The Healthy State of Techno

jtsuited

Going through the techno top 100 on beatport today and good god it's a nice experience.
More importantly production wise, everyone seems to be really pushing things further regarding the depth in the records. The standard of production is really something else.

My credit card is about to get hammered by a mammoth session of record buying though.

So why post this in the production section?

Well it's very inspiring to hear all the great records coming out at the moment and it gives you a lot of ideas.

There is a reason some of the best dj's are the best producers and vice versa. Take Dubfire for instance. It's clear his dj sets influence his productions to a massive extent. And his Sci + Tec label too.

So, in short, don't underestimate how much of a benefit working on the more dj side of things (crate digging, defining your sound etc.) will have on your productions (even if you feel yourself limited by a lack of technical knowledge.

Or something like that...

splitrmx

In my opinion most of the tracks on the Beatport Top 100 "techno" list are terribly bland, watered down cookie cutter affairs. Dubfire being one of the worst offenders. This conversation will probably be moved to the dance music section soon!

PaulBrewer

What sort of audience does Techno have? Does it sell anywhere?

Who are it's prime exponents?

splitrmx

PaulBrewer wrote: »

What sort of audience does Techno have? Does it sell anywhere?

Who are it's prime exponents?

You sound like a market research questionnaire! Are you trying to re-synergise techno with a view to user engagement on a win-win musical platform? Or are you actually interested in the genre?

PaulBrewer

splitrmx wrote: »

You sound like a market research questionnaire!

Aye!

I'm interested in everything musical.
I know very little about Techno.
So now yez Dancey boys have yer own playground it's an opportunity for you to share with us who know little of the genre ...

Neurojazz

Personally to me, if i wanted to have 100% fun mixing records it would have to be techno orientated (because i'm crap at beat matching and mixing trance - i'd love to have a large techno collection to play around with

Zascar

Techno (and Minimal) are great fun to mix...

jtsuited

Now's the time to get into techno imo. It has so much going for it with artists like Dubfire (sorry splitrmx), Gui Boratto, Guy Gerber and labels like Sci+Tec, Cocoon, Harthouse, and so on.

splitrmx

PaulBrewer wrote: »

Aye!
I'm interested in everything musical.
I know very little about Techno.
So now yez Dancey boys have yer own playground it's an opportunity for you to share with us who know little of the genre ...

Read this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Techno-Rebels-Renegades-Electronic-Funk/dp/0823084280

Watch this documentary:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTHbchszdNE&feature=PlayList&p=D7D56622542A1B54&index=0
It's called "The History of House" but it's really about techno too.

Watch this documentary:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-195672552584716914&hl=en
It's called Hi Tech Soul, and deals with Detroit Techno. Some people say techno was first created in Detroit in the early 1980s (but then again some people say Kraftwerk invented it in the 1970s, or the BBC Radiophonic Workshop invented it in the 1950s.......)

And while we're at it watch this too:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5156041728430798000&ei=ezksSrz8NKKi2wKDx726CQ&q=tr808&hl=en
It's a short documentary about the world's great drum machine, the Roland TR808.

The above should give you a proper grounding in techno 101!

Zascar

Any other favourite Techno labels we should be checking out?

jtsuited

rejected (joris voorn's label I think)
toolroom
circle
ostgut ton

hubiedubie

Loving techno at the moment too: Joris Voorn, Edit Select, Radio Slave, Leni Faki and Paul Kalkbrenner all rocking my world for the last few months.

PaulBrewer

splitrmx wrote: »

Read this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Techno-Rebels-Renegades-Electronic-Funk/dp/0823084280

Watch this documentary:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTHbchszdNE&feature=PlayList&p=D7D56622542A1B54&index=0
It's called "The History of House" but it's really about techno too.

Watch this documentary:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-195672552584716914&hl=en
It's called Hi Tech Soul, and deals with Detroit Techno. Some people say techno was first created in Detroit in the early 1980s (but then again some people say Kraftwerk invented it in the 1970s, or the BBC Radiophonic Workshop invented it in the 1950s.......)

And while we're at it watch this too:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5156041728430798000&ei=ezksSrz8NKKi2wKDx726CQ&q=tr808&hl=en
It's a short documentary about the world's great drum machine, the Roland TR808.

The above should give you a proper grounding in techno 101!

Thanks for that Splitrmx ! I will indeed have a look at those. I appreciate the effort.

jtsuited

hubiedubie wrote: »

Loving techno at the moment too: Joris Voorn, Edit Select, Radio Slave, Leni Faki and Paul Kalkbrenner all rocking my world for the last few months.

yeah all great, have you seen the trailer for that movie Paul Kalkbrenner is in?

Berlin Calling

SteveDon

jtsuited wrote: »

yeah all great, have you seen the trailer for that movie Paul Kalkbrenner is in?

Berlin Calling

haha that looks mad

hubiedubie

Hadn't seen the trailer yet looks good. Did they ever show it in Ireland? I looked out for it around the release but nobody was showing it. Incidentally off to Berlin in July to revisit Berghain:)

jtsuited

don't think it's being shown here. i'm sure there's some way of finding it!!

gonna makin a trip to berghain myself pretty soon. wanna see one of these 6 hour Ben Klock sets.

ICN

I love Beatport. I used to spend a 10'er on a 12" for just 1 decent tune.

Now its a little from here & a little from there.. You can buy whatever you want and that way has to be the best for the consumer. The quality of what I own in my library has certainly increased because of digital downloads. The state of Techno / House / Minimal is great at the moment - Everything is melting into one. But sites like Beatport & the limited attention span of their Users have had an influence on all to up their game. Sure, there's a bit of "join the dots" out there.. but it does not take me long to find what I like TBH. Its not a massive problem IMO.

Everyones favourite feature has to be the Genre Charts & DJ playlists. You'll hear all sorts of Artists you would not normally get the chance to encounter. Then that brings you to Labels & other Acts - it goes on & on & on.. Fantastich!!

Things have totally changed & I find it hard to say who inparticular is great, as there are lots of great individual tunes. Its not all about the "Big Guns" - Everyone has a shot. Some hit.. Some miss.

Its these that I find most influential if I'm honest.


In general, its difficult to say who is the credible Westlife of the whole thing, but Heroes / Influences of mine are..

Adam Beyer - Without a doubt, an absolute legend. His productions are incredible. He's gone from relentless, but smart - 4/4 Techno to this Hard / Minimal Hybrid. I really admire him as he totally changed tack when all the "Wonky" Techno first started getting popular.. but rather than following the herd, he actually continued to influence it. His beats are incredible.

Robag Wruhme / Wighnomy Brothers - Mental, seriously deep Minimal / Techno / House. If you ever see a pic of Robag, or Gabor Schablitzki as he is known by his parents, you will think WTF!! But the music is really pushing the limits IMO. Some of it is like early Akufen - that cut up collage style - but overall, its a mish mash of different things all mangled together. He takes snippits of things, makes everthing sound confusing & gets it happening. Really love this Guy. I've a couple of his / their sets which are just ****ing mental.. But still club music obviously.

Matthew Dear - I really like the False stuff & all the classic Audion. Some of the tracks under his own name are good - but its the Audion stuff like Mouth to Mouth, Noiser, Billy Says Go, Snap Into It. Absolute destroyers. He really knows how to make dark, moody building techno.


Countless more one off Artists / Tunes whatever.. Everyone can spend all day saying this is good, that is good.

Heres a couple from my last visit.

Lucy - Grainy lines. Len Faki - BX3. Ambivalent / JPLS - Frontstab. Robag Wruhme - Ruptur Oing.

jtsuited

nice post ICN.

I really don't get the beatport bitching that goes on. For getting to know labels and artists it is unbelievable. You could honestly spend a whole day on there just digging through artists and labels and have a blast.

BTW, I er....got Berlin Calling with no subtitles. gonna watch it later, and maybe freshen up on my Ordinary Level leaving cert German this afternoon so I have some clue what's going on.

There's another trailer going round with that 'Sky and Sand' track on it. Phenomenal looking trailer. There's a sentence I never thought I'd say.

ICN

jtsuited wrote: »

..You could honestly spend a whole day on there just digging through artists and labels and have a blast..

Yup. Its a blessing & a curse :pac:

splitrmx

Surgeon DJ set from Shanghai Summer 2009 (you won't find many of these in Beatport's techno top 100):

http://balance-club.co.uk/site/music/BAL.2009.05.29.SurgeonInShanghai.16.05.2009.mp3

The Chosen Brothers - Mash down Babylon
Smear - Lito
The House Of God (2000 remix)
Coil - The Snow (Jack Dangers remix)
Shiver - Subsonic Sound Scape
Drexiya - Black Sea
Robert Babicz - Prism
Cristian Vogel - Don't Take More (Jamie Lidel remix)
Marlinspike - Bongo Rocka
British Murder Boys - BMB4 bonus beats
Felix Da Housecat - Thee Lite (Dave Clarke remix)
Peter Van Hoesen - Continued Care
Planetary Assault Systems - Mark Me
Rhythim Is Rhythim - The Beginning
Norman - Nodge - Manmade
Joey Beltram - Ten Four
Morganistic - Marbles
Robert Hood - Untitled Sketch
Scuba - Ruptured (Surgeon remix)
Choice - Acid Eiffel
Psyche - Neurotic Behaviour
K Alexi - Drug Test
Jellybean - Twilight Drone
Robert Armani - Basement Rats
Surgeon - Klonk Part2
Autechre - Cipater (Surgeon remake)
Reeko - md11 B1
Go Hiyama - Geometrical (Surgeon remix)
Distance - Feel Me
Grovskopa - Sex And Violins (Surgeon remix)
Forward Strategy Group - Applied Generics A
Nate Williams - Club Patrol
John Carpenter - The Bank Robbery (Lory D remix)
Joey Beltram - Gameform (Mike Dearborn remix)
Efdemin - Acid Bells (Martyns dark mix)
Starkey - Gutter Music (vip)
Kritical Audio - Spandex
Tobias Von Hofsten - Swinger

ICN

splitrmx wrote: »

Surgeon DJ set from Shanghai Summer 2009 (you won't find many of these in Beatport's techno top 100):

British Murder Boys - BMB4 bonus beats
Surgeon - Klonk Part2

Surgeon is brilliant - Seen him a few times. Superb.

My favourite Surgeon track track of all time is British Murder Boys - Surgeon / Regis - Death before surrender.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta_Zdz_e_B4

Still sounds fresh after 8 years. The Dubby break is superb.. then when it kicks back in.. Brilliant tune.

Back in the day.. I'd play Death before surrender into Luke Slater - Body, Freeform, Electronic Inform (Lukes Needle damage mix) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0MmSlJ5Rhk

Then Adam Beyer - Drumcode 20.5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEuvaDJmoLQ

Seziertisch

jtsuited wrote: »

don't think it's being shown here. i'm sure there's some way of finding it!!

gonna makin a trip to berghain myself pretty soon. wanna see one of these 6 hour Ben Klock sets.

Berghain is quite the experience. A techno club and a gay/fetish sex club all in one. As you walk in the door of the club on the downstairs level there are all these cubicles ... The first time I was there, there was this guy lying on a bench beside the stairs heading up to the main level. His hands and feet were bound. His mate was sitting beside him and every now and then he would give your man a sip from a bottle of beer he was holding.

Also, you see people still arriving at 9 or 10 am on Sunday morning, after a good night's sleep and a good breakfast ready for a day of clubbing ...

PaulBrewer

splitrmx wrote: »

Read this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Techno-Rebels-Renegades-Electronic-Funk/dp/0823084280

Watch this documentary:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTHbchszdNE&feature=PlayList&p=D7D56622542A1B54&index=0
It's called "The History of House" but it's really about techno too.

Watch this documentary:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-195672552584716914&hl=en
It's called Hi Tech Soul, and deals with Detroit Techno. Some people say techno was first created in Detroit in the early 1980s (but then again some people say Kraftwerk invented it in the 1970s, or the BBC Radiophonic Workshop invented it in the 1950s.......)

And while we're at it watch this too:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5156041728430798000&ei=ezksSrz8NKKi2wKDx726CQ&q=tr808&hl=en
It's a short documentary about the world's great drum machine, the Roland TR808.

The above should give you a proper grounding in techno 101!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAPD22rmu8o&NR=1

At 1.35 ..... Brilliant !!

brianc27

check out stuff by grovskopa, black smith craft, casual violence, luka baumann, ancient methods, dominick muller, voidloss, smear, phase, surgeon, regis, the likes of these guys arent particulary well known (bar surgeon & regis) but are realy pushing techno production wise, i dont really consider most of the acts named in this thread as "techno" artists really, im not saying what they produce is bad, sure i even play some of it myself and have enjoyed djs sets from some of them but its just not in the same league as what ive mentioned in this post production wise imo, also the production qualities of those ive mentioned is of a much much higher standard then that of say Dubfire or post 2002 beyer. Check them out, you might not get much stuff on beatport, but check juno

brianc27

Zascar wrote: »

Any other favourite Techno labels we should be checking out?

token records would prob be my favourite label right now, every release has been excellent

hans gruber

Jumping in late on in the thread, just saying, I do think techno and house are in healthy states at the moment.

The two are coming back towards their roots, with people able to play across the board for the first time in years, from very deep house and even disco, right through to very hard techno.

I've been playing techno for around 10 years now and its the first time, during that period, that the genre's been so diverse and had so many influences.

As for production, I think dj's tend to focus a little bit too much on dancefloor-friendly music (guilty myself too)

In saying that, a lot of my favourite records are made by dj's, as they understand how to move a crowd a little bit more than a producer, who may, at times, be clever for the sake of it, production-wise.

ICN

brianc27 wrote: »

check out stuff by grovskopa, black smith craft, casual violence, luka baumann, ancient methods, dominick muller, voidloss, smear, phase, surgeon, regis..

I'll definitely be checking them all out today Mate. Nice one.


I think what you've hit upon is that Techno actually splintered into a couple of different parts about 6/7 years ago. Everyone used to listen to pretty much anything & go out to any "Techno" DJ then.

I dont know what happened. It evolved. Suppose a good summer in Ibiza.. maybe a funkier, cleaner sound. It moved out of the dirty holes & became commercial. Thats your "New" Minimal / Tech / Prog / Electro House.

Surgeon & all the Experimentalists stayed underground. With a higher Male to Female ratio at nights - But no change there, that the way it used to be anyway! LOL :pac:

Dave the Drummer & Co. went off to Hard House land.

(+ Yes, I forgot Trance )

Now Its just a collection of different scenes I suppose.. different expectations.. different rules.

And to be fair to everyone.. Too much water has gone under the bridge to be able to compare like for like at this stage.

But you're dead right.. Techno aint Real Techno anymore.

hans gruber

A random selection of labels I like:

Contexterrior
Bunker (always in there)
Metroline
Kompakt (always)
Cocoon (always)
Counterbalance
Neue Heimat
Kanzleramt
Firecracker
Third Ear
Rush Hour
Subject (detroit)
430 West
UR
Axis
Hotflush
Applepips
yadda yadda...I could probably go on forever...



edit
Ostgut Tóntráger
Sandwell district
Token
Dial/Smallville
Spectral/Ghostly
Azuri
D1 (obviously!!!)
Quintessentials
Millions of Moments
.....................I really could keep going...

hans gruber

ICN wrote: »

I'll definitely be checking them all out today Mate. Nice one.


I think what you've hit upon is that Techno actually splintered into a couple of different parts about 6/7 years ago. Everyone used to listen to pretty much anything & go out to any "Techno" DJ then.

I dont know what happened. It evolved. Suppose a good summer in Ibiza.. maybe a funkier, cleaner sound. It moved out of the dirty holes & became commercial. Thats your "New" Minimal / Tech / Prog / Electro House.

Surgeon & all the Experimentalists stayed underground. With a higher Male to Female ratio at nights - But no change there, that the way it used to be anyway! LOL :pac:

Dave the Drummer & Co. went off to Hard House land.

(+ Yes, I forgot Trance )

Now Its just a collection of different scenes I suppose.. different expectations.. different rules.

And to be fair to everyone.. Too much water has gone under the bridge to be able to compare like for like at this stage.

But you're dead right.. Techno aint Real Techno anymore.

You're about two years behind: as far as I'm concerned, it's all coming back together again, and I love it!

Once i could only get away with scandinavian loop techno and hard electro, now I can go right down to the likes of cassy, in deep house land, and still come out the other end through ostgut records, into the crazy aggression of sandwell district records...things have come full circle, and big deep house names can play techno, and big techno names can get right down to disco. I love it! It's the healthiset it's been in 10 years, for me!

Zascar

Cheers lads loads of great label recommendations there - recognise a lot of them as favorites already but will deffo be checking out the rest asap.

I think techno is in a great place right now - so diverse and so much different stuff out there - i really like the deep house and tech house influences. Brainc27 I checked out a few of those artists but they are not really my thing, but these days my music tests change very quickly as I explore new artists labels and sub genres so i might end up liking it in time.

MikeHoncho

Zascar wrote: »

Cheers lads loads of great label recommendations there - recognise a lot of them as favorites already but will deffo be checking out the rest asap.

I think techno is in a great place right now - so diverse and so much different stuff out there - i really like the deep house and tech house influences. Brainc27 I checked out a few of those artists but they are not really my thing, but these days my music tests change very quickly as I explore new artists labels and sub genres so i might end up liking it in time.

Check out Rekids too. Good starting point would be the Rekids Revolution compliation they released recently.