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Criticasters of electronic music like to fall back on the argument that dance music should not be considered 'real' music, because of the lack of physical instruments. Aside from the matter that plenty of dance producers love to collaborate with podium artists - think: Laurent Garnier, Junkie XL and Faithless - the house scene vibrates from the discussion about this melting of tech and analogue.
When it purely comes down to the composition, the creating of classic music and rock asks for other insights and skills than producing the ultimate dance track. ‘Traditional’ composers have to rely on a limited and determined supply of sounds that the physical instruments are able to produce. Contrary to that, the amount of electronic sounds is sheer endless. Whomever succeeds in selecting exactly the right sounds out of all these sound or is even able to add some more to this undetermined, huge and overpowering spectrum, and subsequently knows how to place those in a track that tells a story with a beginning and an end and includes an awsome built-up – I will lovingly bow deeply for them.
Matter of taste
Personally I’m not a big fan of many crossovers that evolve in between traditional and dance. A guitar in a dance track? 99 out of a 100 times I will pass. The same goes for the pan flute and the German flute and synthesizer sounds that hint of Jean-Michel Jarre. A marriage in between trumpet, saxophone or piano I can generally appreciate. This edition is about the combination piano and house. Judge for yourself if you think the fusion has succeeded.