Swedish Techno

From an earlier post, someone mentioned Swedish techno never dying and Adam Beyer/Henrik B being amazing. Well I have to say that I like the Swedish sound and play it regularly, but sometime I feel Beyer and his other chums have found their formula and are sticking to it. I think Beyer's definitely another one who likes to follow trends (although that recent double pack he did with Henrik B was unbelievable). I hated that album he did recently on True Soul - made me fall asleep... I've heard much better down tempo stuff than that from serious experimental artists like Authechre/Aphex etc etc.



I reckon alot of people like 'Swedish techno' now because they think it's 'cool' to like that sound. It's all the same to me half the time and it's pushing no boundaries whatsoever.



When I buy a Beyer 12" I want it to be innovative every time. I want to feel it like I've never heard anything like it before (ie Decoded, Drumcode 01 etc etc). Recently it's all be sounding the same - I know precisely what's going to happen.



What do you lot think...
Edited by: markeg3000 at: 12/3/02 11:19:37 pm

true, but beyer is still a quality producer... i don`t like the swedish sound to look cool, i love techno in general & all aspects of it, although i am not a fan of really funky techno eg Umek, but even beyer can make good funky techno... look at mr sliff - jelly tracks.

I know im going to get beat up here but here it goes. I dont really like beyer at ALL. Nor do i like UMEK for that matter. I have seen beyer play and UMEK play, in my opinion they both put me to sleep. With a status like both of them, don't you think they should be pushing their techno to another level? After that many years of producing, dont you think they might have learned some new tricks.

I was talking to one of the big techno producers the other day(wont mention who), and we were discussing this issue. We both agreed that if youve got one beyer record youve got em all.

Ill agree as well with mark that the last beyer album put me to sleep and i sold it to a tech house dj here.

Listen to producers like Krome, Burkat, Anxious, Headroom, Slobodan, Wilson, it seems to me that as they release current material, their production quality and ideas grow. This is one of the most important things for me when buying techno, i have to want to say to myself "Man how the hell did they do that?", not "wow hes just changing the pattern on his 909 every 32 beats".

Woops i dont know if im off topic here but anyhow thats my deal on the swedish hard hitters.

you say all it with such subtley frank :=]



hehe....

i agree it's the same.



i think henrik b brings a lot to the table and so did thomas krome back when code red and thrust was doing it for me.



personally cari lekebusch has been out in nowhere land for the last year. he's doing somthing totally different. but it's not my flavor.



so again swedish tech is predictable and sedative.



but, the new illgorhythm is (to me) a good one.(cause it's pumping)



you could figure the same thing to italian techno too. probably even more so.

Beyer is totally overated, although he has produced some classics...he played in Melbourne recently and I hated his set.



I was also told that the reason that the Swedish stuff sounds all the same is because it is all mastered by the one bloke...fair call.



Moholink, Hardcell and that haven't changed their formular at all...very repeditive.



On other note, Andreas Kraemer and Thomas Pogadl played here last Saturday night...a really nice hard tek set!

PAUZE has some very good points.



i gotta say that jel ford and beyer are very good at playing eachothers skinflutes though!





seriously though, beyer is VERY formulaic and entirely overrated.



you know, take some risks!



my $0.02







gunjack

its great scene they've got for such a tiny population up there in sweden. there's only like 100 or so people living there which means that almost everyone either makes techno and works for propellerhead or clavia. what a great place! too bad the food sux ass and the days around this time of year are around 15 min long.



swedes that get a big up:



thomas krome

johan bacto

hardcell

tobias von hofsten

devilfish (back in nyc next week!)

HEADROOM!!!!!









btw, glenn wilson isn't swedish.

I agree that most of these guys hit a formula and then repeat it over and over. I think the problem is that they all release way too much material , some of the london acid techno guys have been guilty of this in the past as well. I'm not sure if this is due to the distributors putting the pressure on, or that they need to keep churning out tunes to make a living - which is fair enough - but surely far better to spend a long time writing something groundbraking and fresh sounding which hopefully will sell more copies, than pumping out sub-standard product which will not be bought by 4 out of 5 potential buyers....because they already have one of that style in their box?

glenn wilson is cool as fuk.

yes, i heard thomas got in trouble at the airport!

Swechno is sooooooooooooooooooooo 1998! Get a grip!

Everyone can think what they want, but in all honesty from a quality point of view, no one can match the sound quality of the swedes in production. This doesn't mean their music is good or bad, but they continuously have the best quality. I know a lot of you on the board are major UK heads, and the UK tracks are great, but I feel the production quality and sound quality isn't as great.

I also find it interesting how a lot of you guys can bash the swedes for "sticking to formulas and being repetitive" when you embrace the Glenn Wilson sound on a daily basis. To me this is great thing, at the end of the day its all the same but we have different opinions about it. I love it cause otherwise life and music would be boring if everyone dug the same stuff.

BTW: Swedes to watch out for: Tobias Von Hoftsen, Par Grindvik and Hertz.

what's with you and glenn wilson? i don't get these references, but i'd sure like to hear what they refer too.

There's nothing with us at all? I don't mean so much Glenn in particular, just a lot of the stuff that comes out on those labels. Like above, the reference I referred to is that people slag the swedes for sticking to formulas, but the whole UK sound basically sticks to formulas for clumps of time as well. Not cutting anything or anyone down. Just saying I don't get some people.

just wondering.. always with the quick reference to glenn. thanks for clarifying.

ahem....anyway boys i think it's just down to taste. To hear somebody play a set of nothing but looped hard techno bores me...which is why I liked the acid techno stuff i.e. it's hard as nails and has progression, rather than bang...filter, breakdown stop. I would only play one or two of these type of tunes in a set wether they were british or swedish.

:wink:

glenn wilson is english. not actually from sweden. does live there though.

that would probably explain why he's so prolific....long winters etc.... :lol:

glenn lives in england.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Adverse

glenn lives in england.

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Correct. Used to be in Sweden, but left and went to the UK. Personally, I would have stayed in Sweden for the women.

Has anyone heard "AVALON" by HENRIK B on Illogorhythm? Excellent production with intense 'gothic' breakdown. If this is Swedish techno (which I assume it is because I saw Henrik's name mentioned earlier), then I'm a big fan.

It's that "new school" sound of swechno, or at least thats what a lot of people call it. At first I was like, "uh, i dunno." but its grown on me. Pretty cool stuff (avalon).

Avalon sounds very similar to Teorema with a different hook. Actually come to think of it, it sounds like the lead track on years of reflection too.

whatever.

Yeah I kinda agree on the Teorema thing...similar massive kick drum sound. I kinda dig the old school no-nonsense bassline work he did in the past, but it still pounds on a big system.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dustin Zahn

I also find it interesting how a lot of you guys can bash the swedes for "sticking to formulas and being repetitive" when you embrace the Glenn Wilson sound on a daily basis.

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That's what I thought when I read the original few posts, certainly Beyer has his formulas (interestingly - in light of what Mark says - I remember having a debate with him about this a month or so back with regards to Stanny Franssen) but so does Glenn Wilson, who is regularly praised on this board, and rightly so. But I wouldn't say his productions sound radically different to each other, and everytime I put a Wilson tune on the decks in a shop I know what I'm going to hear.

On a different note, I thought Beyer's Truesoul LP was excellent, some very good tunes on there. I'm wondering if people are perhaps a little sceptical because of who's made it - certainly people who I've played it to who have no idea who Adam Beyer is or what else he does have loved it.

Time for that cliche again then - it's all down to personal preference!

the swedish revolusionised the techno scene round about 95 96 but if you only play swedish techno your set becomes boring if you ask me and that's the problem right now too many dj's playing too specific music....

looks like ive come into this one a bit late...oh well..
I personally am a big fan o swedish techno, and in my opinion beyer has done loads of diufferent types of stuff, far more than what i have heard of wilson (but i do really like his stuff).
eg.

last impression
rippin and dippin
manipulated remix
ignition key

just four off the top off my head that are in totally diferent styles and sounds

Does the beloved wilson do this?
from what ive heard the answer is no... but i am the first to admit i do not know his stuff inside out like some of you lot probably do...

but yeah maybe beyer hasnt been the first to come up with his sounds, but he is a quality producer and i have heard some truly blinding dj sets from him (more in the track choice sense than the raw skill though..)

Genrally though I have a feeling a few of the swedes' hearts arent quite in it as they once were, and perhaps it has been starting to show...

Still, i ****in love em