Where to start with Detroit Techno
Detroit Techno is a music scene from Detroit/Belleville, Michigan, USA, 1981–1995. Its principal artists include Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson. This issue covers 10 essential albums and 14 dated events.
Start here
- 1
Enter
Cybotron · 1983Original release: Fantasy · F-9625 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1983The first full-length document of Detroit's proto-techno moment, bridging electro-funk and techno proper.
- 2
Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit
Various Artists · 1988Original release: 10 Records · DIXG 75 · 12″ Vinyl · UK 1988This compilation gave the genre its name and introduced Detroit's sound to UK audiences.
- 3
Paradise
Inner City · 1989Original release: 10 Records · 409 608-630 · Cassette · 1989It carried Detroit techno into international pop territory, proving it could cross over without losing credibility.
Go deeper
- 4
Deep Space
Model 500 (Juan Atkins) · 1995Original release: R&S Records · SRCS 7714 · CD · Japan 1995Deep Space, released in 1995, gathered and expanded on the Metroplex singles Atkins had been putting out as Model 500 since 1985 — the run of records that, more than…
- 5
Nation 2 Nation
Underground Resistance · 1991Original release: Underground Resistance · UR-005 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1991Underground Resistance's 1991 album is a manifesto as much as a record, laying out the political stance that defined Detroit techno's second wave: resistance to commercialization, and a fierce claim to underground autonomy.
- 6
Waveform Transmission Vol. 3
Jeff Mills · 1994Original release: On the Edge · 74321 21237 2 · CD · Germany 1994Made after Mills left Underground Resistance, this 1994 record established him as techno's most uncompromising minimalist, engineering tracks for maximum function on the dancefloor rather than easy listening.
- 7
Minimal Nation
Robert Hood · 1994Original release: Axis · AX-007 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1994Hood's 1994 solo debut, made after his departure from Underground Resistance, pioneered minimal techno by stripping Detroit's sound to its essential working parts.
For the obsessed
- 8
Heavenly
E-Dancer (Kevin Saunderson) · 1998Original release: Planet E · PE 65241 CD · CD · US 1998Released in 1998 under Saunderson's harder-edged E-Dancer alias, Heavenly went largely unnoticed on release despite Spin naming it one of the ten best albums you've never heard.
- 9
Mind and Body
Model 500 (Juan Atkins) · 1999Original release: R&S Records · RS99145 · 12″ Vinyl · UK 1999By 1999, Atkins was proving Detroit techno's foundational sound could absorb contemporary dance music elements without losing its character.
- 10
More Songs About Food and Revolutionary Art
Carl Craig · 1997Original release: Planet E · PE 65232 CD · CD · US 1997Craig's 1997 album folds jazz, funk, and dense electronic texture into Detroit techno's mechanistic core, the fullest statement of the more maximal approach he'd been developing since 1989.
The stories behind every record are in Detroit Techno.