Many apologies if this has been mentioned, but Spin this month did a long article on detroit and it's music, and had an online feature on 12 essential albums. I don't want to weigh down the list with the artcile (but it's really interesting and worth checking out), but I can email it to anyone interested. it talks about a lot of racial issues, names a member of drexciya (Gerald Donald), and talks about the overrrunning of techno by bass and hiphop, about how suburban white ravers have apropriated techno and house
Sam
. here's the 12 essential albums tho'
A Guide for 12 Days of Electronic Shopping by Mike Rubin.
MODEL 500: Classics (R&S) (Belgian import)
Nine of Juan Atkins' most seminal singles, including the one that started the whole movement--1985's "No UFO's"--as well as "Night Drive (Time, Space, Transmat)," "Off to Battle," and "The Chase," where Atkins' squelchy synth-funk lines explore the outer reaches of Planet Rock. Also recommended are Cybotron's Clear on Fantasy (there titled reissue of the 1983 debut album Enter by Atkins' older-than-Old-School ur-techno group), Model 500's Deep Space on R&S, and The Infiniti Collection on Berlin's Tresor label. In addition, Atkins has three upcoming releases this fall: Wax Trax! Mastermix Vol. 1: Juan Atkins on TVT, Skynet as Infiniti on ColdFront/BML, and Mind and Body as Model 500 on R&S.
DERRICK MAY: Innovator (Transmat/Never): Two CD retrospective compiling May's series of epic singles as Mayday and Rythim Is Rythim that raised Detroit techno to its most elegant, majestic heights. The only negatives are pointlessly brief snippets of May's most recent recordings and frustratingly incorrect track listings that may confound and confuse neophytes, but the inclusion of songs like "Strings of Life," "Nude Photo," and "It Is What It Is" still make this an absolutely crucial purchase.
KEVIN SAUNDERSON: Faces & Phases (Planet E)
Essential collection of Saunderson's underground work recorded under a staggering number of names. From "Rock to the Beat" to "The Sound" to "Ahnongay," there's no parking on the dance floor here, although the unfortunately far-too-brief edits of these rump-shaking jams may abruptly truncate your rug-cutting. Be sure to also check out Saunderson's brand new E-Dancer album Heavenly, one of 1998's best releases so far.
PAPERCLIP PEOPLE: The Secret Tapes of Dr. Eich (Planet E)
Hatched in Carl Craig's studio EMLAS (the Electronic Music Laboratory of Aural Sciences), this1996 album features some of the most irresistibly funky grooves to come from Detroit since George Clinton received his discharge from Uncle Jam's Army. Once you're hooked on Craig's rapidly mutating dance floor alchemy, you'll need to immediately seek out The Sound of Music, the R&S collection of his singles as 69; the Psyche/BFC compilation Elements 1989-1990 on Planet E; the album's worth of remixes of his landmark Innerzone Orchestra single "Bug in the Bassbin" (which many observers feel jump-started the U.K.'s jungle explosion)on Mo' Wax; and the jazz-influenced new Innerzone Orchestra album Programmed on Planet E.
PLASTIKMAN: Consumed (Plus 8/Novamute)
Richie Hawtin has staked out a niche as Detroit's most minimal techno artist, and his new album is his sparse style, pursuing a dub perspective that's dominated by a oscillating, occasionally percolating pulse; call it "deep burble." Musically influenced by Berlin's Basic Channel/Chain Reaction collective, this isn't a dance floor record by any means--it's already been the subject of considerable debate among technocrats, who can't decide if it's the next great step in electronic music or the aural equivalent of playing sliced bread--so those seeking a more accelerated b.p.m. rate might want to instead check out Plastikman's Recycled Plastik EP on Plus8/Novamute (which includes his trademark single "Spastik") or Fuse's Dimension Intrusion on Warp (featuring "Substance Abuse").
UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE: Revolution Through Change (Network) (UK import)
A compilation of some of "Mad" Mike Banks and Jeff Mills' best collaborations, from the pummeling hardcore of "Punisher" (a huge influence on Digital Hardcore's Alec Empire) to the jazzy melodicism of "Sometimes I Feel Like. "Mills has since gone solo (check out his mix record Live at the Liquid Room-Tokyo on React for audio evidence of his infamous triple-turntable Djing approach), but Banks keeps UR's revolutionary struggle alive on the new Interstellar Fugitives compilation on Submerge.
MOODYMAN: Silent Introduction (Planet E)
Soulful, stirring grooves from Kenny Dixon, Jr., one of the leading figures in Detroit house (a slowed-down, more disco-oriented reaction to techno's metallic K.O.). From "I Can't Kick This Feelin' When It Hits" to "Music People," this is one of last year's finest, most under-appreciated albums. Dixon is currently the house DJ at Detroit's dynamic new after-hours club Better Days along with Theo Parrish, who has his own debut album First Floor expected out this fall on the British label Peace Frog.
DREXCIYA: The Journey Home (Warp) (UK import)
While the two CD retrospective set The Quest on Submerge offers more bang for your record-buying buck, this four song EP is actually the aquatically-themed electro duo's finest moment. A fascinating chapter of black sci-fi that's an instrumental analog to the work of Samuel Delany and Octavia Butler.
VARIOUS ARTISTS: From Beyond (Interdimensional Transmissions)
Great new compilation from Brendan Gillen's (aka Ectomorph) Ann Arbor-based experimental electro label, featuring DJ Godfather, Flexitone, and Keith Tucker. Fewer than half of the artists are actually from the Detroit area, so zip code absolutists might deny this album Motor City status on a technicality, but only a funkless ninny could frown on such popping-and-locking masterpieces as "Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass" by Holland's I-F and "Starchild" by Vienna's Sluts 'N' Strings & 909.
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Techno Bass: The Mission (Direct Beat)
Solid new compilation from Detroit's most successful electro label, including "My A.U.X. Mind," the signature song by Detroit's biggest electro act Aux 88; the fantastically funky "X2" by UR's Mike Banks under the name Electric Soul; and tracks by DJ Di'jital, Alien FM, and Will Web that will have you doing the robot faster than you can say "Karel Capek."
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Detroit: Beyond the Third Wave (Astralwerks)
A good cross section of some the up-and-coming folks on the scene, with strong work by Stacey Pullen, Kelli Hand (one of the few women in the Detroit scene), Anthony "Shake" Shakir, Ectomorph, Will Web, Claude Young, Alan Oldham, and Sean Deason.
DJ ASSAULT: Belle Isle Tech (Assault Rifle/Electrofunk)
If you're going to get just one booty record, how can you go wrong with a compilation that includes "Asses Jiglin" (sic), "Same Ho," "Dick By the Pound," "Bitch I Aint Yo Man," "Funky Bitch," "Drop Dem Panties," "Big Booty Hoes and Sluts Too," "Sex On the Beach," and three mixes of "Ass N Titties"? There's enough unbridled testosterone in all this coochie-popping and bitch-slapping to give C. Delores Tucker a field day, with the outrageously fast X-rated rapping putting the "scat" back in "scatological." Just remember--the front cover isn't lying when it announces, "Warning: This product has no social [sic]redeeming value whatsoever," so keep this away from your parents.