What is techno, exactly?

[The_Laughing_Man]

Why the four year limit? Since the term techno has been bandied about, we've seen everything from london acid to dub techno evolve from the same roots. Sven Wittekind makes ears bleed and Sleep Archive write lullabies. How did that happen if there's no experimentation? If nobody is pushing anything in new and different directions, how come there's so much variation?

When was the last new movement?
Schranze originated in about 99.
Sleep archive can be traced directly to Basic Channel, a sound and technique about 10 years old now?
What, if anything, new has happened in the last 4 years? I would even say 6 years really.

We aren`t talking about the past we are talking about now, there is very little experimentation NOW, and nor has there been for ages.

What WAS experimental music isn`t so much now. That is my point.

If we are talking music since the beginning of time then all music WAS experimental at some time. And still that pushes techno out of being the most experimental dance music.

You see my point now?

It doesn`t matter, good music is atill being made, but when people harp on about techno being so experimental, alarm bells begin ringing for me of narrow vision.

[DarkYoung]

sound of the underground innit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V24BB...eature=related

[jon connor]

sound of the underground innit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V24BB...eature=related

yea i wouldent mind seeing Sheryl cole under dressed WOW! FORGET THE OTHERS THERE CRAP BUT WE FORGIVE SHERYL MY GOD A FANCY THAT WOMEN I WOULD ABSOLUTLY GIVE HER A GOOD BLOODY HIDING PHEWWW! IM ALL HOT NOW WHY DID YOU MENTINON THIS HAHAHAHAHA

[Technologic]

When was the last new movement?
Schranze originated in about 99.
Sleep archive can be traced directly to Basic Channel, a sound and technique about 10 years old now?
What, if anything, new has happened in the last 4 years? I would even say 6 years really.

We aren`t talking about the past we are talking about now, there is very little experimentation NOW, and nor has there been for ages.

What WAS experimental music isn`t so much now. That is my point.

If we are talking music since the beginning of time then all music WAS experimental at some time. And still that pushes techno out of being the most experimental dance music.

You see my point now?

It doesn`t matter, good music is atill being made, but when people harp on about techno being so experimental, alarm bells begin ringing for me of narrow vision.

Yeah, i see where you're coming from, but when you do listen to the original shiznee like Digeridoo or Spastik (for eg) then it was certainly groundbreaking stuff which laid many of the foundations for what we now know as techno.

You have got me thinking about anything new and exciting that's been done recently, maybe not the music structure and characteristics, but certainly the formats, software and hardware has developed a hell of a lot, paving ways for groundbreaking sounds, techniques and tricks that are can be hard to comprehend at first listening, and i think techno is often about embracing the new technologies rather than solely trying to create that innovative masterpiece for the masses.

[Jay Pace]

What WAS experimental music isn`t so much now. That is my point.

Plenty of hard techno producers are now making music described as minimal. For Adam Beyer to change style from the king of grungy loops to uber polished shuffle funk required a fair bit of experimentation on his part. Thats mainly happened in the last 5 years or so.

Fair enough, new ground isn't being broken on a daily basis, and the whole new minimal movement isn't particularly innovative given that hawtin can claim to be on the cutting edge, and still play all his old plastikman tracks alongside the newest stuff around and most people won't notice the difference.

In terms of shifts and movements there's stuff still happening, but its more subtle I suppose. I love the really polished carl craig sound, and the mix of melodic elements that falls somewhere between house and techno. That sound is new and different, even if it isn't exactly groundbreaking of innovative. It does show evolution though, and experimentation on the part of the artists. People aren't making music which conforms rigidly to a set of rules, in order for it to sound like "techno" and not something else. Well, thats my take on it anyway.

[The_Laughing_Man]

In terms of shifts and movements there's stuff still happening, but its more subtle I suppose. I love the really polished carl craig sound, and the mix of melodic elements that falls somewhere between house and techno. That sound is new and different, even if it isn't exactly groundbreaking of innovative. It does show evolution though, and experimentation on the part of the artists. People aren't making music which conforms rigidly to a set of rules, in order for it to sound like "techno" and not something else. Well, thats my take on it anyway.

Hopping from hard techno to minimal is the exact opposite of experimentation though. It`s just following a trend.
Since when is doing that innovative?

Experimentation on the behalf of the individual artist is almost irrelevant, and can apply to any genre.
For all you know everyone within every set of dance music is doing something "THEY" haven`t done before with each new release.
That isn`t to say though, that what they are doing is anything of a different take on the genre they are working within.


I think people are making techno that does conform rigidly to a set of rules so that it doesn`t get called anything else BUT techno.

Exactly that in fact.

And melodic techno being new and different, are you kidding? that sound has been around on and of since the detroit beginnings. Not to say it isn`t good, but hardly a speck of innovation there. That kind of music that sat between techno and house was coming out in greater numbers in the early 000`s.

I spend loads of time looking for techno that has a different edge for Singularity Recordings, and its not easy to find stuff that isn`t an emulation or continuation of a very old sub style.

I love techno, but experimentation within the genre seems to have bottomed out.