The 20 Greatest Detroit Techno Tracks Ranked!
20. Eddie Flashin Fowlkes – Expression Time (1989)
An underrated gem from an underrated first-generation Detroit producer, the sample list found on Time to Express serves as a springboard for key influences from the city's emerging techno scene: Kraftwerk, Telex, Yazoo, Art of Noise. Silo Mix creates a freestyle feel; The techno mix is even more complex.
19. DJ Bone – Cultural diversity (2014)
The best place to start for Bowen, a Detroit native, might be to watch the DJ's stunning three-disc sequences known as Video Attack 41, then consult his extensive catalog: the highlights are many and varied, but the cultural diversity is astonishing. - African songs, jazz keyboards, clapping beats - kill it.
18. Blake Baxter - When We Played (1987)
Despite being nicknamed "The Prince of Techno", Blake Baxter feels like just another character, somewhat overshadowed by his first wave peers. When We Played, co-produced by Kevin Saunders, is incredible. For all the relentless urgency of the long passages of pure rhythm, there is a strange melancholy.
17. Kenny Larkin - Azimut (1994)
A key figure in Detroit's second wave of techno (he calls himself "famous for not being famous"), Kenny Larkin's performance is neither sober nor reflective of his skills. You can completely lose yourself in the complex, haunting layers of the title track from her debut album, with a distinct touch of jazz lurking somewhere in between.
16. Martin - Star Dancer (1992)
The B-side, which is arguably the crowning achievement of the Mysterious Red Planet 12 series, comes from the enigmatic “Will Thomas”. They are believed to be acting as an underground resistance. Whoever made Star Dancer, it's incredible: frenetic bass, mind-blowing two-note bass, sweeping sideways waves of electronics, massive climax.
15. Drexia - Andréan Sand Dunes (1999)
Navigating the discographies of Drexia, James Stinson, and Gerald Donald and their hazy visions of Afrofuturist mythology is a real task: there are no notable or straightforward entries here. But Drexier's reboot, strongly influenced by electro music, often surprises, like Andrean Sand Tunes: wild rhythms superimposed on synths of haunting beauty.
14. K-Hand - Starz (1995)
The late Kelly Hand was Detroit's first lady of techno, a brilliant producer in a man's world. His Acacia Classics collection features a rich catalog – check out the raw, gritty funk of Come On Now Baby – but Starz is his acknowledged masterpiece: insistent yet lush, catchy yet hypnotic.
13. Underground Resistance – The Last Frontier (1992)
The musical group Underground Resistance is considered the enemy of techno: they are the most persistent representatives of Afrofuturist electro in Detroit. But manifestos and speeches don't mean much if the music isn't that good: The Final Frontier has a sharp acid line, a rhythm that, like techno itself, is rooted in electro and rich, atmospheric synth notes.
12. Robert Hood – The Sleep Cycle (1994)
The former UR member almost single-handedly created an entire subgenre in this regard: minimal techno has other mainstream records, but Hood's Minimal Nation album is its founding text. Sleep Cycle boldly strips its sound down to the bone, creating a hypnotic world where small sounds of gradual change are full of energy.
11. DJ Minx – A Walk in the Park (2004)
“Walk in the Park,” recorded while Minx’s husband took their daughter shopping, is an irresistible, minimalist cocktail: punchy bass, tropical percussion, jazzy chords. Moodyman's recent remix (not on this list because he's not a techno producer but rather represents a genre of his own) is also great.
10. Floor Plan – Never Grow Old (Transplant) (2013)
Never Grow Old by Robert Hood and his daughter Lyric is techno in the form of deeply spiritual soul music, complete with a sample from Aretha Franklin's legendary gospel album Amazing Grace. The tension between the harshness of his voice and the urgency of his rapid electronic pulse is incredibly strong.
9. Cybotron - Garbi (1983)
Cybotron - Juan Atkins and Richard Davis, the last Vietnam veteran to change his name to 3070 - are a cornerstone of Detroit techno, and Clear is their finest moment. An electro beat with Afrofuturist mythology, infused with a Kraftwerk sample, and 40 years later it's still great.
8. Reese - I Just Want Another Chance (1988)
Reese was an influential start for bassist Kevin Saunderson, who has appeared on numerous drum and bass, UK garage and dubstep tracks since the mid-90s: so much so that it's rare to hear him on tracks from the late 80s today, like the sound has aged and fallen down a wormhole.
7. People with Paper Clips – Get Out (1994)
Carl Craig's catalog is so diverse that it's difficult to single out one song as his best. Les's jazzy drums and choppy electro are there, but let's compensate with Throw, an album released under one of his many pseudonyms that fuses techno and house DJs in a catchy cover of LCD Soundsystem, one of his greatest talents. To seduce the dancefloor.
6. Jeff Mills – “The Bells” (1996)
Mills calls The Bells "a handy DJ tool", essentially reducing the power of its theme to "something I can use to say hello". It's mercilessly direct - an extremely distorted rhythm piece - and surprisingly subtle in the way the acid melody rises and falls in intensity.
5. Model 500 – No UFO (1985)
After Cybotron, Juan Atkins developed the No UFO sound. He shares an ambivalent vision of Cybotron's future - "They say there's no hope / They say UFOs don't exist" - but he makes the music harder, darker, less fond of European electro. The result is so promising that it is surprising that this was done in 1985.
4. Aztec mysticism – Jaguar (1999)
Detroit techno track Jaguar, which pushed the boundaries of the controlled dance world and featured Jeff Mills and Paul Oakenfold, became so popular that it spawned several copied European covers. The madness is still palpable: it's incredibly exciting, building and building to a climax full of synthesized responses to the album's dramatic strings.
3. Galaxy 2 Galaxy – High-tech Jazz (1993)
Underground Resistance's production can be tedious - activist music from activist artists - but the high-tech jazz (from Galaxy 2 Galaxy, produced by the band members) is simply magnificent. A unique blend of saxophone jazz, electro, techno and house, it exists in its own fascinating and exciting musical universe and has gained an unexpected but well-deserved reputation as the soundtrack to the video game Midnight Club.
2. Rhythm is Rhythm - Strings of Life (1987)
An attempt to rekindle the optimism lost after the assassination of Martin Luther King, "Strings of Life" quickly became a universal dancefloor hit. It's so popular that it's easy to forget what a strange and experimental piece of music it is: a brash, bassless, salsa-tinged piece full of Detroit Symphony samples.
1. Inner City – The Good Life (1988)
Kevin Sanderson's "Big Fun" sounds like an exclusive from his vintage Techno compilation from 1988! The new Detroit dance sound: louder, more melodic, influenced by Chicago house and Sanderson's Detroit peers ("He's gone," the producer noted). The same could be said for Good Life - its relentless dancefloor escape track, an attempt at a modern track that lives up to Chick's standards and succeeds - although the Detroit flavor is still evident throughout, from the metallic synth sounds to the internal title song. City is timeless, moving, tailored to the producer known as The Elevator and impeccable, it's the perfect single.
