ATKINS, JUAN / VON OSWALD, MORITZ - [LP] BORDERLAND

Juan Atkins (born December 9, 1962 in Detroit) is an American musician. He is widely credited as the originator of techno music, sometimes known as Detroit Techno since Atkins and techno co-creators Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson grew up in Detroit, Michigan. Atkins has cited the radio show of Charles "Electrifyin' Mojo" Johnson as a musical influence. Electrifyin' Mojo, a Detroit DJ, played an eclectic mix of music including Kraftwerk, Parliament and Prince. Atkins and friend Derrick May created mix tracks for Electrifying Mojo to broadcast, then began to create original music. At Washtenaw Community College, Atkins met Rick Davis, with whom he recorded under the name Cybotron. Atkins coined the term techno to describe their music, taking as one inspiration the works of futurist and author Alvin Toffler, from whom he borrowed the terms "cybotron" and "metroplex". Atkins has used the term techno to describe earlier bands that made heavy use of synthesizers such as Kraftwerk, although many people would consider Kraftwerk's music and Juan's early music in Cybotron as Electro. Techno is considered today as a specific genre. Atkins began recording as Model 500 in 1985 with tracks such as "No UFO's", "Night drive", "Future" and "Clear". He continues to produce his own and other musicians' records under the Metroplex Records label. Juan Atkins and Derrik May were also original members of Detroit's Plus 8 Crew, with a handful of others including UR, They defined Detroit Techno and Inspired future generations to follow suit.... Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

Moritz is one of the most influential producers of techno music in the 1990s. In the 1980s he was percussionist for Palais Schaumburg, but would segue into electronic music by the late 80's and early 90's. First as 3MB (with Thomas Fehlmann), he co-founded Basic Channel Records (with Mark Ernestus), whose various releases came to epitomize minimal techno. Living in Berlin, he was also part of a music scene that pivoted around the Tresor club and record label, as well as Hardwax, a record store. Von Oswald's epic M series of records are characterized by a 4x4 beat with dub-inflected syncopated synth pads, slowly modulated over time. Like the Basic Channel records, each 12" had tracks that took up the entire side of each record. His work was highly influential for that of Richie Hawtin, Thomas Brinkmann, Robert Henke (aka Monolake), Wolfgang Voigt, and later through artists whose records were released on the equally influential Chain Reaction Records. His current work as Rhythm & Sound fuses his interests in dub reggae and techno even further, where Jamaican vocalists sing or speak over stripped down techno beats and bass. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.