New Directions in Techno?

[SlavikSvensk]

ok, so before anyone jumps on me, i'm not saying techno is crap now. but i would like to know which artists people think are really pushing the boundaries of the genre in new directions. in what ways are they doing this? what makes them revolutionary, or just a bit different?

who is on the cutting edge and what are they doing that people should know about?

[rhythmtech]

eric prydz (cirez d) is really doin it for me right now. he seems to have taken a quirky simple approach to techno which is a refreshing change from the bigger, faster, heavier way of thinking. Elton d aswell - very funky percussive stuff. henrys apex stuff is comin on nicely and some of the less acid orientated stuff on wah wah is nice. Some of preach's stuff rocks but i'm not so keen on some of it aswell.

[orac]

now i dont like this hype in techno, but i must mention it. it's about producers changing their style almost completely:
T.Hades, Redhead, M.Bailey - in the past making some proper pumping techno, now they slowed down and i dont like it (imo). i miss ep's like "look up", "icelandic", "sad homecoming" or "fiesta leblon"
Stanny Franssen the same
Henrik B a little
A.Beyer

really i miss their old style, now i cant find new records which i really love, that i would listen to them all the time...
but maybe im just moaning right now, maybe i'm listening to techno too much in a day, i dont know

[Jay Pace]

Matthew Dear.

My favourite artist at the mo' - love that squelchy raw sound he produces.

[dirty_bass]

Luka Bauman - combining the sound of dark minimal techno with the sound of coil
Innigo Kennedy - Always on the edge, never affraid to experiment, normally way ahead.
Can`t think of many others right now.

[SlavikSvensk]

i really like secret cinema, not because he's revolutionary, but because the way he thinks of melody is pretty atypical for techno, even if his beats are pretty orthodox...

okay, so where are all these innovators taking techno? how will the genre change because of them?

[Jay Pace]

I hope to God it slows down.

I'm loving everyone who can kill at crowd at 130bpm, instead of just exhausting them at 150bpm.

Saw Sims, Voorn and Hood play a while back. Chris Finke "warmed up" at full pelt from 10pm, and no one had it in them to slow down. I'm not that long in the tooth, but by the end of the night I just felt knackered and old.

Slow down, all of you. More funk, less speed.

[Miromiric]

would love to see more progressive songs, that would morph through the arrangement. maybe the new digital releasing format will encourage people to make more of such music. but then again to many people think about djing when making music.

[Francisco Scaramanga]

After Saturdays gig in Liverpool, I would definately have to say - Underground Resistance, or more specifically Galaxy 2 Galaxy live. Not for their tunes or production or anything (they've done their bit there already), but for the way they are currently playing them. It was a full band at Voodoo, and it was as live as music could ever be, a full on stage show, but playing all their classic tunes, and managing to improve on the recorded versions. I've never seen anything like it in terms of dance music, never even really thought anyone would ever try it. Anyway, not just anyone can pull that off, but I'm sure their current tour will inspire a few to try and do something like that, which would be quite an interesting direction for techno to meander down.

[The Overfiend]

Xfive aka Villain is going to shock a lot of people with his new material.

[audioinjection]

Xfive aka Villain is going to shock a lot of people with his new material.

werd to the bird :rambo:

[eyeswithoutaface]

After Saturdays gig in Liverpool, I would definately have to say - Underground Resistance, or more specifically Galaxy 2 Galaxy live. Not for their tunes or production or anything (they've done their bit there already), but for the way they are currently playing them. It was a full band at Voodoo, and it was as live as music could ever be, a full on stage show, but playing all their classic tunes, and managing to improve on the recorded versions. I've never seen anything like it in terms of dance music, never even really thought anyone would ever try it. Anyway, not just anyone can pull that off, but I'm sure their current tour will inspire a few to try and do something like that, which would be quite an interesting direction for techno to meander down.

WORD! Saturday was an absolute lesson in music. full stop.

Seem's its the originators still at the front

[dirty_bass]

Xfive aka Villain is going to shock a lot of people with his new material.

Yep, I gotta agree, although his work is slow to arrive, I`m lovin it, and releasing it. There`s a hidden complexity in his Villain stuff that really makes me wanna work my programming a lot harder.

[orac]

I hope to God it slows down.

I'm loving everyone who can kill at crowd at 130bpm, instead of just exhausting them at 150bpm.

Saw Sims, Voorn and Hood play a while back. Chris Finke "warmed up" at full pelt from 10pm, and no one had it in them to slow down. I'm not that long in the tooth, but by the end of the night I just felt knackered and old.

Slow down, all of you. More funk, less speed.

You are right ! When i mentioned about slowing down i wasn't talking about bpm, but different way in producing music by artist which i mentioned earlier.

[el salvador]

in south america the schranz is now what the peoples are likeing. crazy when we have the funk and the rhythms of sexy latin beats. i am thinking it is just a fashion in the techno to play harder and faster here right now

[SlavikSvensk]

would love to see more progressive songs, that would morph through the arrangement. maybe the new digital releasing format will encourage people to make more of such music. but then again to many people think about djing when making music.

possibilities are limitless, and even on vinyl. i mean, someone could release records with only one track per side, but 20 minutes of music, progressing greatly, on each side. good idea...

[Mindful]

Seem's its the originators still at the front
Intresting comment mr Gray.

It seems to me that the "new blood" would be stupid to ignore the original founders of this music.
Too many people IMO taking insperation(maybe the wrong word..perhaps COPYING would be the correct term)from the wrong places.

If techno is going to have some sort of insperation from itself at least let it be from the people who were/are original and not from the SAFE sound that gets hammerd all too often nowadays IMO

Im not saying that techno is the best place to draw insperation from when making or playing erm...techno but that to me the older sounds of labels like Tresor,Downwards,Missile ect sound more inovative than alot of the safe and retarded uncreative techno of current times.

Of course I am talking bolloks and this is only my opinion and not fact ;)

[SlavikSvensk]

It seems to me that the "new blood" would be stupid to ignore the original founders of this music.
Too many people IMO taking insperation(maybe the wrong word..perhaps COPYING would be the correct term)from the wrong places.

If techno is going to have some sort of insperation from itself at least let it be from the people who were/are original and not from the SAFE sound that gets hammerd all too often nowadays IMO

Im not saying that techno is the best place to draw insperation from when making or playing erm...techno but that to me the older sounds of labels like Tresor,Downwards,Missile ect sound more inovative than alot of the safe and retarded uncreative techno of current times.

:clap: :clap:

Of course I am talking bolloks and this is only my opinion and not fact ;)

[SlavikSvensk]

those clappies are from me...not sure why they ended up in your text... :scratch:

[fresh_an_funky_design]

would love to see more progressive songs, that would morph through the arrangement. maybe the new digital releasing format will encourage people to make more of such music. but then again to many people think about djing when making music.

possibilities are limitless, and even on vinyl. i mean, someone could release records with only one track per side, but 20 minutes of music, progressing greatly, on each side. good idea...


you'd get a thin cut not a lot of bass in it. 12 mins is about ure max for a good cut on 12" vinyl anything more and you'd be filtering out the low end frequencies to fit it all in.

[SlavikSvensk]

you'd get a thin cut not a lot of bass in it. 12 mins is about ure max for a good cut on 12" vinyl anything more and you'd be filtering out the low end frequencies to fit it all in.

12, 20...the number was pretty much arbitrary. the idea remains the same. one track per side, 33 rpm, lots and lots of changes and movement musically within the track itself...

[audioinjection]

i'd rather have 4 different tracks rather than 1 or 2 very long songs IMO

it would probably work for a cd album release, but maybe not for dj vinyl

[dirty_bass]

i'd rather have 4 different tracks rather than 1 or 2 very long songs IMO

it would probably work for a cd album release, but maybe not for dj vinyl

If the long songs progressed enough, it would be like you are getting 4 tracks or even more.

[Miromiric]

when you approach to making a vinyl you simply have a certain image how it should be like, thats all. not to mention technical boundaries. havent the cds always been more listening orientated,?

[SlavikSvensk]

i'd rather have 4 different tracks rather than 1 or 2 very long songs IMO

it would probably work for a cd album release, but maybe not for dj vinyl

If the long songs progressed enough, it would be like you are getting 4 tracks or even more.

exactly. and you could do a lot with them as a dj as well...mix in and out, back in, etc etc.

it would have to be done well, of course, and not like some cheesey disco medley, but people need to try more sh*t like this...

[davethedrummer]

i'd rather have 4 different tracks rather than 1 or 2 very long songs IMO

it would probably work for a cd album release, but maybe not for dj vinyl

If the long songs progressed enough, it would be like you are getting 4 tracks or even more.

yeah but it would make mixing hazardous
the early bag releases i did years ago before i was sucked in by the dj format are all composites of 3 seperate tunes
starting with an ambient intro , going into a hard trance type thing and ending with a slower 4/4 track at the end.
all the tracks were mixed seperately and edited together
into 15 minute pieces of music
i´ve been pulling all this old stuff off my dats recently and some of its still pretty good
but really for listening , to play out it would be a right pain. and too old skool sounding

but really a total breakdown of rythmn and approach is whats needed.
take off the blinkers and really settle down to make some self satisfying electronic music
i reckon that s the way forward , because the ideas in my early tracks are in a way more original than what im doing now
but much less playable

a paradox if you will

[The Divide]

I would like to see clever arrangements and more of a jump up sound, think Joey Beltram djin 92, more samples less loops please. Which seems a bit like what Dave is saying

[Mindful]

but really a total breakdown of rythmn and approach is whats needed.
take off the blinkers and really settle down to make some self satisfying electronic music


Right on brother im all for self satisfying(not in the way that those of you with dirty minds are thinking)
If im going to make music then im going to make sure that its sel satisfying and self indulgent, Its the onley way I can get a buzz out of my own music(if its made to please myself)

[The Teknoist]

more edits! haha.. then again i say that about everything

[tekara]

Technasia seems to be doing a pretty good job pushing the boundaries of techno. I believe they are going to add chinese opera singing and all sorts of crazy stuff to their new album "Soda Pop". I think alot of guys like Stanny Franssen, Adam Beyer, etc etc are all going into the direction of slower, less loop based music....in a nutshell, music that is HARDER to make, with more emotions, melodies, chord progression (Stanny Franssen on his webpage publically declared his new style will attract new, but let down exisiting audiences). The bang-bang-bang formula is starting to get a bit tiresome and i think as a lot of these DJ's progress and move forward, they are less inclined to crowd please and play a DJ Rush tracklist. I think the future boundaries of techno are getting a bit more blurred with house elements, and i actually dont mind it at all. Progression for the better or worse is a good thing. Its very subject IMO.

Ohh yah, Oliver Ho never stops amazing me. I think he willl continue to push the boundaries as well.

[holotropik]

Boundaries should always be pushed in this music. I have always been let down by the fact that so many tunes released are not boundary pushing in a sense. I really go outa my way to find stuff that has that edge or unique approach to it. I feel that a threshold is being breached very soon and some great new things will spew forth. It will upset some people but attract others.
This is happening because of people going..."I'm going to focus on making the music I want to make, not what I am expected to make"...??

[danielmarshall]

I hope to God it slows down.

I'm loving everyone who can kill at crowd at 130bpm, instead of just exhausting them at 150bpm.


Amen to that.

God I'm sick of techno starting to sound like hardcore. I don't take amphetamines anymore and now I just can't keep up with the music. Maybe I'm getting old :(


Slow down, all of you. More funk, less speed.

This is why everybody loves Ben Sims' stuff so much. You can play allot of his music at lower speeds and still have the percussive intensity that seriously gets you moving.

[gumpy green]

yup, tempo has fuk all to do with the nrg that move my body.

[Agent Orange NYC]

Ive been playing my sets (techno and house) @ 132 lately. The techno dont sound TOO slow and the house don't sound TOO fast. People dont get tired as fast so there is a more steady vibe on the floor, rather than a rush to the floor then it thins, then a rush again etc.

[holotropik]

Yeah...down here we call it "Funk'n Jack'n" (a term coined by DJ Simon Slieker in Melbourne). We run at 133bpm and it works a treat.
From doing this I learnt how to make tunes at 137bpm that dont sound fast but have the necessary elements to be complex enough to do heads in nice and proper.
Track selection is the key when playin at 133bpm. Tech that is built to run fast wont sound good at this speed, it has to have some elements of space and funk.