it's not that i doubt the truth of any of this, it's just that it's only one story of the origin of techno.

i could tell you the story of british rave music, the second summer of love and it's originators in what was called industrial music - the scene that developed out of throbbing gristle and psychic tv, and extrapolated itself dramatically through the early warp records catalogue. but, americans have this strange aversion to european anything. this origin story develops techno not out of detroit or berlin but as a corollary of the british punk scene. the first ravers were actually british punks!

a third origin story begins in new york and intersects through the beginnings of hip-hop and the downtown art scene, including the important work of steve reich, and falling together into experimental acts like suicide. and, martin rev is going to be in detroit this weekend.

a fourth origin story begins in japan with the yellow magic orchestra, while a fifth develops from progressive rock and jazz fusion through the vector of early video game programming.

there is no question that detroit has claim to a certain strain of electronic music, but i'm not even certain that 'techno' is really the right name for it. the electronic music from detroit is a variant of house music, and broadly lacks the symphonic or jazz-focused development that most people associate with the term 'techno'. detroit is not the home of the techno crescendo, for example, which is the obvious defining characteristic of what that word means.

but, i think the error here is trying to lay claim to something that was spontaneous and happening everywhere at the same time. fans of punk rock will understand this dilemma, as it is claimed by a number of places, including detroit - which may legitimately have the earliest claim, if it doesn't have the best one. but, everybody knows this is really just silly. punk may have been invented in new york, but it was formed in england, and done best in california.

what detroit can say about techno is that it invented detroit techno - which is tautological.

and, i will say this as plainly as i can: detroit has a reputation of being a place that is hanging on to things. it might want to let this go. the rest of the world knows the truth, detroit - you're not fooling anybody.

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