Techno, Techno, Techno, Techno…

If somebody mentions the word ‘techno’, what springs to mind? My partly assumptive guess based mainly on conversations I have had with people who centre their entire musical outlook around what daytime radio tells them, would be either ‘2Unlimited’ or ‘Marching Germans’.

However with a little digging past the perceived face value of techno as a somewhat dirty word, it is arguably the most longstanding, diverse and fluid form of electronic music.

Originating in Detroit in the mid 1980s, techno developed hand-in-hand with the advent of drum machines and synthesizers with certain hardware, for example Roland’s TR series, became particularly synonymous with techno. The word ‘techno’ itself derives from the backdrop of Detroit that the genre was inspired and influenced by; automotive industry, machinery and all round technological advancement.

As we crawl into 2009, it is worth noting that it is over twenty years since the ‘BelleVille three’, Derrick May, Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson first set about sequencing analogue beats and sounds. What has happened in the two decades since? Much. As with any music, possibly even more so in this case, techno has diversified and developed in every possible direction. Some would say it has changed beyond recognition in some circumstances, although in part this is down to the previously mentioned ‘confusion’ over the definition of the word.

In recent years the widespread popularity of techno, in its truest form at least, has begun to dwindle. As the stranglehold of mass media continues to dictate what people enjoy and are ‘in to’, trends and fads are becoming all too common.

In Manchester, however, it is still at the very forefront of the city’s buzzing music scene. In 2006 ‘The Warehouse Project’ threw a party at the Boddington’s brewery, showcasing some of techno’s true luminaries including Los Hermanos, DJ 3000 and Robert Hood. Despite the WHP since morphing into a hulking great soulless money making mechanism, this night alone speaks volumes for what Manchester can offer. More importantly, however, are the numerous other independent nights and parties that week in, week out go far out of their way to provide the city’s discerning clientele with something different. This widespread, intertwining network of nights, parties and shindigs are what truly sets Manchester apart, allowing for the continued immersion of Manchester’s clubbing fraternity in everyone’s own personal favourite strain of what we know and love as techno.

Check out more about Motor Techno and Tom Long at: Motor Techno Radio



TOM LONG