Techno: Music that sounds like Technology
Here it is. As promised, this post covers Techno or Detroit Techno which are, in many respects, basically the same thing.
How, you ask? Well, the same way house music came out of Chicago clubs, techno is one more way Motor City has influenced the world. Listening to Detroit techno is definitely a #soundofplace experience. This means a harder sound not for the musically faint, but stick with me! You'll learn something at least.
But before jumping into tracks, let's get a few things straight:
1- Techno is a subgenre of electronic music.
It originated in Detroit. It has a specific set of musical characteristics. That's what this post is talking about. And if right now you're thinking "I know what techno is, isn't that what this whole blog is about?", the answer is "No." But don't worry, because this can be confusing.
It's confusing because techno has also been used to describe the wider range of electronic music, similar to what we in America now usually call EDM. It seems techno was used that way mainly in the 90s, and possibly still is some places in Europe. So some of us used to call things techno that would now be called EDM, unless they actually were techno (that is, belonging to the subgenre.) Get it?
2 - Techno is from Detroit, and it's definitely about #soundofplace.
The #soundofplace hashtag is something I started using to describe connections between non-musical aspects of a place and the sounds that come out of it. For example, the idea would be that Björk sounds darkly ethereal because she is from a darkly ethereal place (Iceland).
This is especially important with techno, because techno reflects the place it comes from. And as I said, it comes from Detroit.
Detroit is a city in decline but not dead, and it's indignantly proud enough of itself and its contributions to the world not to concede defeat. Detroit techno suggests just that in my opinion, alternating between eerily post-apocalyptic and a forward-sounding soulfulness depending on the day and the ears that are hearing it. Whether or not you like it as a matter of taste, one really has to consider that #soundofplace expressiveness brilliant.
And now that I've gotten that out...let's hear it.
Starting with something familiar. Remember the post on house music? This is acid house, a futuristic style of House that also came out of Chicago in the late 80s. (For Detroit, Chicago is the closest bigger American metropolis, since Toronto is across a border.)
Detroit techno developed underground both concurrent to and stemming from acid house in the late 80s. It started as house music but had its own established sound with Detroit-based labels by the late 80s and early 90s. Raves at places like the abandoned Packard plant helped the scene grow.
Most important were the Belleville Three - Atkins, Saunderson, and May - who grew up together in (you guessed it) Belleville, MI. Don't let the piano at the beginning of "Strings of Life" fool you into thinking this is an acoustic track.
Also important was Underground Resistance, both a label and a group of artists who view music production as a form of social and political activism. Here's a cool, fairly short docu-vid about UR and their "music over musician" ethic:
As for what techno sounds like, note the UR musician in the vid above who said the Detroit sound was a harder sound: beaty and "working hard" like the people of Detroit.
But the best description of techno in my opinion, comes from Atkins who said techno was supposed to be:
"Music that sounds like Technology, not Technology that sounds like music."
This a great example of #soundofplace since manufacturing and technology have always been important parts of the identity/culture of Detroit. You can listen to techno and easily imagine, for example, the robotics at an automotive plant.
That technological focus gives techno a certain futuristic feel and outlook. In the mid-90s, techno kept the futuristic focus, but also took a more hardcore turn.
Techno also took in Europe where it influenced the development of styles like trance. Talla2xlc was a big proponent of techno, starting "Technoclub" night at clubs in Frankfurt.
I should also mention the influence of techno on other sounds like hardstyle.(For an example of that check out Headhunterz.)
Original Detroit artists are still around though and have continued to evolve, with some reacting against intrusion from other subgenres through the "Minimal Techno" movement. The idea is to use less equipment while producing or playing live and do away with elements like melodic top layers. Minimal should NOT be taken to mean its less beaty or its sound is less hard.
Another important producer I didn't pull a track for is Richie Hawtin aka Plastikman from Ontario across the river. Detroit artists tend to produce under a high number of aliases, maybe because of the "music over musician" ethic.
And in news just this week, even deadmau5 came out as having released a techno track on Richie Hawtin's label under the alias "testpilot."
So now you know what techno is. Hopefully, this has helped you find your ear for recognizing it. It's still here, still looking to the future, and its beats are still working hard.
Just like Detroit...that's the techno sound.