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David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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  • spacedoggy

    that was… something.

    • Boundegar

      It was awesome!

    • Florian Bösch

      Something not techno. Proof: Ian Pooley – Distance (1996) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG0jMqKVXWQ

      It was some kind of default pop beat with instruments sounding vaguely like bad 80ties electro jazz. bluärk.

  • PhosPhorious

    Ketamine helps. . . . 

  • agrovista

    This is like Ross on friends “music”
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLa8Br569gA

  • http://soundcloud.com/pocketsquare grumble-bum

    I clearly went about this whole thing the wrong way.

  • Rider

    Poor guy had no clue his over the top performance would be overshadowed by a 1980′s Micheal Post track being used by mistake.

    • ZikZak

      Right?  Here’s what was actually going on with techno in 1996:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=27Cskz71iDY#t=1282s

      • Tad Dicks

        That’s not techno.  That’s goa trance.  This is techno:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2QiV1O-HCo

        • Rider
          • Off White

            I love the connection between electronic music and American socialism: its all arguing about definitions. I’m not a huge fan, but my tastes run a little more towards the Asterix sort of thing, which is what, some Israeili Trance something or other? If you go to burning man often enough you can’t help but have some of that stuff rub off on you…

            Sure, that clip was pretty hilarious, but was the guy’s running blather all that different from some DJ’s internal narrative?

          • http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns

             I had NL Hardstyle rub off on me. Thankfully I can get my fix by throwing a sneaker in the dryer.

        • Trevcaru

          Thats not techno. Thats electro. This is techno: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tRag6Kkaug

          • darladoon

            wait a second, did you just argue that a Juan Atkins single on Metroplex from the 80s is *not* techno?

            that’s rather courageous of you….

          • Trevcaru

            Yes, sir. Just because Juan made it doesnt mean its techno. As clever as you think your response is, its not really an argument. Ive been producing for 15 years, a fan for nearly 20. 

            Discogs:
            Model 500 ‎– Night Drive
            Label: Metroplex ‎– M-002
            Format: Vinyl, 12″ 
            Country: US
            Released: 1985
            Genre: Electronic
            Style: Electro

          • darladoon

            Just because you produce techno doesn’t make it an argument, either

            And for the record, electro IS techno.

            And also, techno doesn’t require a 4/4 beat.

          • Trevcaru

            Ah, ok. Yeah americans call it all techno cause they cant tell the difference, or simply dont bother to make a distinction. If it makes bleeps and electronic noises they call it techno. But if you go anywhere else in the world they would be confused. What you, as well as most amercans, clump together as being techno the rest of the world just catagorizes as electronic music. Its like a general term.

            Argue it all u want, if drumcell dropped some electro at a gig he would loose a lot of fans. They would wonder why he quit playing techno and started playing electro. I dont know how else to explain this… this is getting retarded. Heheheh. I mean no offense.

          • TheMudshark

            Finally someone gets it right.

      • http://voidstar.com/ jbond

        Mars Needs Women!

    • http://www.openbuddha.com/ Al Billings

       That was my reaction… “It looks 1994 or so but sounds like 1985.”

  • keighvin

    Fanny pack FTW @ 1:15.

    • vonbobo

      not even that fanny pack is going to doom this groove!

  • http://repeaterband.com skeletoncityrepeater

    Wow, that’s the best Techno ever! Hey it’s James from Twin Peaks!
    That is techno music I suppose, if you consider Yello and such to be techno music..

    • nixiebunny

      If you consider Jefferson Starship to be techno, more like.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1077996546 Jacob Nerney

    JAMES

    • plyx

      What happened to that guy? Also, the blonde, curly locks aren’t really working for him.

      • Antinous / Moderator

        I bet that you didn’t like Brian Bosworth’s mullet, either. Philistine.

  • http://jimbeach.net mindfu

    God, that two minutes alone was just unwatchable.

  • mikei

    Wow.  It gets better.  Much, much better… http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114845/plotsummary

    • ocker3

       Thanks for the link, explains why the lady was famiilar, Christina Applegate

  • madopal

    This is the reason anything danceable in the 90s was “techno,” isn’t it?  All the bros watched this movie to figure out what all this “rave” nonsense was about.

    Oh, and the generic “CG demo” patch set makes it.  It’s like Jan Hammer is the KING of techno.

  • http://www.matthewpetty.com/ Matthew Petty

    Always worth posting. http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/

    • wysinwyg

       Thanks, I have been vaguely looking for something like this.

      • http://www.matthewpetty.com/ Matthew Petty

        Make sure you read the disclaimer and don’t take it too seriously. Some really good clips in there!

    • http://voidstar.com/ jbond

      I’d forgotten and lost that one. Shame it stops around 2000. Somebody should bring it up to date, coz I’m sure something happened in the last 12 years.

    • http://mattdm.org/ Matthew Miller

       Well, there went the afternoon.

    • Eric Alverson

      Pro-tip:  Go to Breaks/Nu-Skool/Hit stop in the player. . . hilarious!

      • http://www.matthewpetty.com/ Matthew Petty

        Ha! Excellent Easter Egg!

  • Bookburn

    Great.  And I suppose there is no way to “unknow” that is there?

  • Loafer

    Since when did the 90′s start looking like the 80′s ?

    • Trevour

      It definitely looks like the ’90s, but that music sounds terribly dated, even for 1996.

    • Jonathan Donald

       That soundtrack was from 1984. The producer had heard Herbie Hancock’s RockIt once, at a *very* cool (and edgy) party. The real mind-blowing thing about this scene seems to go over most people’s heads – that this is really about time travel….

  • http://twitter.com/fractos Adam Christie

    Unspeakable.

  • Larry OBrien

    Yes!  Yes!!  We’re nocturnal vinyl consuming something or others!!

  • Trevour

    Actual techno music in 1996 (and years prior) sounded a TAD better than this. Somebody on the production crew was out of touch.

    • darladoon

      gee, you think?

  • Rickenbacker4001

    I Forwarded this to our engineers in Chennai.
    They replied, “White folk”

  • Bill Farrar

    Vibrations is Legend! That movie was passed around the Breakcore scene for years! 

  • Andrew Gowland

    I watched the film… its musically hilarious because they have actual 90′s bands like 808 state and sven vath lined up with this music which bears no relation to techno… then there’s the cyberstorm bits… shudder inducing buttock clenchingly bad

  • http://splicedcomma.wordpress.com/ comma splice

    In cases like this, I have my preferred brand of unicorn chaser:
    http://youtu.be/XV3f18GXbEs
    http://youtu.be/Nsct-e-HVE0
    http://youtu.be/0JpD5skqGOo

  • http://www.facebook.com/marko.raos Marko Raos

    Hollywood, as always, is squarely right on top of any new trend that comes along.

  • flickerKuu

    So much win here. Honestly I got more entertainment out of that then some of the “top” DJ’s I’ve seen. I love the fact he blew off the Turntables and completely blew our minds with a synth. Reminds me of how I became addicted to techno.   In college we got the newest technology, “Cable Radio” and as a joke we would have “beer and techno” parties. None of us liked “techno” it was silly right? No words, beeps and stuff as music. Stupid right? We danced around pounding beer as good college kids did and turned to the techno station. We aren’t sure what happened but suddenly we woke up and were techno-heads. Some of us became great DJ’s some of us became VJ’s. It was like a virus, before we knew it we liked the stuff. In reality we never really listened to techno. Too minimalist. What we were listening to would be considered house at the time. Point is, it got under our skin and controlled our minds. That’s the point of this PSA right?

  • irksome

    Well, if by “techno” you mean “gay-porn soundtrack”…

  • jody

    I cannot unsee that.

  • sorted

    oh… my… word…

  • Stjohn

    “No really, Stock Aitken Waterman tracks are all techno!  You can hear it in Rick Astley, Jason Donovan, Kylie Minogue, Bananarama, and Dead Or Alive!”

  • timquinn

    You guys complain that Van Gogh’s skies are the wrong color, right?

  • darladoon

    This would have made a lot more sense if it was released in ’86, not ’96

  • Mister44

    That wasn’t techno. This is techno. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKduhUXa0rg (the video is rubbish, but I’ve loved the song for years.)

    Though the beginning part DID sound a little like late 80′s KMFDM

    • darladoon

      it appears a lot of people here don’t really know what techno is

      this is *not* techno

      if you want a sure bet, it’s pretty much gonna be from detroit (for starters)

      and if not detroit, then probably somewhere in germany (see: basic channel)

      • Wreckrob8

        So you discount harder styles from the Netherlands and Italy as techno?

        • darladoon

          I do

          Like I said, it if ain’t from detroit or germany, it probably isn’t techno

          Yes, there is some icy scandinavian techno (like vladislav delay) or some chicago and jersey guys who cross over (like dj traxx or dj qu or dj jus ed) but more often than not,  real techno comes from germany or the US of A

  • occult control

    -1

  • http://www.kmoser.com kmoser

    Tech? No.

  • http://www.facebook.com/djpaulv Paul V. Spins

    That ain’t “techno”! More like Jan Hammer scoring Miami Vice circa 1984!

  • Bucket

    Do you know anything about techno? No? Good, neither does El Guapo.

  • http://creamneuron.tumblr.com/ creamneuron

    Hilarious discussion!
    Let me throw in – This is techno, as the songtitle proofs:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kfpCH14xV4And:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0uTHzB51u8

  • http://www.xradiograph.com/ OtherMichael

    Is the vibe going? Is it maintained with a trance-inducing bass? Are your cosmic nerve-endings telling you what to do? Then it is techno.

  • http://profiles.google.com/macrumpton Michael Crumpton

    That totally wanted to segue into the Miami Vice theme.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3Qsjpr1AbI

  • http://evilbobdayjob.blogspot.com/ Deidzoeb

    That’s not Dubstep, that’s Brostep.

    That’s not Techno, that’s Electro.

    That’s not House, that’s Neo Soul.

    That’s not Rock, that’s Motown.

    That’s not Jazz, that’s Bebop.

    That’s not Blues, that’s Boogie-Woogie.

    Shut up and dance.