Why I Listen to Techno Music

I was really frustrated the other day in class. I was also very unimpressed. A teacher whom I hold the utmost respect for made the unfortunate comparison between John Cage, whose music is intended to convey total chaos and meaninglessness, and modern techno. While I certainly don't deny that some techno has surely grown out of the deconstructionist movement and is, therefore, making a blatant point against a Christian worldview of order and meaning, I think that there are some very good reasons why a Christian can enjoy (good) techno as an art form.

Keep in mind: I don't think someone who has left the club scene or who has experimented with certain forms of trance and drugs mixed together or who has been deep into house and hardcore styles as a part of their depravity should necessarily be listening to techno music. The thing is, there are many people who come out of prostitution, or being a corporate monster, or being a lying politician, or being a pornographer who will never touch those things again and yet that does not make the basic form of those things (sex, business, politics, photography) necessarily bad in and of themselves. Anything that is turned over to the lordship of Jesus Christ (in its basic God given form and not its twisted forms) can be used for good and can be used to glorify God. Sex can be used to glorify God in its God given form. Business can be used to glorify God. So likewise can art be used to glorify God.

I firmly think that listening to techno/electronic music is useful because it is beautiful.

Now, there are some things that still need to be said in justifying (not rationalizing) the above statement.

First, most modern techno is not a reflection of chance happenstance and deconstruction. Even bands who are overtly "deconstructionist" in their music, like Justice, Trentemoeller, or an indie artist like Farben, can't actually live up to their title and worldview even inside of the medium they are using to convey that worldview. Why, you ask? This is where the comparison between Cage and modern techno made me just a little frustrated. The original men who were attempting to communicate that everything was a chance occurrence literally put a completely and totally random amalgam of sounds and instruments (or no sounds at all e.g. Cage's 4'33) into their deconstructed "music." Cage made his music without any beat or rhythm. You could never have set up a metronome to his music...ever. However, most modern techno does not make a random amalgam of sounds and for most of it you can set up a metronome which will keep a perfect beat. Even the seemingly "random" sounds that an artist like Trentemoeller inserts every so often are all inserted on beat in proper rhythm, and in the proper harmonizing key, to the rest of the song. All decent techno and dance music, that people actually like, has a common underlying rhythm that is catchy and attractive. It is fun to listen to and in many cases has an almost otherwordly quality to it. This rhythm denies chance and it denies the idea that there is a world of disorder and randomness. Any music that is ordered, even if it is stripped down to basic rhythm, contradicts a worldview of chance and deconstruction. People should think about these things before they condemn techno based on its supposed worldview.

Second, Techno can be beautiful art and should not be anathematized just because it has a catchy beat. So many Christians talk about a "devil's beat" but such a thing does not exist. God made music. Period. What you do while you are listening to that music does not make the music bad. Does techno music in itself drive you to drugs or speeding or sex? I doubt it seriously. In my personal experience I have been more likely to go towards worldliness when the music has overt sexual themes or ideas in it lyrically than when there has been a driving beat. Just because it makes you want to move doesn't mean that it's from Satan (unless it means you move into a bump-n-grind...not good)! I want to move when I listen to Bach. I want to move when I listen to Gregorian chant. I want to move when I listen to any classical artist. I want to storm a castle when I listen to Prokofiev. I want to go and see the mountains and be a cowboy when I listen to Aaron Copland. However, most Christians would be ok with that music because it is wordless and played on a string instrument. I advise you go listen to good techno. You'll find that most of it is wordless. You will also find that most of it is beautiful.

Third, and finally, many Christians would then object to my saying it is beautiful. It would go something like this, "Just because it is beautiful and otherworldly doesn't make it good. In fact, it makes it, possibly, even worse." Well...quit listening to all music then. Music is made to be enjoyed simply because it is beautiful and enjoyable. Techno satisfies a primal urge for stripped down beat and rhythm (just like any set of bongos or a djembe would). It often transports the listener to that almost separate realm where good music often takes us. BUT...so does classical, indie, rock, jazz, and any other decently made music. If you are going to object to the inherent and driving rhythmic beat found in techno music then you'd better be ready to defend why you yourself listen to any kind of music ever penned.

Techno is an odd style, no doubt, but I personally have fallen in love with the outstanding rhythms of Andy Hunter and Trentemoeller. I have very carefully analyzed why I listen to techno and have ultimately arrived at the decision to continue listening to techno for two reasons: it is beautiful and, ironically contradicting what some of it is meant for, it conveys a world of order and consistency that very few genres convey. The beauty found in (some) techno and electronic is obvious and the ugly and depraved things people may do while listening to it shouldn't drive us away from listening to it. God made beautiful things. Thus, I think it right that we at least give this genre an ear.

Note: there is a decent reason NOT to listen to techno. If you simply don't like it, don't listen to it. I personally abhor country music but that doesn't mean I am about to condemn someone else who may like good country (not the stuff where all they talk about is sex and murder :). Further, if your conviction is that techno music raises in you the desire for depraved things: avoid techno music. It is that simple. Don't rationalize, don't try and find a way to listen to techno, don't take this post and make it your banner to do what ruins your conscience. Really, these things ultimately depend on the heart and where your heart is at. If you think it's a sin or it is causing you to sin (or you if you don't even care and just listen to it because you think it's cool): AVOID AND REEVALUATE WHY YOU ARE LISTENING TO IT!

Do keep in mind though that God never gave a form for beautiful music to fit!

Loving God With You Brethren,

R. D. Thompson