Detroit
Detroit
"Detroit-style" techno [surprisingly enough : )] and deep house are by far the predominant styles. Hard trance (particularly acid) and Chicago house also make a strong showing.
Progressive house and breaks are rare, but will occasionally turn up in some sets. Gabber is despised by all of the local jocks and never gets played here. The larger events will sometimes have chill rooms, but ambience hasn't made a huge splash here.
Detroit is unusual in that there aren't any big promotion outfits -- individuals and small groups in the scene tend to partner together on an ad-hoc basis to throw parties.
A road trip to Detroit is definitely recommended, as most of the DJs rarely travel outside of the city, which is home to one of the most competitive DJ scenes out there. Some, like Jeff Mills and Derrick May, are rarely sighted even in Detroit.
For those who spin vinyl, a road trip to Detroit is worthwhile if only to visit Record Time. It may not seem like an impressive store upon first entering, but it's well stocked with Detroit labels (+8/Probe, Transmat/Fragile, KMS, Definitive, Generator, Accelerate, Axis, UR, just to name a few...), and is reasonably well stocked with imports. The sales staff is knowledgeable and you get to listen to records before you buy, like in any good store.
Jeff Mills: [Dave]: once again, doesn't spin often, plays hard Detroit-style techno, sometimes will spin house. Technique-wise, the most amazing DJ I've ever seen. [Sho]: technically superb, but hard to dance to. One of the fastest, if not the fastest at executing a mix. Always generates a large crowd along with gaping jaws. Doesn't spin in the US a lot. Catch him when you can.
Richie Hawtin: [Dave]: Spins a variety of styles, mostly on the harder end of the spectrum. Likes to spin long sets; a wizard of set construction. [Sho]: Spins house and techno, likes weird polyrhthmic stuff, but isn't afraid to play the crowd. Strangely, the house he spins is more like club house than detroit house. Still, an excellent DJ.
T-1000: [Dave]: Some have knocked his technique, but I've never seen another DJ get as worked up as him during a set -- he'll start a record, dance around like a madman, then run back behind the tables to mix the next record... Spins acid & hard trance. [Sho]: Lots of energy, plays un-housey techno, unlike most other Detroit DJs. He is also the man who draws the labels for DJAX-UP records.
[Dave]: Juan Atkins, Eddie "Flashin'" Fowlkes, Carl Craig, and other area "techno celebrities" occasionally spin at parties, but I haven't heard them enough to say much about their styles or DJ talent. Often though, it's coole enough just to watch these guys who make such great records out cutting it up live on a Saturday night... :)
[Dave]: D. Wynn, Mike Huckaby, Jetstream, Stacy Hale, Bone, etc. -- the "old dependables", as I like to call them, can be found just about every weekend playing at one party or another. All of them have top skills.
The Shelter (on Saturdays at St. Andrew's Hall) occasionally
presents credible techno, but call ahead of time to find
out who's spinning.
For the Ann Arbor area (this station is only sporadically receivable in metro Detroit) there's Crush Collision on Thursday nights (at 10PM, I think).
WHYT (96.3 FM) on weekend nights (from about 10PM on) plays a schizo mix of Top 40 dance hits and deep house. Go figure... :)
Last Updated 7/6/94