high tech soul - the creation of techno music

[teknorich]

i would've like to see the documentary focus a little bit more on the second tier guys aka jeff mills, underground resistance but it was a very good documentary nonetheless.

very interesting story.

Agreed about the documentary. It is very interesting to see where it all started, but all documentaries I've seen always just focus on the very beginnings, not what came after. It would be great to see a documentary focus on how Techno crossed over to Europe from the states. Created in the USA, established in Europe ;-)

If anyone's interested, this book is pretty cool:

Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture: Amazon.co.uk: Simon Reynolds: Books

[force]

It all pretty much started with house

[blistanbul]

it's kind of weird.

how far do you go back?

i mean i can see kraftwerk having a greater impact on electronic music than the inventors of Detroit techno in terms of output but having said that these three artists (atkins, may, saunderson) had more of an affect in terms of djing aspects and making the music more established and taking it to another variation.

[blistanbul]

a comprehensive look at the origins and subgenres of techno music:

Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music | New Home on Techno.org

this chart is great and always has been.

[blistanbul]

why is the music on that chart that i've posted is a lot more better quality than the youtube links of the same songs?

[SlavikSvensk]

It all pretty much started with house

yes and no. cosmic cars (first detroit techno track) precedes on and on (first chicago house track) by 2 years.

but chicago house was way more developed, and had a much bigger following, in the 80s than detroit techno.

[teknorich]

Out of interest, why do you consider Cosmic Cars by Cybotron to be the first Detroit Techno track, and not Alleys of your Mind, which was the first record by the same artist?

[SlavikSvensk]

i stand corrected. you're right: that's 1981, a whole 3 years before on and on, and a year before cosmic cars.

just underscores the point though!

[Honeey]

This documentary is the most extensive I have found! VERY good! Goes through the VERY disco beginnings at the paradise Garage in New York through the summer of love and everything. 3 parts 3 hours well worth the watch!! Inspiring!

‪Pump Up The Volume - Part 1 - The History Of House Music‬‏ - YouTube

‪Pump Up The Volume - Part 2 - The History Of House Music‬‏ - YouTube

‪Pump Up The Volume - Part 3 - The History Of House Music‬‏ - YouTube

Enjoy!

[blistanbul]

i stand corrected. you're right: that's 1981, a whole 3 years before on and on, and a year before cosmic cars.

just underscores the point though!

sorry guys what difference does it make?

it just sounds like kraftwerk.

if you argue that then surely kraftwerk are the inventors of techno music who made similar music years before those releases.

[SlavikSvensk]

tsk tsk time to go back to the history books. kraftwerk was probably the single biggest influence on techno, and the single most imporant precursor to techno for its originators. but cybotron no more sounds "just like kraftwerk" than chuck berry sounds "just like cab caloway." nor, for that matter, was kraftwerk at the vanguard of a specific, local music movement--like both chuck berry and cybotron were. this is how musicologists date the start of things.

[blistanbul]

tsk tsk time to go back to the history books. kraftwerk was probably the single biggest influence on techno, and the single most imporant precursor to techno for its originators. but cybotron no more sounds "just like kraftwerk" than chuck berry sounds "just like cab caloway." nor, for that matter, was kraftwerk at the vanguard of a specific, local music movement--like both chuck berry and cybotron were. this is how musicologists date the start of things.

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

come on mate this sounds so much like kraftwerk, call an ace an ace.....

now model 500 that does sound something bit more different.

this also reminds me I wonder how many techno elites would actually like a techno-pop songs like goodlife and big fun if it was released today?

or a piano-laden house tune like strings of life?

yes these songs changed the shape of the music forever and enough respects to all those who helped paved the way, but it does make me wonder.

we should also mention producers like giorgio moroder who brought a VAST template for the future electronic music producers including many techno artists.

[SlavikSvensk]

saying it sounds "just like kraftwerk" is missing the point. it sounds heavily influenced by kraftwerk, but it also sounds like all the other things atkins and davis were listening to: moroder, human league, neu, p-funk, etc. as well as kraftwerk.

all of those were vital to the creation and evolution of techno. but none of those were the first releases OF techno. this is musicology 101: you might say kraftwerk were, and are, techno's godfathers, or that techno is kraftwerk's spiritual descendent...but cybotron was the first techno group, responsible for the first releases of the musical style, from the musical scene, for which the term techno emerged to describe.

[teknorich]

In early Drum & Bass, the "Reese" bassline was a massive part of things, and it comes from Kevin "Reese" Saunderson:

Renegade feat. Ray Keith's Terrorist sample of Reese's Just Want Another Chance | WhoSampled

dubstepforum.com • View topic - [Production Bible 2] The Reese Bass

The artists who created Drum & Bass were clearly heavily influenced by Kevin Saunderson's House/Techno basslines, and twisted, adapted, developed them into their new sound, but does that mean that Kevin Saunderson invented Drum & Bass? Nope!

Any new genre comes about from artists being influenced by music which already exists, and then changing it, morphing it, adding their own sounds, elements and styles to it until a new creature is born. In the same way that Saunderson clearly influenced the development of Drum & bass and it's signature bassline sounds, but did not invent the genre himself, Kraftwerk clearly influenced Techno artists, but did not invent Techno themselves.

[Honeey]

thanks Teknorich for the information on the reese bassline! Kevin "Reese" Saunderson that's awesome. drum and bass is my second love to techno it's good to know the connections :)

[SlavikSvensk]

it's interesting looking back at those early days. today we're used to thinking of techno and house as concrete styles, with easily distinguishable sounds, aesthetics, bpms, etc.

but back then it was much more fluid and ambiguous. really the main things that differentiated house from techno were location(one was from chicago and the other from detroit) and attitude (techno producers had more of an intellectual approach, while house was more self-consciously hedonistic). those lineages are still apparent today, though we can go back and say that there's as much trax records in today's techno as transmat.

[clubsynthetic]

i like the history of house and that techno documentary (house one was better tho)

derrick may needs to take a chill pill

[blistanbul]

i thought it was funny seeing richie hawtin getting slagged off in the same documentary that he was featured in tbh.

any good records by the founders of techno nowadays?

i know detroit still has a strong following but more in the names of Jeff Mills, Omar S and Robert Hood.

any detroit recommendations matter of fact would be appreciated.

special sets, dvds, lps, etc.

[The_Laughing_Man]

There is a hidden path where a lot of us find our roots.
throbbing gristle - hot on the heels of love 1979 - YouTube 1979
Throbbing Gristle - What a Day - YouTube
1979
Liaisons Dangereuses - Los Ninos Del Parque - YouTube 1981 as sampled by Carl Craig and others
SPK - Day of Pigs - YouTube recorded 81

And it isn`t in Detroit.

This is more of a root of the textural, abstract, dark side of techno, that is seeing a particular (albeit very bland) resurgence from the post Berghein/Minimal side of techno, but can be traced back to early surgeon, regis, obscurum etc

[teknorich]

Thanks for posting those links. I've heard people mention Throbbing Gristle, but I'd never heard any of their music. The links you put up surprise me tbh; I didn't realise that people were making music like that so far back. "What a day" is so dark, twisted and electronic!