i'm such a bitch about techno. i really can't get into any of the hard stuff at all, and honestly i find the vast majority of techno way too 'mechanical' sounding. i'm pretty sure this is precisely what draws fans to it though - all that coldness and whipping and banging around
incidentally i have the same feelings about drum and bass. i love its soulful side, but what is arguably the core of the genre - the aggressive stuff - kind of gives me a headache.
i do play and enjoy a fair amount of music that falls under the general techno umbrella, but it doesn't seem like my preferred tracks are what people mean when they have conversations about techno. i'm drawn to techno's warmer moods... if it's deep, melodic, progressive, etc. then i'm all for it.
mind you i'm not necessarily talking about a bunch of ethereal sounds either. i still love a good beat. i just find that a lot of techno is very heavy on the percussion (great) but sorely lacking in a lot of other areas. there's a lot of cool rhythm, but not much actual
song if that makes any sense. it's almost too electronic.
ugh, i'm not wording this well at all. perhaps a mix would clarify my stance a bit. here is a tracklist for something i recorded at the beginning of this past summer:
Dr. James E. Walton - Meditation to Improve Focus and Concentration
Pierce & Jerl - Bouquet
Angel Freq - Nothing At All (Jamie Stevens Pacific Dub)
Autumn Tree - Kubi
B Noise - Endless Summer (NTFO Refact Mix)
Robert Babicz - Don't Look Back
Bart Skils & Anton Pieete - Handsome
Cave - Hartbreak
Quivver - Surin (Tobias Lutzenkirchen Remix)
Lutzenkirchen - Corroder
Mastercris - Wake Me in the Next Summer
if you're interested you can download it at
www.qpod.org. it's under 'Qpod 011 ::: Mo Corleone'. i tried to squeeze everything i wanted to say about non-standard techno in the 50 minutes i was given, so while this mix is hardly fluff none of it is the type of techno that beats you over the head with a spiky club. i find that most techno fans want the spikes - or conversely, want it so minimal that it sounds like someone shuffling around in a silverware drawer - and this is why it's difficult for me to say "yeah, i like techno" to someone and truly feel like we're relating to each other.