Jawohl, Bro’!

Detroit and Berlin’s importance is virtually Biblical in techno-music lore. Producers and DJs from those cities have been ping-ponging back and forth in a seminal symbiotic relationship that’s been efficiently humming since shortly after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. The Tresor club opened soon after that historic occasion, exposing thousands to world-class techno; its namesake label debuted in 1991, going on to release two comps hailing the “Berlin Detroit Techno Alliance.”

Both metropolises had gone through hardships (race riots, massive unemployment, war, political upheaval, etc.), but their artists drew inspiration from such strife. Techno appealed to these denizens because it seemed to promise a better future. The music’s accelerated, metronomic rhythms, and bold, synthetic textures portended escape from grim realities. Orderly Germans Kraftwerk forged the blueprint that Detroiters Derrick May and Juan Atkins extrapolated into the futuristic vehicle that has transported millions to higher states of consciousness.

Detroiter Dan Bell, making a rare Southeastern appearance, and Berliner Ellen Allien, an admirer of Bell’s who unfortunately canceled her Atlanta appearance just prior to this issue’s publication, are two DJ/producers who represent techno’s old and new schools, respectively, while they forge their own distinctive identities. Bell, aka DBX and ex-member of Cybersonik with Richie Hawtin and John Acquaviva, is a techno legend and microhouse avatar whose discography stretches back to 1990’s “Technarchy” (a jaunty yet ominous Teutonic stomp recorded with Cybersonik). Allien — who runs the respected BPitch Control label and spins dazzlingly eclectic DJ sets — titled her engaging 2003 album Berlinette in homage to her creatively fertile home base.

Detroit producers such as May, Atkins and Eddie “Flashin’” Fowlkes dominated techno’s early years with tracks that captured both the Murder City’s ominous bleakness and its inhabitants’ desire to escape to a more hopeful future. Meanwhile, Berlin electronicists (and German tech-house artists, in general) rule 21st-century dance music with their technologically advanced productions that wring maximal pleasure from minimalist methods. Both cities’ contemporary producers continue to prosper, however, because of their inescapable bond.

Bell has spent a lot of time in Berlin post-Wall, as the city’s insatiable appetite for Detroit techno led him to get many bookings there. “The Berlin music scene today has been shaped a lot by people moving there, not only from other parts of Germany, but from all over the world,” says Bell. “Berlin seems like it is becoming an artistic center similar to how New York was in the ’70s — with many different types of people and styles converging at once. I think it will play a big role in whatever happens next.”

Allien’s Berlinette radiates Berlin’s guarded optimism and open-minded embrace of electro, broken beat and electro-pop. She rhapsodizes about her hometown on wax and in words.

“Berlin is a huge city and very cheap in comparison to other European cities,” says Allien. “The club landscape is very diverse. There is a good music infrastructure: record stores, concerts, clubs, labels, distribution. This is why it’s so practical to live here as an artist.”

Allien also has much love for Detroit techno and Mr. Bell. “Of course, I grew up with music from Detroit. Berlin was totally excited about Underground Resistance and the Detroit sound. It was what was being played in the clubs here; it was the basis.

“[Dan Bell] is a great minimalist!” says Allien.

Bell’s Über-minimalist aesthetic can be best experienced (for the turntable deficient) via the retrospective Blip Blurp Bleep (Logistic) and the mix CD The Button Down Mind of Daniel Bell (Tresor). His tracks from the ’90s — including the eerie club classic “I’m Losing Control” — still fit naturally into tech-house sets featuring the latest dubplates. Bell promises a “deep and quirky” set, and few do it better than this 36-year-old master. While Allien’s own brand of deepness and quirkiness comes in a more song-friendly package, her music exemplifies Detroit/Berlin techno’s fecund (wo)man-machine-made creativity.

music@creativeloafing.com