Techno

Techno on vinyl: rhythm from the machine

In short: Techno emerged in Detroit in the mid-eighties: Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson used drum machines and synthesizers to build music that sounded like the future. In the early nineties it became a mass movement in Berlin and England – and vinyl stayed the DJs’ format. The Vinyl Room currently has 130 techno records.

What is techno?

A straight, driving beat and lots of repetition define techno. Under this style label you’ll also find related nineties records here: Daft Punk with “Burnin'”, close to house, The Chemical Brothers with “Let Forever Be”, between big beat and pop, plus Underworld.

From Germany, Moderat, the joint project of Modeselektor and Apparat from Berlin, and Munich’s Skee Mask with “Compro”; plus Dutch producer Orlando Voorn, Mike Parker and Marco Shuttle.

What to look for

Techno came out mostly on 12-inches, often on small labels and with several mixes; label, format and country of release help you tell which edition you have – it’s noted with each copy.

From our stock

First pressings

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FAQ

Where does techno come from? From Detroit in the mid-eighties – with Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson.

What is the difference from house? Techno is usually cooler and more machine-like, house warmer and closer to soul and disco.

Why is techno so common on vinyl? Because DJs played 12-inches – many tracks only came out on record.

Do you have techno from Germany? Yes – for example Moderat from Berlin and Skee Mask from Munich.