Detroit techno primer

Celebrating two years as creative director at the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, Carl Craig is releasing All Access, a CD on his Planet E label, which documents two years of festivals and the energy they've created. Featuring 14 scheduled artists of the DEMF from 2000 and 2001, this disc is a testament to the quality and accessibility of the music, proving that given the proper forum the music can flourish and reach the masses. All Access shows the energy of Detroit's free festivals, and more importantly, introduces those who haven't made it to one, or serves as a collection of some of the spirit they were feeling for those who did.

Many sides of the Detroit electronic music equation are represented here: from jazzy techno (Aril Brikha), party anthems (Stacey Pullen, Richie Hawtin), futuristic house (Recloose, Common Factor), Detroit hip hop (Lacksidaisycal featuring Slum Village, Breakfast Club and Brown Skin), to clicky techno (Theorem vs. Swayzak) and classic Detroit techno (Kenny Larkin). The CD also features outstanding unreleased cuts by Random Noise Generation and Shake, tracks from big names as well as tracks from new artists who made their debut to the world at the DEMF.

With the 12-inch single-focused nature of this music, a CD documenting some of the best of the Detroit techno canon is an incredibly useful tool. All Access collects many of the variations of Detroit's sounds — with some of the best tunes by its biggest names of the past few years, artists who often never reach CD — making it the first great Detroit techno compilation actually from Detroit.

All Access provides the perfect introduction to the current Detroit techno sound, and now all those who work in record stores (especially the ones which only sell CDs) will find this collection to be the ultimate response to the "what is Detroit techno?" question.

All Access will be available only in Detroit during the DEMF — and at the Planet E 10-year anniversary party, also named "All Access," at 1703 Cass (at Bagley) on Sunday, May 27 and then released to the world at a later date.

Brendan M. Gillen writes Pitch'd, MT's bi-weekly look at Detroit's electronic music scene. E-mail him at [email protected].