Techno Rebels: The Renegades of Electronic Funk (Painted Turtle Press)

Good!

Dan Sicko deserves credit here for being the first person to attempt to put together a definitive history of techno as a musical genre. Being from Detroit, his strength is his encyclopedic knowledge of the evolution of the techno scene in the Motor City. Although the ultimate relevance of some of the early material about dance parties and such is never adequately explained, Sicko reveals the early development of Detroit techno skillfully and thoroughly.For some other aspects of the history of techno, perhaps a second book by someone else will be necessary. For one thing, once Sicko reaches the point in his narrative where techno becomes a "world-wide" phenomenon, his survey of its proliferation and evolution is sketchy at best, and misleading and partial at worst. With the exception of some acknowledgment of the seventies techno-pop act Kraftwork, he shortchanges throughout the significant contributions by Germans (e.g., no mention of Sven Vath, Paul van Dyk, or Oliver Lieb, and in his discussion of current and future directions in techno, including offshoots into new musical genres, some unknown artists (undoubtedly of Sicko's acquaintance) are featured prominently, whereas important styles such as trance and progressive house are ignored completely.He also has difficulty conveying what the music is actually like. I realize that expressing the essence of one artistic medium in terms of another is difficult, but someone who has never heard techno would finish the book with no clearer idea of what "techno" actually is than when he or she started. Exactly what techno fans "listen for" in this music and the role that techno plays within their lives/subculture are also important, but never discussed adequately.Still, Sicko is a pioneer here, and deserves credit for what he accomplished in this first attempt at a "history of techno."

At times this book reads like a thesis, but Sicko does his best to present a lot of information in an easy-to-follow and cohesive manner as possible. No matter how familiar the reader is with the Detroit (and beyond) Techno scene, I would suspect he or she will discover at least some new insights herein. Congrats to Sicko - he's done a terrific job!

They don't make em' like this anymore.For those that are in the know, this is considered the bible.

Excellent background for techno heads and extremely well written

this is a must read for anyone in generation X/y and anyone who really cares about music and subgenres that made a difference.

Great Read!

Amazing recap of the history of Detroit Techno music.

Excellent and well written insight on the belleville 3 and origins of techno

Good

For anyone who loves Techno. Informed and informative, has the odd ramble but generally consice!Recommended!

Excellent book! Read it start to finish in one sitting! Couldn't put it down. R.I.P. Dan Sicko - your work lives on!

Bellissimo libro sulla storia della musica techno individuato come genere di nicchia e underground. Numerosa lista di artisti, DJs, labels, hits, ecc...Consigliato a tutti quelli che vogliono investigare sulle origini e l'evoluzione di questo tipo di musica elettronica.