Boyan and I were discussing music at my place the other day, and because I am so focused on slow trance these days, he tried to teach me the basics of a genre I am slowly discovering in a backwards manner. I learned to like trance through its heavily edited, slower contemporary reinterpretation, and then going after the roots by digging the origins of these edits. Boyan however has been a trance head for much longer, no later than today he even remembered one of the first CDs he ever had in high school which he had long lost and forgotten, all the way back in 2005 (when I was a mere 13 years old). It turned out to be a trance take on magicmix by Prosper, a very recognizable melody as it was made popular by, and I am sorry to even mention it, Crazy Frog later that year… a truly cursed year.

Anyway, in his trance course 101, Boyan had a seemingly very big name I had never heard of: Shpongle. After listening to a couple tracks from him, Boyan played my pick of today: And the Day turned to Night.

Shpongle - And The Day Turned to Night (1998)

Not to minimize the work of the artists I have shared until now, but this one is truly a masterpiece alert, an odd one out, a modern-day Pink Floyd if you will. This track, as all tracks of this caliber, does not quite sit in a single genre. Ambient, trance, breaks, IDM, why not all at the same time? And why not over 20 minutes? The length and progression of this track lends itself to consciousness altering drugs, but who needs drugs when the music releases all the endorphins you need to enjoy it at its full potential. Each time I listen to it, whether working or chilling, it feels like a journey, always different, yet consistently peaceful and transcending. The last two minutes, when things calm down and go back to samples of a crowd talking and someone snoring with deep ambient pads always give me goosebumps, as so much energy seems to release and float, surrounding you with their benevolent endeavours. A truly blessed track… peace out.