Home
sign up| features / music feature |
 content by: editor |
 detriot techno's third wave
 to access audio and video on collective you need real player.Detroit techno producers, Theo Parrish and Moodymann, go back to their roots. In his books, Future Shock and The Third Wave, which examined how societies evolve, sociologist Alvin Toffler identified “techno rebels”, groups who mastered technology yet refused to let it separate them from their past roots or essential humanity. Juan Atkins – one third of Detroit techno’s “first wave” alongside Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson – claims that the very name “techno” was inspired by these tomes. And, while techno admittedly suffers more over-intellectualizing than an episode of Teletubbies being watched by art students, one can’t deny that there is an uncanny symbiosis between Toffler’s theory and Black Mahogani II, the latest release from enigmatic Detroit producer, Moodymann. For here, one of the prime movers in Detroit techno’s own “third wave” dispenses with the electronic pulses that define this city’s sound in favour of Sun Ra-style free jazz.  Theo Parrish & Moodyman When contrasted with Kenny Dixon Jnr’s other works under the Moodymann moniker – such as the deep techno of his Silent Introduction and Forevernevermore albums, or the output of his KDJ Records – Black Mahogani II could be interpreted as a step backwards. But neither Dixon, nor any of the other producers of the third wave, such as Theo Parrish, Rick Wilhite and Marcellus Pittman (the four of whom recently collaborated on the 3 Chairs project with other Detroit artists like Amp Fiddler) could be accused of Luddism. Over their careers to date, Dixon and Parrish have given house music – possibly the most disposable mass-produced musical form imaginable – a deeper meaning beyond hedonism. More importantly, though, they have enshrined its proper place in the lineage of black music which stretches way back, past jazz. Outlining his manifesto for his Sound Signature label, Parrish claims that “the medicine in the dance is originally African”.  Black Mahogani I & II & Parallel Dimensions On his recently re-released Parallel Dimensions album and his Rotating Assembly project, which - as with Black Mahogani II – features live instrumentation, Parrish has also introduced elements of jazz, soul and African drumming into minimal techno. All crafted with a discipline that belies his time studying sculpture at the Kansas City Art Institute. Whereas artists of Detroit’s second wave, such as Carl Craig and Underground Resistance, sought to update jazz in a techno context, The Rotating Assembly and Black Mahogani II are reminders of both techno’s debt to jazz and the possibilities it still has to offer. Plus, there is a political dimension to Moodymann’s unearthing of techno’s black roots, which reflects Detroit’s position as the most racially segregated city in the USA since the race riots of 1967. The liner notes on Silent Introduction lambaste all the “white suburban kids, sampling black music all the time… you’re making black music sound silly, weak and tired.” Like Underground Resistance before them, Parrish and Dixon maintain a militant grip on their music. Their rare interviews – as Collective discovered when we approached Parrish for his thoughts – reveal fiercely held convictions about the state of music today, a staunch refusal to compromise their vision or independence and a suspicion of the press that borders on the paranoid. That, coupled with their reclusion, the asceticism apparent in their records and the near-religious devotion they inspire, makes the third wave seem like some strange monastic order. Thankfully, though, not one with a vow of silence.
Paul Clake
Moodymann – Black Mahogani II, released 27 September 04 on Peacefrog Records.Theo Parrish - Parallel Dimensions, out now on Ubiquity Records.
 conversations
Read members' comments.
|
 |
related info
note: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
music  music archive Watch music sessions and interviews from 2002 to 2008. books  books and comics archive Author interviews and reviews from 2002 to 2008. |
send to a friend
useful links
amp fiddler
access 1000s of articles