The zen garden theory of minimal techno
April 8, 2008As you can probably gather from this blog, I have a deep and abiding love of pop songs. However, in the last year or two, I’ve gotten more into techno music, especially minimal techno. Techno is a pretty maligned genre, and minimal definitely has a reputation as one of its least accessible forms – it’s widely considered to be all bleeps and glitches, of interest mostly to geeky boys who are high-functioning Asperger’s cases. It’s also somewhat overwhelming to get into – there is a massive amount of music available and not a lot of guidance.
But I’m going to argue that it’s worth persevering, or at least not dismissing minimal techno out of hand. Traditional pop songs are like Western gardens – a showcase of colour and form, easily accessible and understandable, and rewarding to our senses. But minimal techno is like a zen garden. At first glance, it seems impossibly austere, even barren. However, sustained attention reveals that its severity hides just as much complexity as greenery does. I listened to the song below half a dozen times in a row, and heard new details with every iteration. Give it a try.
Further reading: A Spirited Defense of Techno
MP3: Dominik Eulberg – Potzblitz und Donnerwetter
Image: Zen Garden by Flickr user Neilio, reposted here under its Creative Commons license.
[…] Previously: The zen garden theory of minimal techno […]
by xkcd on techno « zed equals zee April 16, 2008 at 9:55 am[…] mentioned in a previous post that getting into techno is a little overwhelming. One of the reasons why is the large number of […]
by A taxonomy of electronic music « zed equals zee April 20, 2008 at 11:39 amVery well written with a great sense of association and analogy. Your image went well with the article and you hit home for folks just getting into minimal.
by Psiplex May 10, 2008 at 3:28 pmThanks for your kind words!
by debcha May 10, 2008 at 5:31 pm[…] DJ and producer (and part-time park ranger) Dominik Eulberg was scheduled to play a Kontrol SF night this weekend, and I’ve been looking forward to it […]
by Upcoming no more: Dominik Eulberg « zed equals zee September 4, 2008 at 12:46 pmas with any other genre, bad minimal can easily be written off as nothing more than wallpaper music, giving the genre as a whole a bad rap, when some of it is incredibly interesting, once you get past the inherently heady trappings. i really liked the way you put it.
by donte September 23, 2008 at 4:00 am[…] (obnoxious ADD noise) MP3: Dominik Eulberg – Potzblitz und Donnerwetter [buy] […]
by Octopus Pie nails z=z « zed equals zee January 6, 2009 at 2:01 amVery interesting! If you’re still interested in finding new minimal techno, or any form of electronic music for that matter, visit my blog: Love Electronic Music.
I’m still in the early stages but I’ve already hosted the opening track from the new Bryan Zentz ep, Midnight Teeth. Cheers!
by iloveelectronicmusic February 19, 2009 at 5:25 pmThanks for coming by, and good luck with your blog!
by debcha February 19, 2009 at 7:49 pm[…] A taxonomy of electronic music; The zen garden theory of minimal techno; xkcd and […]
by Techno and impressionable young minds « zed equals zee December 3, 2009 at 10:39 pmOne thing which is common for all techno minimal tracks is the soft beat. So I think it is quite relaxing comaping to hard techno.
by Lindsey April 9, 2014 at 1:34 pm