who mixes what. I’ll occasionally stumble across something familiar on a CD, but largely, I wouldn’t know where to go shopping for a particular song I like, because I don’t know who mixed it. And how the heck would I ask someone about a tune? (Excuse me, but do you sell that song, “Thump thump woosh woosh thump thump thump?”) Does anyone have any suggestions? I’d love to develop a trance library if I knew who the hell I was listening to. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-identify-trance-music/173082/2 "2003-05-04T23:10:13Z")
Not much you can do about radio-radio, but many streaming internet stations will broadcast what the current song is. You might need a player that supports this for it to show up in the player itself, but often they’ll also have the current info at their web site. For instance, [Digitally Imported](http://www.di.fm), whose trance station I listen to occasionally myself, does this. It broadcasts the info, so I can see the current song info right in my player, iTunes. See if the stations you like listening to have a web site. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-identify-trance-music/173082/3 "2003-05-05T01:55:28Z")
Check out Paul [Oakenfold](http://www.pauloakenfold.com/). It’s all good. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-identify-trance-music/173082/4 "2003-05-06T06:14:14Z")
My absolute favorite trance CD is Armin van Buuren’s **[Boundaries of Imagination](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005NH0F/qid=1052201073/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/103-4046327-3924639?v=glance&s=music&n=507846)**. So beautiful…almost had me in tears one time (OK, certain psychedelic substances might have been part of the experience 😉 ). His **Transparance** is really gorgeous too. Other DJs to look for: Tiesto ( **In Search of Sunrise, Vol. 3** , **Magik, Vol. 6** ) Ferry Corsten ( **Global Trancemissions 2** ) I lseem to love Dutch trance. Some that aren’t Dutch: Oakenfold ( **Tranceport** , **Perfecto Presents Another World** ) Christopher Lawrence Sasha & Digweed ( **Northern Exposure** ) Tiesto is touring the U.S. right now. See him if you have a chance. ---
**Author:** ![Pixelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ad7895/32.png) [@Pixelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixelle)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-identify-trance-music/173082/5 "2003-05-06T13:02:12Z")
In addition to the ones already mentioned: Paul Van Dyke Mauro Picotto Pablo Gargano Pee Wee Ferris Vincent de Moor John “00” Fleming I listen mainly to psy-trance thesedays so my suggestions are mostly old-skool but still worth listening to, a lot of trance stuff is timeless anyway I think 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-identify-trance-music/173082/6 "2003-05-06T15:56:57Z")
The trick with getting good tunes (on vinyl in my example) is to find a good artist and listen to stuff on that label Oaky = Perfecto for example each time you discover a more popular artist on a new label you’ll automatically find loads of similar stuff as well. Although my advice is not to listen to trance at all - as a lover of dance music i’m well aware of the ‘its just boom, boom, boom, it all sounds the same’ argument…but in the case of trance its actually true. ---
**Author:** ![Pixelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ad7895/32.png) [@Pixelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixelle)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-identify-trance-music/173082/7 "2003-05-07T06:32:13Z")
But the poster obviously likes the ‘doof doof’, so where’s the problem? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![float\_flyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c77e96/32.png) [@float\_flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/float_flyer)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-identify-trance-music/173082/8 "2003-05-07T06:38:35Z")
Ministry of Sound has a bunch of good trance CDs. Some of them are tough to find but many music shops have at least one or two or their compilations. They usually have a few trance albums per year, such as the Annual 2002 or Clubber’s Guide to Trance etc. ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-identify-trance-music/173082/9 "2003-05-07T07:21:33Z")
Pixelle - it isn’t the doof doof I was talking about…and theres no problem just my opinion