Stages of techno

I am listening to two lives, both from Carl Cox, both at Tribehouse Neuss in Düsseldorf. The first one is allegedly from the mid-1990s and sounds very much like it: I can hear track sI have already listened to in mixes by Jeff Mills. I can hear acid tracks, and a lot of tracks that are also featured on the F.A.C.T. volumes. The second mix is dated 30th April 2008, and has almost nothing really interesting. It sounds very much like some of that commercial electro crap that you can listen to pretty much everywhere. I have no enthusiasm for that second stage of techno -- I believe the best stuff is now in minimal techno (Ritchie Hawtin) and in hard techno (Chris Liebing, Frank Kvitta). Technasia and their friends (Joris Voorn, Renato Cohen) stay on top of my all-time list.

A Japanese take on techno

Here's an interesting take on techno by a Japanese guy.

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

The tracklisting is very interesting. I realise that I know more about underground techno than expected! I particularly recommend the following: classics from Jeff Mills and Underground Resistance; Joris Voorn; and of course the remarkable Takkyu Ishino that opens Part 2. Ken Ishii also has an interesting record.