Will techno ever again be the way it was 8 years ago?

[tekara]

I had a chance to pop in an old dj set from from Adam Beyer into my car the other day. The liveset was an oldie, i heard many familiar tracks from late 90's to early 2000's and was astonished at how the sound of techno has progressed since then.

I have to admit, the sound of minimal techno that influenced the sound of techno from 2005 onwards was a bit refreshing. Techno was extremely hard before that point and i think this change was needed.

I remember conducting an interview with Oliver Ho a few years back and he told me "I'm actually glad that techno has gotten a little softer over the years".

I somewhat agreed with him. But having said that, i am still extremely nostalgic when i listen to techno music from the early 2000's. This was before Schranz was labelled "Schranz" by Chris Liebing and morphed into a style of its own (ie; Robert Natus, DJ Amok, etc). Back then, it was just called hard techno.

Advent released "The Vault" and was banged to death by everyone, Damon Wild released some crazy stuff on Synewave, Marco Carolla just started on his "Question" series, Zenit was coming out with release after release, Primate was on fire and seemed unstoppable at the time, Umek released Lanicor, Stimata and CLR spearheaded the German hard techno scene, Pounding Grooves was making jawdropping tunes, Gaetano Parisio and Rino Cerrone were considered "newcomers" and out of nowhere some guy named Danilo Vigorito came out with a slew of techno classics within 1 year.

Chris Mccormack wasn't "retired" yet and blew everyone away with "Undercover of Darkness", Gunjack released "Outlands", DJ Rush was singing away on every one of his releases, Ant and Dave the DRUMMER and the Hydraulix crew were making HUGE acid techno stuff, Richie Hawtin's hair wasn't long and released "Deck, Efx, and the 909", Oliver Ho was making dark techno on his Black/White label, and Vince Watson and Technasia were making the more melodic stuff, and Countdown 2000 was counting down to the new millenium.

I even remember years ago, there was actually a heated debate on BOA as to whether or not Mauro Picotto was really considered "techno or not". It seemed some people on here were upset that techno was going mainstream with guys like Picotto jumping on the techno bandwagon.

Sorry for the nostalgic rant, but i guess my point is this.....

WILL WE EVER HEAR INCREDIBLE MUSIC LIKE THIS ANYMORE?

[xes]

I think the point that alwasy gets missed it this......was it really that great? Or is it nostalgia speaking?

in 10 years time,will the yoof of today be saying how ****ign great it was in 2008,and will it ever be the same again!!

music changes,opinions change.

does it mean it's changed for the worse? I don't think so,I think that's in the eye/ear of the beholder. I think what has changed is the attitude of the people going out to parties. And that's where we fall down as a genre.

[rhythmtech]

i think there is incredible music still about and its as good (if not better) than the tracks you mention. but the problem, and i hate to say this, lies with the listener.

nobody really wants the music as much as we used to. i used to wait with anticipation for a new stayupforever or bush or brain or whatever. i played it to my m8s who then also wanted it for their collection. these days all the kids download sets from everywhere and they couldnt give a crap about the actual tracks anymore. the only people really into full tracks now are the hardcore fans and djs.

some people will blame the internet, or mp3s or , and this one is the most bizarre, the fact that people use software more these days (still makes me chuckle that one) BUT the simple matter is that music isnt such a big deal to the average 18 yr old as it was to me or my m8s. and until this changes there will be no more HUGE tracks. yes the tracks will still be available but the HUGE aspect can only be gained thru people supporting it, buying it, spending their last pennies on it.

[RDR]

to summarise...

Music is change.

All music is change

Technology changes.

Techno is change.

without it we're dead in the water.

[clubsynthetic]

Most of that shit you mention got me into techno but and have alot of those lables in my record collection. But to be honest in my opinion i think shit coming out currently is far better. but what is incredible?

what a load of tosh.

[drift9]

nobody really wants the music as much as we used to. i used to wait with anticipation for a new stayupforever or bush or brain or whatever. i played it to my m8s who then also wanted it for their collection.

there it is.

completely agree with what you say. there's still A LOT of really really good stuff coming out. it's just that there doesn't seem to be that much excitement about techno in general anymore as far as a "scene" goes.

there's still great music, just less enthusiasm for it and going out to actually hear it is completely different now. not sure if that's true for the rest of the world but that's def how it feels here in the states.

[Lag]

theres a lot of factors against it.
the main two are:
as rythm said - the mp3s/slsk/download thing (nothing is exclusive anymore)
the capitalism thing (favorism of conformism) - punk in music is dead, futurism in music is dead (the two greatest aspects of techno). the average is celebrated.

[rhythmtech]

theres a lot of factors against it.
the main two are:
as rythm said - the mp3s/slsk/download thing

thats not what i said at all dude. i dont think mp3s have anything to do with the state of the industry.. i actually think they're probably the answer.

[Lag]

the simple matter is that music isnt such a big deal to the average 18 yr old as it was to me or my m8s.

its cause the mp3s and dls mate ;)
didnt mean to put words into your mouth though, sorry

[Smear]

The broader reason the industry's in a state is that there's a lot more things available that people can spend their money on other than music, and out of all the available products, music is the easiest to get for free. So coupled with the fact that the industry was far too slow in coping with the fact it's so easy to get illegaly, and was far too quick in blaming their potential customers, it's not doing too well(well, the people at the top who are actually to blame are still making a living, everyone at the bottom isn't, but everyone blames downwards and it ends up seen as the consumers' fault for not wanting to buy what they're selling)

[The Overfiend]

Marketing is just not there.
When Mtv Amp was around believe it or not we had more major label backing
It helped exposure to the genre's to the public just as much as anything.
Meanwhile I hate to say it, other genre's who mocked us are taking a page from our bible's and using it as there own. Hip Hop & R&B lately seem to be House music pretty much. Neyo is in his videos doing house dance steps as if he learned from Caleef. Gimme Some Mo by Busta is practically a DnB track, and Missy sampled Cybotron, and the sh*t SOLD. What is missing in our minds is a marketing plan, to expose what we have to offer to a broader audience.
Right now we are so caught up in separating and dividing pieces and chunks fo the market to our own respective tastes that we almost tore apart the genre of straight up techno period. There's no way to categorize forward thinking techno music without explaining the sub cultutres and parts of the whole. Hip Hop is able to have these sub genre's because as a whole it is a very well marketed and structured industry. Techno that we love and enjoy is not being marketed to potential new fans. It is not out there for kids or teens to get into. I don't think I know any teenagers who are into techno at all much less involved with the scene.

For the record the techno that was out 8 years ago....man I think we can re approach those ideas with newer technology and really get something special brewing.

[rhythmtech]

unfortunatly i think you're right tony..

problem is that i personally havent a clue about marketing..

so what do you do when you're trying to run a label, trying to write your own stuff, trying to put food on the table AND then you have to spend time learning marketing aswell? theres just not enough hours in the week.

try get someone else to market it for you? no-one will touch techno with a shit stick.

[clubsynthetic]

I find it hard to believe that just because something isn't selling at top $$$ its not going to be good.. THIS IS TECHNO for god sacks,, its never going to be mass selling.

If you think tracks are not incredible these days then make some new ones instead of wining.

and as for mp3's its a losing battle so maybe artists have to think about the times and make money from there live perfomances (where it's REALLY at) instead of spending all thier time trying to figure out ways to sanction it or complain about it. and just for the record i still go out and buy lots of moneys worth of mp3's as it is still the easiest way to get choons sometimes.

[Igneous]

The eara that is mentioned was the best time for techno for me. Heared all of the djs you mentioned around that time & I loved the tunes & parties I went to.

Can't seem to find as many good nights/parties to go to as I did back then.

Techno music seems to have got more subtle now which is lost on me. Maybe I'm just behind with the times.

Its a strange time for music at the moment, with a lot of Artist's hatein their fans.

[djfilthmonger]

No point living in the past imo
altough i love the techno from 2000 -2003 alot.
I love hardtechno from 2006- future oh yeah....

[DannyBlack]

Will techno ever again be the way it was 8 years ago?

No and thank god.
Techno like all music will evolve to suit the times, trends and the people that make it.
It won't be the same, because we live in very different times, with very different influences and technology.

There is shit techno out there and there is great techno out there. The trick is, to scoure for it, to really look for it. Don't get down because you don't like the particular flavour of the now.
for instance, at the moment, the world is bumming mnml. Personally I think it has no soul and is worse than deep funky house, so I ignore it and search for the good stuff that I love.

Techno's evolution is a good thing.

[Jay Pace]

You probably won't ever hear music like that again unfortunately.

But you're older, wiser and probably tired and wee bit jaded. You had fresher ears back then.

In 8 years time someone else will pull out the best examples of mnml or wonktastic dubstepcore and hold them up and say "will we ever hear quality like that again".

There were some great records released 8 years back, but there was also reams and reams of shite, uninspired chuggy generic loopfests.

There's some cracking stuff coming out these days, its just different stuff, enjoyed by different people for different reasons.

I used to love hardcore. Can't quite describe how excited I used to get going out raving... but it was more to do with being 15 then the music itself. Jesus wept, I listen to some of the crap I liked back then with slightly wiser ears and shudder. Beverley craven singing 4am over a breakbeat? For shame....

[Stella Boy]

Beverley craven singing 4am over a breakbeat? For shame....

i used to love that track, probably still would if I heard it again :lol:

[markandrew]

i used to love that track, probably still would if I heard it again :lol:

http://www.discogs.com/release/109270

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCIeCXFK-oQ :lol:

[the_psychologist]

Well, just bear in mind that for all the people who yearn for music from the early 2000s, there are just as many who yearn for stuff from the early-mid 90s. There's always some "golden era" to a given art form, and it varies wildly from one person to the next.

As much as fans of the underground love to slag minimal, some of the music in that scene (or at least not too far from it) has gotten me interested in dance music again like nothing else in the last 10 years. Plink-plonky shit can go away please, but then you have the artists in between like Extrawelt, Minilogue, Apparat, Johannes Heil, Modeselektor, and many more. Not minimal, not techno, not sure what they are.

Media as a whole has been devalued, and that is the real problem.

Look at modern summer blockbuster films. Sure, we always had some bad ones, but now people don't seem to give two ****s or a shite about the quality of "big" movies. Marketing ensures that they open big, make their costs back, and thus the equation has been solved.

People download tons of music now, and there is little of "the hunt" left. I remember searching for vinyl for weeks just to track down that B-Side remix. Now I can go to Soulseek and type in the name, boom there it is. True, the quality generally is poor compared to the real vinyl, but quality is another moot point these days. People will watch horribly pixellated video and that's become the status quo, so who's going to care that their MP3 is lacking highs?

Mediocrity is rewarded now, or at least it's given far too much of a chance when compared to excellence.

It's all part of a move towards homogenization, where we all consume our entertainment units and sit around our giant televisions.

Truthfully, the time has never been better for rebellion through music. There's so much to comment on.