I kind of see two things in techno.

I love the music and want to see boundaries pushed there to be the most headwarping, emotion mangling, power and wierdness around. I do agree on the idea of more live instruments, maybe live playing of synths, definately the idea of live drums etc. And also on really pushing what can't be done live - that's what the technology's for.

Some "joe averages" will be able to appreciate something musically amazing even if they don't quite get it. Some people (maybe like holotropik's mate) will not see the genius in something but like it 'cos it sounds good. Some people of course won't see any value in anything they don't know or hear already and will think we're all wierd kind of beard-stroking-noodling-"oh-wow-the-reverb-on-that-blip-is-sublime"-types for pushing boundaries. I don't really care about that side.

Sometimes I try to push boundaries and experiment with my tunes, sometimes I write a tune I know other people will like - I made a cheesy as hell nine inch nails remix type tune for someone special and she loved it which gave me big satisfaction, and sometimes I'll just write something straight up, maybe staid and all heard before that I'd love to hear on the dance floor when I'm so f*cked that I just want something I can recognise.

I think it's a shame that sometimes people seem to act like there's not room for all of these in the "scene".


In a way though what has always been more important is that techno is - as the title of this post, (whether that was the context offered or not)- a movement. For me it's a big F U C K YOU to the people who would love to control the music we listen to, the places we party, the drugs we take or choose not to. Techno (or much of it) was always DIY. It's spread into the mainstream now and I'm not going to get into the whole "underground" debate again 'cos I don't care and can't be arsed with where the boundary between mainstream and underground is and who's sold out and all that bollox, but what's most important to me is that when the licensing laws say "oh no you can't do that here at this time in the morning", when the club you've used for years suddenly gets taken over and says "we don't have techno 'cos no-one buys beer" we just move into a warehouse, a field, even the park in Leeds and say "F U C K YOU we're still gonna party". Even 20 people in an old trade warehouse in the arse end of Leeds 6 the other week means more to me than arguing whether the music's gone stale.

I just :love: techno.