I grew up listening to electronic music and developed a taste for all its genres. Today I have a collection of hundreds of records. My family thought I was strange because the more unusual the genre, the more I liked it. I was always drawn to the
textures in electronic music, the avant-garde style of Jean Michel Jarre and his space environments, the minimalism of Aphex Twin, the precision of Kraftwerk, and the cinematic environments of Vangelis and Klaus Schulze to name a few.
In the late 1980s or early 1990s, psychotrance emerged within electronic dance music (there were already other genres such as house, techno, and trance). It was a genre that arose from the
hippie scene and international travelers who mixed electronic music with
psychedelic influences, tribal rhythms, and Eastern elements, but what most characterized the genre was the use of
sound drugs, digital drugs, auditory drugs, or e-drugs. Psytrance mixed with ascending isochronic tones or tracks that incorporate binaural beats to induce energy, simulate deep trances, or meditative states. Anyone who has been to a rave has experienced the
euphoric states caused by continuous bass, extreme reverb, delays, and repetitive rhythms (It's not surprising that psychotrance is the IDF's favorite genre)
Since the late 1990s and especially in the 2000s,
Israel became one of the global epicenters of psychotrance, giving rise to world-famous DJs/producers (
Infected Mushroom ,
Astral Projection , and
Astrix , to name a few)
In lists of "top psytrance DJs" in recent years, Israelis often occupy several prominent positions, and there are labels, festivals, and a very strong scene in the country.
Israel has an exceptionally high representation and influence and many consider the modern "full-on" sound to have a distinctive Israeli stamp (many of the tracks sound
alien, and in fact, images of
phosphorescent-colored gray aliens and hallucinogenic mushrooms prevailed in the early days of the genre and continue to do so today)
Electronic dance music continues to evolve or regress, depending on who you ask. There is undoubtedly a marked anti-human aspect to it; it is
transhumanist electronic music.
"Thanks, Nursed! I was sick, and now I'm healed," says a comment on the video above... if only he knew. For my part, I now see my electronic music collection as a pile of junk, with a few exceptions. Apart from the fact that I'm getting older, I no longer find the meaning and textures that once made me love electronic music.