The Rough Guide to Techno

Rating:
Summary: Stays true to the genre
Review: A very good pocket guide. This book, unlike many other techno-style books, stays true to the genre which it claims to depict. It lists alot of artists and when used in conjuction with the rough guide to House, and Drum N' Bass, you pretty much get all the info on Electronica you need in three pint-sized books.

Rating:
Summary: Not Very Informative or Complete
Review: I recently ordered this book, as I don't know too much about Techno music and I remember the Rough Guide to Rock that was once online (but has since disappeared) being fairly informative and well-written. However, I realized after getting this book that the Rough Guide online seemed good precisely b/c it was online, and free. At least when it comes to music (I've not read any of their travel books), the rough guides are not very thorough or involved in the subject matter. You could probably get all the information in this book free online from the All Music Guide. And also don't expect to get complete discography information. You just get one or a few recommendations for each artist and sketchy details in the entry about their recorded output. It is generally well-written though.

Rating:
Summary: A Hard Task Well Done
Review: Tim Barr with the help from some other writers has done an outstanding job on this rough guide. You can feel his love for the music as well as gain from his sharp ear and expert knowledge of the genre. Mr. Barr covers a lot of ground over about 15 years of music from many diverse artists. He does a great, "rough" job, but even so, is very detailed. Artists from Europe, America and Japan are covered. Unlike the Rough Guide to Drum 'n' Bass, Barr's descriptions are more interesting, more enlightening, and less biased. Rarely does he rip on an artist, and instead works to find each artist's unique flavor and angle, giving respect to every type of techno out there, from rave acid house to Detroit techno, to hard, punishing techno to minimal techno, to soft, ambient and more intelligent forms. He has a broad appreciation for the music which is essential to any great understanding and criticism of electronic music and its various interpretations. If he does have criticisms, they are warranted and unavoidable. Of course, this is a "rough" guide so many artists are missing. Just on the American front, it would have been nice to have seen Single Cell Orchestra and Young American Primitive included in there, but Barr does more than a sufficient job. Maybe in later editions he'll be able to append some that were left out or missed. Well written, a pleasure to read, informative, passionate, measured...a great guide. I'm a huge techno fan and have been writing for a magazine for over 4 years about techno and dance music. Knowing what a challenge this must have been, and knowing what it is to be an open-minded, and more unbiased crit, Techno: The Rough Guide, stands as a great testament to this music's creativity, artistic integrity and commitment to innovation. It'll make you proud.

On a less important note, the black and white pictures are all quite nice, many of them excellent, capturing the playfulness and humanity of our intrepid heroes.