Why I love techno

You might ask this question. I know I do sometimes.

If I went ten years back in time and told the 19 year old Knút that his future self is digging techno and all sorts of electronic music in addition to the usual rock fare, he would probably scratch his long haired indie head and be rather confused. If not embarassed.

I used to think that techno music was music for idiots. For people without musicality. But then I got wiser. Thankfully one does that every now and then; gets wiser!

It's not like I had a !heureka!! moment all of a sudden. I just gradually opened my ears to new sounds and new ways of experiencing music. Because there are so many different ways of using and experiencing music. There's music for the heart, music for the brain, music for the feet, music for the arms, music for the torso, music for the genitalia, music for the ass, music for good times, music for bad times, music for praising, music for praying, music for partying, music for smiling, music for crying, music for church, music for the bar on the corner, music for the classical concert hall, music for the club...

Techno and other relates styles can be said to be music for the feet. Definitely. Music for dancing. But once you get a taste of it you realize that in addition to the feet, the rest of your body also takes a liking to it. Your brain especially.

Why? I think it's mostly because techno music has another perspective on time and chronology. Instead of the usual verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge chronological order of things, there is something endless going on. Techno music hints at aural infinity (now THAT'S a fancy concept!)

The beat goes on and on. Four to the floor, without end. The fact that any one particular track ends at one point and begins at another, it doesn't matter; the music is endless. It just glides in and out of our conscious hearing (now we're getting trippy).

The individual beats and sounds of a techno track usually also avoid the overtly linear order of things because they too drift in and out of hearing. Everything has the feel of a loop. It was there before you could hear it and it will be there when you can't hear it any more. It's just drifting in and out of reach.

To be able to produce this kind of music and do it in a convincing manner, that takes a lot of musicality. Being able to capture people's attention and hypnotize them musically while respecting their intelligence and taste at the same time? That requires talent. No doubt about it.

Of course there is crap techno and good techno, as in all genres. But the really good techno, the really good electronic dance music? It has a hint of genius about it.

The video that I'm posting with this is a remix of "Bless You feat. Mikael Simpson" by Danish dub/electronica outfit Lulu Rouge. The remix is done by a guy called Martinez. From what I know he's from Sweden, living in Copenhagen.

Don't know why I'm choosing this track to bookend this post on techno, but it's a track that keeps fascinating me. To get so much out of so little, that's amazing. Less is more, indeed.
And the picture in the video is a pretty OK illustration of how there's music for different parts of the body :)

If you're not catching my drift, just give it a listen. And then one more. Thanks.