Birmingham could only ever be considered compelling by someone who's never been there.

___________________
Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

I didn't say the city was compelling. I said the made-up myth is compelling.

___________________
June 2018 mix

Yeah, but if you actually go there it's just not a techno city at all. Techno only really makes sense in the right environment. Detroit and Berlin are effortless techno dystopias. If there is a UK equivalent it would be Sheffield, "Steel City", home of bleep and bass and then Warp Records. There used to be a gigantic abandoned power station looming over the motorway viaduct as you came into the city. It was perfect.

___________________
Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

Techno makes perfect sense the second you visit Detroit. My girlfriend who is not an electronic music aficionado by any stretch of the imagination went from actively despising techno to profoundly respecting the genre almost immediately after visiting the city for the movement festival. Listening to techno in that city is really eye opening. The only other equivalents that come to mind of cities to intertwined with an artistic movement are french new wave films and paris, and grunge and seattle.

___________________
X-MIX 1 The MFS Trip

This guy needs to come back

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J If there is a UK equivalent it would be Sheffield, "Steel City", home of bleep and bass and then Warp Records. There used to be a gigantic abandoned power station looming over the motorway viaduct as you came into the city. It was perfect.

Yeah, surely the legacy of early Warp, and the likes of Aphex, Autechre, and other ambient techno sorts gives the UK some lasting techno cred. Certainly not the same level of fetishistic mythos as the other two techno havens have cultivated tho'.

___________________
Everyone has an opinion. Mine just happens to be a little more informed than most.
Electronic Music Critic: Near-Daily Ruminations Of Music I Own, In Alphabetical Order!

disagree. Maybe the techno scene in UK is not on berlins level, but the caliber of producer / djs that have come out from there may be only second to Detroit

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J We seem to have a lot of names of the calibre of Slater, Regis, Surgeon, Ben Sims, Dave Clarke, Slam, Perc etc. but none of them stand out as absolute legends. But then again, I'm not a massive techno head.

If any one of those may be considered "legendary," it would be Luke Slater. He's been around since the late 80's and is definitely one of the pioneers of the hard techno sound that emerged around 92' (see X-Tront vol. 1).

I was never as fond of Dave Clarke, but he's been around for a while, as well. There was actually a thread on Discogs back in 05' or so, where Adam-X went on a personal rant against Clarke, complaining about never getting paid for his release on Clarke's label.

Last edited by AlphaStarred on Apr-07-2016 at 00:58

Well surgeon would be another possibly even Regis with the industrial sound. System j mentioned perc but he hasn't been around for nearly as long and his caliber of production is not the same as the previously mentioned. From a Brits POV who's their fav son in the techno scene?

I could put slaters discography side by side to some of the top Detroit guys and make the case for Luke. At this point in time he might be making the most interesting stuff aimed for dance floors. Surgeons last album was not my cup of tea, and his ep on ruskins label was sub par.

quote:

Originally posted by planetaryplayer Well surgeon would be another possibly even Regis with the industrial sound.

I wouldn't put them side by side with Slater because they just haven't been around long enough. He's been in the techno scene since pretty much day one, whereas Surgeon and Regis only came around in the mid 90's.

i wouldn't put them side by side with him based on my opinion. but evrytime i read articles or comments on slater people always seem to mention surgeon and regis. they have been long enough to leave a lasting imprint and have a strong body of work

quote:

Originally posted by planetaryplayer but evrytime i read articles or comments on slater people always seem to mention surgeon and regis. they have been long enough to leave a lasting imprint and have a strong body of work

Yeah, that may actually be because Slater's later output became more in the style of Surgeon, Regis, etc. His early stuff, however, was nothing like theirs. To me, Slater became rather repetitive and dull around 94-ish, more in the style of Surgeon, etc. Not that it's necessarily bad techno, but it doesn't compare to his (and others') earlier work by a long shot.

You can actually compare Jeff Mills's early work with Slater's - Waveform Transmission Vol. 1 and X-Tront Vol. 2, respectively. Very similar style in the early days, I wonder who influenced whom, and if at all.

not too sure about that. his PAS stuff is pretty dope (after 94) and i don't quite hear it in other peoples music but his. i can't quite describe it, but ill try : where each song kind of sounds like you're getting hit by a storm of severe magnitude or an earthquake. and when he holds back a bit on certain songs, i find those to be my favourite of his