Same for Vandalism, althought everyone percieved it as a peak-time track, it didn’t really do much so I would have placed it as a filler. Although, Indecent Noise’s ‘Omendalism’ mashup took it to peak-time stuff.

I find myself playing alot of hard/funky techno and breaks as fillers. There’s no vocals, it drives similarly to trance and theres no melody as such, but like Walking Through Berlin, it plods on nicely.

Awesome, I’ll check out those tunes.

Here’s a few recent releases for starters:

Sky Motion – Though Chain (Nivaya remix)
Tom Colontonio – Walk Thorugh Berlin
Kane Nelson – Red Trigger
DNS Project – Clear Shine
Simon Bostock – Conscience
DJ Choose – Stranger Danger (Pt 2)
Chris & Matt Kidd – Compulsive
John Askew – Vandalism

Most of these are at the 138-140bpm tempo, similar to the big anthems, but whilst excellent tunes in their own right they’re not quite as memorable but still keep the dancefloor/listener engaged.

I would like to state that building up an set has become the largest challenge to me. As i started out djing, i thought it would be cool to play all the anthems after eachother…. like “speed up” “Sky” “lethal industry” back to earth” etc… I quickly found out, that it didnt work well together, as you said you cant keep up the energy in the crowd(Or at least that was my thougt, after hearing my recordings, as i didnt get to play anywhere) So i learned by doing to use fillers to build up energy…. Today i sometimes pend 4 weeks to setup an 1 1/2 hour set…
Until every track is in some harmony with the previous, in the end of this comment i will post a link to a set which in my opinion, is almost perfect setup, in the story telling line, feel free to listen and wonder why i dont get to play any gigs…. (i doubt anyone listens to my promo cds, other from my friends)

Actually i came up with a (in my eyes) great anekdote: Djing ist like writing a book… You rarely start with the climax, you build up a story increasing the energy from chapter to chapter, in a written story, there has to be some sort of energy which makes you want to turn the page and see what comes next… serve a quick surprice, make the reader go on, then tell a little bit story, to build up to the next climax and make it all explode in the end, and finish the story…

I guess the problem about releasing music today is related with many factors, most of them in order of the fast growing internet:

Downloading through the internet free, is easy – at almost no risk
The Labels dont sell that much anymore, and due to this, dont invest much in promoting tracks, especially not singles. (maybe beyonce or lady gaga, but they are still selling…)

This might cause many skilled musicians to drop off from the scene, as there are to less money in it or even change music style into something more commercial, as they dont sell enough of their “favorite” music.
The music industry is sadly very influented by the way we live or watch “talent” shows in the tv.

Cheap produced one hit wonders, which hypes a nation for 3 monts until the next show and they have to go in a jungle camp not to be completely forgotten
Check the 2009 charts from january… about 50% are remixed versions 2K9 of some dance anthem from 1992 till now…. Its easy, its cheap and did it work once it might work again. So producing has become some sort of 100 m sprint, to release the next remix before your rival, becomes the same idea.

So many “b” sides has become an commercial for your name… you promote your track with the fame of other djs… Oh they made a remix of it, must be good shit…
Having 3 well known djs or producers to re mix your track, makes the resonance explode, as their fans will love to hear what their favorites has been upto.

just like coming on the playlist of some one famous, has become an important matter in the marketing strategy of many online download shops,
They promote the track with the statement… has been played on ASOT or similar.

… You have a lot of work producing tracks, but due to torrents, many tracks are bought one time and then shared for free… So the infrastructure in todays music business has changed. The labels are selling cheap produced remixes, maybe even having major djs to support the tracks, so the fans will think: oh, he´s playing it, so it must be good….

Is it all negative or just evolution? I think music as such is always evolving… 100 years ago to look at it historical, the first records was produced, and this openned a marked. A market which has been growing and evolving ever since. Techno is having its 30st aniversary this year, and the introduction of techno also made a major change to musik industry back then… the dj didnt just change the records anymore, he was suddently able to make a long string of monotone beats non stop… I guess that must have made some discussion back then…
Now we have moved on and djing has become more of a laptop thing and i guess the future will be djing with a bunch of samples from this anf that track… It has already started with mash ups and the very easy handling of ableton live… Wheater i like it or not… Playing your cds/vinyls has become an instinct mammal in some years…
So i think it also charges the dj to have better skills, as everyone with the right programme can mix music(of course the right selection of track is still very important) but a good dj must be able to pick out samples and cook them together like a djing jamie oliver…

so i think the dj today has to look for some more creative ways to earn money, through selling ads on homepages, becoming popular through blogging, selling merchandise – developing clothes or create trends. Signing contracts with popular soft drink labels, drinking their products in public…

So where does it leave us? I guess developing has become more “mainstream” many artist try to use the fortune of others by using their “beat grooves” because proven… And this makes less people try to produce something new, as devekoping new, are far to time intensive and “risky”
So many cross the fence at the lowest point, and the market is very full and to keep the focus is very hard due to millions of streaming radios and you tube posting of often bad quality.
But keep up the good work, and thx for the blog…

Cheers

Allan

Ps. My latest promo underneath

http://www.blip.tv/file/2446875

That said… I thought I’d put my money where my mouth is and actually buy a tune for once, just bought your Ocean remix, nice one!

I remember us talking about this in the past and I partly disagree there aren’t many good ‘filler’ type tracks being made. I’ll try and include some examples below but will doubtless result in hate mail and removal-from-promo-lists from the producers in question as they angrily deny they make filler tracks because, like it or not, the term has negative connotations. There are still these sort of tracks being made (and I’ll try keep my examples recent) – you just have to look harder for them.

In fact, you have to look more carefully for good dance music in your preferred genre anyway: IMO the abundance of cheap software has resulted in a real dive in the quality-control stakes.

Stuff I agree with are the ways in which dance music forums, internet radio, digital formats and the public smoking ban has changed things. Dance music is being consumed differently and has conquences for the way its made, and how/when/why people listen to it.

The tech-trance/techno thing is very interesting and I find a lot of filler-type music within these genres. As someone’s already said, this sort of music is great for keeping dancefloor momentum going while not substantially decreasing energy levels.

*But* I suspect progressive trance, as Sly One (and myself) know it, is dead, or at least in hiding for the moment. That doesn’t mean there aren’t good filler tracks out there though. In the spirit of sharing lists, here’s recent-ish examples which’ve worked for me.

Mekk V: ‘Embryo’ (Funked Up mix – also Reaky remix)
Nicholas Bennison: ‘Zero Balance’ (Reaky remix)
In fact, most of Reaky’s stuff and I hope he doesn’t mind me saying it.
In fact, quite a lot of Acute’s stuff too and I really hope he doesn’t get pissed at me for saying it.
Michal Poliak: ‘Rubicon’ (original mix)
Dualism: ‘I Beg You’ (DJ Fabio vs Day Din remix)
Michael Dow: ‘Plasma’ (original mix)
D-Nox & Beckers: ‘Something For Your Mind’ (Paste remix) [this is perfect filler for me]
Nicholas Bennison: ‘The Dawning’ (original mix & DJ San vs Sebastien Moore remix)
Day Din: ‘Dance With Me’ (original mix)
Christopher Lawrence: ‘Gotham’ (Selway & Magnus remix)
A lot of other Jay Selway stuff works for me too.

So, in a nutshell, a Jurrane Top Five of Artists Who Make Really Good Filler Music And I Mean That As A Compliment are Reaky, Day Din, Jay Selway, Acute and Rob Stevenson under his Mekk V guise. Seek and you shall find.

What I really want to hear is some more examples of loads of great filler in an attempt to show me just how wrong I am .

Personally I like to utilise smaller chunks of filler, perhaps an edit of a tune with no breakdown that kinda just chugs along for 2-3 minutes, being so short it doesn’t kill the mood but just drops it down so I can build it up again. I do like a bit of tech trance and techno to drop the mood a bit too as this stops the crowd having their hands in the air too much which can be annoying, and in the summer months a tad smelly too.

I look for the musical journey these days to come from the whole night. It is about the travelling to the club and the big struggle to stay awake for the return journey and all the elation between, the progressive beats early on in an evening to socialise, tap the toes and nod the head. As it gets more uplifting the mood shifts accordingly. I find the older I get the harder it is to find energy at 3am so I need that kick up the arse to keep me into gear. Being someone who doesn’t smoke, doesn’t do drugs and rarely drinks alcohol it is all about the music for me.

Excellent blog series btw keep it up.

The fillers are the bits in the middle which nobody really notices. So your argument conversely means that either all the choons these day are belters, or they’re all shite. Having recently rediscovered folk and rock after years in the electronic wilderness, I know which side my coin falls!

I think trance definitely has a tendency to waffle these days… Back in the 90′s the 10-minute plus ‘journey track’ (so called cos it gives a DJ a chance to journey to the bog for a wee) was all the rage but now, in the noughties the idea just seems a bit out of date and jaded. Music has evolved a lot since the trancemania of then. nNew musical forms are shorter in play length, arguably reflecting the ADHD of modern society!

Your points on smoking in clubs are well put, sir. The last few times I’ve been clubbing have been dull, boring, horrible, pointless even… Whereas before we had proper chillout rooms, to facilitate those who weren’t really into hardcore- dancefloor- til- dawn… Now we don’t have a choice but to wave our arms in the air and sweat like pigs in trousers… Which is sad… I know a lot of people have really knocked legal clubbing on the head since the smoking ban… Except for those of us who insist on a crafty spark up when they turn the stupid smoke machines on…

Ambassador – The Fade (Fade Remix) is one of my favourite trance classics of all time!