With the decline of the large scale raves and Massv's of the 90's, the glory days of US Techno have gone the way of the dodo, the glowstick and the shiny pants raver. Unlike in Europe, where electronic strains still have big sway on the dancefloor and bar scenes, with the exceptions of a few large events like the Detroit Electronic Music Festival and the Florida Winter Music Conference, the scene is mostly kept afloat by smallish communities of dedicated promoters and partiers throughout the country.
So for the tech inclined, the excitement around this weekend's Minitek Music Festival is understandable. The 3 day event, which runs Friday through Sunday and places a large emphasis on techno and it's musical spinoff-Minimal-is bringing some of the biggest names in the scene to New York's Coney Island and combining the beats with a program focusing on digital innovation in art, design and technology.
Internationally famous techno DJ's including Richie Hawton and Matthew Dear will share space with conceptual and avant garde artists like LA's Brick Table-an interactive music video installation and Norman Fairbanks' performance based art.
But even with the addition of the extra workshops and exhibitions, Minitek's founders don't want you to forget this is a music festival. Jenny Tan and Daniele Laudonio, themselves globe trotting party people, had long lamented the lack of large scale electronica events in their adopted city. Two years ago Ms. Tan sought to create an event that quenched her taste for techno. The original result was Minimoo, a traveling underground techno party that gave birth to Minitek once Laudonio came aboard. The two hope that the new festival could give New York's techno scene if not a fighting chance against the big parties in Europe and Spain, at least a haven for the largeley underground movement.
“Minitek is, for us, a playground to try out new things. We don’t know if it will work or if people will understand everything” Ms. Tan said in an article in the New York Times.
The founders say that with such a small scene promotions and advanced buzz are key in the events success. The Minitek website has a wealth of information on the festival, participating DJ's and artists and the minimal techno scene. There's an extensive podcast of DJ's that gives a good example of what to expect. Click the link below to check out the mix from Alexi Delano and find more music at the Minitek website.
