All posts tagged: techno

Western DJs accused of ‘normalising war’ for playing at Russian techno events | Russia

Western DJs accused of ‘normalising war’ for playing at Russian techno events | Russia

Published by skeptic

An ecstatic crowd dances at sunset on a music stage nestled among trees and illuminated by vibrant art installations. They move to the beats of German, American and French DJs. The scene could easily be a summer festival in any European capital. Instead, it played out this month about four hours’ drive from the Kremlin, the seat of power that ordered Russia’s invasion of Ukraine almost two and a half years ago. The event, called Outline and held from 18-24 July, is one of this summer’s leading techno festivals in Russia. Set in a picturesque natural park, it drew thousands of Russian partygoers and featured performances by more than a dozen prominent western DJs. Since the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, most western musicians and artists have cancelled their concerts in Russia, with many choosing to avoid Moscow as a gesture of protest against the aggression. Signal in 2023. The festival will take place again in August. Photograph: Instagram Yet, as the war drags on, foreign artists have started to trickle …

Why clubbers are raving about Germany’s cross-country Techno Train | Rail travel

Why clubbers are raving about Germany’s cross-country Techno Train | Rail travel

Published by skeptic

‘Do you ever get seasick?” Timm Schirmer, a 27-year-old DJ with a fabulous blond moustache, asks me shortly before we board the Techno Train. “When you’re dancing on the train it can feel like you’re at sea, because you can’t always see that you’re moving.” Worryingly, I have indeed spent many a past holiday retching on boats. But Timm’s question comes after I’ve paid €100 for a non-refundable ticket for what social media suggests is the most intense train ride in Europe. I knew it wouldn’t be plain sailing. Launched in 2019 by the Nuremberg nightclub Haus 33, for whom Tim DJs, the Techno Train runs twice a year and has only two official stops: the start and the finish. We depart Nuremberg’s Frankenstadion station at 4pm and travel about 100km west towards the city of Würzburg, then loop back and pull into Nuremberg Central Station at 11pm. The train has 12 carriages, three of which become dance rooms with DJ decks, speakers and bars. About 25 DJs perform on our trundle through the Bavarian …

Berlin’s techno music scene added to UNESCO cultural heritage list in ‘milestone’ for genre | Ents & Arts News

Berlin’s techno music scene added to UNESCO cultural heritage list in ‘milestone’ for genre | Ents & Arts News

Published by Sam

Berlin’s techno music culture has been added to UNESCO’s cultural heritage list in what has been described as “another milestone” for the genre. The subculture was one of six new additions to the list, announced by the German UNESCO Commission on Wednesday, which said it had been an “important sound” for the capital for more than 30 years. Charity, Rave The Planet, which led the campaign to get the culture recognised, said: “Thanks to all cultural creators who shaped this #culture. This is a major milestone & our joy is beyond words!” Being on the list will make it easier for clubs to be maintained and artists to overcome “hurdles imposed by legislature”. Access to government subsidies and charitable funding also becomes easier with UNESCO status, the charity said. X This content is provided by X, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable X cookies or to allow those cookies …

Disco, jazz and frogs doing techno: Cosmic Slop, the Leeds club night resisting gentrification | Music

Disco, jazz and frogs doing techno: Cosmic Slop, the Leeds club night resisting gentrification | Music

Published by skeptic

By 2013, the career of British producer Floating Points was reaching new heights: he was regularly DJing at huge nightlife institutions such as Warehouse Project and Fabric and was travelling overseas. But when he was invited to play at Cosmic Slop, a 200-capacity party tucked away in a former brass and iron works in Leeds, he knew he had to go. “Word was circulating: ‘you’ve gotta go and check out the system’,” he recalls, referencing the now-legendary hand-built speaker rig, revered by underground heroes such as Theo Parrish and Bradley Zero. Eventually, he made the trip and pledged to return before his set had even finished. He’s now played an estimated 30 times: “After all the years of DJing, it’s one of the places I long to go back to.” This tiny northern club night has made a strong impression on many since it started in 2009, and not just for its sound system. What was supposed to be a one-off fundraiser quickly caught on and became beloved for its pairing of great music with …

DJ Juan Mendez, techno producer known as Silent Servant, has died

DJ Juan Mendez, techno producer known as Silent Servant, has died

Published by Sam

Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Renowned techno producer and DJ Juan Mendez, better known by his stage name Silent Servant, has died. A cause of death has not yet been released. He was in his mid-40s; however, his exact age is unknown. Mendez’s death was confirmed by his UK press representative, according to The Guardian. Born in Central America, Mendez was raised in Los Angeles by Cuban and Mexican parents. The “Kissing the Ground” musician first began DJing when he was a teenager. He eventually joined the Sandwell District collective, which represented up-and-coming techno artists from 2002 until 2011. A major force within the LA techno music scene, Mendez’s impact on the genre was profound. “I was never a punk. Ever. I was a new wave nerd, basically,” he said in a 2019 interview. “But I did believe in a very punk rock kind of obsessive dedication to what you do.” In 2006, …

Revisiting Zurich’s 90s techno scene – in pictures | Switzerland

Revisiting Zurich’s 90s techno scene – in pictures | Switzerland

Published by skeptic

Zurich was quick to embrace techno and, by the time the music reached its zenith in the 1990s, the city had become a prime destination for the genre in Europe. Techno parties began as one-time events in cellar and warehouse squats before expanding to become an established club scene with a programme of regular events. The Swiss city’s techno scene was shaped by Street Parade, which was authorised in 1992 as a “demonstration of love freedom, generosity and tolerance”. Kicking off with fewer than 1,000 participants, they have grown steadily to attract 1 million visitors each year – three times the number of the city’s inhabitants. The photographer Jules Spinatsch took pictures of individuals and small groups, often on the fringes of the fast-moving crowd, at the parades in the mid-90s. Individual portraits at Zurich’s street parades in the mid-90s The cold war was over, dull Zurich had become a party city Spinatsch says: “In the picture, the people were to regain their individuality, which had been dissolved in the crowd. Because even a lot …

Alexis Ohanian says he’s a ‘techno optimist,’ despite social media’s impact on society

Alexis Ohanian says he’s a ‘techno optimist,’ despite social media’s impact on society

Published by skeptic

Does Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian have regrets over his creation? The entrepreneur and founder of venture fund Seven Seven Six, speaking at an event at the University of Virginia, espoused a fairly negative view of the current social media landscape and the creator economy — an environment where he says, everyone has “been so trained and conditioned now to just get the likes and retweets, get the upvotes…I wish I could be more optimistic about it, but we’re seeing it play out before our eyes.” Still, he ultimately described himself as a “techno-optimist” — an apparent nod to a16z General Partner Marc Andreessen’s recent diatribe where he claimed technology could solve all our problems. “Guilty as charged,” Ohanian said, during his interview with Kara Swisher. “I do think that pendulum will swing back. I think even swifter than we realize.” The war in the Middle East may even be the tipping point, he theorized, as it’s now “abundantly clear” that we need something better to figure out the world than the platforms we have today. …