Ben Gold curates Trance (Main Floor): Cutting-Edge Vision Meets Rave Heritage
Ben Gold delivers a Beatport chart that reads less like a playlist and more like a manifesto. Spanning 20 tracks across a focused BPM range of 138 to 150, this curation maps the current state of main floor trance with rare editorial clarity — balancing fresh club-oriented energy against the genre's foundational DNA.
The opening statement is confident. LAWTON (UK) sets the pace with Bad Potato (Armada, 148 BPM, C Major), a direct and punchy cut that wastes no time. The most disruptive presence across the selection is undoubtedly KI/KI, who appears three times — including 5AM, What's a Girl to Do in '25 (Disorder), and the Marlon Hoffstadt collaboration Losing Control (Capitol Records) — pushing trance into darker, more club-forward and techno-adjacent terrain that feels decisively modern.
Gold anchors the chart with five of his own productions, including standout collaborations with CIS (It Really Don't Matter), Trancemaster Krause (Needed U) and Superstrings (The Whip, the most atmospheric cut at 142 BPM). These tracks showcase his command of melodic tension within the main floor format, consistently working in minor keys to sustain emotional drive.
- Pegassi – MOAA (Sweet Nothing, 150 BPM, Eb Minor): one of the chart's hardest peaks, precise and explosive.
- Matty Ralph – 1999 (bebé recordings, 147 BPM, C Minor): nostalgic in name and spirit, a generational bridge.
- Panteros666 – Chasing Dreams (Warner Music Central Europe): an unexpected crossover presence that underlines trance's current permeability.
- Funk Tribu – Azul (TRIBE rec, 148 BPM, G Minor): vibrant and powerful, a welcome Latin contribution to the global palette.
The closing sequence is the chart's most telling gesture. Yves Deruyter's Back To Earth (Rave Mix) (Bonzai Classics, 140 BPM) and Cherrymoon Trax's The House Of House (1994 Remix By Thomas Schumacher) (Electric Ballroom, 138 BPM) anchor the selection in Belgian rave and trance history. Gold's message is clear: know your roots, own the future.
