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July 30, 2024

sef 5: three theses on techno

sonic edge fog 5

1: techno is the height of civilisation

an experience of whole-body immersion made possible by decades of progress in the technologies and techniques of music production, DJing, sonic reproduction (sound systems & acoustic treatment), lighting, and drugs. all developed in tandem, to complement each other: the music for the drugs and the space and the speakers and the looping and the lights for the drugs for the lights and the subs and the music.

2: techno is not a musical genre

it’s a theatrical form appropriating the greatest hits of religion and rock and heavy industry. best when everyone is playing their role, the dancers in their black chain mesh mosh stomp stepping before the DJ going priest at the industrial altar, arms aloft, summoning & distributing musical manna. one white shirt and the spell is broken.

3: techno is mid-road

simplicity and repetition of rhythm and melody + simplicity and repetition of visual aesthetic (black clothes, industrial spaces) mean the barrier for entry is low. a form that is easy to export so now available everywhere, for all to make and move and mode to, if they want it. austere enough that many don’t - maintaining its cachet - but not complex or aggressive enough to stay niche for long.

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rough recreation of a lost draft on my stolen laptop. in response to Berlin’s techno scene being added to UNESCO’s cultural heritage list, part-developed in conversation with Finn, theses 1 & 2 informed by an especially transcendent night at industrial copera in Jan 2023.

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