Sutekh: Six of countless influential tracks, in no particular order…

*Raymond Scott "The Playful Drummer" 1963? Techno music for babies recorded in the early 1960s. Brilliant and demonic.

*Herbie Hancock "Rain Dance" 1972 Another one of those tracks that makes you question the linear flow of history. The first minute of this track is straight-up proto-techno.

*Nurse With Wound "Rockette Morton" (United Dairies) 1989 A simple phasing vocal snippet, this track is not much more than a rip-off of Steve Reich's seminal 1966 tape piece "Come Out." But as a teenaged devotee of the Nurse With Wound/Current 93/Coil axis (and not knowing who Steve Reich was yet), I was naturally blown away.

*Mad Mike "Planet X" (Underground Resistance) 1992 One of the first techno records I ever bought. The mixture of raw machine energy and soul made me an instant fan. It's hard to think of another label that has sustained for so long while remaining true to its underground roots.

*Basic Channel "Phylyps Trak II" (Basic Channel) 1994 Taking the dub ethos of "studio as instrument" to new heights, Basic Channel have become a household name in techno, and for good reason. Their influence will be felt for many decades to come.

*Kit Clayton "Number 5" (Cytrax) 1997 The first thing I heard from Kit Clayton shortly after we met in San Francisco in 1997 - it's one of those deceptively simple tracks that you feel like you can listen to forever. Over the years, Kit has been a frequent collaborator, constant source of inspiration, and great friend.