Derrick May Repress / ‘Universal Techno’ Documentary

I’ve been rinsing the above Derrick May repress over the last 24 hours – Relics: A Transmat Compilation. The A-side, ‘MS-6’ was originally done under May’s Rhythim is Rhythim alias, circa 1987, and if possible stands out even more today than it did back then.

It’s only been the last 12 months that I’ve become a massive ‘Shake’ Shakir fan – from Rush Hour’s Frictionalism comp – slowly opening up a world of techno that I’d completely missed previously. This plate fits in perfectly.

I was also put on to the below documentary, Universal Techno, which is a French production done by Arte in 1996 on the roots of Detroit techno is something special. Peep a young Derrick May photographing The Michigan Theatre after it was turned in to a car park. All the usual names make an appearance (check the tags at the bottom of the page for the ones I can remember) but it’s definitely worth sitting down to watch, as most of the interviews are in English.