Empty streets, broken glass, vacant lots, boarded-up housing projects -- these are the images of present-day Detroit. Aside from a small cluster of skyscrapers in the Downtown area, the rest of the city is a study in urban decay. A trip to the city's East Side is almost like walking into a third world community.

What WIlliam Gibson is to science fiction and what Blade Runner is to film, Techno is to music. It is a nightmare vision of America and arch-capitalism. It is art made by technology about technology. It is hope in the face of hopelessness.

Inspired by the "techno-rebels" in Alvin Toffler's Third Wave, a number of independent record labels have emerged from Detroit, some of the most prolific being Metroplex, Transmat, +8, HMS and UR. All of these labvels and more are part of a global network of underground artists that extends from Toronto to Tokyo. Because the music is largely instrumental, it is able to transcend borders that hold back other forms of contemporary music.

This music of Detroit has inspired many others. Small enclaves of artists in cities like New York, Rotterdam, Berlin, Ghent, Frankfurt, Rome and Manchester/Sheffield have also begun producing and developing this music for appreciative fans all over the world.

So don't be left behind; log on to hear some of the newest and most exciting sounds of tomorrow - today!

Dan Bell is part of Detroit's second wave of Techno. Currently, he records as DBX on Probe and with Richie "Rich" Hawtin as Cybersonic on +8. With the future in mind, he's also started up his own label and will soon be releasing the likes of Speedy J, Repete, Richie Hawtin, and Rob Noise.