What is Techno music?

[ZenPunkHippy]

Midi Miliz - deep, dark psychedelic techno from around 2005:



And an earlier project by the same (or related) artists, Spirallianz:

[djanthonyw]

Chemical Brothers.

You're takin the piss, right? Chemical Brothers=Big Beat, the first frat boy friendly EDM style, they are absolutely not techno.

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Notice the first label, that's what the Chemical Brothers are known for, they are not techno artists. The first paragraph of the wikipedia page tells you what you need to know.

The Chemical Brothers are a British electronic music duo composed of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons. Originating in Manchester in 1991, along with The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, The Crystal Method, and fellow acts, they were pioneers at bringing the big beat genre to the forefront of pop culture. In the UK, they have had five number-one albums and 13 top-20 singles, including two number ones.

Emphasis mine.

Big Beat is the label that's applied to the style of music that the chemical brothers were known for.

Here's a link to their first album on Wikipeda, note that it is NOT techno.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exit_Planet_Dust

You only need to listen to the first 10 seconds or so to get that this is a big beat album.



Their style was (is?) big beat, not techno. They helped to define the genre, in fact, they are famous for it, if you're going to include them in a conversation about the definition of techno then you might as well include Britney Spears.

I never said they were just Techno, or that they were mainly Techno, but they are heavily Techno influenced with some of their tracks being true Techno. For example, one of their more popular tracks "Hey Boy, Hey Girl". That is 100% Techno, and a perfect example of what Techno is, given the instrumental. If you feel like disagreeing with me, then have fun trying tell me what genre that song is, because it's definitely not House.



P.S. It's still Techno even though it was / is popular, and quite a classic track to top it off.

[samsam]

Two things strike me as funny in this thread:

The fact that the terms IDM/EDM became widely used - man, they suck
The fact that the Crystal Method are described as 'pioneers'.

BTW, Chemical Brothers >>> Big Beat (another lol-worthy moniker). The day when Exit came out and we sat and listened to it we didn't think "Hey man, digging that Bg Beat sound". "Twas just 'dance music' to us.

[samsam]

edit: double

[A.M. Gold]

It's true that synth based musicians seem to be nearly obsessed with dividing and subdividing their "wing", if you will, of music to an extent that really seems unprecedented. Even the entire genre of classical music is basically divided into four categories: Baroque, High Classical, Romantic, and Modern. And those four categories span THREE CENTURIES.

Contrast that with synth based music, where the culture seems to feel the need to spawn a new sub-genre every time someone routs an LFO to a new modulation target or tweaks a filter cutoff within a range that is 10% higher or lower than the last time they did it.

TBH, I find it a bit odd.

[ZenPunkHippy]

TBH, I find it a bit odd.

Stoner Rock
Heavy Metal
Death Metal
Black Metal
Psychedelic Rock
Grunge
Garage
Garage Punk
Acid Country
Shoegaze
Pop Rock
AOR
MOR
Hard Rock
Classic Rock
Rock n Roll
Rockabilly
Psychobilly

Did I miss any?

These are all variations on a single theme: guitars.

[ghettosynth]

Two things strike me as funny in this thread:

The fact that the terms IDM/EDM became widely used - man, they suck
The fact that the Crystal Method are described as 'pioneers'.

BTW, Chemical Brothers >>> Big Beat (another lol-worthy moniker). The day when Exit came out and we sat and listened to it we didn't think "Hey man, digging that Bg Beat sound". "Twas just 'dance music' to us.

Yes, but it was a different style, and that style is known as big beat, which, BTW, is what the previous track posted above is as well. Just because it has a four four kick, doesn't make it techno.

[ZenPunkHippy]

Chemical Brothers is the kind of "techno" you would put on to stop your mates girlfriend from complaining about the relentless beats that have been playing all weekend

[A.M. Gold]

TBH, I find it a bit odd.

Stoner Rock
Heavy Metal
Death Metal
Black Metal
Psychedelic Rock
Grunge
Garage
Garage Punk
Acid Country
Shoegaze
Pop Rock
AOR
MOR
Hard Rock
Classic Rock
Rock n Roll
Rockabilly
Psychobilly

Did I miss any?

These are all variations on a single theme: guitars.

I guess my point is that electronic music mostly sounds the same to me, so I don't really get the endless fascinations with minute distinctions.

I could pick a bunch of nits with your list there, though, FWIW.

For one, you listed "rock and roll" which could mean almost anything. "Classic rock" is mostly a marketing term radio stations picked up on. I have no idea what "garage punk" is, nor have I ever heard of it before. I also have no idea what "garage" is, other than it refers to amateur bands who can barely play.

I'll give you the subdivisions of metal, though, and I'd attribute the same kind of neurosis to metal-heads that seems to afflict electronic musicians. In other words, they should just play music and stop obsessing about sub-genres when their contribution to the music world is usually dubious to begin with.

[samsam]

Two things strike me as funny in this thread:

The fact that the terms IDM/EDM became widely used - man, they suck
The fact that the Crystal Method are described as 'pioneers'.

BTW, Chemical Brothers >>> Big Beat (another lol-worthy moniker). The day when Exit came out and we sat and listened to it we didn't think "Hey man, digging that Bg Beat sound". "Twas just 'dance music' to us.

Yes, but it was a different style, and that style is known as big beat, which, BTW, is what the previous track posted above is as well. Just because it has a four four kick, doesn't make it techno.

I see what you're saying but just disagree about the label. As someone who was there at the time (as I'm guessing you were too) CB in their prime were never BigBeat for me and my mates, regardless of what some Wikipedia editor might write.

[A.M. Gold]

Alright ZPH, you asked for this. I shall now throw down the gauntlet!

[ZenPunkHippy]

I guess my point is that electronic music mostly sounds the same to me

Yes, I gathered that

so I don't really get the endless fascinations with minute distinctions.

All genres of music have similar classifications. You mentioned some broad categories of classical but even these can be broken down further by century or decade, romantic and so on.

II could pick a bunch of nits with your list there, though, FWIW.

It was not an exhaustive list, just pointing out as above - all areas of music have very specific sub genes that mean something to somebody. FWIW all of those genres mean something to me.

For one, you listed "rock and roll" which could mean almost anything

Yeah, while its a catch all phrase like "EDM" it also means something quite specific i.e. the era of Elvis and Chubby Checker.

I have no idea what "garage punk" is, nor have I ever heard of it before. I also have no idea what "garage" is, other than it refers to amateur bands who can barely play.

Garage is a term used to describe certain mid-to-late 60's psychedelia inspired rock music with a rougher edge than the bands we are most familiar with. "Garage punk" is a slightly harder, proto-punk variation of garage rock to which the Iggy, the Ramones and the Saints owe their heritage.

The Nuggets series of releases covers this side of music really well:

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/legendar ... y-reissue/

Absolutely worth checking out if you're interested in the hidden gems from that period.

I'll give you the subdivisions of metal, though, and I'd attribute the same kind of neurosis to metal-heads that seems to afflict electronic musicians. In other words, they should just play music and stop obsessing about sub-genres when their contribution to the music world is usually dubious to begin with.

It's true that a lot of these classifications are dreamed up by the suits, but it serves a useful purpose as well.

No point putting on your best Rockabilly outfit for a big Saturday night, only to find out the promoter booked for lovers rock

Peace,
Andy.

[A.M. Gold]

See the post above your last post.

Just give me any other area of music that comes anywhere near this kind of rat's nest of sub-genres.

[Bronto Scorpio]

See the post above your last post.

Just give me any other area of music that comes anywhere near this kind of rat's nest of sub-genres.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rock_genres

[ZenPunkHippy]

See the post above your last post.

Just give me any other area of music that comes anywhere near this kind of rat's nest of sub-genres.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Rock_music_genres

Take that, ye varlet!

Maybe not quite the same dizzying number of electronic music genres but it's pretty close.

*edit - beaten by Bronto Scorpio!