V/A, True People: The Detroit Techno Album (1996)

It’s a box-set of five 12” records. And I bought it from a dude who walked in to the shop I was working in – late one night – wanting to offload some second-hand vinyl. I never really thought about whether it was a dodgy deal or not, simply explained that the shop didn’t trade records but that I might be interested. He wanted $200 for about 20 records – counting this 5xTwelves set also. I talked him down to $80 then could only find $60 and offered that. He took it. I’m pretty sure that’s how it went. It was a grab-bag of dance stuff – some of it (a lot of it) was utter shit but there were some useful things. Like this box-set. I still have this. And still play it from time to time. Not all of it is great but it was a touchstone for me – a way in. Dance music culture was hitting hard, I was working in a music store at the time and knew about most of the genres except for anything dance-related. So this became a starting point for me, for recommendations and for my own journey with dance music. I really like a lot of atmospheric drum’n’bass and ambient stuff – a lot of it (even to this day) coming from the earliest Detroit techno. I still dig stuff on here like Drexciya’s great Davey Jones Locker – an awesome track to my ears. The box is crushed to bits – like two stale bits of bread trying to hold together the decent filling of a sandwich. The records themselves: still mint. Or close enough to it.

Sample Track: Where Is The Love (Blake Baxter)

The Vinyl Countdown is a document of every LP I listen to, brand new discoveries and old-old favourites; extremely pre-loved, previously abandoned or with the shrink-wrap having just been removed it’s all here at The Vinyl Countdown