Music Sound

Wonky techno is a relatively new term for a style of techno music that is based around breaking from a formulaic 4-4 beat structure and experimenting with new sounds and rhythms. The sound is often distorted, stuttering, broken and warped, with a lot of influence from breakbeat and electro. At one end of the scale wonky techno can be very funky music well-suited to the dancefloor; at the other end it can be very experimental and abstract.

The origins of term 'wonky techno' is under some dispute with no exact confirmed first usage. Most commonly, the term is thought to originate from Jerome Hill, who collected tunes of this type in a section marked "Wonky", whilst managing a (now closed) record shop in London called Trackheads. Other record shops use terms such as 'experimental' or 'quirky'.

The scene is fairly small but growing, especially in East Berlin. Nights such as Uglyfunk and Monox in the UK attract a friendly crowd and are well attended. A key resource for wonky artists and fans of the scene is Cristian Vogel's No-Future Community, organised as part of his labels Mosquito, Sleep Debt and Rise Robots Rise.

Producers of the wonky sound are artists such as Cristian Vogel, Si Begg, Neil Landstrumm, T.Raumschmiere, Tobias Schmidt, 3D!t, Dave Tarrida, Jason Leach, Cannibal Cooking Club, Crystal Distortion (formally of Spiral Tribe), Michael Forshaw, Mascon, Fugo, Bass Invaders, Bill Youngman, Mark Hawkins and Syntax Error.

Wonky techno labels include Neue Heimat, Sativae, Input-Output, Miditonal, Chan'n'Mikes, Subhead, Don't, Scandinavia, Sub:Strata, Uglyfunk, Shitkatapult, Mental.Ind, Mercurochrome, Feinwerk and Novamute.

Wonky /wong'kee/ adj. To not be the same in size; skew-whiff; to be offset; broken; to be weird; to be strange or goofey; to be warped from its original shape; behaviour seemingly crazy, humorous or amusingly perverse.