A lot of compelling story arcs claim that the big-time minimalist composers and Krautrock participants had stake in the creation of House or Techno. Maybe, MAYBE these eggheads stumbled onto the formula, just by nature of building music up from scratch in such small parameters, but these instances were generally closed off from actual American dance participants. Folks who saw Disco fall from charts after the Demolition saw dance music go underground, as the rise of DJ culture became more prevalent, and the Chicago/Detroit/Paradise Garage history unfolded in front of them. Lotsa moving parts involved.
But hey, the general modus’ of DJing in those days was far from the stifling mixes of today’s more massive EDM festivals. The rules weren’t set, actually, in those lofts in warehouses. Frankie Knuckles made smooth, silky and seamless mixes from a variety of records (a VARIETY of records) and machines, while Ron Hardy made jarring, physical mixes rendering songs almost unrecognizable from their source material. A few of those early House and Techno pioneers had a copy of “E2-E4” laying around, to be sure, maybe next to some Phillip Glass, or that guy who came up with “Drumming”… Steve Reich.
Manuel Göttsching was a member of Ash Ra Temple and was known to immerse himself in electronic work ala Schulze. “E2-E4” has the stark feel of a Chicago record, maybe, but it’s not dance floor optimal. But then again, if Larry Levan could play it in the Garage, and he could make anything work, then it doesn’t matter. If this COULD be a template for dance music, then the propulsive rework of “Sueno Latino” COULD assert it into dance history proper. Sampling creates that backdoor to history. -Wade
