Jeff Mills

[killarava2day]

On Saturday night I was out with a group of people, most of them ‘apparent’ tech heads. We were discussing some tracks etc. and then the subject arose regarding Jeff Mills, mainly on the back due to an upcoming tour. They were appraising his ‘liquid room’ and ‘exhibitionist’ mix’s and when I was asked for an opinion on the same I basically replied saying that ‘no I can’t recollect listening to them’, ‘and that I don’t listen to much of his productions’.

They went on to describe Mills as the ‘godfather’ of techno, the creator of all things we hear today…that the Detroit scene is like the birth of Jesus to the Christians. I can honestly say that I hardly own on slab of Detroit, but then does this exclude me as being respected as a tech enthusiast. Because I looked ‘uneducated’, I was ignored for the most part thereafter and felt like a dill, in a sense.

I’ve seen Mills play twice, and you know, I never at any stage saw anything earth shattering. I’ve never warmed to his mixed sets and have absolutely no interest in his style of techno, which is fine. Part of the great thing about techno which I applaud is the extreme diversity and interpretation of every production.

Which leads me to…am I missing something with Mills that I should respect and acknowledge?

I’ve actively been interested in techno since the late 90’s, but why do I need to respect the past to be involved in the present/future?

I was just cut that because I couldn’t contribute to the past, in conversation, meant that my input to the current was invalid? BTW, I didn’t really know these people, however there would’ve been no harm though in trying to impress them, but **** it, who cares!

[killarava2day]

Something's roached here ^^^^^ I've had a big weekend sure, but it looked ok before I posted

[jake]

go by his mix cds

[teknorich]

Liquid room = Class
Exhibitionist = P*ss poor.

Make your own mind up...

[SlavikSvensk]

I’ve actively been interested in techno since the late 90’s, but why do I need to respect the past to be involved in the present/future?

the future is little more than a recombination of the past...know your roots

[teknorich]

Good point, but if you are too obsessed with the past then you cannot progress into the future. It's important to know your roots, for a better understanding of it all, but then the future lies in experimentation, trying new things, and developing new sounds.

[networkacid]

Jeff Mills could be classed as the 2nd generation of Detroit producers along with Stacey Pullen and a few others.

Godfather my arse... these people obviously know what they have been told, not what they researched ;)

If there is a true godfather of Techno it would be Derrick May, with the Holy Trinity completed by Juan Atkins & Kevin saunderson... and THEY were directly influenced as much by Frankie Knuckles and the emergent house scene in Chicago in the mid to late 80's as they were by Kraftwerk et al...

[networkacid]

And don't worry, techno "purists" are all snobs anyway! :dontevengothere:

[SlavikSvensk]

Good point, but if you are too obsessed with the past then you cannot progress into the future. It's important to know your roots, for a better understanding of it all, but then the future lies in experimentation, trying new things, and developing new sounds.

yeah, that is def. true. but i think one of the main problems techno faces is an obsession with the present masquerading as futurism. the old guys, especially juan atkins, were obsessive about making something new, but were listening very closely to music that had come out before (kraftwerk, EBM, moroder, etc.)

it seems to me a lot of producers now think they should only listen to what's current, and not even what came out 2 year ago, let alone the classics from the early 90s and late 80s.

that's limiting and self-defeating.

[g]

Jeff Mills could be classed as the 2nd generation of Detroit producers along with Stacey Pullen and a few others.

lol. um, no. as one of the founding members of UR, and Final Cut before that, Mills has a good decade or so on Stacey, Kenny, etc.

[tioneb]

909 ROCKS YOUR ASS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SlavikSvensk]

Jeff Mills could be classed as the 2nd generation of Detroit producers along with Stacey Pullen and a few others.

lol. um, no. as one of the founding members of UR, and Final Cut before that, Mills has a good decade or so on Stacey, Kenny, etc.

that depends on how you look at it. jeff was DJing as the wizard WAY before Pullen or Larkin started producing, but the early UR stuff and Kenny Larkin's early stuff on Plus 8 are contemporary.

Larkin: "We Shall Overcome" 1990
UR: "Sonic EP" 1990

[GAMMA303]

And don't worry, techno "purists" are all snobs anyway! :dontevengothere:

Whats with that seriously. i can't say im Jeff Mills biggest fan, and i dont' own any of his work but i have listened and liked it, but my budget doesn't allow for me to buy stuff i like. Most of the time i restricted to buying tunes that im going to play out, and usually his stuff doesn't cut it. then when i meet up with some other techno jocks, they look down on me because i drop acid techno, alot of the scough!

how wack is that. i thought psy trance guys were they only ones who thought they were better then everyone else. i guess its everywhere but for christ sake its all techno.

RIGHT?

[Tiptoe]

yeah i know what yoy mean. Some people smirk when i tell em i am going to play a hydraulix and how good some of the tunes on acid labels are. I would love sometimes to stick a white label over the top of a good tune on one of these labels and just say listen to this do you like it. Anyway their loss is our gain.

[Kube 72]

networkacid wrote :

If there is a true godfather of Techno it would be Derrick May, with the Holy Trinity completed by Juan Atkins & Kevin saunderson...

why does everyone forget Blake Baxter?? I mean he did help Derrick out alot with his production and played on the real early stuff, though never created for it...

[SlavikSvensk]

the prince of techno...