detroit techno | Musicosity

detroit techno

Redshape

Trying to describe Redshape's sound is kind of a hard task, sitting somewhere between everything in dance music and his very own imagination. It's not minimal, not maximal and always historical respecting the vibe of Detroit. Repetition is something Redshape works hard to prevent, so his live shows - which brought him to nearly every known European club - morph and develop everytime to never play the same show a second time.

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Kenny Larkin

Profile: With the deluge of techno artists from all over the world making headlines, it's easy (although very wrong) to forget that techno was created in Detroit, Michigan by African-American visionaries like Kevin Saunderson, Juan Atkins and Derrick May. From there Kenny Larkin began his music career in 1990 after serving two years in the U.S. Air Force, where he was repairing computers. Hanging out at local Detroit clubs like The Music Institute and The Shelter, he soon hooked up with Richie Hawtin and John Acquaviva records under a variety of monikers, including Dark Comedy, Pod and Yennek.

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Kevin Saunderson

Kevin Saunderson (born in Brooklyn, New York on May 9, 1964) is an American electronic music producer. At the age of nine he moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he attended Belleville High School and befriended two students, Derrick May and Juan Atkins. Saunderson, with Atkins and May, (often called the "Belleville Three"), is considered to be one of the originators of techno, specifically Detroit techno.

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Underground Resistance

Underground Resistance is the most militantly political outcropping of modern urban American techno. Combining a grubby, four-track aesthetic, an almost strictly DIY business philosophy, and an oppositional, militaristic ethos similar to Public Enemy without the drama (or the familiarity; the members refuse to be photographed without bandanas obscuring their identities), UR have redirected their portion of the Detroit techno legacy to social activist ends, trading mainstream popularity and financial success for independence and self-determination.

Jeff Mills

In the course of the eighties Jeff Mills was an influential radio DJ on WJLB under the pseudonym The Wizard. Mills' sets were a highlight of the nightly show from "The Electrifying Mojo," Charles Johnson. Complimenting Mojo's eclectic playlists, Mills would spin obscure detroit techno, hiphop, electro, freestyle, miami bass, chicago house and classic new wave tracks. In going on to create his own music Mills is credited with laying the foundations for legendary detroit techno collective, Underground Resistance, alongside 'Mad' Mike Banks, a former Parliament bass player.

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Richie Hawtin

Richard (Richie) Hawtin (born June 4, 1970, Banbury, Oxfordshire, England) is a English-Canadian electronic musician and internationally-touring DJ who was an influential part of Detroit techno's second wave of artists in the early 1990s. Hawtin is best known for his haunting, minimal works under the alias Plastikman, a moniker he continued to use into the mid 2000s. Hawtin is also known for DJing intelligent, minimal techno sets making use of high-tech electronics such as drum machines and digital mixing equipment.

Derrick May

Derrick May, also known as Mayday and Rhythim Is Rhythim, is an electronic musician from Belleville, Michigan U.S.A. He was born an only child in Detroit in 1963 and began to explore electronic music early in his life. Along with his Belleville, Michigan high school friends Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson, commonly known as the Belleville Three, May is credited with developing the futuristic variation on house music that would be dubbed "techno" by Atkins.

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Seth Troxler

As a comparable youth on the scene, Seth Troxler's achievements far outweigh his tender age of 22. His Detroit roots are unmistakable and his recent relocation to Berlin has already earned him a place in the elite of the European techno scene. Seth's musical influences include the chirping of crickets, the whirring of space ships, and the sweet sounds of whistling voodoo magic. With much-hyped and played releases on revered labels such as Spectral, Wagon Repair and M_nus, each join the dots of his distinctive sexy techno sound.

Theo Parrish

Theo Parrish grew up on Chicago house parties. He went to art school in Kansas City, and then moved to Detroit. His eclectic DJ sets in Detroit in the late '90s and early in this millennium are legendary. "Love of the music should be the driving force of any producer, performer or DJ. Everything else stems from that core, that love. With that love, sampling can become a tribute; An expansion on ideas long forgotten, reconstruction, collage.

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