Techno

A genre invented by Black teenagers in Detroit and its suburbs on machines the Japanese companies that built them considered commercial failures. Juan Atkins put out "Alleys of Your Mind" in 1981; the word was in local use by 1984, and a British label fixed it to the market in 1988 after the Detroit artists voted down a plan to sell them as house. Radio carried it first: the Electrifying Mojo was playing their mixes on air by 1981, inside a Black Detroit format that ran Kraftwerk next to P-Funk, and Jeff Mills was The Wizard on WJLB before he was Jeff Mills. It reached Europe and found rooms that suited it, in a Frankfurt club from 1984 and a West Berlin one from 1988, before the Wall came down and handed Berlin a city full of empty buildings. Since then: a vault under a department store, a parade that grew to a million people and ended in twenty-one deaths that no court ever assigned responsibility for, a power station in Friedrichshain, and a German heritage listing in 2024 that most of the press reported wrong. This archive runs from 1981 to 2026 and treats Detroit as the centre it actually is.

A chronological documentary of 994 moments spanning 1981–2026 on Loreline.

Curated by Olivier · last updated 2026-09-03

Eras

Radio, The distribution mechanism that the club-centred telling loses. In Detroit the Electrifying Mojo was on air from the late 1970s, running Kraftwerk alongside Parliament and Prince in a Black radio format, and was playing the future Belleville Three's own mixes by 1981; this archive holds dated airchecks from 1981 through 1992 of a man who is rarely filmed. Jeff Mills was The Wizard on WDRQ and WJLB, Derrick May had a WJLB slot, and Stacey Hotwaxx Hale was on FM98. In West Berlin, Radio Mars announced where UFO was that night. Mixshows, pirate broadcasts, station studios, and sets made for air rather than for a room.
Records, The objects and the labels. Sleeves, centre labels, runout grooves, catalogue numbers, the shops and the pressing plants. Cybotron's "Alleys of Your Mind" on Deep Space in 1981, "Clear" as a 1983 single on the album Enter which the 1990 reissue renamed, Model 500's "No UFO's" as Metroplex M-001 in April 1985. Then Transmat, KMS, Underground Resistance, Warp and the Sheffield bleep records, R&S in Ghent, Basic Channel and Chain Reaction in Berlin, and Hard Wax as the shop that functioned as an institution.
Machines, The instruments, most of which failed commercially before they were repurposed. The Roland TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines, the TB-303 bass line that was built to accompany a guitarist practising alone and instead produced acid, the SH-101, samplers and sequencers and the modular rigs that came later. Roland discontinued all three of the famous boxes; the used market and the people who could not afford anything else decided what they were for. Objects rather than nostalgia: this is the best documented material in the whole subject.
Crowds, The people it was for. Dancefloors, fields, warehouses and free parties, gabber in Rotterdam, hardcore, the fashion and the sound systems. Also the parts that get sanded off in retrospect: the drugs, as documented social history rather than instruction, and the policing. The music was made for rooms full of people and this segment is the only place they are the subject rather than the background.
Detroit, Where it was made, and the largest segment here. Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, who met around Belleville High School, plus Eddie Fowlkes, who says of the label attached to the other three that "it's four originators and not three". Cybotron from 1981, Metroplex from 1985, Transmat, KMS, and Underground Resistance and Submerge on East Grand Boulevard. Then the generations after: Carl Craig, Jeff Mills, Robert Hood, Drexciya, Moodymann, Theo Parrish, Mike Huckaby, Kelli Hand, DJ Minx and Stacey Hotwaxx Hale. The city itself is here too, Hart Plaza and United Sound Systems and Eastern Market, because free photography of the originators barely exists and the honest answer is to show the place and let them speak on video instead.
Berlin, The city, and why it suited this music. Not a birth: UFO was running in the West from 1988 and Frankfurt had a techno club from 1984. What the Wall's fall supplied was space, a vacant middle of a city with power still connected and nobody clearly holding the deeds. Mitte and Friedrichshain, the vault, the power station, the squats, the river, Hard Wax, and the closures and rent rises that keep taking rooms back. In March 2024 "Techno Culture in Berlin" was added to Germany's national inventory of intangible cultural heritage, administered by the German UNESCO Commission, which is not the same as UNESCO's international list however the headlines ran it.
Parades, Techno in the street. The Love Parade began in West Berlin in 1989 and grew from a few dozen people to a crowd in the hundreds of thousands, then over a million, before Berlin ended it in 2007 and it moved to the Ruhr. On 24 July 2010 in Duisburg, 21 people died and 652 were injured in a crowd crush at a ramp that was the only way in and out. Charges were brought against ten city employees and organisers. The case was rejected in 2016, reinstated in 2017, and the trial ended in May 2020 without a verdict: nobody was convicted and responsibility was never legally established. Also the Techno Parade in Paris, Zurich's Street Parade, and Rave the Planet, which Dr. Motte founded and which filed the heritage application.
Clubs, Rooms and doors. The Music Institute on Broadway in Detroit, which lasted about fourteen months in 1988 and 1989 and of which no footage survives. UFO in West Berlin from 1988, before the Wall fell, with no sign on the door. Tresor from 1991 in the vault under the old Wertheim department store. Ostgut from 1998 and Berghain from 2004, whose interior is essentially unphotographed because the no-photography rule is enforced at the door, so what you see here is the building. Frankfurt's Omen and Technoclub, Ghent's Boccaccio, Tokyo's Maniac Love. Note a sourcing artefact: the photographs skew to Munich and Nuremberg venues because that is what German contributors uploaded, not because those rooms outrank the ones above.
DJs, People playing records to rooms. Booth footage, sets, back to backs, and the craft itself: mixing, programming a night, reading a floor. Held deliberately to under a tenth of this archive, because DJ set footage is effectively infinite and would otherwise crowd out everything that explains where the music came from. What is here favours sets with a documented time and place over generic recent uploads.
Studios, How the records were actually made. Sequencing, sampling, mixing desks, studio walkthroughs and gear talk, much of it published by the artists themselves. This is where the machines in segment two stop being objects and start being decisions: which drum machine, how quantised, how much of the 303 to let through.

1981 - The Electrifying Mojo - Midnight Funk Association (December 1981). The Electrifying Mojo hosting the Midnight Funk Association in December 1981. Charles Johnson's late-night Detroit show mixed Kraftwerk, Parliament, Prince, the B-52's, Ultravox, Yellow Magic Orchestra and Italo disco across the racial format lines US radio otherwise enforced. By 1981 he was playing mixes recorded by the future Belleville Three.
1981 - CYBOTRON "Alleys Of Your Mind" Deep Space Records (1981). "Alleys of Your Mind" by Cybotron, released on Deep Space Records in 1981 and backed with "Cosmic Raindance". This, not "Clear", is the first Cybotron record and the earliest candidate for a founding Detroit record. It reportedly sold well in Detroit off the back of local radio play.
1981 - Cybotron - Cosmic Raindance (1981). "Cosmic Raindance", the B side of Cybotron's 1981 debut single.
1982 - THE JOURNEY FROM DETROIT TO MESOPOTAMIA THEY LAID DOWN THA LAW.AIRED SUMMER OF 82 ON WGPR 1075 FMDET. A Mojo broadcast from the summer of 1982 on WGPR 107.5, the Detroit station whose call letters recur through this history.
1982 - Cybotron - Cosmic Cars ( Fantasy Records 1982 ). "Cosmic Cars", Cybotron's second single, 1982.
1982 - "Don't Say Damn, Say Whoa!" Electrifying Mojo - Midnight Funk Association 1982 (720). The Electrifying Mojo and the Midnight Funk Association, 1982. Mojo is missing from most tellings of techno's origins, but in Detroit radio rather than clubs was the distribution mechanism for the first several years.
1982 - Electrifying Mojo - B-52s Mesopotamia played live on show April 1982 Part 1. Mojo plays the B-52's "Mesopotamia" live on air in April 1982. The originators did not receive European electronic music as high art; they received it inside a Black Detroit radio format alongside funk.
1983 - Cybotron Clear (Juan Atkins 1983). "Clear" by Cybotron, a 1983 single on Fantasy that appears on the album Enter. The 1990 reissue renamed the album Clear, which is where the date confusion comes from. Its main documented afterlife is in electro and hip hop rather than techno narrowly.
1983 - ELECTRIFYING MOJO LIVE ON THE RADIO ON JANUARY 18, 1983. WJLB FM 98.. The Electrifying Mojo live on WJLB FM 98 on 18 January 1983.
1983 - Cybotron - Industrial Lies "DJ Mix" ( Fantasy Acetate 1983 ) Unreleased Remix. "Industrial Lies", the B side of Cybotron's "Clear", from a 1983 Fantasy acetate.
1983 - Legendary Jeff Mills-The Wizard 1983 -The Super Scene Mix. Jeff Mills as The Wizard, the Super Scene mix, 1983.
1984 - Cybotron - Techno City (Vocal) (Fantasy | 1984). "Techno City" by Cybotron, 1984. The word techno was already in use among the Detroit producers by this point, four years before the compilation fixed it as a market label in Britain.
1984 - ELECTRIFYING MOJO LIVE ON THE RADIO DURING THE SUMMER OF 1984 LOOKING OUT AT THE CITY JAMMING!!!. A Mojo broadcast from the summer of 1984, the year Cybotron released "Techno City" and the word was already in use among the Detroit producers.
1984 - A LIVE RADIO SHOW ON A HOT SUMMER NIGHT N 1984 WITH SWEAT POURING FROM MY BODY ON A HOT FRIDAY NIGHT. A live Mojo radio show on a hot summer night in 1984.
1985 - Yamaha DX Performance Demonstration - DX7 / DX9 - Audio Cassette (1985). A Yamaha DX7 and DX9 performance demonstration issued on cassette in 1985.
1985 - Happy hour, sunshower, 808's gives you power 💪. An analogue drum machine manufactured from 1980 into 1983. Its significance is that it let users program their own rhythms rather than select presets, and that its sounds are synthesised rather than sampled, so they do not resemble a real kit. It is more central to electro and hip-hop than to techno narrowly, reaching Detroit largely by way of Cybotron and electro.
1985 - Cybotron - R9 (1985). "R-9" by Cybotron, 1985, the year Juan Atkins left the group over creative differences with Richard "3070" Davis. Davis continued under the name.
1985 - Model 500 - No UFO's (Metroplex | 1985). "No UFO's" by Model 500, April 1985, Metroplex M-001. It is the first Metroplex release and is frequently described as the first techno record, which is a claim about reception rather than chronology.
1985 - THE MIDNIGHT FUNK ASSOC. CIRCA MID EIGHTIES WITH THE MUSIC OF L. L COOL J THE MFA ROCKED THE BELLS. A mid-eighties Midnight Funk Association broadcast.
1985 - Jeff Mills aka The Wizard WDRQ, Detroit 1985. Jeff Mills as The Wizard on WDRQ Detroit in 1985. Mills's mixshow radio work preceded Underground Resistance and his solo career entirely.
1985 - Power 96 FM Radio Electrifying Mojo 1985 - 1986. The Electrifying Mojo on Power 96 FM, 1985 to 1986.
1985 - Power 96 FM Radio Electrifying Mojo 1985 - 1986 Part 2. A second Mojo aircheck from Power 96 FM, 1985 to 1986.
1986 - Akai S900 Sampler Video Manual (1986 High Quality 60FPS VHS Live Instructional & Demonstration Tape). The Akai S900 sampler's own 1986 instructional video manual, transferred from VHS.
1986 - Model 500 / Bang The Beat (1986). "Bang the Beat" by Model 500, 1986.
1986 - ELECTRIFYING MOJO LIVE ON THE RAD.IO JUNE 7 1986. Dedicated Laura D. Shalamar Hicks, The Candy Crew.. The Electrifying Mojo live on air on 7 June 1986.
1986 - JEFF MILLS AKA THE WIZARD WJLB DETROIT 1986. ONLYTEKNO COLLECTION 872. Jeff Mills as The Wizard on WJLB Detroit in 1986.
1986 - (Jeff Mills) The Wizard mix (1986) @WJLB [old school Electro Hip-Hop House]. A Wizard mix from 1986 on WJLB, mixing electro, hip hop and house.
1986 - Jeff Mills - The Wizard Mixes - Live @ WJLB Detroit, 1986 to 1989 Parts 1-7. The Wizard mixes, Jeff Mills live on WJLB Detroit across 1986 to 1989, collected in seven parts. This is the radio work that made Mills before any record did.
1986 - Jeff Mills Live On WJLB Detroit Jul 1986. Jeff Mills live on WJLB Detroit in July 1986.
1986 - 1986.06.07 Prince - Detroit , Electrifying Mojo Radio Interview (& Wendy's message on 1986.06.08). Prince interviewed by the Electrifying Mojo in Detroit on 7 June 1986. Prince is one of the influences the Detroit originators name that the standard Kraftwerk-centred telling leaves out.
1986 - WHAT IF THE CHILDREN OF THE CHILDREN OF 1986 COULD HEAR THEM ON LIVE RADIO, WINTER OF 86.WHYT-96.3. A Mojo broadcast from the winter of 1986.
1987 - Miragefantasy #1 (Ensoniq Mirage Demo) (1987). An Ensoniq Mirage demonstration recorded in 1987.
1987 - Rhythim Is Rhythim - Strings of Life (Original Mix). "Strings of Life" by Rhythim Is Rhythim, Derrick May's best known record, released on Transmat.
1987 - Detroit Techno 1987- 1988 - Vinyl Only. A vinyl-only set of Detroit techno records from 1987 and 1988.
1987 - Rhythim Is Rhythim - Strings Of Life (Original 12" Mix). The original twelve inch mix of "Strings of Life" by Rhythim Is Rhythim.
1987 - DERRICK MAY 98.0 FM WJLB 1987. Derrick May on 98.0 FM WJLB Detroit in 1987.
1987 - THE ELECTRIFYING MOJO &THE BELLEVILLE THREE. 1987 96.3 FM DETROIT. ONLYTEKNO COLLECTION 727. The Electrifying Mojo with Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson on 96.3 FM Detroit in 1987. Mojo had been playing their mixes on air since about 1981, years before any compilation named this music.
1987 - Jeff.Mills.Live.On.Wjlb.Detroit.1987. Jeff Mills live on WJLB Detroit in 1987.
1988 - 🎶 Coldcut Crew & Juan Atkins Interview | Kiss 94 FM, London | 2 December 1988 | DETROIT TECHNO HOUSE. Juan Atkins interviewed with the Coldcut crew on Kiss 94 FM in London on 2 December 1988, the year the compilation fixed the word techno in the British market.
1988 - History of Rave video from 1988 - Acid House Raves. Footage of acid house raves from 1988.
1988 - Inner City "Big fun" - Archive INA. "Big Fun" by Inner City in the French national audiovisual archive.
1988 - BIG FUN Inner City 1988. "Big Fun" by Inner City, 1988. It was reportedly nearly left off the compilation Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit and became the crossover hit of that autumn. The compilation itself lost money; its accidental pop hit paid for the attention.
1988 - ELECTRIFYING MOJO LIVE ON THE RADIO DECEMBER 2,1988 ON WTWR MONROE/TOLEDO IN MEMORY OF BRUCE LESNICK. The Electrifying Mojo live on WTWR Monroe and Toledo on 2 December 1988.
1988 - Jeff Mills aka The Wizard - WJLB Mixshow Detroit - 1988 - Part 1. A Jeff Mills WJLB mixshow from Detroit, 1988.
1988 - Derrick May mix (1988) @WJLB [old school Techno House]. A Derrick May mix on WJLB in 1988.
1988 - Mayday Mix (Derrick May) @ FM98 WJLB (Detroit) 31 12 1988. Derrick May, as Mayday, mixing on FM98 WJLB Detroit on 31 December 1988, the year the compilation fixed the word techno in Britain.
1988 - Derrick May @ 98.0 FM WJLB Radio (Detroit, USA) 1988. Derrick May on 98.0 FM WJLB Detroit in 1988.
1988 - Derrick May 98 FM WJLB, Detroit 1988. Derrick May on 98 FM WJLB Detroit in 1988.
1988 - Jeff Mills Live On WJLB Detroit Feb 1988. Jeff Mills live on WJLB Detroit in February 1988.
1988 - Derrick May (Mix 4 of 5) on FM98 WJLB Detroit 1988. A short Derrick May mix from a five part WJLB Detroit sequence, 1988.
1989 - The Berlin Wall Falls - 1989 | Today in History | 9 Nov 16. The Berlin Wall falls, from the Associated Press archive.
1989 - Loveparade 1989 - The 1st Edition. The first Love Parade, Berlin, July 1989, with about 150 participants. It was initiated by Matthias Roeingh, who works as Dr Motte, and Danielle de Picciotto, who is routinely dropped from the telling and is a co-founder.
1989 - The Summer Of Rave 1989 (Full Documentary HQ). The Summer of Rave, 1989, a documentary on the British acid house crowds that gave Europe its template for a mass outdoor dance audience.
1989 - Last Days of East Berlin - Archive Documentary Livestream (1989-1990). An archive documentary on the last days of East Berlin, 1989 to 1990.
1989 - First Love Parade Berlin 1989. Footage of the first Love Parade in West Berlin in 1989. The motto was "Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen" and it was framed as a political demonstration for peace and international understanding through love and music.
1989 - The Fall of the Berlin Wall - 1989. Associated Press footage of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
1989 - Love Parade 1989. The Love Parade of 1989. The demonstration status was also financially load-bearing: under German law the state funds security and cleanup for a political demonstration, while a commercial organiser pays. Courts ruled in 2001 that it had to be classified as a commercial event.
1989 - The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall: Celebrations on the Wall. Celebrations on the Wall, from the Imperial War Museums.
1989 - The Fall of the Berlin Wall | Rare and Unseen Footage from 1989. Rare and unseen footage of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
1989 - Raw Footage of East Berlin the Day Before the Wall Fell (1989). Raw footage of East Berlin the day before the Wall fell in 1989.
1989 - East Berlin 1989 | Tense Protest Footage at Checkpoint Charlie and Berlin Wall. Protest footage from East Berlin in 1989 at Checkpoint Charlie and the Wall.
1989 - Fall of the Berlin Wall Footage - East Berliners Make First Visit to West Berlin (1989). East Berliners crossing into West Berlin for the first time, 1989.
1989 - 1989 East Berlin Fall Of the Wall, Celebration. Celebrations in East Berlin at the fall of the Wall, 1989.
1989 - Nov. 10, 1989: Celebration at the Berlin Wall. Celebration at the Berlin Wall, 10 November 1989.
1989 - Nov. 9, 1989: The Berlin Wall Falls. News coverage of 9 November 1989, the night the Wall opened.
1989 - On the Air Over There American Forces Network Europe Coverage Fall of the Berlin Wall Germany 1989. American Forces Network Europe coverage of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
1989 - Fall of the Berlin Wall 1989 | Stock Footage. Stock footage of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
1989 - 0571 1989 BERLIN Mauer (1 december) (14122019158). Berlin techno did not begin with the Wall. UFO opened in 1988 in West Berlin, before the Wall fell, and Frankfurt's Technoclub dates to 1984. What the Wall's fall supplied was space: ownerless buildings, unclear property titles and a vacuum of licensing authority in the former East.
1989 - 0595 1989 Berlin Mauer (28 dec) (14121968048). Berlin techno did not begin with the Wall. UFO opened in 1988 in West Berlin, before the Wall fell, and Frankfurt's Technoclub dates to 1984. What the Wall's fall supplied was space: ownerless buildings, unclear property titles and a vacuum of licensing authority in the former East.
1989 - Warp Records 89-92 History Mix. A long mix of Warp Records material from 1989 to 1992.
1989 - 0618 1989 Berlin Mauer (28 dec) (14122161677). Berlin techno did not begin with the Wall. UFO opened in 1988 in West Berlin, before the Wall fell, and Frankfurt's Technoclub dates to 1984. What the Wall's fall supplied was space: ownerless buildings, unclear property titles and a vacuum of licensing authority in the former East.
1989 - Forgemasters - Shall We (Special Remix) | Classic Sheffield Bleep Techno Warp Records History UK 90s. Forgemasters, whose "Track With No Name" was the first Warp release in 1989, written in about four hours in Robert Gordon's home studio. It helped define both the label and bleep techno.
1989 - Berlin 1989, Fall der Mauer, Chute du mur 20. Berlin techno did not begin with the Wall. UFO opened in 1988 in West Berlin, before the Wall fell, and Frankfurt's Technoclub dates to 1984. What the Wall's fall supplied was space: ownerless buildings, unclear property titles and a vacuum of licensing authority in the former East.
1989 - Berlin 1989, Fall der Mauer, Chute du mur 21. Berlin techno did not begin with the Wall. UFO opened in 1988 in West Berlin, before the Wall fell, and Frankfurt's Technoclub dates to 1984. What the Wall's fall supplied was space: ownerless buildings, unclear property titles and a vacuum of licensing authority in the former East.
1989 - Berlin 1989, Fall der Mauer, Chute du mur 25. Berlin techno did not begin with the Wall. UFO opened in 1988 in West Berlin, before the Wall fell, and Frankfurt's Technoclub dates to 1984. What the Wall's fall supplied was space: ownerless buildings, unclear property titles and a vacuum of licensing authority in the former East.
1989 - JEFF MILLS - LIVE ON WJLB (1989). Jeff Mills live on WJLB in 1989, three years before he left Underground Resistance for a solo career.
1989 - Jeff Mills & Duane Bradley Live On WJLB Detroit 1989 pt1. Jeff Mills and Duane Bradley live on WJLB Detroit in 1989.
1989 - Jeff.Mills.A.K.A.The.Wizard.At.Wjlb.Detroit.1989. Jeff Mills as The Wizard on WJLB Detroit in 1989.
1990 - Derrick May Live @ Slam in the Park, Glasgow, Scotland (08.09.1990.). Derrick May playing Slam in the Park in Glasgow on 8 September 1990. May is alive and active; he was born on 6 April 1963.
1990 - Krawalle nach der Räumung besetzter Häuser, 1990. Rioting after the eviction of squatted houses in Berlin in 1990, from the rbb archive. Unclear property titles and a vacuum of licensing authority in the former East are what supplied the space this scene occupied.
1990 - The Manor Studios Control Room. The studio as practice rather than object. Artists self-publish this material, which is why it is one of the more obtainable parts of the record, though the Red Bull Music Academy lecture archive that carries much of it was brand-funded music-history publishing.
1990 - Derrick May @ Amnesia House - Sky Blue Connexion - 1990. Derrick May at Amnesia House, 1990.
1990 - A Guy Called Gerald meets Derrick May, Manchester 1990. Granada Television footage from the 'Madchester' special in which A Guy Called Gerald, who made 'Voodoo Ray', meets Derrick May. It catches the moment Manchester's acid-house scene and Detroit were talking to each other directly, on regional British TV.
1990 - Sweet Exorcist • Testfour (1990). "Testfour" by Sweet Exorcist, 1990. Sweet Exorcist is Richard H. Kirk of Cabaret Voltaire with DJ Parrot, and is the direct link from Sheffield's industrial past to its techno present.
1990 - Sweet Exorcist • Testfive (1990). "Testfive" by Sweet Exorcist, 1990.
1990 - Joey Beltram - Energy Flash (Original 12'' Mix) (1990). "Energy Flash" by Joey Beltram on R&S, 1990.
1990 - Berlin 1990 und 2010: Potsdamer Platz | 20 Jahre Deutsche Einheit. Potsdamer Platz in 1990 and in 2010. The wasteland at the centre of the city is the physical fact behind the clubs that filled it.
1990 - Berlin Wall, colorful Fortepan 92876. Berlin techno did not begin with the Wall. UFO opened in 1988 in West Berlin, before the Wall fell, and Frankfurt's Technoclub dates to 1984. What the Wall's fall supplied was space: ownerless buildings, unclear property titles and a vacuum of licensing authority in the former East.
1990 - Berlin, Berliner Mauer -- um 1990 -- 3. Berlin techno did not begin with the Wall. UFO opened in 1988 in West Berlin, before the Wall fell, and Frankfurt's Technoclub dates to 1984. What the Wall's fall supplied was space: ownerless buildings, unclear property titles and a vacuum of licensing authority in the former East.
1990 - Berlin, Berliner Mauer -- um 1990 -- 4. Berlin techno did not begin with the Wall. UFO opened in 1988 in West Berlin, before the Wall fell, and Frankfurt's Technoclub dates to 1984. What the Wall's fall supplied was space: ownerless buildings, unclear property titles and a vacuum of licensing authority in the former East.
1990 - Berlin, Berliner Mauer -- um 1990 -- 5. Berlin techno did not begin with the Wall. UFO opened in 1988 in West Berlin, before the Wall fell, and Frankfurt's Technoclub dates to 1984. What the Wall's fall supplied was space: ownerless buildings, unclear property titles and a vacuum of licensing authority in the former East.
1990 - ELECTRIFYING MOJO LIVE ON WMXD THE NIGHT BEFORE THANKSGIVING 1990. The Electrifying Mojo live on WMXD the night before Thanksgiving 1990.
1990 - ELECTRIFYING MOJO LIVE ON A FRIDAY NIGHT CIRCA 1990, WMXD 92,3 FM. A Mojo broadcast on WMXD 92.3 FM on a Friday night around 1990.
1990 - ELECTRIFYING MOJO AIRCHECK # 4 CIRCA 1990 POSTED IN MEMORY OF THE STATE FAIR WOODWARD AND 8 MILE.. A Mojo aircheck from around 1990, posted in memory of the Michigan State Fair.
1991 - Westbam / Tanith / Tresor / Interviews (Part.1 -1991). Westbam and Tanith interviewed at Tresor in 1991, the year the club opened.
1991 - Spiral Tribe, Free Party in London [1991]. Spiral Tribe at a free party in London in 1991. The British free party movement and its sound systems are the political edge of this culture.
1991 - 1991 Dj Mix Sven Vath live @ Omen.. Sven Vaeth at Omen in 1991, the year he founded the Eye Q label with Heinz Roth and Matthias Hoffmann.
1991 - OMEN FRANKFURT | TRANCE CLASSICS | EYE Q & HARTHOUSE | VINYL EXTENDED MIX (1991-1997). A long vinyl mix of Eye Q and Harthouse material played at Omen between 1991 and 1997. Trance is a Frankfurt story rather than a Dutch one, and these two labels defined its earliest years.
1991 - VTS 01 1 Loveparade 6 07 1991 ✪ Electronic Music Documentary Films. The Love Parade of 6 July 1991, filmed on the Kurfuerstendamm, where the parade was held until 1996.
1991 - Second Phase • Mentasm (1991). "Mentasm" by Second Phase, 1991. The Beltram sound R&S released gave European hardcore its defining lead.
1991 - Second Phase • Mentasm (Beltram & Mundo Remix) (1991) (Reissue 2021). A Beltram and Mundo remix of "Mentasm", reissued in 2021.
1991 - Record Shop Finds! || 1991 UK Hardcore & Belgian Techno. Record shop finds of 1991 UK hardcore and Belgian techno, handled as objects.
1991 - Berlin wasteland former entrance Führerbunker 1991. Berlin wasteland at the former entrance to the Fuehrerbunker, filmed in 1991.
1991 - Electrifying Mojo Live On The Radio June 8 1991. This was also the night of the first Vinx interview. The Electrifying Mojo live on air on 8 June 1991.
1992 - 120 BPM / 3516 RAVE MCM TV Show 1992 - Kevin Saunderson & Derrick May Detroit Techno Interviews. Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May interviewed on the French television show 120 BPM in 1992.
1992 - BBC Everyman - E is for Ecstasy - Rave Documentary 1992. E is for Ecstasy, a BBC Everyman documentary from 1992. Drugs here are documented social history: MDMA became common on Berlin and British dancefloors in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the documented institutional response in Germany is harm reduction.
1992 - DJ Sven Vath live Omen Frankfurt 01 04 1992. Sven Vaeth live at Omen, Frankfurt, on 1 April 1992.
1992 - 1992 BBC Documentary Inside the UK Rave Scene & How Illegal Raves Were Built | Oldskool Rave History. A 1992 BBC documentary on how illegal raves were built.
1992 - Oldskool Acid House Techno Mixtape (Tresor Berlin 1992 Tracks). A mixtape of records played at Tresor Berlin in 1992.
1992 - Rave - BBC house music documentary from 1992 [1/3]. A BBC documentary on house music and rave from 1992.
1992 - Dutch Hardcore / Gabber Culture and fashion 1992 - 2002. Dutch hardcore and gabber culture and fashion between 1992 and 2002.
1992 - Tacheles Berlin 1992. Tacheles, Berlin, filmed in 1992.
1992 - Technoclub Reanimation 1992. A club of the kind this music was made for. Club interiors are structurally hostile to a free archive: no-photography rules, rights management and private premises mean the photographic record skews heavily to exteriors and to the few venues that permitted cameras.
1992 - Thunderdome 1992-2002 A Decade. A decade of Thunderdome, 1992 to 2002.
1992 - Spiral Tribe - Live @ Free Party, Castlemorton, Summer 1992. Spiral Tribe at the Castlemorton Common free festival in the summer of 1992, the gathering that triggered the legislation targeting repetitive beats.
1992 - Spiral Tribe @ Castle Morton 1992. Spiral Tribe at Castlemorton in 1992.
1992 - Sven Väth | Lost in Music Techno Doku (1992) Love Train von Frankfurt zur Love Parade Berlin. Lost in Music, a 1992 documentary following the Love Train from Frankfurt to the Berlin Love Parade with Sven Vaeth.
1992 - Playwright James Chapman with Electrifying Mojo 1992. The playwright James Chapman on air with the Electrifying Mojo in 1992.
1992 - DJ Stacey HOTWAXX Hale Live | FM98 WJLB Detroit (Early 1990's). Stacey "Hotwaxx" Hale live on FM98 WJLB Detroit in the early 1990s. Hale is documented on Detroit bills alongside Derrick May and Juan Atkins and is often called the godmother of the city's dance music.
1993 - Best of Derrick May Dj Live@Egebamyasi Pure Club Edinburgh June 11 1993. Derrick May at Pure Club, Edinburgh, on 11 June 1993.
1993 - Juan Atkins @ The Ark (Leeds, UK) 15-05-1993. Juan Atkins at The Ark in Leeds on 15 May 1993.
1993 - Loveparade 1993 - Berlin Kurfürstendamm - 45 Minutes with original sound. Forty five minutes of the 1993 Love Parade on the Kurfuerstendamm with original sound.
1993 - DJ Disko Live @ E-Werk Berlin (A-Side) 17.03.1993. DJ Disko live at E-Werk Berlin on 17 March 1993.
1993 - Sven Väth DJ set, March 1993, Omen Club, Frankfurt.. Sven Vaeth at the Omen club, Frankfurt, March 1993.
1993 - 📺 Close Up North: Rave | BBC Two | 18 Jan 1993 | 1992 UK Rave Documentary. A BBC Two documentary broadcast on 18 January 1993 following promoters setting up a rave. The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 followed, explicitly targeting gatherings with "repetitive beats".
1993 - Sven Väth @ Omen - Part 1/2 - 1993-12-06. Sven Vaeth at Omen on 6 December 1993.
1993 - Sven Väth Live at Omen Frankfurt 1993 (Part 1) 🚀 Trance & Techno Classics. Sven Vaeth live at Omen, Frankfurt, in 1993.
1993 - BBC 2 Ecstasy & Shelley's Laserdome Rave Documentary 1993. A 1993 BBC documentary on ecstasy and Shelley's Laserdome.
1993 - 📺 1993 ITV News Documentary | Danger of Ecstasy Raves 📡🎥. An ITV news documentary from 1993 on ecstasy and raves.
1993 - The Mutoid Waste Company at Tacheles , Berlin, 1993. The Mutoid Waste Company at Tacheles, Berlin, in 1993. Tacheles was an occupied ruin in Mitte that became a working art house.
1993 - thunderdome video collection 1993 fs vhsrip. A Thunderdome video collection from 1993, transferred from VHS.
1993 - Thunderdome 1993-1999 partyvideo's (VHS) 10 hours!. Ten hours of Thunderdome party videos from VHS, 1993 to 1999.
1993 - Thunderdome 1-22 Commercials 1993-1998. Thunderdome television commercials from 1993 to 1998.
1993 - Model 500 - I See The Light (1993 - Metroplex - M-021). "I See The Light" by Model 500, Metroplex M-021, 1993.
1993 - Technocity Berlin 1993 Doku full version. Technocity Berlin, a documentary shot in 1993 when the city's scene was three years old.
1994 - Juan Atkins @ Villa 65 Holland 05.1994. Juan Atkins at Villa 65 in the Netherlands, May 1994.
1994 - Richie Hawtin (Plastikman) - Live at Unwind 1994. Richie Hawtin as Plastikman, live in 1994.
1994 - Loveparade 1994 Super-8 Film. The 1994 Love Parade shot on Super 8 film.
1994 - DJ DISKO & DJ WOODY 1994 E-WERK BERLIN. DJ Disko and DJ Woody at E-Werk Berlin in 1994.
1994 - DJ WOODY E-WERK BERLIN 12.11.1994 LIVE MIX. DJ Woody's live mix at E-Werk Berlin on 12 November 1994.
1994 - Dr. Motte & DJ Jon @ E-Werk, Berlin 30.04.1994. Dr Motte and DJ Jon at E-Werk Berlin on 30 April 1994. Motte co-founded the Love Parade in 1989 with Danielle de Picciotto.
1994 - DJ Disko & Dixon @ E-Werk, Berlin 26.11.1994. DJ Disko and Dixon at E-Werk Berlin on 26 November 1994.
1994 - ROTTERDAM 1994 💀 Oldschool Gabber & Early Hardcore. Rotterdam in 1994, old school gabber and early hardcore. Paul Elstak founded Rotterdam Records in 1992 and championed the harder, blunter sound against Amsterdam's Mokum.
1994 - Unknown Artist @ E-Werk, Berlin 1994 #2. An unidentified set recorded at E-Werk, Berlin, in 1994.
1994 - Thunderdome - Köln - The Video (VHS Rip 1994). Thunderdome in Cologne, from a 1994 VHS release. Thunderdome events were deliberately staged in neutral cities to avoid the Rotterdam and Amsterdam rivalry.
1994 - Unknown Artist @ E-Werk, Berlin 1994 #3. A second unidentified set recorded at E-Werk, Berlin, in 1994.
1994 - DJ Disko, DJ Hell @ E-Werk, Berlin 10.12.1994. DJ Disko and DJ Hell at E-Werk Berlin on 10 December 1994.
1994 - Sven Väth | "Hot & Melty" hr3 Clubnight (23.07.1994) (Techno/Trance Classics). Sven Vaeth's hr3 Clubnight broadcast of 23 July 1994.
1994 - Sven Väth @ HR3 Clubnight, Omen, Frankfurt 01.01.1994. Sven Vaeth at the hr3 Clubnight from Omen, Frankfurt, on 1 January 1994.
1994 - Sven Väth Live at Club Omen Frankfurt (1994) | Classic Techno Set. Sven Vaeth live at Omen, Frankfurt, in 1994.
1994 - E-Werk club Berlin 1994. E-Werk, Berlin, filmed in 1994. E-Werk was a former electrical substation in Mitte, part of the wave of clubs that filled ownerless buildings after the Wall fell.
1994 - Cybotron - Interface - The Roots Of Techno (1994). Interface, a Cybotron collection subtitled The Roots of Techno, 1994.
1994 - Chromapark Party 1994 E-Werk Berlin. The Chromapark party at E-Werk Berlin in 1994, where techno and visual art shared a building.
1994 - 🎛️ Joey Beltram - Club Kinetic (BPM Digital) | 28 October 1994 | Techno Rare Classic Set. Joey Beltram at Club Kinetic on 28 October 1994.
1994 - 15 Hours of Techno (Short Film) 1994 | Sven Väth's OMEN Club Frankfurt. Fifteen Hours of Techno, a 1994 short film shot at Sven Vaeth's Omen club in Frankfurt. Omen opened in 1988 and closed in 1998, founded by Vaeth with Matthias Martinsohn and Michael Muenzing.
1994 - Westbam Interview uncut 1994. An uncut Westbam interview recorded in 1994.
1995 - Prime Time on DCTP - DJ Shake / Anthony Shakir / Frictional - Interview - 1990s - Detroit Techno. Anthony "Shake" Shakir interviewed on Detroit cable television in the 1990s. Shakir is on the 1988 compilation and belongs to the first Detroit circle.
1995 - Love Parade Berlin 1995 - Peace On Earth (Official Video Documentary). Peace On Earth, the official video documentary of the 1995 Love Parade.
1995 - LOVE IS THE MESSAGE The Love Parade Documentary 1995. Love Is The Message, a documentary on the 1995 Love Parade.
1995 - LOVE PARADE 1995 - "Peace On Earth" [Official Love Parade Video]. The official Love Parade video for 1995, Peace On Earth.
1995 - Loveparade 1995 Tauentzien 02. The Love Parade began in July 1989 in West Berlin with 150 participants, initiated by Matthias Roeingh, who works as Dr. Motte, and Danielle de Picciotto, who is routinely dropped from the telling. Its motto was "Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen" and it was framed as a political demonstration for peace and international understanding through love and music.
1995 - Loveparade 1995 Tauentzien 03. The Love Parade began in July 1989 in West Berlin with 150 participants, initiated by Matthias Roeingh, who works as Dr. Motte, and Danielle de Picciotto, who is routinely dropped from the telling. Its motto was "Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen" and it was framed as a political demonstration for peace and international understanding through love and music.
1995 - 1995 Gabber documentary (Lola Da Musica) with English subtitles. A 1995 Dutch television documentary on gabber, with English subtitles. Gabber originated in Rotterdam around 1991 to 1992, with tempos often above 180 BPM and distorted kick drums.
1995 - 1995 Gabber documentary (Lola Da Musica). An excerpt from the 1995 Lola Da Musica gabber documentary.
1995 - Fucking Hostile - Gabber Documentary 1995 LolaDaMusica. A clip from the 1995 gabber documentary Fucking Hostile.
1995-07-08 - Water fight at the Love Parade. Ravers turning the Love Parade into a water fight on Tauentzienstrasse, Berlin, on 8 July 1995. The parade put German dance culture in the middle of the city in daylight, which is a very different proposition from a dark room at four in the morning.
1996 - Top DJ Mag - Jeff Mills Interview (1996). Jeff Mills interviewed for Top DJ Mag in 1996. Before Underground Resistance he was a Detroit radio mixshow DJ known as The Wizard.
1996 - Jeff Mills Interview @ MIDEM "96 (Cannes). Jeff Mills interviewed at MIDEM in Cannes in 1996.
1996 - Derrick May @ Chemistry On 3, Amsterdam - 1996. Derrick May in Amsterdam, 1996.
1996 - Westbam @ Mayday X 30.04.1996 (Full Set). Westbam at Mayday on 30 April 1996.
1996 - Underworld - 1996 Tomato Interview + Rez live @ Fuji Rock Rainbow 2000. Underworld interviewed in 1996, with a live performance at Rainbow 2000 near Mount Fuji, described as one of Japan's first techno festivals with more than ten thousand attendees.
1996 - 13.07.1996 - Loveparade '96. The Love Parade of 13 July 1996, the last year on the Kurfuerstendamm before it moved to the Strasse des 17. Juni in the Tiergarten.
1996 - Loveparade 1996. The 1996 Love Parade in Berlin.
1996 - The Love Parade - Berlin - Germany - 1996 - VHS FOOTAGE (Part 2 - The Extended Edit) !!!. VHS footage of the 1996 Love Parade in Berlin, extended edit.
1996 - LOVE PARADE 1996 /Top DJ Mag/. The 1996 Love Parade filmed for Top DJ Mag.
1996 - Love Parade Berlin 1996 2. The Love Parade began in July 1989 in West Berlin with 150 participants, initiated by Matthias Roeingh, who works as Dr. Motte, and Danielle de Picciotto, who is routinely dropped from the telling. Its motto was "Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen" and it was framed as a political demonstration for peace and international understanding through love and music.
1996 - Love Parade Berlin 1996 1. The Love Parade ran on the Kurfuerstendamm until 1996, then moved to Strasse des 17. Juni in the Grosser Tiergarten, centred on the Siegessaeule. Attendance peaked from 1997 to 2000 at over a million annually, then declined as funding failed, and it was cancelled in 2004 and 2005.
1996 - Dawn at Ridgeway Free Rave 1996 UK - Pineapple Tribe / POD / Sabbatical Sound / BDI / Jellytree. Dawn at a free rave on the Ridgeway in 1996, with several sound systems.
1996 - Mike Huckaby - Live at Galaxy FM - 1996. Mike Huckaby live on Galaxy FM in 1996. Huckaby died on 24 April 2020.
1996 - pirate radio balloon - filling the balloon (Freier Rundfunk Österreich). Radio, not clubs, was the distribution mechanism in both founding cities. In Detroit the Electrifying Mojo played the future Belleville Three's mixes on air by 1981, inside a Black radio format that carried Kraftwerk alongside P-Funk. In West Berlin, UFO's locations were announced on a weekly dance music radio show.

…694 further moments continue the chronology here. Full text archive: /loreline-text/techno.md

2023-08-08 - The King of the TR-808 : Egyptian Lover on THE ICONIC Drum Machine. Egyptian Lover on the Roland TR-808. The electro lineage that runs through his records is the same one Cybotron sat inside.
2023-08-09 - Klaudia Gawlas - NATURE ONE 2023 - ARTE Concert. Klaudia Gawlas at Nature One 2023, broadcast by ARTE Concert. Nature One is held on a former US missile base in the Hunsrueck.
2023-10-16 - XOX Project Presents: Saytek TR-909 Interview | Live at Readipop's 909 Event. Saytek interviewed at a Readipop event built around the TR-909.
2023-10-17 - Tech Talk: Jessica Kert talks Modular Synthesizer (Electronic Beats TV). Jessica Kert on modular synthesis.
2023-11-03 - Wie Techno groß wurde | DW Doku Deutsch. A Deutsche Welle documentary on how techno grew large.
2023-11-14 - Moritz von Oswald - Silencio (Short Documentary). A short documentary on Moritz von Oswald, posted by Tresor.
2023-11-17 - Derrick May Interview | #CONNECTORS CAP.35. Derrick May interviewed for Connectors. May was born 6 April 1963 and is alive and active.
2023-12-01 - Sub Berlin - The Story of Tresor (Documentary). Sub Berlin, the documentary story of Tresor, posted by the club itself. Tresor opened in March 1991 in the vaults of the former Wertheim department store at Leipziger Strasse 126 to 128 in Mitte. The name means vault, and the vault is the actual building rather than folklore.
2023-12-03 - The Roland TR-808 Drum Machine : A 5 Minute History. A short history of the Roland TR-808. It disappointed in its intended market as a songwriting aid, was judged unrealistic, and was then adopted second hand. It is more central to electro and hip hop than to techno narrowly, reaching Detroit through Cybotron and electro.
2023-12-22 - Wie Techno in die Zukunft wirkt | DW Doku Deutsch. A Deutsche Welle documentary on where techno goes next.
2024-01-16 - Inside Chlär's Studio: Tech Talk on Production Techniques, Favorite Plugins, Octatrack, and AI. Inside Chlaer's studio, on production technique.
2024-03-01 - From Detroit to the Cosmos: Carl Craig on Techno and Afrofuturism. Carl Craig on techno and Afrofuturism, recorded at the MSU Museum. Craig runs Planet E and is alive and listed for Movement Detroit 2026.
2024-03-05 - Grow Detroit’s Young Talent jobs program, Detroit DJ Stacey ‘Hotwaxx’ Hale | ABJ Full Episode. Stacey "Hotwaxx" Hale on Detroit PBS.
2024-03-08 - The Untold History Of Hard Techno (Early Detroit + 1990-1999). A history of hard techno running from early Detroit through the 1990s.
2024-03-14 - The Detroit Files Interview: Jerry "Flynn" Dale of Def Sound Studio, MI's First Hip-Hop Landmark. Jerry Dale of Def Sound Studio on Detroit's studio infrastructure.
2024-03-25 - Tech Talk: A Deep Dive Into Rene Wise's Studio Setup - From Hardware to FL Studio and more. Rene Wise walks through a studio that runs from hardware into software.
2024-04-19 - Submerge Radio: Episode 006 - DJ Dex aka Nomadico. Submerge Radio, episode six, with DJ Dex, also known as Nomadico.
2024-04-30 - Tresor Studio Session: Kerrie. A Tresor studio session with Kerrie.
2024-05-05 - Juan Atkins and Delano Smith: The Techno Pioneers at VANTEK (FULL INTERVIEW). Juan Atkins and Delano Smith in a full interview. Atkins was born 9 December 1962, is alive and touring, and took "Cybotron" and "Metroplex" from Alvin Toffler's vocabulary in The Third Wave.
2024-05-08 - Where does techno and house come from? An interview with DJ Minx. DJ Minx on where techno and house come from. She founded the Women on Wax DJ collective in 1996 and the label in 2001.
2024-05-17 - Lifka Hardware Set | Live at Tresor - December 15 2023. Lifka performs a hardware set at Tresor, 15 December 2023.
2024 - Studio 2 48-track desk (53720747939). The studio as practice rather than object. Artists self-publish this material, which is why it is one of the more obtainable parts of the record, though the Red Bull Music Academy lecture archive that carries much of it was brand-funded music-history publishing.
2024 - Coach House control room (53720408036). The studio as practice rather than object. Artists self-publish this material, which is why it is one of the more obtainable parts of the record, though the Red Bull Music Academy lecture archive that carries much of it was brand-funded music-history publishing.
2024 - Me in the Coach House Studio control room (53719506612). The studio as practice rather than object. Artists self-publish this material, which is why it is one of the more obtainable parts of the record, though the Red Bull Music Academy lecture archive that carries much of it was brand-funded music-history publishing.
2024 - Pomnik Powstańców Śląskich na tle Spodka w trakcie trwania Mayday Polska, 2024, KsP 005. Contemporary festival photography. Festivals over-deliver enormously in free photo sources while the Detroit originators are nearly absent from them, so this material is deliberately capped in this archive rather than allowed to stand in for the history of the genre.
2024 - Katowice, Pomnik Powstańców Śląskich a za nim Spodek podczas festiwalu Mayday Polska, 10.11.2024, KsP 067. Contemporary festival photography. Festivals over-deliver enormously in free photo sources while the Detroit originators are nearly absent from them, so this material is deliberately capped in this archive rather than allowed to stand in for the history of the genre.
2024 - Katowice, Spodek, Mayday Poalnd Festival, 10.11.2024, KsP 066. Contemporary festival photography. Festivals over-deliver enormously in free photo sources while the Detroit originators are nearly absent from them, so this material is deliberately capped in this archive rather than allowed to stand in for the history of the genre.
2024 - D-5-64-000-2302 Frankenstraße 200, Z-Bau Nürnberg 20241110 0477. A club of the kind this music was made for. Club interiors are structurally hostile to a free archive: no-photography rules, rights management and private premises mean the photographic record skews heavily to exteriors and to the few venues that permitted cameras.
2024 - Bahnwärter Thiel 13. A club of the kind this music was made for. Club interiors are structurally hostile to a free archive: no-photography rules, rights management and private premises mean the photographic record skews heavily to exteriors and to the few venues that permitted cameras.
2024 - Luke Slater 1 24. A DJ playing. This is the single largest category of material in the genre and the worst rights position: Boiler Room, Resident Advisor, Cercle, HOER and Mixmag own their catalogues, monetise them and rights-manage them, and are interested parties in the history they publish.
2024 - Bahnwärter Thiel 15. A club of the kind this music was made for. Club interiors are structurally hostile to a free archive: no-photography rules, rights management and private premises mean the photographic record skews heavily to exteriors and to the few venues that permitted cameras.
2024 - Bahnwärter Thiel 21. A club of the kind this music was made for. Club interiors are structurally hostile to a free archive: no-photography rules, rights management and private premises mean the photographic record skews heavily to exteriors and to the few venues that permitted cameras.
2024 - Broadcast Studio (53998133689). Radio is the correction to a club-centric telling of this history. It was the actual distribution mechanism in both founding cities: Mojo and WGPR in Detroit, and Radio Mars announcing UFO's locations in West Berlin.
2024 - Broadcast Studio (53998133784). Radio is the correction to a club-centric telling of this history. It was the actual distribution mechanism in both founding cities: Mojo and WGPR in Detroit, and Radio Mars announcing UFO's locations in West Berlin.
2024 - 2024-08-08-Heizkraftwerk-Friedrichshain-Berghain-Eingang. Berghain opened in 2004, following Ostgut in 1998, in a former power station in Friedrichshain. No photography is an enforced house rule with camera stickers at the door, so almost no legitimate interior imagery exists at all, let alone free imagery. The exteriors are what the record holds.
2024 - Rave The Planet Parade 2024 – OFFICIAL AFTERMOVIE. The official aftermovie for the Rave The Planet Parade 2024. Rave the Planet gGmbH applied in November 2022 for the heritage listing and is an interested party in how that listing is described.
2024 - 2024-08-08-Heizkraftwerk-Friedrichshain-Ruedersdorfer-Str-Berghain. Berghain opened in 2004, following Ostgut in 1998, in a former power station in Friedrichshain. No photography is an enforced house rule with camera stickers at the door, so almost no legitimate interior imagery exists at all, let alone free imagery. The exteriors are what the record holds.
2024 - Antique HMV gramophone- phonograph- record player. Vinyl is the format this music was distributed on, and photographing a physical object is more tractable for a free archive than licensing the audio pressed into it. Labels including Metroplex, Transmat, KMS, Underground Resistance, Warp and R&S actively manage their catalogues.
2024 - (20240817) Rave The Planet 01. The Love Parade ran on the Kurfuerstendamm until 1996, then moved to Strasse des 17. Juni in the Grosser Tiergarten, centred on the Siegessaeule. Attendance peaked from 1997 to 2000 at over a million annually, then declined as funding failed, and it was cancelled in 2004 and 2005.
2024 - 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall event 2024-11-09 01. Berlin techno did not begin with the Wall. UFO opened in 1988 in West Berlin, before the Wall fell, and Frankfurt's Technoclub dates to 1984. What the Wall's fall supplied was space: ownerless buildings, unclear property titles and a vacuum of licensing authority in the former East.
2024 - Love Parade - Rave The Planet 2024 01. The Love Parade began in July 1989 in West Berlin with 150 participants, initiated by Matthias Roeingh, who works as Dr. Motte, and Danielle de Picciotto, who is routinely dropped from the telling. Its motto was "Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen" and it was framed as a political demonstration for peace and international understanding through love and music.
2024 - Love Parade - Rave The Planet 2024 02. The Love Parade began in July 1989 in West Berlin with 150 participants, initiated by Matthias Roeingh, who works as Dr. Motte, and Danielle de Picciotto, who is routinely dropped from the telling. Its motto was "Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen" and it was framed as a political demonstration for peace and international understanding through love and music.
2024 - 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall event 2024-11-09 02. Berlin techno did not begin with the Wall. UFO opened in 1988 in West Berlin, before the Wall fell, and Frankfurt's Technoclub dates to 1984. What the Wall's fall supplied was space: ownerless buildings, unclear property titles and a vacuum of licensing authority in the former East.
2024 - 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall event 2024-11-09 03. Berlin techno did not begin with the Wall. UFO opened in 1988 in West Berlin, before the Wall fell, and Frankfurt's Technoclub dates to 1984. What the Wall's fall supplied was space: ownerless buildings, unclear property titles and a vacuum of licensing authority in the former East.
2024 - Love Parade - Rave The Planet 2024 03. The Love Parade began in July 1989 in West Berlin with 150 participants, initiated by Matthias Roeingh, who works as Dr. Motte, and Danielle de Picciotto, who is routinely dropped from the telling. Its motto was "Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen" and it was framed as a political demonstration for peace and international understanding through love and music.
2024 - 35 Jahre Mauerfall 002. Berlin techno did not begin with the Wall. UFO opened in 1988 in West Berlin, before the Wall fell, and Frankfurt's Technoclub dates to 1984. What the Wall's fall supplied was space: ownerless buildings, unclear property titles and a vacuum of licensing authority in the former East.
2024 - 35 Jahre Mauerfall 003. Berlin techno did not begin with the Wall. UFO opened in 1988 in West Berlin, before the Wall fell, and Frankfurt's Technoclub dates to 1984. What the Wall's fall supplied was space: ownerless buildings, unclear property titles and a vacuum of licensing authority in the former East.
2024 - 35 Jahre Mauerfall 004. Berlin techno did not begin with the Wall. UFO opened in 1988 in West Berlin, before the Wall fell, and Frankfurt's Technoclub dates to 1984. What the Wall's fall supplied was space: ownerless buildings, unclear property titles and a vacuum of licensing authority in the former East.
2024 - Behringer TD-3-SR. Released in 1981, the TB-303 is a monophonic bass synthesiser with a built-in step sequencer, designed to simulate a bass guitar for a guitarist practising alone. It failed at that and was discontinued in 1984. The resonant squelch produced by misusing its cutoff and resonance controls became acid, a lineage that runs primarily through Chicago acid house and reaches techno by way of acid techno.
2024 - Roland CompuRhythm CR-5000 drum machine (1981). A programmable drum machine of the kind whose commercial failure is load-bearing in this history. Designed as songwriting aids and judged unrealistic, they sold poorly, were discontinued and reached producers with no budget second-hand.
2024-07-01 - Panel talk with Juan Atkins - Legacy Detroit. A panel talk with Juan Atkins on the Detroit legacy. Atkins founded Metroplex in 1985 and its first release, Model 500's "No UFO's", is frequently described as the first techno record, though Cybotron's "Alleys of Your Mind" is four years older.
2024-07-16 - Tech Talk : Lauren Flax - Hardware Flow, Acid House and Human Touch (Electronic Beats TV). Lauren Flax on hardware flow and acid house.
2024-08-13 - Inside Open Ground: A very interesting new Club with an incredible sound system (Subtitles). Inside Open Ground, a newer club, with attention to its sound system.
2024-08-23 - A Guy Called Gerald on live performance – Interview and Roland T-8 jam. A Guy Called Gerald on live performance, with a Roland T-8 jam. Gerald is a direct bridge between Manchester and Detroit; he met Derrick May in Manchester in 1990.
2024-09-05 - TÂCHES TALKS #1: Claude Young. Claude Young in a long conversation.
2024-09-17 - DT:Recommends | Kelli Hand / K-Hand - Detroit-History Part 1 (2001) Album. Kelli Hand, K-HAND, and her album Detroit History. Known as the First Lady of Detroit techno, she was recognised as First Lady of Detroit by the city council in 2017 and died on 3 August 2021, aged 56.
2024-10-08 - Âme’s Frank Wiedemann Explores Ableton’s New Hardware: Move. Frank Wiedemann of Ame explores Ableton's Move hardware. Ableton Live was co-created by Robert Henke, who records as Monolake.
2024-10-27 - LET'S GO CRAZY. PARTY LIKE IT'S 1999, WHEN DOES CRY, & PRINCE'S FIRST UNFORGETABLE RADIO INTERVIEW🦋🔥. Mojo on Prince's first unforgettable moments on Detroit radio.
2024-11-11 - The Story of the TR-909. The story of the Roland TR-909, introduced in 1983 and produced to 1985. It is a hybrid: analogue voices for most sounds, but the first Roland drum machine to use samples, for the crash, ride and hi-hats.
2024-12-11 - Human Machines (Live hardware set) | Live at Tresor - 11.09.2024. Human Machines perform a live hardware set at Tresor, 11 September 2024.
2024-12-17 - Tech Talk: Wallis - Hardware, Processing and Playfulness (Electronic Beats TV). Wallis on hardware, processing and playfulness.
2024-12-28 - Juan Atkins on the Intersection of Techno, Physics and the Future
2025-03-24 - TALKS BECOME THINGS with Juan Atkins. Juan Atkins in a long-form conversation.
2025-04-13 - The TR-808 Drum Machine That Changed Music Forever (1980 Story). The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, released 1980 and produced into 1983. Its significance is that it let users program their own patterns rather than pick presets, and its sounds are synthesised rather than sampled, so they do not resemble a real kit.
2025-04-19 - Dédicace au Groove avec Mee Shel et Lysiane N. (Curated Mix + Talk) | Rinse France. A curated mix and talk on Rinse France.
2025-04-29 - Inside one of Berlin’s finest Mastering Studios - Manmade Mastering (Electronic Beats TV). Inside Manmade Mastering, a Berlin mastering studio.
2025-05-25 - Riva Starr - Movement Detroit, 25 May 2025. Riva Starr's house set from Movement in Detroit, recorded on the festival's middle day. Starr is a house producer and label owner rather than a techno DJ, and the set is a good example of how house is programmed at a festival built on Detroit techno. Released by the artist as a full unedited recording.
2025-06-03 - DISTRUCTION BOYZ Gqom DJ Set Live From DESCENDANTS Johannesburg. A gqom set from Johannesburg. Gqom, from Durban, explicitly departs from the four-to-the-floor that defines most Western house and techno, foregrounding local percussion instead, so calling it techno erases what makes it itself.
2025-06-11 - Judy (Live Hardware Set) | Live at Tresor - 05.03.25. Judy performs a live hardware set at Tresor, 5 March 2025.
2025 - Mixing console setup in a modern studio showcasing professional sound equipment and controls undefined. The studio as practice rather than object. Artists self-publish this material, which is why it is one of the more obtainable parts of the record, though the Red Bull Music Academy lecture archive that carries much of it was brand-funded music-history publishing.
2025 - Pan-Pot Party 01. A DJ playing. This is the single largest category of material in the genre and the worst rights position: Boiler Room, Resident Advisor, Cercle, HOER and Mixmag own their catalogues, monetise them and rights-manage them, and are interested parties in the history they publish.
2025 - Pan-Pot Party 07. A DJ playing. This is the single largest category of material in the genre and the worst rights position: Boiler Room, Resident Advisor, Cercle, HOER and Mixmag own their catalogues, monetise them and rights-manage them, and are interested parties in the history they publish.
2025 - Pan-Pot Party 20. A DJ playing. This is the single largest category of material in the genre and the worst rights position: Boiler Room, Resident Advisor, Cercle, HOER and Mixmag own their catalogues, monetise them and rights-manage them, and are interested parties in the history they publish.
2025 - Loveparade-Magnolien-Duesseldorf-2025-06-msu-. After Berlin cancelled in 2007 the Love Parade moved to the Ruhr: Essen 2007, Dortmund 2008, and Duisburg on 24 July 2010, where 21 people died and 652 were injured. Charges were brought against ten city employees and event organisers. The trial ended in May 2020 without a verdict and nobody was convicted, so responsibility was never legally established.
2025 - Loveparade-Magnolien-Duesseldorf-2025-06-msu-6959. After Berlin cancelled in 2007 the Love Parade moved to the Ruhr: Essen 2007, Dortmund 2008, and Duisburg on 24 July 2010, where 21 people died and 652 were injured. Charges were brought against ten city employees and event organisers. The trial ended in May 2020 without a verdict and nobody was convicted, so responsibility was never legally established.
2025 - Hardwax
2025 - 1 Berlin Berghain NYE 04. Berghain opened in 2004, following Ostgut in 1998, in a former power station in Friedrichshain. No photography is an enforced house rule with camera stickers at the door, so almost no legitimate interior imagery exists at all, let alone free imagery. The exteriors are what the record holds.
2025-07-06 - Electronic Music Synthesizer Documentary The Shape Of Things That Hum History Pop Rock Musica. The Shape of Things That Hum, a documentary history of the synthesiser.
2025-07-29 - Talk on techno and art: Robert Hood, Arthur Jafa and DeForrest Brown Jr.. Robert Hood, Arthur Jafa and DeForrest Brown Jr in a talk on techno and art, hosted at Tresor Berlin. Hood is alive and releasing in 2026 and also records as Floorplan with his daughter Lyric Hood.
2025-08-09 - Zurich Street Parade 2025 - Opera Stage - ARTE Concert. The Zurich Street Parade 2025, Opera stage.
2025-08-27 - Erik Jabari (Live Modular Set) | Live at Tresor - 11.05.25. Erik Jabari performs a live modular set at Tresor, 11 May 2025.
2025-09-10 - Why so many famous Berlin clubs are closing | DW News. Deutsche Welle on why so many Berlin clubs are closing. The Berlin Clubcommission, an advocacy body for the clubs and therefore an interested party, reports about 250 clubs in the city with over half assessed as at risk.
2025-10-07 - Front 242 - The Final Show in Brussels 25 Jan 2025 - Fan Documentary. Front 242's final show in Brussels on 25 January 2025, filmed by fans.
2025-10-08 - Russell E.L. Butler in conversation with Jeff Mills @TheLotRadio 10-07-2025. Russell E.L. Butler in conversation with Jeff Mills on The Lot Radio, 7 October 2025.
2025-10-12 - Inside Berlin’s Most Notorious Nightclubs (You Won’t Believe These Rules). A visitor's account of Berlin's club door culture. Everything beyond the documented fact of a strict and selective door is speculation, and the decoded dress codes and rules for getting in are folklore.
2025-10-14 - Tech Talk: DJ & Producer Nene H on Modular Systems, Essentials & Creative Mindset | EB.TV. Nene H on modular systems and what she considers essential.
2025-11-07 - Inside Jack White's Vinyl Empire: Making Records Third Man Pressing. Inside a working vinyl pressing plant. The physical manufacture is the part of this history that most tellings skip.
2025-11-12 - La HISTORIA de UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE: dioses subterráneos de DETROIT TECHNO | #primaverasound2026. A Spanish language documentary on the story of Underground Resistance.
2025-11-19 - Interview with George Evelyn - Nightmares On Wax | CEC Media. George Evelyn of Nightmares on Wax interviewed. The group's only album as a group was A Word of Science in September 1991, after which it became Evelyn's solo vehicle.
2025-12-07 - Haçienda In Conversation #6 - Kevin Saunderson & Graeme Park. Kevin Saunderson and Graeme Park in conversation for the Hacienda archive.
2025-12-09 - Tech Talk: Vera Grace - How Modular Gear Shapes Her Hypnotic Techno Sound (Electronic Beats TV). Vera Grace on how modular gear shapes her hypnotic techno.
2025-12-17 - Juan Atkins & Moritz von Oswald present Borderland - Riod (Original Mix). Borderland by Juan Atkins and Moritz von Oswald, the Detroit to Berlin collaboration made explicit as a record.
2025-12-18 - DJ-Legende Paul van Dyk über Trauma, Techno und Tresor | Interview | Berlin Sounds. Paul van Dyk on techno and Tresor, interviewed for rbb.
2025-12-20 - Basic Channel: The Origins of Berlin Dub Techno. The origins of Basic Channel and Berlin dub techno. The project grew around Hard Wax, the record shop Mark Ernestus opened in 1989, and its family includes Maurizio, Chain Reaction, Main Street and Basic Replay.
2025-12-28 - Underground Resistance: The Detroit History of Afro-Futurism and Myth. Underground Resistance and the Detroit history of Afrofuturism and myth.
2026-02-18 - Stasi Files: Inside East Germany’s Secret Police | FULL DOCUMENTARY. A documentary on the Stasi files and East German secret policing, the state apparatus that ended a few months before the first Berlin techno clubs opened in the East.
2026-02-18 - George Clinton and Maurice “Pirahnahead” Herd on recording at United Sound Systems Recording Studios. A longer conversation with George Clinton and Maurice Herd at United Sound Systems.
2026-03-03 - My Bad Sister - Inside The UK's Rave Underground. Inside the UK's rave underground with My Bad Sister.
2026-05-07 - Carl Craig on the hidden origins of Detroit Techno. Carl Craig on the origins of Detroit techno that get left out of the standard telling.
2026-05-13 - Carl Craig b2b Seth Troxler, live at Nuits Sonores 2026 – ARTE Concert. Carl Craig back to back with Seth Troxler at Nuits Sonores 2026.
2026-05-19 - Tech Talk: K.A.S.I. - Serge Modular, Improvisation & Organic Movement (Electronic Beats TV). K.A.S.I. on Serge modular systems and improvisation.
2026-05-29 - George Clinton & Maurice “Pirahnahead” Herd on recording funk music at United Sound Systems Studio. George Clinton and Maurice Herd on recording funk at United Sound Systems in Detroit, filmed for Detroit PBS.
2026 - Manifestive of 6 June 2026 in Nantes - Wall of free party, antifa and anarchist slogans. Free party and sound system culture, including the Spiral Tribe lineage and teknival. This material is fan-made and widely uploaded rather than rights-managed, which makes it one of the few genuinely open parts of the record.
2026 - Organic '96 Music Festival Event Flyer with Full Lineup. Contemporary festival photography. Festivals over-deliver enormously in free photo sources while the Detroit originators are nearly absent from them, so this material is deliberately capped in this archive rather than allowed to stand in for the history of the genre.
2026 - Organic-96-Festival-Flyer. Contemporary festival photography. Festivals over-deliver enormously in free photo sources while the Detroit originators are nearly absent from them, so this material is deliberately capped in this archive rather than allowed to stand in for the history of the genre.
2026 - Manifestive of 6 June 2026 in Nantes - Antifascist music sign. A techno street parade. The form descends from the Love Parade, which began in 1989 as a registered political demonstration, a status that was both a stated purpose and a funding mechanism until German courts reclassified it as a commercial event in 2001.
2026 - Manifestive of 6 June 2026 in Nantes - 'We'll fulfill our dreams-raves' sign with a circle-A. A techno street parade. The form descends from the Love Parade, which began in 1989 as a registered political demonstration, a status that was both a stated purpose and a funding mechanism until German courts reclassified it as a commercial event in 2001.
2026 - Manifestive of 6 June 2026 in Nantes - Artist not terrorist sign. A techno street parade. The form descends from the Love Parade, which began in 1989 as a registered political demonstration, a status that was both a stated purpose and a funding mechanism until German courts reclassified it as a commercial event in 2001.
2026 - Roland TR-808 Drum Machine at SMEM Playroom 07. An analogue drum machine manufactured from 1980 into 1983. Its significance is that it let users program their own rhythms rather than select presets, and that its sounds are synthesised rather than sampled, so they do not resemble a real kit. It is more central to electro and hip-hop than to techno narrowly, reaching Detroit largely by way of Cybotron and electro.
2026 - Roland MC-202 Synthesizer at SMEM Playroom. Part of the Roland line whose commercial disappointment shaped the genre. These machines were designed to imitate real instruments, were judged unconvincing at that, sold poorly and were discontinued, then reached the second-hand market cheap.
2026 - Synthesizers at SMEM Playroom. Part of the Roland line whose commercial disappointment shaped the genre. These machines were designed to imitate real instruments, were judged unconvincing at that, sold poorly and were discontinued, then reached the second-hand market cheap.
2026-07-08 - DJ Minx on Women on Wax, Vinyl & What Detroit Owes Its Pioneers | Living for the City FULL Interview. DJ Minx on Women on Wax, vinyl and what Detroit is owed by the rest of the world.
2026-07-14 - Blind Test: "Hard-Edged" Techno 1997-2006 I Electronic Beats TV. A blind listening test on hard-edged techno released between 1997 and 2006.
2026-07-22 - Kevin Saunderson on Why Detroit Techno Never Got Its Credit | Living for the City FULL Interview. Kevin Saunderson on why Detroit techno never got its credit. The money for this music was largely made in Europe, where Detroit artists licensed to UK, Belgian and German labels.
2026-07-23 - I Made A DRUM MACHINE From An Old Organ Found In The Trash!. A drum machine built from an organ found in the rubbish.
2026-08-04 - Dominik Eulberg - Nature One 2026 - ARTE Concert. Dominik Eulberg at Nature One 2026.
2026-08-06 - Klaudia Gawlas - Nature One 2026 - ARTE Concert. Klaudia Gawlas at Nature One 2026.
2026-08-09 - Annie Wonder live im Synthesizer Museum Berlin “The true emptiness smiles”. A live performance inside the Synthesizer Museum in Berlin.
2026-08-13 - Westbam - Nature One 2026 - ARTE Concert. Westbam at Nature One 2026. Westbam, Maximilian Lenz, has been active since the mid 1980s.
2026-09-02 - Theo Parrish & Lovie in Conversation: On Chicago House, Mixing Technology, & Selecting with Bravery. Theo Parrish in conversation on Chicago house, mixing technology and selecting.

Full text archive: /loreline-text/techno.md