Detroit 25th Anniversary
Date: 10.12.2010
Venue: Brown Alley
At any given moment, countless people are listening to electronic music, much of it directly influenced by a sound coming from the Motor City, the former home of Motown and the birthplace of a genre known to the world as Detroit Techno.
The year 2010 is an exciting time for the Detroit electronic
music community as it marks the 25th anniversary of the birth of
Techno in the city. To celebrate, a collective of artists from
Detroit past and present will be coming together to perform under
the banner D25: Detroit Twenty Five. Included in this collective
will be some of the most influential and respected artists to
emerge from the city including Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson,
Derrick May, Mike Banks, Carl Craig, Stacey Pullen, Kenny Larkin
and many others. Throughout 2010 and into 2011, these unique
collaborative D25 events will be taking place worldwide celebrating
this momentous occasion in Detroit music history and the lasting
impact of both the music and the many artists associated with
it.
Reflecting on the past twenty-five years of Detroit Techno
and what makes the music from the city special, Carl Craig recently
commented, "I think the economic devastation that the city has
endured over the last 30-odd years helped us to fantasize about a
brighter future, it is this fantasy that we put into our music."
Meanwhile, Kenny Larkin remarked, "Detroit Techno has something
that is indefinable, something that is missing from a lot of music
today. Simply put I'd call this "soul." I don't mean soul as in the
"Soul Brotha-Black Pride." I mean an entity in the music that
elicits feelings deep inside you that triggers warm fuzzy
emotions." Something many are sure to be feeling at D25 nights
around the globe this coming year.
Its very fitting that Melbourne, as the techno capital of
Australia has been chosen as one of the select few cities and the
first in Australia to host one these monumental D25 events.
Melbourne, its time to celebrate Detroit, time to celebrate our
long techno history, lets celebrate in style.
Carl Craig
Dancefloor experimentalist and top Detroit techno producer Carl
Craig has few equals in terms of the artistry, influence, and
diversity of his recordings. Few others have recorded so much
quality music in such a variety of styles than Craig, who jammed
distorted beat-box samples into lo-fi electro riggings, crafted
epic house tracks like his remix of Tori Amos' "God," and recorded
the most sublime Detroit techno since godfathers Juan Atkins and
Derrick May were at their peak. After an apprenticeship during the
late '80s with Derrick May, Craig began releasing his own
recordings in 1989, first on May's Transmat imprint and later on
his own label, Planet E Communications.
During the following decade, Craig spread his work between solo
aliases -- Paperclip People, Innerzone Orchestra, 69 -- and his own
name. With each new project and each change of musical direction
though, he distinguished himself as one of the few artists to
consistently hit the mark with productions whose subtleties in the
living room more than matched their infectious energy on the
dancefloor. When he was growing up and attending Detroit's Cooley
High, Craig was turned on to a diverse musical diet ranging from
Prince to Led Zeppelin to the Smiths. He often practiced on his
guitar, but later became interested in club music as well through
his cousin, who worked lighting for various parties around the
Detroit area.
The first wave of Detroit techno had already set sail by the
mid-'80s, and Craig began listening to tracks courtesy of Derrick
May's radio show on WJLB. He began experimenting with recording
techniques using dual-deck cassette players, and later convinced
his parents to buy him a synthesizer and sequencer. Craig also
studied electronic music, including the work of Morton Subotnick,
Wendy Carlos and Pauline Oliveros. While taking an electronics
course, he met a mutual friend of May and passed on a tape
including some of his home productions. May loved what he heard and
brought him into the studio to re-record one track, "Neurotic
Behavior." Completely beatless in its original mix (since Craig
didn't own a drum machine), the track was just as sublime and
visionary as Juan Atkins' blueprint for cosmic techno-funk yet
called on emotions previously found only on Derrick May's
material.
The British fascination with Detroit techno was just beginning to
take hold by 1989, and Carl Craig was invited to witness the
phenomenon first-hand by touring with May's Rhythim Is Rhythim
project (which supported Kevin Saunderson's Inner City on several
English dates). The trip became an extended working holiday, as
Craig helped out on production for a re-recording of May's classic
"Strings of Life" and the new Rhythim Is Rhythim single, "The
Beginning." He also found time to record several tracks of his own
at R&S Studios in Belgium. On his return to the U.S., Craig
released several R&S tracks on the Crackdown EP, recorded as
Psyche for May's Transmat Records.
Craig then founded Retroactive Records with Damon Booker, and
despite working days at a copy shop, continued recording in his
parents' basement. Carl Craig released six singles for Retroactive
during 1990-91 (as BFC, Paperclip People and Carl Craig) but the
label was dissolved in 1991 due to disputes with
Booker.
That same year, Craig formed the solo concern Planet E
Communications for the release of his new EP 4 Jazz Funk Classics
(recorded as 69). Deliberately lo-fi and gritty with the
implementation of funky beat-box samples, tracks like "If Mojo Was
AM" presented a new leap forward after the compulsive sheen of
Retroactive singles like "Galaxy" and "From Beyond." Besides the
distortion of 4 Jazz Funk Classics, his other Planet E work during
1991 contained off-the-cuff nods to such disparate moods as hip-hop
and hardcore techno.
The following year's "Bug in the Bassbin" unveiled another Carl
Craig alias, Innerzone Orchestra, and added elements of jazz to his
beatbox frenzy. In the process, Craig became an uncommon influence
on the early progression of the British drum'n'bass movement -- DJs
and producers often pitched up "Bug in the Bassbin" from 33 to
45-rpm for a do-it-yourself jungle breakbeat. The release of
Paperclip People's "Throw" added disco and funk to Craig's growing
list of active inspirations; his natural progression into remixes
during 1994 provided the dance world with versions of Maurizio,
Inner City and La Funk Mob tracks plus a stunning reworking of the
Tori Amos song "God," that lasted almost ten minutes. Thanks in
large part to the Tori Amos remix, Craig soon signed his first
contract with major-label exposure, to the Blanco y Negro division
of Europe's Mute Records.
His first full-length, 1995's Landcruising, opened up the Carl
Craig sound and gave it an epic feel closer in spirit to his
earlier recordings, while the thematic tug of a journey around
metro Detroit mirrored Juan Atkins' Model 500 tracks like "Night
Drive." Landcruising opened up the market for Craig's material and
several months later, R&S Records released 69's Sound of Music,
a compilation of two EPs released the previous year for the Belgian
label.
In 1996, the high-profile British house label Ministry of Sound
released a new Paperclip People single called "The Floor," composed
of hard, clipped techno beats but an elastic bassline and prevalent
disco sample that earned it much airplay in house venues. Though he
was already one of the most noted names in the world of techno,
Craig's reputation began growing in the more general category of
mainstream/global dance, and he soon became less tied to the mantle
of Detroit techno than many of his contemporaries. Craig helmed one
in the series of DJ Kicks albums released by Studio !K7 and spent
several months based in London.
He returned to Detroit later in 1996 to focus on Planet E, which
released a Paperclip People album titled The Secret Tapes of Dr.
Eich (mostly collecting previous singles) and a Psyche/BFC
retrospective titled Elements 1989-1990. The new year brought the
second proper Carl Craig LP, More Songs About Food &
Revolutionary Art. He spent much of 1998 touring the world as
Innerzone Orchestra with a jazzy trio. The project also released an
LP, Programmed, expanding Craig's full-length output to seven --
though only three had appeared under his own name.
Two collections appeared during 1999-2000, including the Planet E
mix album House Party 013 and the remix compilation Designer Music.
The mix collection, Onsumothasheeat, was issued in early 2001. Carl
Craig Dancefloor experimentalist and top Detroit techno producer
Carl Craig has few equals in terms of the artistry, influence, and
diversity of his recordings. Few others have recorded so much
quality music in such a variety of styles than Craig, who jammed
distorted beat-box samples into lo-fi electro riggings, crafted
epic house tracks like his remix of Tori Amos' "God," and recorded
the most sublime Detroit techno since godfathers Juan Atkins and
Derrick May were at their peak. After an apprenticeship during the
late '80s with Derrick May, Craig began releasing his own
recordings in 1989, first on May's Transmat imprint and later on
his own label, Planet E Communications. During the following
decade, Craig spread his work between solo aliases -- Paperclip
People, Innerzone Orchestra, 69 -- and his own name.
With each new project and each change of musical direction though,
he distinguished himself as one of the few artists to consistently
hit the mark with productions whose subtleties in the living room
more than matched their infectious energy on the dancefloor. When
he was growing up and attending Detroit's Cooley High, Craig was
turned on to a diverse musical diet ranging from Prince to Led
Zeppelin to the Smiths. He often practiced on his guitar, but later
became interested in club music as well through his cousin, who
worked lighting for various parties around the Detroit area. The
first wave of Detroit techno had already set sail by the mid-'80s,
and Craig began listening to tracks courtesy of Derrick May's radio
show on WJLB. He began experimenting with recording techniques
using dual-deck cassette players, and later convinced his parents
to buy him a synthesizer and sequencer. Craig also studied
electronic music, including the work of Morton Subotnick, Wendy
Carlos and Pauline Oliveros.
While taking an electronics course, he met a mutual friend of May
and passed on a tape including some of his home productions. May
loved what he heard and brought him into the studio to re-record
one track, "Neurotic Behavior." Completely beatless in its original
mix (since Craig didn't own a drum machine), the track was just as
sublime and visionary as Juan Atkins' blueprint for cosmic
techno-funk yet called on emotions previously found only on Derrick
May's material.
The British fascination with Detroit techno was just beginning to
take hold by 1989, and Carl Craig was invited to witness the
phenomenon first-hand by touring with May's Rhythim Is Rhythim
project (which supported Kevin Saunderson's Inner City on several
English dates). The trip became an extended working holiday, as
Craig helped out on production for a re-recording of May's classic
"Strings of Life" and the new Rhythim Is Rhythim single, "The
Beginning." He also found time to record several tracks of his own
at R&S Studios in Belgium. On his return to the U.S., Craig
released several R&S tracks on the Crackdown EP, recorded as
Psyche for May's Transmat Records. Craig then founded Retroactive
Records with Damon Booker, and despite working days at a copy shop,
continued recording in his parents' basement.
Carl Craig released six singles for Retroactive during 1990-91 (as
BFC, Paperclip People and Carl Craig) but the label was dissolved
in 1991 due to disputes with Booker. That same year, Craig formed
the solo concern Planet E Communications for the release of his new
EP 4 Jazz Funk Classics (recorded as 69). Deliberately lo-fi and
gritty with the implementation of funky beat-box samples, tracks
like "If Mojo Was AM" presented a new leap forward after the
compulsive sheen of Retroactive singles like "Galaxy" and "From
Beyond." Besides the distortion of 4 Jazz Funk Classics, his other
Planet E work during 1991 contained off-the-cuff nods to such
disparate moods as hip-hop and hardcore techno.
The following year's "Bug in the Bassbin" unveiled another Carl
Craig alias, Innerzone Orchestra, and added elements of jazz to his
beatbox frenzy. In the process, Craig became an uncommon influence
on the early progression of the British drum'n'bass movement -- DJs
and producers often pitched up "Bug in the Bassbin" from 33 to
45-rpm for a do-it-yourself jungle breakbeat. The release of
Paperclip People's "Throw" added disco and funk to Craig's growing
list of active inspirations; his natural progression into remixes
during 1994 provided the dance world with versions of Maurizio,
Inner City and La Funk Mob tracks plus a stunning reworking of the
Tori Amos song "God," that lasted almost ten minutes. Thanks in
large part to the Tori Amos remix, Craig soon signed his first
contract with major-label exposure, to the Blanco y Negro division
of Europe's Mute Records.
His first full-length, 1995's Landcruising, opened up the Carl
Craig sound and gave it an epic feel closer in spirit to his
earlier recordings, while the thematic tug of a journey around
metro Detroit mirrored Juan Atkins' Model 500 tracks like "Night
Drive." Landcruising opened up the market for Craig's material and
several months later, R&S Records released 69's Sound of Music,
a compilation of two EPs released the previous year for the Belgian
label. In 1996, the high-profile British house label Ministry of
Sound released a new Paperclip People single called "The Floor,"
composed of hard, clipped techno beats but an elastic bassline and
prevalent disco sample that earned it much airplay in house venues.
Though he was already one of the most noted names in the world of
techno, Craig's reputation began growing in the more general
category of mainstream/global dance, and he soon became less tied
to the mantle of Detroit techno than many of his contemporaries.
Craig helmed one in the series of DJ Kicks albums released by
Studio !K7 and spent several months based in London. He returned to
Detroit later in 1996 to focus on Planet E, which released a
Paperclip People album titled The Secret Tapes of Dr. Eich (mostly
collecting previous singles) and a Psyche/BFC retrospective titled
Elements 1989-1990.
The new year brought the second proper Carl Craig LP, More Songs
About Food & Revolutionary Art. He spent much of 1998 touring
the world as Innerzone Orchestra with a jazzy trio. The project
also released an LP, Programmed, expanding Craig's full-length
output to seven -- though only three had appeared under his own
name. Two collections appeared during 1999-2000, including the
Planet E mix album House Party 013 and the remix compilation
Designer Music. The mix collection, Onsumothasheeat, was issued in
early 2001.
Kenny Larkin
Kenny Larkin is distinctly one of the world's most premiere
leaders of Detroit techno in the electronic music industry
today.
As a producer, DJ and remixer, Kenny has mesmerized crowds and fans
across the globe for nearly twenty years with his music. Since
1990, Larkin has cemented his name in the pages of dance music
history along with fellow Detroit Techno music mates, Derrick May,
Carl Craig andKevin
Saunderson.
Kenny's list of achievements and discography are groundbreaking to
say the least. Highlights include his first full album, Azimuth
(released 1994), which was deemed by Street Sound magazine as one
of the top 50 techno CDs of all time.
By no coincidence, his most recent album, Keys, Strings and
Tambourines, released under the mighty wings of Carl Craig's label,
Planet e, has been slated by Pop Matters magazine as the ninth best
electronic albums of 2008. For their selection of top 20 albums of
2008, well respected website, Resident Advisor, listed Larkin's
album at 18.
Larkin's thunderous return to techno didn't stop with his
impressive album release. Kenny's remixing efforts have recently
been highly sought after. This is due in part to his superbly
crafted 2009 remix of Ben Klock's "OK" featuring Elif Biçer, which
hit many top remix lists of 2009.
In Jan 2010 alone, Kenny has been commissioned to remix seven
projects from various high profile artists, including Plastikman,
and Radioslave.. It's no surprise these brooding artists respect
Kenny for the classic Detroit angle he brings to re-create their
sounds.
Kenny has an undeniable passion for making techno music. It's
what he knows and loves. His popularity as an artist and DJ has no
limits. He transcends expectations in balance with meeting his own
ambitions and meanwhile pleasing Detroit-days devoted followers all
over the world. The evolution of Kenny's career has converted
ardent fans to believers in his evident musical life calling.
A man that just won't rest, 2010 proposes to be an eventful year
for Larkin. When he's not on a plane heading to his next DJ gig
across the globe (he's accumulated over 4 million air miles), he
can be found in his Los Angeles, Calif. home in the studio working
on future releases, remixes, and preparing for his upcoming live
shows. Kenny is facing the bright future ahead - dead
on.
Moodymann
An outspoken voice in the normally non-confrontational world of
electronic dance music, Moodymann (Kenny Dixon Jr.) is committed to
keeping a distinctly black imprint on techno and house.
Moodymann worked at several Detroit record stores in the
mid-nineties including a store owned by producer Blake Baxter.
During the mid-nineties Kenny was also the resident DJ at the
Detroit based Outcast Motorcycle Club. At that time he was known as
"House". After his first several releases on Planet E Records Kenny
became quite popular in France and from there his popularity
grew.
Moodymann sound is a hybrid form of techno/house dance music
arrived at via innovative use of reworked riffs, samples and
grooves. While he may frustrate people with his refusal to be
interviewed and insistence on reminding people of the genre's
origins, the soulfulness of his output is unquestioned. Utilizing
classic soul and jazz samples, low-slung bass lines and an approach
to drum programming that is diametrically opposed to the tendency
to push the tempo faster and faster, he has achieved classic status
thanks to gems like "Sunday Morning", "Shades of Jae", and his
remix of Innerzone Orchestra's "People Make the World Go Round".
Following years of 12" only releases, he compiled his best work on
"Silentintroduction", one of the most celebrated albums of the late
90s.
Theo Parrish
Theo Parrish was born in Washington D.C. in 1972 and raised in
Chicago, IL where his passion for music developed. MIles Davis,
Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix, Nina Simone, George Gershwin, Bob
Marley, as well as his uncle, jazz musician Dexter Sims, all had
strong influences on Theo's early musical life. Chicago's radio
influences and House artists such as Ron Hardy , Larry Heard, Lil
Louis, Farley Jackmaster Funk, Gene Hunt , Mike Dunn, Frankie
Knuckles , Walter Get Down Brown and Andre Hatchett, helped to
spawn Mr. Parrish's early career.
He began spinning and producing tracks in 1986, at the age of
thirteen... After graduating from the Academy for the Arts, he
recieved a scholarship to the Kansas City Art Institute where his
interest in music was taken to a new level through his study of
sculpture. In 1994, he recieved a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from
KCAI with a concentration in Sound Sculpture, a form of
orchestrationusing live instruments, looped recordings, the human
voice, and numerous other sound generating devices. While in Kansas
CIty, Theo continued to impact and be impacted by dance music,
helping to bring a dormant underground music scene to life. In
1994, Theo Parrish moved to Michigan where he became heavily
involved in Detroit's underground music scene. Producing music and
delivering his unique and dynamic sets in venues throughout the
Detroit and surrounding areas, as well as abroad he has gained the
attention and respect of dj's, producers, listeners and dnancers
worldwide.
Supporting Artists
Mike Callander
Dave Pham
Virginia Le
Andy Hart
Myles Mac
Tom Evans
Nick Jones
Dean Benson
Pat Tassone
Dwayne Thompson
Venue
Brown Alley
Corner of King & Lonsdale St
Melbourne, Victoria
View Map
http://www.brownalley.com/