UNDRGRND -2/3-

GENESiS OF A MOVEMENT STAMPED "UNDERGROUND"...

2/3

Defended by its progenitors as a certain form of crystallization of fears generated by insecurity and the prospects of a post-industrial future, TECHNO UNDERGROUND music has nevertheless hit the nail on the head! Since then, a growing number of young people throughout Europe and across the globe have been seduced by this new form of counterculture with its rebellious and protestant accents.

Also evolving in this complex and tumultuous social, political and cultural context, who better to embody these challenging ideals than this collective of independent artists, once again from the city of Detroit, calling itself UNDERGROUND RESiSTANCE!

Founders of the eponymous label (UR) in 1989, "Mad" Mike Banks, Jeff Mills (Axis, 1992), Robert Hood (M-Plant, 1994) before their careers exploded, and Darwin Hall (aka D-Ha), under forgetting Carl Craig (Planet-E, 1991), Stacey Pullen or Kenny Larkin will have constituted the ranks of the "SECOND WAVE" of a TECHNO current more and more plebiscited...

Undeniably, the nascent movement resembled an extended family through encounters and complicity. At the same time, Richie Hawtin (aka Plastikman, Plus8, 1990) and Joey Beltram (New-York) also stood out from the crowd... Thanks to this small band as well as to the active contribution of intrepid producers and labels (Djax-Up-Beats, R&S, Transmat, Tresor, UR...), the TECHNO UNDERGROUND stamped "Detroit" has thus experienced a real "golden age" in parallel with a radical change in the technological and cultural context at the dawn of the 90s. Drum machines, keyboards, synthesizers, samplers, effects processors, mixing consoles and other sequencers having been largely "computerized", techno music production was in full swing. With the digital revolution underway, the 90s offered a glimpse of what the world would supposedly be like in the future. Crises, environmental and human disasters, conflicts and wars were still the order of the day. Nothing had really changed, certainly not geostrategically. However, between 1985 &1995, it was against the backdrop of a societal revolution that "the rise of underground electronic music" was recorded!

In England, despite or partly as a result of an iron socio-economic regime, the practice of "clubbing" or "club culture" was on the increase. Entertainment, fun and amusement were now part of the values of a leisure time dedicated to changing one's ideas... Nights were supposed to counterbalance the weight of exhausting days. Dancing to escape, dancing to forget... Wiggling to disconnect from a constraining reality to be faced, to let off steam before setting foot again... The "RAVES" phenomenon was growing in strength. Mass gatherings with a spirit of "peace, love, tolerance & freedom" were clearly popular with young English people.

The RAVE culture was taking on the appearance of a "Second Summer of Love", while in Germany, Belgium and elsewhere the phenomenon was becoming almost uncontrollable, it was then up to the authorities to contain the "anarchic" desires of a movement in which the best and the worst were rubbing shoulders. For, without low-level moralism, nor putting aside the subjects that annoyed, the principle of free movement put in place thanks to the common market will also have favoured the exponential growth of the marketing and consumption of narcotics. At the same time, although experimenting with life and freedoms obviously does not include shamelessly exposing oneself to the ravages of the use of toxic or illicit products, the abuse of substances modifying the state of consciousness has, however, always been part of the rituals of a humanity that seeks, by all means, to gain access to "paradises", however artificial they may be! Therefore, to hell with hypocrisy, the undeniable reality of the world of night and festive universes is the image of a civilization bathed in excesses, addictions and drugs of all kinds! And while, according to the precepts of hygienic utopia, physical and mental health, personal development, introspection, reflection, relaxation, meditation, physical activities, food, rest, leisure and so many other areas should help us, fill us up, cleanse us, soothe us and balance us, we remain, it must be admitted, eternally unsatisfied! Always in search of more, we find it very difficult to satisfy our brain as a somewhat "tormented" human being, when it is simply not a bit "disturbed"... This is an understatement in view of what man is capable of... What's more, we must also take into account that the (contemporary) environment is full of various and varied temptations to lead us astray from the path of a better balance! Thus, although it would be illusory to believe that the human brain, under the dependence of the hormones of pleasure, satisfaction and reward, can one day refrain from any temptation, it is up to each individual, whatever his or her level of consciousness and maturity, to assume responsibility for his or her actions, to make choices and take the consequences. If we still have real freedom of decision...

Finally, we should not overlook another unavoidable reality! Whether it is the cultural revolutions engendered by rock 'n' roll, punk, hard rock, hip-hop or reggae for example, each of them has also been distinguished by its excesses! Whether purists like it or not, the techno movement and, more broadly, electronic music as a whole have not deviated from the rule of seeking an excessive "ecstasy"... From there to reducing the culture in question and everything it contains to perverse dependencies, there is only one step that some critics have not hesitated for a second to take without looking further...

Amphetamines and other psychotropic drugs aside, the music industry was still struggling at the time to grasp the financial windfall represented by these "crazy" sounds, but the marginality and ideology "against the tide" of a youthful movement was not enough to reduce the musical style and its culture to a mere fashion. On the contrary, even if it favours a certain form of "transitory alienation" as much decried by its detractors as it is appreciated by its most fervent worshippers, TECHNO music has probably never been better since... Well, above all, it has probably never sold so well!?

🔵 2 B CONTiNUED...