The State of Trance vs. Hip-Hop, R&B & Pop

(And yes, that's a play on Armin's show for those who know ;-)

No matter the day or the mood, trance will definitely see me through. But that statement is also a sad commentary on hip-hop, R&B and pop music at the moment.

For the past few weeks I've been listening to a lot more trance than I did in the past few years. I was originally psyched about going to my first Trance Energy in Utrecht, but even after that fell through I still kept listening. I don't know if it's because local radio is garbage and that VH1 Soul and MTV Jams aren't doing a good job either, but there's just little on the hip-hop, R&B or pop scene that holds my attention right now.

I won't even touch on rap because hip-hop seems to be mirroring that genre's current every-song-revolves-around-strippers obsession. I mean OK, so T-Pain fell in love with a stripper (shoutout Rolli!) but DAMN does every striking song now have to be about climbing on the poll and makin' it rain? I know for sure all of Flo Rida's are about strippers (by the way, there IS a Lorida, Florida, in case you wanted to know) and I can only take Lil' Wayne in certain doses. I'm feeling Kanye, but he's more mellow now. R&B is one forgettable song after another. Yes, they're hot now, but in two, three years will you be able to tell me what the hot track for Spring Break 2009 was? Probably not. As for pop music? You know things are bad when I'm rocking Lady Gaga as one of my favourite track (she reminds me of the fun times I'd have belting out nonsense tunes and dancing around the living room with my Mom).

So what do I turn to when I need a musical fix so to speak? When I need something with a bassline that hasn't been chopped and screwed into infinity and just plain makes sense? (I have a highly ordered personality, forgive me.) What do I queue up when I need something that makes you stop and take a deep breath and follow the melody all the way up to the break and then the end? With or without lyrics?

Why trance of course... the harder the better. My top trackcs right now include:

• DJ Dazzle - Relativity
• Jochen Miller - Face Value
• John Deere - No Compromise
  

And my absolute No. 1 tune right now...

DJ Yvan - Adagio for Strings (Phil Green Rework)