DLaurent's Techno Top 100

[DLaurent]

There's not too much Techno talk on here at the moment and so I don't want to tread on anyones toes by doing this thread. I did a top 100 tracks a while back, that was compiled quickly and off the top of my head for another non music forum and I wasn't too happy with how the final list turned out in the end, so I'm going to go much slower this time, posting one track at a time and trying to add some text to provoke some discussion as I go.

As a foreword... although Techno is probably my favourite genre, and it's the music I try to make, and my favourite time clubbing was always Techno raves. (Usually I went to Techno clubs in Birmingham, so it was the usual DJs, Surgeon and few UK and Detroit superstars I got to see play...) I didn't know much about the music at the time and still don't, but my tastes are now generally on the Detroit or Birmingham ends of the spectrum. It'll be an ongoing project for me to finish the list. I don't claim esoteric knowledge here, but it'll give me something to do and I might learn a thing or two.

 

[DLaurent]

To kick things off here's a weird track from Dan Bell. It's a promo for the 7th City label and only 100 copies were pressed. "You'd have to be nuts to live there"... that's Planet Earth btw, not Detroit. It got sampled by Claude Young... but it's an interesting oddity in its own right... enought to start a list with.

1) Daneil Bell - Untitled

 

[DLaurent]

If I get too much into doing this like a DJ mix I'll end even more up all over the shop but I don't know where to start. Better off starting slow. Anthems are usually anthems for a reason and Amenity from this is well known. Richie Hawtin chose it as a track he'd have played at his funeral and it was sampled by the well known Chameleon track along with the Ferris Bueller sample. But as it has intro in the title and is beatless I like this, better than the other track called Augur.

2) Link - Augur Intro

 

[luka]

this is a good thread touches on the naive techno-utopianism aspect https://www.dissensus.com/index.php?threads/15980/

 

[DLaurent]

Staying on the beatless vibe for a moment. I've always associated Techno with Churches since one of the places I used to go was a massive converted Methodist church. Speedy J did a bit of ambient musak that gets compared to SAW. Some of it reminds me of the continuo parts, in its repetitive nature, of early music. And this is one of the tracks I come back to. I presume the title refers to DX synths though for some reason I also had him down as a Kurzweil user, I think it's DX7.

3) Dx - Snth

 

[DLaurent]

this is a good thread touches on the naive techno-utopianism aspect https://www.dissensus.com/index.php?threads/15980/

I'll give it a listen.

 

[DLaurent]

I'm going to try and stay away from obvious anthems as much as my knowledge dictates, though my selection will probably be quite narrow, I can't help but post this early on. From the tracks that got sampled by hardcore tracks this is a standout for me. It has a nostalgic quality to it to me, maybe because of the sample, but also because it's pretty lofi and generally melancholic I guess.

4) R-Tyme - Illusion

 

[DLaurent]

AKA Terrace AKA Stefan Robbers. Holland were seemingly as big into the Detroit vibe as many other places quite early on. This is one of his most mellow with skippy beats reminiscent of Carl Craig.

5) Florence - A Touch of Heaven

 

[IdleRich]

Staying on the beatless vibe for a moment. I've always associated Techno with Churches since one of the places I used to go was a massive converted Methodist church. Speedy J did a bit of ambient musak that gets compared to SAW.

Stock, Aitken and Waterman?

 

[craner]

@Corpsey is going to love this

 

[DLaurent]

Planet E again. This time drenched in reverb. I feel like reverb is a bit of a shortcut when making music. It's still a tune.

6) The Connection Machine - Poly 800

 

[DLaurent]

It's track 7. So it has to be Scan 7. And their track called VII. The video is nice. It's no surprise Detroit welcomes its own kind of fetishism similar to Tokyo.

7) Scan 7 - VII

 

[DLaurent]

This is a cracking EP I found on the 21/22 Corporation label. A Columbus Ohio based label that seemingly put out a few Todd Sines tracks as well as some Jungle. I almost chose the track titled Blueshift for the Loon Bird samples but think the A1 track is the strongest here. It’s as bouncy as it is almost wonky.

8) Archetype - Cloud Burst

 

[chava]

This thread is where it's at

 

[chava]

But we need more content!

 

[craner]

He’s run out of steam.

 

[DLaurent]

Sorry back now, been busy. I'll slowly update this thread, but it's more difficult than I thought! 😊

 

[DLaurent]

9) X-103 - Thera

There's a Derrick May quote about drugs, probably more folklore than an actual quote, about how he came to the UK and didn't like how his Detroit music was being used for drug fuelled parties. Staying on the beatless theme to start with, here's a track from the X103 series that sticks out to me for how Detroit music can be as much 80s TV Science Fiction Documentary for the classroom as it can be for a dancefloor.

 

[DLaurent]

10) Dave Clarke - Southside

Turning up the tempo a little. Someone mentioned Dave Clarke to me on another forum and this is the track that came to mind I used to play a lot in my car. Southside... of Birmingham of course... bit of a loopy vibes track.

 

[woops]

This thread is where it's at

agree, keep at it @DLaurent