Music
Go Back To The '90s With This Playlist Of Trippy Techno Video Mixes
“The very first step in the visual realisation of techno.”
Beginning the late ’80s—and reaching its cultural highpoint in 1994 with Warp Records’ (Motion) release—the worlds of cutting edge techno and video and graphic art formed an amazingly fruitful partnership. A medium for audio-visual exploration and experimentation, VHS tapes like the Evil Acid Baron Show from 1988 became some of the most cherished artifacts of that techno wave.
A fundamental production to make sense of this lineage was 3Lux – The Tehno Video Mix. Released in 1991 by Berlin’s Studio !K7 (check out the label’s amusing ’90s techno card game), it was home to some of the most impressive producers of the day—including Dave Angel, Aphex Twin, Biosphere and Alec Empire. Their music formed the soundtrack for the work of young computer artists exploring the possibilities of computer animation and new digital technology.
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As you can see in the full video above, 3Lux pulses with technicolour, distressed landscapes and punctuated graphics. Channeling the optimism and energy of the early ’90s electronic scene, the video remains one of those legendary fragments where the imaginations of techno, early trance and ambient combined to glorious effect.
Read more: Watch mind-melting visuals created by a ’80s video synthesizer
