Can’t help myself. NPR put together an interesting list of essential Detroit techno songs, but I have to counter with some of the hidden gems and one obvious omission. Read on.
Model 500 – The Passage (Apollo, Belgium, 1992)
This was only available as an import, so it’s not seen too often in stores here. But does it get much more beautiful than this? Juan Atkins really at the top of his game and officially on the other side of the wormhole from Cybotron’s dystopian future. This is record is all hope. (also semi-heretical for its inclusion of breakbeats back in 1992!)
Reese – Just Want Another Chance (Incognito, 1988)
Yo Dawg, I heard you like bass, so I put some waveforms in your waveforms so you can resonate when you resonate! Seriously, this is one incredibly deep track, especially for when it was made. So much so that Drum & Bass drew from Kevin Saunderson’s “clashing” sawtooth waves to develop some of its own bass lines. Producers post tutorials on how to recreate them on YouTube to this day. Insanity.
Rhythim is Rhythim – Nude Photo (Transmat, 1988)
Yep, this would be the big omission. “Strings” is an amazing song, but nothing skewed techno’s progression away from the parallels to Chicago House more than this one. My copy featured Alan Oldham’s label art, one of his comics packed inside, and Derrick May’s relentless Yamaha DX-100 bassline. For me, this record defined “techno” in a much deeper way than the compilation on 10 Records and the big marketing push that came with it.
Galaxy 2 Galaxy – Journey of the Dragons (Underground Resistance, 1993)
Ok, so I’m a sucker for the stargazing, hope-filled, melodic, simultaneously-eulogizing-and-celebrating side of techno. I’m not apologizing—and I’m pretty sure Mike Banks wouldn’t either. This is epic techno—not your giant crowd epic, but just the sort of elevating, heroic epic Detroit needs. When I think of the music and its relation to the city, or even the beauty of human beings creating music during their blip on time’s radar, I go back to Galaxy 2 Galaxy, and everything makes sense.
R-Tyme – R-Theme (R&S Records, Belgium, 1989)
This has been at the top of my list for as long as I can remember. The drums may betray the time period from which it came, but everything else still sounds perfectly mysterious to me. Derrick May and D-Wynn collaborated on this record over 20 years ago and I still get lost in the bass line and the strings. Magic.