The ‘Make Techno Black Again’ mix is a tribute to the extended thoughts and techniques that went into the composition of Detroit techno. In the...
The ‘Make Techno Black Again’ mix is a tribute to the extended thoughts and techniques that went into the composition of Detroit techno. In the wake of the collapse of the Ford Industry and subsequent “white flight,” techno in response was political and rebellious.
To quote Gerald Donald (Drexicya/ Dopplereffekt), “[Electronic music] in particular is a response to urban decadence and the entire spectrum of the socio-economic condition. It’s an expression of a dystopian condition.”
Expanding from these words, the mix is designed to be a self-reflective and non-linear tour of Detroit techno as a machine of momentum and an expansion of black music with the aid of newly acquired technology. Jeff Mills’ DJ sets with Underground Resistance in which hardware drum machines and synthesizers were hotwired into Mill’s own three vinyl deck setup was my main source of inspiration, wanting to recreate the fearless experimentalism of a live techno set from the 90s. Techno is assembly line music at its most beautiful and gritty.
//Tracklist: Detroit in Effect - Nothing’s like Detroit (The Recession) Sourced Audio #1: Documentary on Detroit by Ford Motors Sourced Audio #2: How Detroit Became a Warzone Rhythm is Rhythm - It is What it is The Shadow - Free as You Want to Be Galaxy 2 Galaxy - Body and Soul Model 500 - Techno Music (M500 Version) Sourced Audio #3 / #4: DJ Rolando / Terrence Parker Underground Resistance - Greater Than Yourself DJ Stingray - Cognitive Load Theory Dopplereffekt - Superior Race Theo Parrish - Any Other Styles? The Deacon - Fuji Mad Mike - Attack of the Samurai Drexciya - Aqua Jujitsu Kyle Hall - Body of Water Drexciya - Black Sea (Aqualung Version) Transllusion - Disrupted Neural Gateway Underground Resistance - Kill My Radio Station KMFH - Flemmenup The Detroit Escalator Co. - Mandela / Toronto Underground Resistance - Base Camp Alpha 808 AUX 88 - Direct Drive Urban Tribe - Sophistry DJ Assault - Accelerated Funk Sourced Audio #5: Mad Mike Mystic Tribe AI - Telepathic Seduction Terrence Dixon - Dark City of Hope Dopplereffekt - Isotropy NRSB-11 - 6231-478 3 Source Audio #6: Jeff Mills, Robert Hood and Mad Mike aka Underground Resistance Live in New York at Limelight (1992) ~ Speaker Music (DeForrest Brown, Jr.)