While the techno scene in Miami becomes increasingly robust, most of the major out-of-towners rolling through ply similarly minimal, relatively low-BPM styles. Still, an entire internationally growing subgenre has been largely ignored in the city, even during Winter Music Conference.
So-called Schranz or hard techno hails from the same country -- Germany -- as the stripped-down sounds of the minimal titans. And while it shares the same general rhythmic patterns, it goes harder, and its window-dressing owes much to early trance. Kick drums are hard, synth patterns are acid-drenched, and beats per minute are pushed up to 150 and even beyond.
Long at the helm of this scene-within-a-scene is producer Chris Liebing.
He's not the hardest or most extreme artist in the scene, but he's long been the most influential, helping to define the style on releases like The Real Schranz series. While he also co-helmed the influential Stigmata record label, these days his main project is his own eponymous imprint, CLR (Chris Liebing Recordings). While he's a regular at top party spots across Europe -- and especially the Spanish circuit over the summer -- he pops his Miami superclub cherry this Saturday at Space.
Check out some of Liebing's Schranz techno tracks below.
Chris Liebing. 11 p.m. Saturday, July 10. Space, 34 NE 11th St., Miami. Admission costs $20 for entry before midnight, $30 for entry before 2 a.m. in advance from wantickets.com. Age 21 and up; 305-350-1956; clubspace.com
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