Minimal techno is one of my passions (See the link for definition). I can understand why most people dislike it: it's
minimal, seemingly
invariant,
monotonous, and possibly
boring. "It doesn't change", "It's so easy to produce," are common complaints that I hear. Totally valid I suppose, it's just your personal
opinion, and I don't criticize that.
However, here's what I get out of it and why I think it's a beautiful substance. Listening to someone like Richie Hawtin (i.e. Plastikman), Theorem, Thomas Brinkmann, etc. if you really pay attention there's a lot going on. The music is stripped down to it's bare essentials, with the intention that your mind is to fill in the blanks and/or elaborate on what's already there. It's an interesting variation on the original concept of music, that being something to listen to because it is enjoyable.
You're mind is to take an active role in the overall experience of the act of listening. Instead of being merely the consumer, you are to be participator. Richie and others create very subtle beats, but play around with the elements that are present in the tracks, so while a pattern may sound unwavering, it is really never in a state of stasis.
It is by no means meant to be party music. Most of it isn't something that makes you want to get up and dance. It's meant to chill out to, reflect on life/yourself/everything to. I commonly listen to it before bed, and my brain starts to trail off producing intricate visual and thought patterns that are as vivid as if I were dreaming. In a nutshell, it puts me in a trance, makes me want to sit there and think, and thinking is what I love to do. Minimalism is part producer based, part user participation, as it is in art as well.