"Here is the music that created, quite literally, a generation of minds that suddenly heard new ways of thinking. A collective consciousness turned onto radical concepts of living and being. A true musical (r)evolution."

This is what you can read inside of the Derrick May "Innovator" collection. A collection of songs that I began listing to because of its history and significance to the foundations of techno music--more specific--detroit techno. Not only that, it is highly recommended by all the core detroit techno 313-ers. May is considered the father of techno. And Innovator is why people point to Detroit as the birthplace of techno.

I know these songs were not made on the copyright listed year of 1997. But they do not need a year, they are almost timeless, much like classical music. And indeed, one could draw comparisons between the techno of Derrick May and the music of Mozart, mainly because of the omnipresent supply of strings tied together by cyborganic machines. There are two CDs, and here is the tracklisting:

CD1

01. "rest"
02. strings of the strings of life
03. another kaos beyond kaos
04. freestyle
05. feel surreal begins
06. beyond chaos
07. another "rest"
08. the dance
09. a little spaced out
10. daymares
11. it is what it is
12. beyond the dance (cult mix)
13. original feel surreal
14. r-theme

CD2

01. to be or not to be
02. icon (montage mix)
03. phantom
04. a relic mix
05. kaotic harmony
06. more phantom
07. salsa life
08. nude photo
09. the beginning
10. another relic from the relics
11. drama
12. "strings" - the original mix
13. wiggin - juan atkins mix

As you can see, there are plenty of songs in this collection. The first CD is 46:16, and 59:08 for the second. I will tell you that the second CD is my favorite of the two. Why? Well nobody can escape the presence of 'nude photo' with 'the beginning' as its natural extension. (In fact, there is no break between the two!) I can only imagine the pre-internet days in which these songs were conceived. I think they are ahead of their time. They evoke visions of a celestial cyberculture that only a subtle episode of Star Trek: Next Generation could dare hint at. (what music does Data listen to?) The tracks can get funky at times but they always seem to maintain a sense of composure. Everyone knows that Derrick May is not 4-on-the-floor bangin' techno, so I won't be sending this one off to my friends as an introduction to pumping mindless mechanics, instead I will hide it from others and listen to it in the solitude of headphones, forever analyzing the synthetically constructed rhythms. Listen to this as a chill-out CD or take it with you on a drive to a scenic area. Either way, I like it.



Recommended: Yes