“Stereomodernism” is a mix that frames techno as embodied aural history, from a Black theoretical perspective—and as a direct foil to Rainhald Goetz's “Rave,” an attempt to counter the fantasy that is the white, Eurocentric view of a distinctly African American artform. DeForrest Brown, Jr., who produces music and other media as Speaker Music, draws on the poet Tsitsi Ella Jaji’s concept of “dubbing in stereo for solidarity”: his mix melds Detroit techno and adjacent sounds of African-American culture, illuminating the relationship between techno and “centuries of attempts to evade and subvert the status quo in America.” With an illustration by Abdul Qadim Haqq.

1. Alabama A&M University Marching Maroon & White Band, “Homecoming Marching In/Tunnel,” live recording, October 5, 2019
2. Bookworms, “Appropriation Loops,” Appropriation Loops (2018)
3. Atlantis, “Words from Atlantis,” Interstellar Fugitives - Destruction of Order (2005)
4. YATTA, “Cowboys,” WAHALA (2019)
5. The Detroit Escalator Co., “Folding Space,” Black Buildings (2001)
6. Mad Mike (ft. Atlantis), “Chaos & Order,” Interstellar Fugitives - Destruction of Order (2005) (Speaker Music’s Black Atlantic edit)
7. Population One, “Free Falling Forever,” Unknown Black Shapes (1994)
8. Arpanet, “The Analyst,” Wireless Internet (2002)
9. Aybee, “The Professor,” The Odyssey (2017)
10. Dopplereffekt, “Scientist,” Gesamtkunstwerk (1999)
11. Der Zyklus, “Facial Vectors,” Biometry (2004)
12. Urban Tribe, “Biohazard,” Authorized Clinical Trials (2006)
13. Lab Rat XL, “Lab Rat 2,” Mice or Cyborg (2003)
14. Derrick May, “Feel Surreal Ends the Feel Surreal,” Innovator (1998)
15. L.A.M. (Life After Mutation), “Nuclear Facelift,” Balance of Terror (1992)
16. DJ Di’Jital, “Mutant Creations Compute,” Finyl Frontier of Electro (2017)
17. Alice Coltrane, “Ptah, the El Daoud,” Ptah, the El Daoud (1970)
18. DJ S² and Von Floyd, “ISF2 Post Emancipation Psychosis,” Interstellar Fugitives - Destruction of Order (2005)
19. AceMoMA, “Start the Riot,” A New Dawn (2020)
20. Suburban Knight, “Maroon,” Interstellar Fugitives (1998)
21. Andre Holland, “Unabomber,” Interstellar Fugitives (1998)
22. The Vision, “Crush, Kill, Destroy,” Gyroscopic (1991)
23. DJ Stingray 313, “Interest Rates,” F.T.N.W.O. (2012)
24. Underground Resistance (Mike “Mad” Banks), interview, Slices: The Electronic Music Magazine 3-06, September 10, 2006
25. Joe McPhee, “Cosmic Love,” Cosmic Love (1970)
26. The Clark Sisters, “Is My Living in Vain? (Live),” Gospel (1983)

 
Composed and recorded between Laika Lane Studio at the Rauschenberg Residency in Captiva, Florida, and DeForrest Brown Jr.’s home studio in New York.

To read ”Stereomodernism,” visit: https://www.canopycanopycanopy.com/issues/26/contents/stereomodernism

To read ”Rave,” visit:
https://www.canopycanopycanopy.com/issues/26/contents/rave

DeForrest Brown, Jr. is a New York-based theorist, journalist, and curator. Learn more at: https://www.canopycanopycanopy.com/contributors/b#de-forrest-brown-jr

Abdul Qadim Haqq is an American visual artist who was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. Learn more at: https://www.canopycanopycanopy.com/contributors/h#abdul-qadim-haqq

“Stereomodernism” was published as part of Two Ears and One Mouth, Triple Canopy’s twenty-sixth issue, which is made possible through the generous support of the Stolbun Collection, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

DeForrest Brown, Jr.: Stereomodernism

Triple Canopy is a magazine based in New York. Since 2007, Triple Canopy has advanced a model for publication that encompasses digital works of art and literature, public conversations, exhibitions, and books. This model hinges on the development of publishing systems that incorporate networked forms of production and circulation. Working closely with artists, writers, technologists, and designers, Triple Canopy produces projects that demand considered reading and viewing. Triple Canopy resists the atomization of culture and, through sustained inquiry and creative research, strives to enrich the public sphere.

Triple Canopy is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and has been certified by W.A.G.E.

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