For some time I have been more and more dissappointed with the developement of contemporary minimal techno music. It's not because I thought I needed to follow some trend that says, you should play more house now. It's been more of a natural developement that made me more and more bored by the music released under this category. But I do love minimal techno! I've been fascinated with the concept of minimalism in electronic dance music since I was 14 and started bying my first records (actually my very first record is featured in this mix).
To find out exactly what was bothering me with it now I took quite some time exploring my own record collection and looking for the music I believe represented best what I considered "minimal techno". From this research I compiled the following DJ mix, a concentrated essence of my concept of minimal techno.
The result, of course, wasn't much surprising. Most of the records featured in the mix are classic ones produced between around 1994 and 2000 and contain labels and producers like Studio 1, Reinhard Voigt, Robert Hood, Daniel Bell, Alter Ego, Jeff Mills, Richie Hawtin, Sähkö and the almost forgotten Finnish label Dum, but also tracks from Johannes Heil, Green Velvet and Planetary Assault Systems, who you usually wouldn't consider being very minimal (yet they were at some point). There is more music from first establishment of minimal techno music in European clubs in the beginning of the millenium (Ricardo Villalobos, Peter F. Spiess, Jay Haze, early Minus records, Jeff Milligan, Thomas Brinkmann...) and, of course also some more recent music by STL, Tim Xavier, Vivianne Projects or Jackmate, who at least at some point make music that I can still consider minimal techno. But they mark the exception for me. (There's l a lot more unknown and obscure stuff in there too so you might even discover some forgotten masterpieces.)
The minimal techno I have been after is more or less absent from the contemporary club scene. Minimalism as a concept of originality, abstraction and progression has been replaced by dullness and redundancy; minimalism as an aesthetic design is now minimalism of creative input and bondage to the established sound. You may have heard this argument often enough over the past two years, but now you're able to physically hear it too.
Instead of moving with the trend to the allegedly more housey sound (which isn't much of house anyway) I tried to take the concept of minimal techno back to were it came from (and never should have left). To me this sound is more or less extinct by now, therefore the slightly polemic title. If you don't agree, please discuss in the comments. I'm very curious about different thoughts.
Mixing partly on three decks again. It's a bit sloppy from time to time, but who cares: This one was about the music, not the mixing!
Tracklist? Well, it's about 70 tracks and I didn't find the time typing it yet. So if you have questions just ask!
Enjoy!
Coming soon: Anniversary - Ten years without X-Mix
Another mix about the techno past (third in a row)... Maybe I will return to th e present in summer again.
[edit]
Okay, here you go with the tracklist! Hope I didn't forget anything!
01 d.f.t. – wierd or wired [dubwise] 2000
02 ricardo villalobos – tub [playhouse] 2000
03 rhythm & sound – range [rhythm & sound] 1999
04 monobox – realm [m-plant] 1996
05 maurizio – m6 [m] 1996
06 stl – eternalized fiction [something] 2007
07 stewart walker vs theorem – ur forms [minus] 2000
08 maurizio – m5 [m] 1995
09 rhythm & sound – music a fe rule [rhythm & sound] 1997
10 maurizio – m5 [m] 1995
11 philippe cam – köln [traum schallplatten] 2000
12 studio 1 – rosa [studio 1] 1996
13 alka – angar 4 [resopal] 2002
14 stephan laubner – portside waves [perlon] 1999
15 concept 1 – 12:96 [concept] 1996
16 porter ricks – nautical nuba [chain reaction] 1996
17 planetary assault systems – surface noise [peacefrog] 1996
18 claude young – acid wash conflict [7th city] 1995
19 green velvet – abduction [music man] 1999
20 johannes heil – per disciplinum mea lux videbis [uturn] 1998
21 carl craig – experimento [planet e] 2004
22 kyborg und sarah marrs – bask [neue berliner initiative] 1999
23 thomas brinkmann – klick [max ernst] 2000
24 studio 1 – rot [studio 1] 1996
25 peter f. spiess – edit blue [klang] 2000
26 jeff milligan – territory [background] 2001
27 peter f. spiess vs. jay haze – contexterrior 6 [contexterrior] 2004
28 nd – teer hard core [micro.fon] 2005
29 sebastian steimel – 0,709 [budenzauber] 2006
30 midnight caller – caller's theme [elektro music department] 2000
31 dubuccaneerz – grobschnitt [form & function] 2000
32 studio 1 – blau [studio 1] 1996
33 oasis – nine-teen [fxhe] 2005
34 jpls – program 2 [minus] 2006
35 concept 1 – 11:96 [concept] 1996
36 plastikman – hypokondriak [minus] 1998
37 reinhard voigt – klar 02 [klar] 1997
38 stl – getting deeper [perlon] 2006
39 johannes heil – die zahl des tieres (part 3) [jh] 2001
40 unit – tilt [dum] 1996
41 taylor deupree – dum l-04 [dum] 1997
42 daniel bell – bounce [klang] 1995
43 plastikman – plink plonk [minus] 2005
44 pepetok – zirconium 1 [kodaira tracks] 2006
45 green velvet – la la land (instrumental) [music man] 2001
46 robert hood – needs and wants [music man] 2007
47 steve bug – for men [superstition] 1995
48 dbx – losing control [accelerate] 1994
49 melody boy 2000 – dum l-03 [dum] 1997
50 mark broom – upside down [pure plastik] 2000
51 surgeon – atol [downwards] 1995
52 tim xavier – soil between my fingers [ltd400] 2007
53 jackmate – targa! [milnormodern] 2006
54 vivianne projects – strangers with canada [underl_ne] 2005
55 mike ink – rosengranz [sähkö] 1994
56 Ø – röntgen [sähkö] 1993
57 nick rapaccioli – skima [vertical form] 2002
58 alter ego – absolute part 1 [harthouse] 1997
59 ricardo villalobos – bredow [perlon] 2002
60 thor – aliens don't boogie [missile] 2002
61 jeff mills – transformation b [axis] 2000
62 monobox – population [m-plant] 2001
63 sutekh – of sarcasm and exhaust [cytrax] 1999
64 jeff mills – expanded [axis] 2004
65 heiko laux & johannes heil – the oldschoolstreet [i220] 1998
66 jiri.ceiver – chime implan [harthouse] 1996
67 Ø – radio [sähkö] 1994
68 d.f.t. – d.f.t. deep [dubwise] 2000