Techno Rebels: The Renegades of Electronic Funk (Painted Turtle Book): The Renegades of Electronic Funk (Revised, Updated) - Softcover

Sicko, Dan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0814334385 ISBN 13: 9780814334386

Publisher: Wayne State University Press, 2010

Synopsis

This is an updated, expanded history of techno music with special attention to its roots in Detroit. When it was originally published in 1999, ""Techno Rebels"" became the definitive text on a hard-to-define but vital genre of music. Author Dan Sicko demystified techno's characteristics, influences, and origins and argued that although techno enjoyed its most widespread popularity in Europe, its birthplace and most important incubator was Detroit. In this revised and updated edition, Sicko expands on Detroit's role in the birth of techno and takes readers on an insider's tour of techno's past, present, and future in an enjoyable account filled with firsthand anecdotes, interviews, and artist profiles. ""Techno Rebels"" begins by examining the underground 1980s party scene in Detroit, where DJs and producers like the Electrifying Mojo, Ken Collier, The Wizard, and Richard Davis were experimenting with music that was a world apart from anything happening in New York or Los Angeles. He details the early days of the 'Belleville Three' - Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson - who created the Detroit techno sound and became famous abroad as the sound spread to the UK and Europe. In this revised edition, Sicko delves deeper into the Detroit story, detailing the evolution of the artists and scene into the mid-1990s, and looks to nearby Ann Arbor to consider topics like the Electrifying Mojo's beginnings, the role of radio station WCBN, and the emergence of record label Ghostly International. Sicko concludes by investigating how Detroit techno functions today after the contrived electronica boom of the late 1990s, through the original artists, new sounds, and Detroit's annual electronic music festival. Ultimately, Sicko argues that techno is rooted in the 'collective dreaming' of the city of Detroit - as if its originators wanted to preserve what was great about the city - its machines and its deep soul roots. ""Techno Rebels"" gives a thorough picture of the music itself and the trailblazing musicians behind it and is a must-read for all fans of techno, popular music, and contemporary culture.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Synopsis
As the first authoritative American chronicle of techno music, TECHNO REBELS closely examines the music's genesis in Detroit and its movement toward worldwide acceptance. Author Dan Sicko uses anecdotes and first-hand accounts to provide an entertaining look at the people, places, and social forces that continue to inform this vital and innovative trend in contemporary music. Discography. 25 black-and-white photographs.

From the Author:

Techno Rebels' aims
What I set out to do with Techno Rebels was establish adiscussion of the American roots of techno music. Most articles and books thus far have been from the European perspective, and tend to offer up the American components in condensed form (to be fair, at points in Techno Rebels I'm guilty of the same thing in reverse).

I had the U.S. audience in mind when I wrote the book, and tried to keep the narrative at an introductory level. Reading about the evolution of any kind of music can obviously be overwhelming for a beginning listener--but at the same time, I also tried to delve into subjects that even diehards would know little about. The best example of this is Chapter Two, in which the "pre-history" of techno is examined in Detroit (that's before Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson and Juan Atkins got into the game).

As much as the explosive growth of techno, acid house, ecstasy and raves in Europe has been dissected, I wanted Techno Rebels to connect U.S. audiences to the humble and strange beginnings of techno in Detroit: the high school parties, the heavy emphasis on post-disco and new wave and exactly why this midwestern city is crucial to understanding the music. Techno Rebels also explores some of the awkward scenarios and false starts techno has met with when trying to find a U.S. audience in the late '80s and early '90s.

I think that gradual development is just as fascinating as the European catalysts.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wayne State University Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0814334385
• ISBN 13: 9780814334386
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 176