Techno is a form of electronic dance music (EDM) that emerged in Detroit, Michigan, USA during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988.Brewster 2006:354Reynolds 1999:71. Detroit's music had hitherto reached British ears as a subset of Chicago house; 1 Rushton and the Belleville Three decided to fasten on the word techno - a term that had been bandied about but never stressed - in order to define Detroit as a distinct genre. Many styles of techno now exist, but Detroit techno is seen as the foundation upon which a number of subgenres have been built.

The initial take on techno arose from the melding of Eurocentric synthesizer-based music with various African American styles such as Chicago house, funk, electro, and electric jazz. Added to this was the influence of futuristic and fictional themes that were relevant to life in American late capitalist society—particularly the book The Third Wave by Alvin Toffler. Pioneering producer Juan Atkins cites Toffler's phrase "techno rebels" as inspiring him to use the word techno to describe the musical style he helped to create. This unique blend of influences aligns techno with the aesthetic referred to as afrofuturism. To producers such as Derrick May, the transference of spirit from the body to the machine is often a central preoccupation; essentially an expression of technological spirituality. In this manner: "techno dance music defeats what Adorno saw as the alienating effect of mechanisation on the modern consciousness".

Music journalists and fans of techno are generally selective in their use of the term; so a clear distinction can be made between sometimes related but often qualitatively different styles, such as tech house and trance. "Techno" is also commonly confused with generalized descriptors, such as electronic music and dance music.

Origins

Detroit sound

The early producers, enabled by the increasing affordability of sequencers and synthesizers, merged a European synth-pop aesthetic with aspects of soul, funk, disco, and electro, pushing electronic dance music into uncharted terrain. They deliberately rejected the Motown legacy and traditional formulas of R&B and soul, and instead embraced technological experimentation.Cosgrove 1988a. Juan Atkins, "Within the last 5 years or so, the Detroit underground has been experimenting with technology, stretching it rather than simply using it. As the price of sequencers and synthesizers has dropped, so the experimentation has become more intense. Basically, we're tired of hearing about being in love or falling out, tired of the R&B system, so a new progressive sound has emerged. We call it techno!"Cosgrove 1988a. Although the Detroit dance music has been casually lumped in with the jack virus of Chicago house, the young techno producers of the Seventh City claim to have their own sound, music that goes 'beyond the beat', creating a hybrid of post-punk, funkadelia and electro-disco…a mesmerizing underground of new dance which blends European industrial pop with black American garage funk…If the techno scene worships any gods, they are a pretty deranged deity, according to Derrick May. "The music is just like like Detroit, a complete mistake. It's like George Clinton and Kraftwerk stuck in an elevator." …And strange as it may seem, the techno scene looked to Europe, to Heaven 17, Depeche Mode and the Human League for its inspiration. …an Underground Resistance-related group, "Techno is all about simplicity. We don't want to compete with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Modern R&B has too many rules: big snare sounds, big bass and even bigger studio bills." Techno is probably the first form of contemporary black music which categorically breaks with the old heritage of soul music. Unlike Chicago House, which has a lingering obsession with seventies Philly, and unlike New York Hip Hop with its deconstructive attack on James Brown's back catalogue, Detroit Techno refutes the past. It may have a special place for Parliament and Pete Shelley, but it prefers tomorrow's technology to yesterday's heroes. Techno is a post-soul sound…For the young black underground in Detroit, emotion crumbles at the feet of technology. …Despite Detroit's rich musical history, the young techno stars have little time for the golden era of Motown. Juan Atkins of Model 500 is convinced there is little to be gained from the motor-city legacy… "Say what you like about our music," says Blake Baxter, "but don't call us the new Motown…we're the second coming."Cosgrove 1988b. May sees the music as post-soul and believes it marks a deliberate break with previous traditions of black American music. "The music is just like Detroit" he claims, "a complete mistake, it's like George Clinton and Kraftwerk are stuck in an elevator with only a sequencer to keep them company."