Techno Music : Reading and Listening Guide 1. According to your reading, what European group was an important inspiration for Detroit techno? What was so attractive about the European music to Detroit kids? 2. Listen to the first three Detroit techno tunes (“No UFOs,” “Nude Photo,” and “Shaevari”) on the Juan Atkins CD. • How are the transitions between tunes on this CD different from most CDs that you have heard? • What are they simulating on the CD? • How would you describe the classic Detroit techno exhibited by “No UFOs” and “Nude Photo”? • What is emphasized in “No UFOs” and “Nude Photo”? • Compare motor city motorik with that of Neu! and Kraftwerk. 3. Compare “No UFOs” and “Nude Photo” with the house music from Chicago. • What do they have in common? • How do they differ? • Which type of house music is Detroit techno most like? 4. Listen to “Sharevari”? • Where do you hear Kraftwerk in “Sharevari”? • How would you describe the story told by the lyrics of this song? • Is this story consistent with the feelings that Detroit producers had towards Europe? 5. How important are the lyrics in Detroit techno? What is important? 6. What phase of classical music is Detroit techno reminiscent of? • Why do you say this? • What composer(s) are associated with this kind of classical music? 7. Does Detroit techno fit with Cage’s feelings about expressivity in music? Why or why not? 8. Punk, early industrial, and house/techno share a DIY attitude, but not necessarily in the same way. • What does “DIY” mean to musicians playing in each of these genres? • How do they differ in their DIY attitude? • Is there anything on which they would agree? If so, what? 9. Listen to “LFO” and “Aftermath.” • From your reading. what was the reaction of many punk veterans to British rave music? • Do you think they would apply this criticism to “LFO”? • Compare “LFO” to the Madchester music you have heard. Is it more or less like American house and techno music than the Madchester music? • Where do you hear a similarity to Kraftwerk in “LFO”? January 24, 2010 1 10. From your reading, what did people in the United Kingdom call the northern style of house? • Where do you hear the sounds associated with this name in “LFO”? • How did “LFO” make this sound? • Do you hear this sound in “Aftermath”? 11. From your reading, how did the northern bands, such as LFO and Nightmares on Wax, develop their own version of musique concrete , filtered through earlier industrial bands, such as Cabaret Voltaire? 12. Does “LFO” or “Aftermath” show more of an industrial music influence? Why? 13. Listen to Praga Khan’s “Injected with a Poison.” • Compare it with earlier techno music. • How is “Injected with a Poison” a good example of Belgian hardcore? • To what drugs do the lyrics of this song refer? • Is this song for or against drugs? • Where do you hear a remnant of acid house in this song? 14. How have British techno and British/Belgain hardcore changed the sound of electronic dance music, compared to the music that was imported from America? • From your reading, what kind of guitar music is hardcore sometimes said to be analogous to? • What do you thinkg of this? January 24, 2010 2 .