Loo jee! One day you sleep early and all the fun happens behind your back. On Saturday night when I went to my bed, I prayed for a better tomorrow. Next day, when I woke up, I ran to the computer as I knew I would have missed a lot of ASOT 550 (yes, it is still going on) Los Angeles. As soon as I logged into the di.fm forums, I came to know that something awful. The tradegy of tragedies occurred. A loss so massive that it could never be filled. It was like the end of the world for a bunch of listeners when Fei Fei, an American DJ, played an entire set filled with Dubstep, Brostep and (gulp!) Trancestep tunes.
Aray bhaiya! Kia batao! From the looks of it, it seemed that a catastrophe. I was sad too because I landed into the Aly & Fila set where they aired new ballad (of doom and distress) with Jwaydn. But, Fei Fei was the talk of the trance town. Her Facebook page was filled with activity, both good and bad.
Quite honestly, I am tired of these annual ASOT events. Armin van Buuren, former number one deejay and now every "trance listener's" hero, has killed the spirit behind it. People talk about ASOT400 being epic and I cannot say anything about it but every single event after it has been sadly very disappointing. The hype for the future event, which is built only a few weeks after the previous one, kills the whole vibe. Moreover, the anthem (or the theme song) for the event has gone generic over the previous three years. This year, ASOT 550, is taking place in six—originally it was seven— different cities over the world which is made of sadly two continents, Europe and USA, this year.
The USA leg of the ASOT started in Los Angeles. The lineup announced for it had names of known trance producers like Gareth Emery, Aly & Fila, as well as newer entrants like Arty, Shogun, etc. Off course, there is Armin van Buuren too. However one name which instantly caught my eye was Fei Fei. I got curious about her. I never researched about her though.
Sunday morning when I heard about her little mischief and the reaction I was smiling to myself. Indeed Fei Fei made the cardinal sin but in all honestly, it was so much enjoyable. Compare her set with Arty's or even Armin's, you will feel the passion in it that was found amiss by many of the trance artists lately. Today, when I observed her tracklist, I was surprised to see that she played her tuned at the end whereas Arty played them all in Moscow and he repeated two-thirds of them in Los Angeles. Armin's set has been on rotation as well. Few tracks change in the lineup else it has remained the same. On the other hand, Fei Fei's set was like a breath of fresh air. I was chair-dancing within the first minute of her performance.
There are listeners who have been acting like a bunch of purists. Sadly, they never notice the growing house-oriented sound in Armin's radioshows. The purists hate David Guetta but they will not be ever-so-understanding when Armin van Buuren remixes him. The transitions and the quality of sound he is presenting now is just appalling. The state of quality at ASOT has been declining. During the very same event, Armin asked Hardwell what style he follows. Upon Hardwell's playing-it-safe answer of "everything goes", Armin not only obliged but agreed to it. To complain about Fei Fei is not sensible, especially when she gave a technically strong set. She provided good transitions, she managed a live singer and heck, she ended the set with a song closer to the next deejay's style. If you listen to her liveset now, you can clear hear the audience enjoying.
The truth is #trancefamily has gone close-minded on itself. Purists are killing it because they accept names, not the sounds. Yes, I truly miss the good ol' times when trance used to epic but it is time to adjust with other too. Fei Fei, and I expect more rebellions, have shown us all a new path. Good music is good music regardless of the genre. Trance family, why don't we embrace our wildest cousin, Fei Fei? You know she is so much fun.
Aray bhaiya! Kia batao! From the looks of it, it seemed that a catastrophe. I was sad too because I landed into the Aly & Fila set where they aired new ballad (of doom and distress) with Jwaydn. But, Fei Fei was the talk of the trance town. Her Facebook page was filled with activity, both good and bad.
Quite honestly, I am tired of these annual ASOT events. Armin van Buuren, former number one deejay and now every "trance listener's" hero, has killed the spirit behind it. People talk about ASOT400 being epic and I cannot say anything about it but every single event after it has been sadly very disappointing. The hype for the future event, which is built only a few weeks after the previous one, kills the whole vibe. Moreover, the anthem (or the theme song) for the event has gone generic over the previous three years. This year, ASOT 550, is taking place in six—originally it was seven— different cities over the world which is made of sadly two continents, Europe and USA, this year.
The USA leg of the ASOT started in Los Angeles. The lineup announced for it had names of known trance producers like Gareth Emery, Aly & Fila, as well as newer entrants like Arty, Shogun, etc. Off course, there is Armin van Buuren too. However one name which instantly caught my eye was Fei Fei. I got curious about her. I never researched about her though.
Sunday morning when I heard about her little mischief and the reaction I was smiling to myself. Indeed Fei Fei made the cardinal sin but in all honestly, it was so much enjoyable. Compare her set with Arty's or even Armin's, you will feel the passion in it that was found amiss by many of the trance artists lately. Today, when I observed her tracklist, I was surprised to see that she played her tuned at the end whereas Arty played them all in Moscow and he repeated two-thirds of them in Los Angeles. Armin's set has been on rotation as well. Few tracks change in the lineup else it has remained the same. On the other hand, Fei Fei's set was like a breath of fresh air. I was chair-dancing within the first minute of her performance.
There are listeners who have been acting like a bunch of purists. Sadly, they never notice the growing house-oriented sound in Armin's radioshows. The purists hate David Guetta but they will not be ever-so-understanding when Armin van Buuren remixes him. The transitions and the quality of sound he is presenting now is just appalling. The state of quality at ASOT has been declining. During the very same event, Armin asked Hardwell what style he follows. Upon Hardwell's playing-it-safe answer of "everything goes", Armin not only obliged but agreed to it. To complain about Fei Fei is not sensible, especially when she gave a technically strong set. She provided good transitions, she managed a live singer and heck, she ended the set with a song closer to the next deejay's style. If you listen to her liveset now, you can clear hear the audience enjoying.
The truth is #trancefamily has gone close-minded on itself. Purists are killing it because they accept names, not the sounds. Yes, I truly miss the good ol' times when trance used to epic but it is time to adjust with other too. Fei Fei, and I expect more rebellions, have shown us all a new path. Good music is good music regardless of the genre. Trance family, why don't we embrace our wildest cousin, Fei Fei? You know she is so much fun.
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