- Aug 23, 2022
- 220 Posts
- 195 Thanked
The Timeless mix of “Time’s Up” is one of the most forward-thinking and genre-defying tracks of the late 1980s. Released on October 16, 1989, just weeks before the fall of the Berlin Wall, it belongs to the first phase of the proto-trance era (1987–1989). This formative period saw a growing presence of trance-like elements emerging within other genres such as industrial, acid house, ambient, and EBM — well before trance existed as an independent style. It also predates the second wave of proto-trance (1990–1992), which was spurred by German unification and the resulting cultural explosion that transformed the country into a hotbed of electronic innovation.
The track stands out for its rich, layered sound design, which contains early psychedelic traits that would later become central to the goa/psytrance scenes. Swirling textures, stretched-out sonic motifs, filtered noise effects, and a hypnotic drive give the track a trippy, out-of-time quality. At the same time, it also hints unmistakably at what would become the core architecture of traditional trance music: an underlying sense of progression and movement, subtle yet evolving melodic motifs, mood shifts, and a cinematic emotional arc.
The track stands out for its rich, layered sound design, which contains early psychedelic traits that would later become central to the goa/psytrance scenes. Swirling textures, stretched-out sonic motifs, filtered noise effects, and a hypnotic drive give the track a trippy, out-of-time quality. At the same time, it also hints unmistakably at what would become the core architecture of traditional trance music: an underlying sense of progression and movement, subtle yet evolving melodic motifs, mood shifts, and a cinematic emotional arc.
