New age and electronic music

New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often associated with environmentalism and New Age spirituality.

'Beautiful' by Ryan Farish is pretty special. Listening to this album is like taking a tour through new age and electronic music. There’s some of Enigma’s arpeggio bells; a few chanting voices from Adiemus; some pleasant “whoosh” sounds from Jean Michelle Jarre; and them all topped off with some tastefully applied pan flute and simple Jim Brickman piano melodies. And yet, I think this is pretty special stuff. The compositions are nice and elegant; the melodies are simple but enriched by some intricate electronic noodling. It's really kind of intoxicating.

Enjoy 2 beautiful videos from this album.

Trance music is bliss!

Perhaps the most ambiguous genre of dance music, trance could be described as a melodic, more or less free-form style of music, partially derived from house. While there is no strict definition for trance, songs of this genre are usually characterized as being accessible and having anthemic and epic and rifting and psychedelic qualities.

It is my favorite genre. Be it vocal or purely digital, I am crazy about it.

So what is trance? How is it different from Techno music?

1. Techno focuses on rhythm and beat.
2. Trance focuses on melody.
3. Techno is more repetitive, and can be blended with other tracks.
4. Trance is less repetitive, and is a stand-alone piece
5. Techno is pure energy
6. Trance has a building up of energy, much like a story with a climax
7. Techno was developed in Detroit in the 1980’s
8. Trance was developed in Europe (Germany) in the 1990’s
9. Techno is inspired dance music
10. Trance is inspired music dedicated to the listening mind!

The most popular DJs in the world often play Trance music. Popular among them is Paul Oakenfold (1998–1999), Sasha (2000), John Digweed (2001), Tiësto (2002–2004), Paul van Dyk (2005–2006), and Armin van Buuren (2007–2011). Nadia Ali was recently made the queen of trance because of her amazing voice!

Armin van Buuren is one of the most terrific DJ of all times. In 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 he was voted number one in DJ Magazine's annual top 100 list of the most popular DJs. You can experience his music in the video below:

And "For an Angel":

Impressed?