techno scene going quiet???

[davethedrummer]

is this true for any of you?
the u.k. esp. is really going quiet right now.
sure you've got the end every so often
and billy nasty's doing a new night at the mass (brixton) i think
perhaps the festivals to an extent
but where else?
and i mean hard techno really not tech house so much
the underground clubs have been crap here recently
discuss

[T]

The nights I go out to are few and far between in london....definitley lack of a good techno scene imo. I've been going out loads for years but have been to one techno night in london in 2003, retroverts at the rocket Ben Sims etc.....that was pretty good (and free). George 4th Brixton still has the midweek techno nights i think, the 414 brixton still has nights but they often seem more trancey from the listings I've seen, base midweek has stopped, system's midweek night has stopped, they do one off nights, lost does one off nights, my local tavern has been turned into a trendy wine bar and has no more underground techno night!!
All in all apart form one off nights that are oftn expensive there;s nothing regular to going and shake yer stuff to??? free parties can still be found but sometimes I aint got time/energy to do the whole mad find a free one very weekend, sometimes I wanna go and hear some decent techno somewhere without having the get right on it and be out for days!!
should check the beat club and Billy nasty's new night, i've neard it's good so will check that at some point.
If i'm misiing some good stuff in london town post on here and let me know!!

[Patrick]

I blame the rabbits ! :wink:

[T]

I think Billy nast's new night is once a month at the egg club, some new place in Kings X??

[ampassasinbirmingham]

i think u lot only think about london. The techno scene in birmingham is plentiful. We have atomic jam, house of god at subway city. Subway city have techno on every week whether it be cohesion,insurection or another random techno night. With inukshuk now running regularly there is plenty to choose from.

Dj rolando this saturday. Spoilt for choice. Those are only the commercial places. There are also plenty of underground after hours parties.

[miromiric.]

that sounds dope man. arethere any illegals in brum?

in zagreb techno scene seems to be only one constant. techno music was very first to be played in clubs back in `91. later on came other genres likehc, which died very soon, trance, which was never popular here (i dontknow if there is trance parties in zg), stupid shitty tech house for trendy and modern people (it died after a year and a half or two, thanx to sweet lord on heaven :P), drumnbass has the freshest scene here (believeit or not first d&b parties on regular basis were held like last year).

it seems like Techno is the thing here, no matter what yukie techhousers have to say about it! :wink:

[spiralx]

It does seem that in London if you want techno then your choice are one of the (plentiful) squat parties going on every week, or one of the fewer club nights. There's Nuclear Free Zone at 414, Lost is usually every month or so and other odds and ends... can't really think of anything else really.

But I'm into the more underground/acid scene anyway, so I'm generally spoilt for choice on a weekend :)

[ampassasinbirmingham]

where u from miromonic?

[T]

It does seem that in London if you want techno then your choice are one of the (plentiful) squat parties going on every week, or one of the fewer club nights. There's Nuclear Free Zone at 414, Lost is usually every month or so and other odds and ends... can't really think of anything else really.

But I'm into the more underground/acid scene anyway, so I'm generally spoilt for choice on a weekend :)

yeah London's always good for free ones, it's just myself have trouble these days getting mates and myself to have the energy or time to go to them......the last couple of years I like to go out in the week here and there, less of a rip off and some good nights on (til recently they're now few and far between) to hear good tunes, rather than a full night out on the weekend all the time Used to play at a night in the week also so gutted that stopped.....just my personal preference at this time in my life.....I love my techno but can't handle full on nights out at the weekend all the time with working full time etc etc :cry: . so apart from the odd night playing out or going to a big night there is a serious lack of good techno nights in my life......I'm now a burnt out lightweight, sorry the missus is a burnt out light weight :wink:

[bass2rez]

Portsmouth has some bits and pieces going on.. There's Release running every couple of months roughly, and is always good.

Breakneck is roughly every couple of months, which is primarily a drum and bass night but has a techno room as well.. Seen Chris Liberator, Lawrie Immersion, DDR and Tobias Schmidt down there this year so far..

Geushky is a really good techno night, but seems to have gone from monthly to quarterly these days.. bit of a shame that is, so I guess thats a sign of it going a bit quiet down here as well, davethedrummer.

I usually jump on a train and get myself along to Lost in London when that's on..

I can't really afford to go out every weekend, so, there's enough to keep me busy.. :)

Cheers,
Steve

[spiralx]

T, I know what you mean about squat parties - they're definitely quite a heavy night out even when you don't intend it to be :) I probably end up at one every month or so, definitely couldn't do them any more often nowadays...

[miromiric.]

where u from miromonic?

zagreb, croatia.

you fancy coming down on a party?

[Patrick]

where u from miromonic?

zagreb, croatia.

you fancy coming down on a party?

Watch out Amp, this ones a wrong un ! He's after your kidneys......or worse ! :P :lol: :lol:

[matt303]

:( Down ere in de west country it's all about hardtrance and hardstyle, despite patrick's quality night once a month in weymouth i cannot think of a single techno night running within a hundred mile radius. It's a nightmare as a fan of techno, and a dj. :cry:

[miromiric.]

where u from miromonic?

zagreb, croatia.

you fancy coming down on a party?

Watch out Amp, this ones a wrong un ! He's after your kidneys......or worse ! :P :lol: :lol:

its all in the daily job for an eastern european black market organ dealer.

[Adverse]

where u from miromonic?

zagreb, croatia.

you fancy coming down on a party?

Watch out Amp, this ones a wrong un ! He's after your kidneys......or worse ! :P :lol: :lol:

its all in the daily job for an eastern european black market organ dealer.


hahahahahahahahaha

[davethedrummer]

actually mat 303 i'm glad you mentioned weymouth
i played there a while ago and had a real blast
patricks great and the club was pretty full
had a good time getting pissed after too
although i ended up on the floor in the bathroom
oops.
but yes it's true techno seems to be dying (in london)
i know certain areas are still going strong
but i don't really mean the lost's and the h.o.g.s more your trancentrals and nuclear free zones y'know the small parties where you and your mates play and it's cheap and fun not the big ones where the "stars" play
they'll always be around to an extent.

[DJ Corbzy]

you were wikked in weymouth dave....quality night :D

[The Divide]

its all in the daily job for an eastern european black market organ dealer.

I am in need cash, sell you a kidney for a fiver!!

As for the UK techno scene, in leeds theres all kindsa nights on however alot of my friends go to the orbit every two weeks and moan alot about "how its not how it used to be". Fair do's the place isnt packed like it used to be and some of the D.J's dont play hard enougth but with sugeon paul damage and regis live coming up to me its as good as its ever been if not better.

[MARKEG]

i have to say DAVEy that to me, the techno scene is exactly the same in the UK as it always was. ie totally underground, totally special and totally rockin if you know where to look :wink: when i discovered the london scene many years ago, i couldn't believe how 'big' techno was down there. somehow it just felt more 'techno' than anything up here (ahemmm apart from the orbit of course). totally mind blowing.

but that's changed in my eyes.

it seems like london has more ups and down because there's such a huge concentration of ppl. as far as i'm concerned, as long as everyone else just keeps trying to do there thing, trying to make a change - then everything is great.

but thank god eh? as long as we all know our market/goals/love and keep trying to do something new????????????

i don't believe anything has changed. those who try to take music forward are still trying to take music forward. those who aren't unfortunately have quicker access to the future. but the difference is still as blindingly obvious :)

am i just talking bollox??????????????? hahahaha :lol: :lol:

[The Divide]

woooooaaaa you posted that almost the same time as me!!! hahahaha

[MARKEG]

:lol:

[davethedrummer]

well ok then
i hear you
i guess i'll have to get out more.
but it's hard now i'm a dad

and playing at the weekend
and making tunes in the week

mainly being a dad actually

p.s. the photo's of my son
hehe
chip off the old block you could say

[davethedrummer]

actually you know what
i'm going out on a limb here
there hasn't been anything new in techno for ****ing ages
i can't think of anything how about you
i know lot's of people are going to go on about the wonky stuff
an all that but i'm sorry it still ain't that new
it's just got a bit more poular recently (rightly perhaps)
what is going on???
where is the next j mills
the next plastikman the next derrick may
is techno just a load of old bollocks or is there a new direction and i'm just to stupid to find it.

[MARKEG]

> i have to get out more

hahahahhahaa

no man. it's not what i was saying. hahahha... you play more techno events than i do in the UK :wink: what i actually meant is i feel it's just as underground as ever - so hard to find the good clubs. see what i mean?

[MARKEG]

hmmm... very, very good point in your 2nd post there.

who is the next jeff mills? who really is going to make a difference?

[MARKEG]

can we make this a new topic? it's a very very interesting one?

[The Divide]

I must admit, in my experiance i havnt seen anything out there thats new and highly origional lately but i also dont get out much so I how can I know hahahaha. I like things as they are, new things are always great and grab your attention but I also think that it doesnt have to sound new to be good. I wanna know what happened to the Holy Ghost???!?!?!! where did they go?

[Methodixxx]

Congrats on your son Henry! :D It seems to be a baby boom... Mel and Vic had their son this morning!!! He's named Zakari :) When you come down later in the year we can race them... haha, just joking! :P

[ANDROID]

Well i want to get in to this topic, techno is dead long time ago in Canada wich is sucks but what can you do? i think techno music will stay like one of the many styles, like rock,country,pop,blues.there is no such thing "OH CHECK IT OUT NEW ROCK! or NEW SAMBA. i think techno took form as a style that has been experimented up side down and this is final form of it.
my opinion. :roll:

[Methodixxx]

Yeah.. keeping on topic... The techno scene here in Sydney has never been massive... during the mid to late 90's there were a few popular clubs pushing techno and booking alot of the big names (and not so big names) from overseas, etc... and a fair few of the big parties / raves back then had a techno headliner or 2.
For some reason towards the end of the 90's it started getting few and far between, the techno clubs started closing thier doors, the big events were becoming less frequent and they weren't booking any techno djs. Even the local big names had to start playing different stuff and the ones that stayed true to techno started getting less and less and smaller and smaller gigs...
It never really picked up again. Dave, you know about the Swarm parties (which were the first acid techno / hard techno party series here) which started back in '99 as there was something seriously lacking. Over this time a new friday night techno club opened which played some good stuff and had some good acts on, but that didn't make enough money to stay open and had to shut shop. Then another friday night techno club started up and concentrated on the clubbier more up market crowd.. and this one is still running, having changed it's style over the years and now plays most types of techno on different nights..
The last Swarm was in April with Chris Lib (I had the set after him.. eeeek) and it was rammed... in a small club, but rammed none the less... which would indicate there is still a crowd and a need for this type of thing. I started booking my own night (as Vic who runs swarm was having time off for a while due to Mel expecting a baby,and there were no more swarms until later in the year) and during that time there has been a resurgence of techno parties, so many that I'm finding it hard to find a free date!
Most of the nights coming up are being put on by crews of the younger dj's.. There are about 5 different ones, plus the more established guys doing things from monthly club nights, one off's, internationals to free parties. Even the more mainstream big rave type parties that have always been running and playing the cheesiest music imaginable (happy hard, etc) have both got an event coming up in Sept / Oct and both have dedicated techno rooms for the very first time.
So I think, concerning down here in Sydney, thing's have died already and are finally starting to turn around... let's just hope it stays underground!

[miromiric.]

actually you know what
i'm going out on a limb here
there hasn't been anything new in techno for **** ages
i can't think of anything how about you
i know lot's of people are going to go on about the wonky stuff
an all that but i'm sorry it still ain't that new
it's just got a bit more poular recently (rightly perhaps)
what is going on???
where is the next j mills
the next plastikman the next derrick may
is techno just a load of old bollocks or is there a new direction and i'm just to stupid to find it.

what do u mean nothing new in techno for ages? thats maybe only your perception?
think about it.

[T]

There's so many different styles of techno out there now that I would say there are still producers being innovative and original.....for example, some very fresh stuff i've heard lately(in my humble opinion):

Andreas Saag - (not exactly balls to the wall techno very original and techno none the less- live organ, percusion over techno rhythms etc etc)

British Murder Boys - very original releases imo, much more than just loopy minimal techno to me.

But i still beleive it doesn't have to be genre breaking to be good....there is so much techno I love that is not genre breaking but just damn fine techno music......for example Glenn wilson sound, it's straight up bangin' techno but just made in such a quality way that it sounds streets ahead of some other stuff....and it's so rockin'!!! Nout wrong with that.

[miromiric.]

jeff mills wasnt THAT innovative as it seems.
when you look at it from the inside the box you could say he was fresh. but if u look back in the history you can easily see that there was similiar music there before him.

i bet this same discussion will be lead in like 20 or 30 years but with different names involved.

[serox]

billy natys new night is at EGG yes, its a gay club sundays. and its very small rooms.


sqwot partys are the best thing for a cheap techno night out in london at moment i think...


shame system has gone. retro verts was ok also for free, but from now on you will have to pay there, dunno how much price is gunna be yet? Lost is shite, but there if bored.

[spiralx]

Ironically I had someone tell me that Hydraulix 17 by... DAVE the Drummer was one of the most innovative tracks they'd heard in a long time... ;) :D

[Patrick]

actually mat 303 i'm glad you mentioned weymouth
i played there a while ago and had a real blast
patricks great and the club was pretty full
had a good time getting pissed after too
although i ended up on the floor in the bathroom
oops.


Awww, shucks Matt and Henry, you guys say the nicest things. :oops:
Alright then Henry, how's things ? And to think I kept your little bathroom episode secret and then you go and grass yourself up. :P :lol:
Nice picture of the babba though.

Anyway, on with the topic. I'm having a little bit of a revival with my techno purchasing at the moment and generally feeling more positive about the scene than I have for a long while, but I guess loads of it has been buying older tunes that I missed first time around. I suppose the fact that I've been really into that retro vibe is becasue there isn't a huge amount of current stuff really exciting me. I've been to more parties and clubs in the past few months than I have been for a long, long time and have heard some fantastic sets. People like Mills and Hood still blow me away. But more satisfying than the 'old faithfuls' is hearing some relative unknowns really tearing it up and putting in a really well thought out, well mixed set (in terms of technical ability and selection of tunes) of new and old stuff.

I think you're right though when you say the genre has been around too long now to throw up any real surprises. I can't see there being any one huge change of direction, any really new innovative style coming along to blow us all away. The very fact that every thing used to be totally new and previously unheard has become a little stale and I think people are happy now to just hear a good tune, without it having to be bleeding edge. It seemed sometimes that people were getting so lost up their own arses searching for "the new sound" that they actually forgot to write the tune part.
Personally I'm really getting into a nice balanced mix of new and old. Bring out the classics. Some of us older badgers might have heard them many times, but you can bet the people who've only got into techno in the last 3 or 4 years won't have. After, what, 15 or more years I think we can afford to be a bit retrospective and acknowledge the great tunes and give them another airing.

That's kind of always been one of the great ironies of techno to me anyway. Derrick May said "Techno is Kraftwerk and Parliament trapped in an elevator together" (or something like that) so it has always been a case of looking back as you moved forward.

Still, it probably doesn't do to get too retro about things. You never know what you might find when you start rummaging around in the crates, eh Henry ? :P :lol: :lol:
http://www.1stgeneration.co.uk/Holdall/BTTP.jpg

[Patrick]

Actually, at he moment for really fresh new stuff I've been looking outside of the techno field. I've been getting into lots of IDM and the more ****ed up electronica, and some I guess is still loosely classed as techno. Stuff like Aphex, Squarepusher, Autechre, Venetian Snares, Pole etc.
And aslo I've been getting into Broken Beat, which is some weird ****ing hybrid thats's got old detroit influences, really ****ed up time signatures and beats that go everywhere and even a flavour of reggae dancehall about it. Kinda 2-step, kinda electro, kinda dub, kinda I don't know what the ****, but it's interesting anyway.
That's Broken Beat as in the type played by Phil Asher, Dego, Domu, IG Culture etc. and not the mental hardcore with a breakbeat running through it that people sometimes mention on here.

[spiralx]

Christ, Back to the Planet brings back memories, LOL :) I remember enjoying them way before I'd ever heard of acid techno or even liked dance music at all :D

[John Vella]

haha my gosh Geezer looks like he's 15 in that pic!!! :)

Andries' right the techno scene in Toronto is dead. :(

-jOHNNY

[BritishMurderBoy]

as ampassasin says im spoilt for choice when it comes to techno in birmingham.. i dont have enough money to go to every night i would like to...

H.O.G. insurection, cohesion. AJ and now inukshuk

you lot should get yourselves to the midlands...

[Col]

is this true for any of you?
the u.k. esp. is really going quiet right now.
sure you've got the end every so often
and billy nasty's doing a new night at the mass (brixton) i think
perhaps the festivals to an extent
but where else?
and i mean hard techno really not tech house so much
the underground clubs have been crap here recently
discuss

i dont get out as much as i would like, when i do go out i usually go to a techno night in leeds, generally the parties are well attended, although i went to a free techno party in leeds about 2 weeks ago, ignition technition, mike humphries, jon nuccle among others, the event was supported by primate, planet rythm, punish, innercity, and eastern bloc

i expected a mass turn out with the line up, and the support from the labels & record shops, and the fact it was free seemed unbelivable!....about 100 people turned up in a 800 capacity venue! i thought people from all over the uk would be cutting off a right arm to get there.

i dont know if this adds weight to your post but i just couldnt belive the turn out. come on people pull your finger out! :wink:

[gunjack]

if we are going to talk about techno hotspots, tokyo is amazing if you have enough money to go around to all the clubs and see the ridiculous amount of global talent who play here.

i am moving to madrid in 10 days and from what i can tell, madrid is TECHNO CITY, no joke. i can't wait.

[detfella]

techno scene quiet?? that'd explain the rumours about orbit closing

[MARKEG]

those rumours have been around for the last 10 years :lol:

[Esox Lucius]

apparently the orbit is moving to granary wharf in leeds (under the train station) so they can do longer nights, this is what i heard anyway.

[The Divide]

I once got told it was been bought by entertainment company (same one that owns Majestics) and that it was to be changed into a cheesy pop night club. It was just some cunt who had set his own nite up and was wrongfully spreading propaganda in an attempt to steal their customers. However some one did say they where trying to change venue not so long ago...

[davethedrummer]

yeah my mum just bought the orbit!
it only cost her a packet of fags
and a sip of cider
at least that's what she told me when i visited her last week

wait a minute.....
what the **** am i talking about?????

[MARKEG]

your mum IS the orbit!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[ness]

I totally know what you people mean!
Just moved down to Brighton a few months ago from the midlands thinking this is where it all happens (what was I thinking?) and have had to head west to Portsmouth for all the techno nights!
There's only one night a month here to my knowledge (apex at the pressure point) but it's hardly geushky.
What are we to do (aside from moving to Birmingham)???

PS- Had started going off the dance scene altogether as there seemed no good music to buy. That was until today when I purchased mark eg's "club xperiments"- HAPPY DAYS!!! You've restored my faith in the scene and I'm now kicking myself for not going to your recent night in Portsmouth. Get your ass back there (or Brighton) asap!
:D

[The Divide]

techno scene quiet?? that'd explain the rumours about orbit closing

Can some one please tell me its not true!!! I got told that same rumour today, infact I was told that the next nite is the last one!!!!! Is there anyone who realy knows?? I was told it was loosing out coz everyones going to Hog. I thinks its Hog!

[The Divide]

Hahahahaha noooooooooooo, wheres that ****in edit button gone!! :P

[MARKEG]

its gone for ever!!!!!

[Esox Lucius]

apparently the rumours of the orbit moving are true, after the summer it`s supposed to be happening.

[The Divide]

I am glad then, its good its moving and not closing. Shame tho, I realy liked that venue. It was close to home too.