4 ms·

I like the New Yorker. I love the works of Juan Atkins and Derrick May. "The situation escalated when Peter Feldmann, then the mayor of Frankfurt, sent an invi

I like the New Yorker. I love the works of Juan Atkins and Derrick May. "The situation escalated when Peter Feldmann, then the mayor of Frankfurt, sent an invitation for momem’s opening party welcoming guests “in the middle of Frankfurt, where techno has its origin.” The accumulated snubs set off a conflagration in the fiercely protective techno community". This is silly. Of course the mayor of Frankfurt is gonna promote his shiny new museum, and probably doesn't know a ton about the Detroit scene. That's not a reason to frame this as whitewashed, or blame the German effort to highlight their works. What we need is more US support for the electronic music community. Like the article states, non profits like that German museum are not as much of a thing here. It should be, and I can think of other people than the mayor of Frankfurt to direct your angry DMs to, to make things better.

JPKab 4y ago
Agreed. A typical New Yorker attempt at maximizing controversy by framing a German city celebrating it's own techno pioneers as "stealing credit" for techno from Detroit. As a guy who got into electronic music in the mid 90s and has seen the likes of Derrick May/Juan Atkins/Richie Hawtin live on multiple occasions, I really hate this attempt to try to turn every music genre into another "Elvis stole it" narrative. One of the most amazing things about the US techno/rave scene was how incredibly racially inclusive it always was, primarily because it was so dominated by gay Americans of all races who found that they faced aggressive bigotry from all skin colors. Hell, the Detroit techno scene really kicked off in the clubs that catered to Detroit's black middle class in the burbs, because the inner city Detroit black clubs were filled with aggressively, violently homophobic dudes looking for an excuse to beat people up. I have fond memories of the absolute color-blindness of clubs in DC (Buzz/Nation) and Baltimore and yes, Detroit too. Nobody who lived through this scene would think that the Frankfurt museum is coming at the expense of the Belleville crew, ever. Journalists love making things about racism. It's an immediate click magnet, but it's just gross to see something that was so beautiful cast in an inaccurate light by some journalist who was indoctrinated into a race obsessed, univariate model of human social interactions by a university professor.
- jjulius 4y ago
  I'm just as immersed in the scene, and I'm struggling to understand the blame towards journalists here. There has been a ton of hatred from OG cats in Detroit since this museum was announced, including accusations of racism. This isn't the New Yorker pulling accusations of racism out of their ass, it's reporting on something that folks in the scene, the very people profiled in the article, have - rightly or wrongly - actually been saying. This is a common thread that folk in their shoes have been feeling for decades, and they've never really been silent about it.
Lio 4y ago
I quite agree. One wonders if they’d instead built the museum in Stuttgart at the site of the old Kling Klang studio if the New Yorker would still try to frame this as “whitewashing”.
- whstl 4y ago
  > Stuttgart Dusseldorf! But your point stands.
  - Lio 4y ago
    Doh! OMG What a mistake to make. Very much, mea culpa. Not sure what was going on in my head when I typed that. I thinking Düsseldorf but typing something else I swear. :) Even have Fortuna as my Bundesliga club. I will never live this down! /shakes head and walks off sobbing.
RamblingCTO 4y ago
Fun fact: Peter Feldmann has been ousted and voted out quite recently because he's a massive dickhead who tried to take ownership of everything. Even football championships. But he was forced to leave due to corruption! Source: live in Frakfurt

JPKab 4y ago

Agreed. A typical New Yorker attempt at maximizing controversy by framing a German city celebrating it's own techno pioneers as "stealing credit" for techno from Detroit. As a guy who got into electronic music in the mid 90s and has seen the likes of Derrick May/Juan Atkins/Richie Hawtin live on multiple occasions, I really hate this attempt to try to turn every music genre into another "Elvis stole it" narrative. One of the most amazing things about the US techno/rave scene was how incredibly racially inclusive it always was, primarily because it was so dominated by gay Americans of all races who found that they faced aggressive bigotry from all skin colors. Hell, the Detroit techno scene really kicked off in the clubs that catered to Detroit's black middle class in the burbs, because the inner city Detroit black clubs were filled with aggressively, violently homophobic dudes looking for an excuse to beat people up. I have fond memories of the absolute color-blindness of clubs in DC (Buzz/Nation) and Baltimore and yes, Detroit too. Nobody who lived through this scene would think that the Frankfurt museum is coming at the expense of the Belleville crew, ever. Journalists love making things about racism. It's an immediate click magnet, but it's just gross to see something that was so beautiful cast in an inaccurate light by some journalist who was indoctrinated into a race obsessed, univariate model of human social interactions by a university professor.

jjulius 4y ago
I'm just as immersed in the scene, and I'm struggling to understand the blame towards journalists here. There has been a ton of hatred from OG cats in Detroit since this museum was announced, including accusations of racism. This isn't the New Yorker pulling accusations of racism out of their ass, it's reporting on something that folks in the scene, the very people profiled in the article, have - rightly or wrongly - actually been saying. This is a common thread that folk in their shoes have been feeling for decades, and they've never really been silent about it.

Lio 4y ago

I quite agree. One wonders if they’d instead built the museum in Stuttgart at the site of the old Kling Klang studio if the New Yorker would still try to frame this as “whitewashing”.

whstl 4y ago
> Stuttgart Dusseldorf! But your point stands.
- Lio 4y ago
  Doh! OMG What a mistake to make. Very much, mea culpa. Not sure what was going on in my head when I typed that. I thinking Düsseldorf but typing something else I swear. :) Even have Fortuna as my Bundesliga club. I will never live this down! /shakes head and walks off sobbing.

RamblingCTO 4y ago

Fun fact: Peter Feldmann has been ousted and voted out quite recently because he's a massive dickhead who tried to take ownership of everything. Even football championships. But he was forced to leave due to corruption! Source: live in Frakfurt