I think this question has to be firmly situated within Sean Deason's question about the validity of making old-school techno today. I think that stuff is fine, good, and generally the pleasurable techno I find to listen to. Stuff like you find on Digital Soul, Delsin, Puzzlebox, UR, Fabrice Lig's output, etc seems like great f*ckin' music to me, but that seems like a scarce quantity to sustain a movement (you'll hopefully see this is the crux of my point). To be overly clear, I am not complaining about that music at all - I f*cking love it. Meanwhile, I know there's other great stuff, but I feel like there's an *essential* movement missing from the techno world right now. I don't know what it is or might be, and I don't know how one might fill that void. I am completely immersed in the broken beat sound these days, and I feel like that's more of a house music at the end of the day than techno, unless you're looking at the Nubian Mindz end of things. Without digging into all those particulars, I think it's safe to say that's a distinct movement from "techno". I like the Clicks 'n Cuts stuff a lot for what it is, but it feels momentary. I love hard techno, but I don't hear anyone exploring much new territory other perhaps Jacek Sienkewicz, who's musicality cannot be suppressed, although his best moments remind me of Hood in a new way.
I guess what I'm getting at is that I feel like as all the new ideas become instantly codified it seems like techno is impossible today in the Millsian "tomorrow" sense. If someone takes refuge in more traditional songwriting, it's destined to veer towards house, classic electro or retrotechno, as we see with Metro Area, Delsin and the broken beat stuff. If there are genuine breakthroughs, a new wing of producers are waiting to stake their claim as we see today with the Akufen's of the world. I can't disclaim this enough. I really like almost all of this music, and I'm pleased with the high output of great music today. But my question is where can techno go from here without becoming purely experimental or instantly segmented? I ask this as a producer as much as a DJ. I feel like techno has always occupied a void between ultimate-soul and experimentation, and now its only route is to fill in those blanks more and more as experimental producers (think: Monolake or Vladislav Delay) pave technical territory without losing their grasp on the music. One of the most futuristic efforts I've ever heard is Monolake's "Tangent". I feel like this record still outpaces the futurism of most of today's techno. So to my question: is techno left to integrate these breakthroughs and bathe them with soul a la Fabrice Lig? Is this the proper domain of techno, rather than the futuristic banner we normally pin on it? Is techno today less linked to technology and innovation than it is to its past? I feel like the answer must be "yes", and I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter (clarifying again that I really don't give a sh*t what you call the best music, but I'm left feeling like what we all knew was techno and the "music of the future" is now occupying a different significance than it originally had). Tristan ------------------- http://www.mp313.com <- Music http://www.metrotechno.net <- DC techno + more http://www.metatrackstudios.com <- DC DJ/Production studios http://phonopsia.tripod.com <- Hub [EMAIL PROTECTED] <- email --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
