How is it taking a step back?
A few years ago most were listening to that plinky plonky, minimal Berlin sound that went: kick bass kick bass kick bass kick bass, layered with some repeating percussive wooden block. I cringe when I still hear it being produced.
Things then seemed to get housey which was then followed up by this groovy, funky, house techno that's about.
I think this grimey, industrial dub techno sound we're all hearing is a kind of fingers up to all that.
Would also like to add that the original dub music was produced using the same ideas for decades and it's still listened to and being made today.
techno isnt about the past, its about the future
Great thread!
There are artists moving forward, but I think a big part of the moving forward is getting ouut of the pre-defined genres and doing things people didn't expect to hear techno doing. Take matthew dear- his sound is still drenched in techno, but has a huge pop feel.
Labels like dirtybird are pushing this 80's electro meets tech house that sounds completely fresh to me.
@eggnchips
You're right, moving foward generally requires a big 'fck you' to the past. New things happen because people are sick of the old sound. Think of Detroit's MC5 or The Stooges to rock music. It took a sound and turned it into their own, young fresh idea.
Maybe the throwback sound will bring about something new and fresh, like seeing where techno would have gone in the 80's 90's if we had the technology we have now.
There are artists moving forward, but I think a big part of the moving forward is getting ouut of the pre-defined genres and doing things people didn't expect to hear techno doing. Take matthew dear- his sound is still drenched in techno, but has a huge pop feel.
Labels like dirtybird are pushing this 80's electro meets tech house that sounds completely fresh to me.
@eggnchips
You're right, moving foward generally requires a big 'fck you' to the past. New things happen because people are sick of the old sound. Think of Detroit's MC5 or The Stooges to rock music. It took a sound and turned it into their own, young fresh idea.
Maybe the throwback sound will bring about something new and fresh, like seeing where techno would have gone in the 80's 90's if we had the technology we have now.
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not where this is going: http://www.plastikman.com/arkives/ (a christmas card, wth is that?)AK wrote:Anyway, I dislike the term, 'futuristic', I feel the term 'forward thinking' is more where I want to be.
(still have this in my list though...
)AND, I must add recently I do feel more techno in techno (as opposed to less).
we are all atomic and subatomic particles and we are all wireless...You know i think this whole thing has totally lost perspective. Techno has nothing to do with the machines used, or genre or any of that sh!t.
Techno is nothing more than a soundtrack to what you imagine the future looks like. It's not music, it's futurism. If you imagine the future after World War III to be almost completely destroyed by mankind, just make a track from the perspective of one of the last people left that sounds like 2 cans banging together that he found in the rubble. That's Techno...
If you imagine some utopian society in the future with flying cars amke a track that sounds like future cars flying. That's techno....
Techno is a context not a genre.
Maybe the reason why everything is starting to sound that same is because people aren't thinking of the context, they're thinking of a formula. This is why sh!t hasn't moved forward like it once had. I'm getting sick of projects without a concept, that sh!t is lazy. IMO there are very few people left that are actually making "techno" most people are just trying to make dance music with the sounds used in techno music and that might as well be house. Remember...if techno is futurism, you decide what it sounds like as a producer, don't let the future be sucked out with thoughts of making just pure dance music. The future is defined by ideas not sounds.
Techno is nothing more than a soundtrack to what you imagine the future looks like. It's not music, it's futurism. If you imagine the future after World War III to be almost completely destroyed by mankind, just make a track from the perspective of one of the last people left that sounds like 2 cans banging together that he found in the rubble. That's Techno...
If you imagine some utopian society in the future with flying cars amke a track that sounds like future cars flying. That's techno....
Techno is a context not a genre.
Maybe the reason why everything is starting to sound that same is because people aren't thinking of the context, they're thinking of a formula. This is why sh!t hasn't moved forward like it once had. I'm getting sick of projects without a concept, that sh!t is lazy. IMO there are very few people left that are actually making "techno" most people are just trying to make dance music with the sounds used in techno music and that might as well be house. Remember...if techno is futurism, you decide what it sounds like as a producer, don't let the future be sucked out with thoughts of making just pure dance music. The future is defined by ideas not sounds.
