Hypnotised: A Journey Through Belgian Trance Music (1992 - 2003) (Vinyl)

In trance music’s alphabet, G is for Germany, while H could only ever count for Holland … ports-of-call already made by the Hypnotised album series. When it comes to Britain though (likewise touched on in 2023), it has to share its B with another. Despite its neatly compact size, Belgium’s left an outsized impression on the genre, and that’s where Hypnotised’s roots-to-musical-riches ‘Journey Through Trance’ series arrives on June 5. Meticulously detailing the impact the country had on the scene, it highlights nine of the most momentous years in Belgium’s electronic music history. 

The fourth album in the series is again compiled by Arjan Rietveld, author of its encyclopedic companion book, Hypnotised: A Journey Through Trance Music 1990 – 2005. As with previous incarnations, Rietveld explores the country, not in a chronological, but more a ‘label-logical’ fashion, though its imprints, sublabels, mainlines and dance departments often prove incestuous.

His tour begins at the door of R&S Records, whose early impact (powered by the likes of Joey Beltram, Aphex Twin, Jam & Spoon, Jaydee, Human Resource and others) once threatened to all-out define Belgium musically.  The track triplet of ‘Camargue’, ‘Arab Girl’ and ‘Pure Pleasure’ provide a fascinating snapshot of the genre’s infancy, as it swiftly mutated from techno and rave into trance.

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