my referance tracks
as d/b says i tend not to use techno as referance really and if i do it tends to be the more commercial end of dance (leftfield, chems etc) -
if i do need to referance "techno" then i'd usually go for something by beltram (from rising sun) or collabs stuff as they're both very much how i want my techno to sound (not necceserily stylistically - more from an engineering point of view).
albums i'd use
radiohead - the bends (gotta agree there steve)
the micronauts - beep to bleep
paul weller - stanley road
primal scream - vanishing point