Techno. The word evokes responses as varied as there are metaphors for sound.
For some it’s mind numbing assault of sounds, colours and movement, inextricable from sound systems clubs and warehouses.
For others, techno is more personal, a soothing tonic of strings and rhythms and a way to articulate the feelings and axieties of a rapidly changing world.
Contrary to its name, techno is not a formula - it’s not about buying keyboard y and drum machine zand then charting your success.
Techno is a feeling, a mindset for interpreting the progressof technology and its effect on the human psyche.
Postmodern soul music at the very last.
Techno is where electronic music got funky, got transcendental - and got busy - and techno happened in Detroit first.
Now it’s world wide like Skynet.
(*Quoted from rom Dan Sickos “Techno Rebels”)
(**altered by Hooked, a pagan from the www.)
I like Mylar Melodies’ definition: techno is the mechanical repetition of a mistake until it sounds good. At least, that’s what I’m trying to do when I make electronic music…
Feeling of coming together and dancing until morning and forgetting everything else, the basement of Tresor in the 90s, sunrise after a forest rave, hypnotic tribal rhytm and drum machines, ever evolving frontier of sounds you haven’t heard before
I was a regular at chris liebings shows in the 90ties, he brought us the so called schranz sub genere. He started with extra percussions via drum machines, while he got older his sets got more tame though, i still listen to his sets now and then, because he can tell a story with his tracks.
For me techno is a form of liberation of the self, you make silly movements, and enjoy a group of strangers. I had a lot of fun dancing.
I suppose what techno is to you depends on where and when you grew up. As a kid in Jersey in the 80s and 90s, house & eurodance music was all around me, but most people I knew at the time called it “techno.” Only the real heads called it “house.”
To us, “techno” was less a genre than a style or sonic vocabulary. Someone might say “I love the end of Hyberbalad where Bjork goes full techno,” meaning “the part where the kick comes in and it’s pulsing 4-on-the-floor” or more simply “the part that makes you shake your butt.” Or you could say “this new NIN remix is way too techno.”
Meanwhile, to anyone older than about 40, “techno” seemed to be a broad term that meant any electronic dance music that wasn’t new wave or synthpop.
I really don’t know what the term refers to in 2023.
From the hedonistic shit shows like tomorrow land and love parade to more artistic introspective stuff like aphex twin or rival consoles. I don‘t think you could describe that so easy.
Björk is right.
Björk is not Techno right, but she also worked with Arca. She has many connections into electronics not just bell.
Hedonistic four to the flour is not something I would explain to an alien if I had the chance. Wasted opportunity.
