Wonky techno

Wonky techno is 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, glitch 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 the term 'wonky techno' are under some dispute, with no exact first usage established. 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 Dragondisks.

'Wonky' is generally thought to refer to the non-repetitive structure of the music. Other record shops use terms such as 'experimental' or 'quirky'. The sound is also referred to as 'no skool' due to its attempt not to be defined by a uniform beat, common style of break or specific set of sounds.

The scene is fairly small but growing, especially in London, Brighton, Glasgow and Berlin. Nights such as Coin Operated, [http://www.myspace.com/earwax69 Earwax] , [http://www.uglyfunk.com Uglyfunk] , [http://www.myspace.com/club_iridium Iridium] BLOC and [http://www.clubmonox.com Monox] in the UK attract a friendly crowd and are well attended.

Producers of the wonky sound are artists such as Cristian Vogel, [http://www.myspace.com/lukesanger Luke's Anger] , Si Begg, Neil Landstrumm, T.Raumschmiere, Tobias Schmidt, 3D!t, Dave Tarrida, Jason Leach, [http://www.cannibalcookingclub.de Cannibal Cooking Club] , Crystal Distortion (formally of Spiral Tribe), [http://www.gayebykersonacid.com Surfin'bernard] (one half Zoe and the other was formally of Gaye Bykers on Acid), Michael Forshaw, Mascon, Fugo, [http://www.bassinvaders.net Bass Invaders] , Bill Youngman, Rotorik, [http://www.myspace.com/robotaudiovoid Audiovoid] , [http://www.myspace.com/lissajou Lissajou] .

Wonky techno labels include Neue Heimat, Sativae, [http://i-o-inc.net/ Input-Output] , [http://www.miditonal.com Miditonal] , Chan'n'Mikes, Kitty Corner Records, Subhead, [http://www.dont-recordings.com Don't] , [http://www.scandinavianyc.com Scandinavia] , , [http://www.uglyfunk.com Uglyfunk] , Shitkatapult, [http://www.mental-ind.de Mental.Ind] , [http://www.mercurochrome.ch Mercurochrome] , [http://www.feinwerk-techno.com Feinwerk] , [http://www.mute.com/novamute Novamute] .

Wonky is also a slang term for Ketamine, also called "Wonky Donkey" or "Donkey Wobbler" because it is used as a tranquilizer for horses. Ketamine is however prevalent within the whole dance music scene. This slang association with Wonky techno is unconfirmed.

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.