{
  "slug": "the-desk-detroit-techno",
  "theme": null,
  "genre": "Detroit Techno",
  "genreUrl": "https://waxonia.com/genre/detroit-techno/",
  "brief": "Where to go once Strings of Life has done its work. Four records that show the city arguing with itself about what the future was supposed to sound like.",
  "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-detroit-techno/",
  "updated": "2026-08-28",
  "curator": {
    "slug": "the-desk",
    "name": "The Waxonia Desk",
    "bio": "The people who write the rankings on this site. We keep the lists honest, we argue about the order, and we get asked the same question more than any other: where should someone actually start. These are our answers.",
    "link": "https://waxonia.com/",
    "url": "https://waxonia.com/artist/the-desk/"
  },
  "ordered": false,
  "pickCount": 4,
  "years": {
    "first": 1985,
    "last": 1997
  },
  "picks": [
    {
      "trackKey": "model-500--no-ufos",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/model-500--no-ufos/",
      "title": "No UFO's",
      "artist": "Model 500",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/model-500/",
      "year": 1985,
      "label": "Metroplex",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The map, drawn before anyone had agreed there was territory. Cold electro chassis and science-fiction distance, and the first record that is unambiguously techno rather than something approaching it.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "detroit-techno",
          "name": "Detroit Techno",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/detroit-techno/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-eighties",
          "name": "The Eighties",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-eighties/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-the-hundred",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Model%20500%20No%20UFO's",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/search?q=Model%20500%20No%20UFO's",
          "exact": false
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "jeff-mills--the-bells",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/jeff-mills--the-bells/",
      "title": "The Bells",
      "artist": "Jeff Mills",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/jeff-mills/",
      "year": 1996,
      "label": "Purpose Maker",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The other pole from Strings of Life entirely. No melody to speak of, no release, just a riff that tightens for six minutes. Techno as pure pressure, and still the most reliable weapon in the format.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "detroit-techno",
          "name": "Detroit Techno",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/detroit-techno/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-detroit-in-europe",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Detroit, Heard in Europe",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-detroit-in-europe/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-the-hundred",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Jeff%20Mills%20The%20Bells",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=S-BlgAQ7uRQ",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "drexciya--bubble-metropolis",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/drexciya--bubble-metropolis/",
      "title": "Bubble Metropolis",
      "artist": "Drexciya",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/drexciya/",
      "year": 1993,
      "label": "Underground Resistance",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Detroit techno as mythology, made by people who refused to be photographed and built an underwater civilisation instead. Play it after the Model 500 and hear the same city imagining a very different exit.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "detroit-techno",
          "name": "Detroit Techno",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/detroit-techno/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-a-way-in",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — A Way In",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-a-way-in/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-detroit-in-europe",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Detroit, Heard in Europe",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-detroit-in-europe/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Drexciya%20Bubble%20Metropolis",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=wdbf7-tlDV8",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "carl-craig--at-les",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/carl-craig--at-les/",
      "title": "At Les",
      "artist": "Carl Craig",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/carl-craig/",
      "year": 1997,
      "label": "Planet E",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The argument's resolution, if it has one. Craig lets the melody breathe for nine minutes and proves the machine funk was always capable of tenderness when nobody was trying to prove anything.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "detroit-techno",
          "name": "Detroit Techno",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/detroit-techno/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Carl%20Craig%20At%20Les",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=1lzLxbifln0",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}