Detroit - the myth

[mvuent]

Things come and go.

But what are you getting at here, @mvuent? What does that video have to do with it? What other things have brought you to this conclusion? Why now?

Did you watch it? It’s great. Rik Davis in The Sprawl.

 

[pattycakes_]

I watched bits of it, waiting for some big revelation

But alas, no dice

 

[mvuent]

I watched bits of it, waiting for some big revelation

But alas, no dice

I guess having spent almost all my life in aggressively mundane, forgettable, homogenized suburban environments like the one in the video, it’s both funny and moving in a hard to describe way to watch this guy—who ofc if you’re into Detroit techno is a legend, sort of a myth himself—wandering around in it as an old man. Otherworldly themes playing so you can’t forget who you’re dealing with.

 

[mvuent]

But it also underscores how, if sci fi isn’t a prediction of the future so much as a reflection of the present, then the future evoked by classic 80s and 90s Detroit techno isn’t sci fi anymore. It doesn’t feel anything like the present.

 

[thirdform]

But it also underscores how, if sci fi isn’t a prediction of the future so much as a reflection of the present, then the future evoked by classic 80s and 90s Detroit techno isn’t sci fi anymore. It doesn’t feel anything like the present.

as a pretty dedicated detroit techno fan I agree with this to an extent, the weirder jeff mills/rob hood/jay denham/Stacey Pullen/Shakir etc etc etc end of techno still sounds very much relevant today but Atkins, May et al are very 80s. Patty is right that that things come and go, so things have to be appreciated on their own terms. But I do wish chicago acid was offered the same reverence as detroit, because it still sounds like music of now. I guess those boys didn't have the same kind of mythology to market to a mostly European public though. In fact relative to detroit a lot of early chicago jack tracks were dirty rather than slick and clean.

Techstep sounds contemporary though, weirdly. which is where barty went a bit ott with bladerunner jungle. Or maybe it's that bladerunner the book, as in Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep is still presentist, rather than the film. Listen.

 

[chava]

But it also underscores how, if sci fi isn’t a prediction of the future so much as a reflection of the present, then the future evoked by classic 80s and 90s Detroit techno isn’t sci fi anymore. It doesn’t feel anything like the present.

Ballard was right. The future became suburban boredom.

 

[thirdform]

Ballard was right. The future became suburban boredom.

well, the future is hinterlands and that development is now underway. We are in the future in that sense. Le Corbusier was an architectural fascist, after all.

 

[chava]

well, the future is hinterlands and that development is now underway. We are in the future in that sense. Le Corbusier was an architectural fascist, after all.

I'm constantly baffled about Le Corbusiers mad visions. Although it makes totally sense if you see at as 'cleansing', hygienic project, ie. proto-fascist.

 

[woops]

I'm constantly baffled about Le Corbusiers mad visions. Although it makes totally sense if you see at as 'cleansing', hygienic project, ie. proto-fascist.

Imposition of order, "modernity", ""science""

 

[WashYourHands]

Machines for living

 

[thirdform]

I'm constantly baffled about Le Corbusiers mad visions. Although it makes totally sense if you see at as 'cleansing', hygienic project, ie. proto-fascist.

definitely. increased suicidal ideation as well, which is always good for fascists, they love mental health crises.

 

[woops]

definitely. increased suicidal ideation as well, which is always good for fascists, they love mental health crises.

Inb4 fascism is a mental health crisis

 

[woops]

i've bought Omar S Fabric mix today on compacr disc so im about to become a msasive fan of detroit techno.

 

[catalog]

I'm gonna take that fabric mix cd and shove it so far up your arse that you are going to become a superstar modern techno dj and producer, specialising in the irreverant end of things.

 

[luka]

omar s is so bad. cant overstate how schmaltzy that shit is.

 

[gremino]

Can anyone post contemporary old school tracks? Doesn't have to be pure oldskool, but same sounds atleast.

 

[woops]

Can anyone post contemporary old school tracks? Doesn't have to be pure oldskool, but same sounds atleast.

holy snap @gremino has posted in a thread that isnt raw productions, post oldskool tracks quick

 

[woops]

voodoo ray

 

[woops]

sweet harmony

 

[chava]

omar s is so bad. cant overstate how schmaltzy that shit is.

Ehh