I've been reading all this stuff for the last couple of days, trying, I
guess to formulate some kind of "grand response". Failing that I'll just
try to provide a couple of observations of things I've noted living here...
On Tue, 24 Jan 1995, Kent Williams wrote:
quoted 9 lines And please, please don't bring that dusty-ass Kraftwerk excuse out
> > And please, please don't bring that dusty-ass Kraftwerk excuse out
> > again --- everyone knows that they were influential, but it was blacks
> > in Detroit that created and nurtured Techno as we know it today.
> > but it would be equally stupid to assume that race is not an issue.
>
> I think it's racist to attach too much importance to the race of a
> musician. While Detroit techno has its roots in a unique black
> subculture, the talents of the people making it have nothing to do
> with their dermal melanin count.
A factor that's gone pretty much undiscussed in this whole series of threads
(though J. Hodge touched on it a bit [in reference to Chicago]) is the
whole "underdog" factor. Without having lived in this city (Detroit --
well I live in the 'burbs but I think I've spent enough time in the city
to say something about it) -- it's tough for an outsider to understand
what living here does to your mindset. For the entire period of the 70's
and 80's (the "formative years" for techno's creators), Detroit was the
very sad punchline to the national joke: the most obvious, difficult
example of what happens when a twentienth century industrial city breaks
down. As the town's rep went from "Motor City" to "Murder City", the
messages the city's residents got from the national, local, and
international media is "you don't matter, maybe you did once but your
time has passed, and in some way we want you to know that you did this to
yourselves." At least among the artists who felt moved to create because
of this, the reaction was to band together defensively and protectively.
This reaction was reinforced by the profound indifference that their
works receive at home.
quoted 5 lines If James Drexciya has a problem with white musicians taking his
> If James Drexciya has a problem with white musicians taking his
> musical lead, I hope he bases it on the music they produce. If it's
> lame, then go ahead and diss it. And I hope the new Drexciya does
> really well internationally and that Warp pays honest royalties to
> them.
This is a seperate issue. Overlooked by almost everyone in this
controversy is that Drexciya is composed of a couple of very different
individuals. I talked with a relatively well-known
techno-figure-who-shall-remain-nameless this weekend, and the subject of
the NME interview came up (he hadn't heard about it up to that point).
According to this person, James is a much more confrontational,
controversial individual than the other person in the group "G.", who,
according to this person, is the primary _musical_ contributor to the
project. "Aw, that's just James -- he's a little *touchy*." (An
additional, unrelated note, is that "G." apparently has years and years
worth of stunning (and very "out there") material on tape -- a lot of the
Drexciya stuff that's been coming out are things he completed years ago)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
dave walker, detroit art services
marmoset@msen.com phat phorest phires
<A HREF="
http://www.msen.com/~marmoset/">Dave Walker</A>