A guide for the techno-loving, but clueless

Techno music, we can safely say, has been around for a solid 20 years now. I won't go into the typical list of name checks, but let me just say that in the mid-80s there was a group of innovative young men in Detroit, U.S., who laid the blueprints for a sound that spawned a hundred sub-genres over the next two decades. Techno provided the inspiration for a new kind of DIY underground aesthetic, massive raves around the world, jet-set DJs, video game soundtracks and those silly girls selling shampoo outside Xujiahui shopping malls today.

Along came trance, tribal, "head-shaking high music" and all sorts of permutations and amalgamations. But there's still a lineage of purists who use the term "Detroit" as a to-the-point signifier of "real techno." With all sorts of things being called "techno" now, the term "Detroit techno" just works best to describe a sound that remains faithful to that techno blueprint, whether it's actually made in Berlin, Rio or Tel Aviv.

In Shanghai, I only know of two people producing Detroit-style techno, Shanghai native MHP, and a Scottish expat using the "Shanghai_Ultra" moniker. Shanghai's veteran DJ Ben Huang champions Detroit techno as a favorite, but since the style isn't popular here, he usually has to play other styles of music to keep the audience happy. Contrast that with Beijing's Yen party crew, who regularly hosts techno events with over 1,000 people.

However, in recent months there's been a lot of talk among the city's DJs and informed clubbers about the lack of proper techno in Shanghai. Sure there's been a few "international" DJs coming through town playing it, but the music gets swept away with the superstar-DJ-name hype. Recently, Ben Huang hosted "D!NG," a techno party that proved successful and made the DJ eager to make bigger and better things. We've also heard several other DJs and promoters chatting up plans for summer, so Shanghai may finally be on its way to becoming a techno mecca that reflects its futuristic "Bladerunner" image. If you want to know more, Google up these: Underground Resistance, Jeff Mills, Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, and Derrick May, for starters.