Good points, Kw. I guess I was focusing more on the classification stuff. You are certainly right about those words being used to describe an approach to production. I guess I'm also drawing my own imaginary line between the sort of disciplined minimal approach t o production you describe versus the sort of minimal that's trendy nowadays. Here's samples of something from I. A. Bericochea, which I think is pretty good minimal. http://www.iabericochea.com/A.mp3 and http://www.iabericochea.com/rojo.mp3 I'd consider that very different than the stuff they are playing in Berlin, even if those samples are from Minus releases (hehe).
Arturo Arturo,i think both minimal and dub are named genres, but, above that, minimal and dub are techniques, methods of music production. You can hear minimal not only in techno, you can hear it in the philip glass music, in some post-punk bands, steve reich music, and in many areas of academic/modern music. Minimal is the way of the synthetic, the reducing, the way of the minimal elements necessary for certain expression due to intensify that expression or leave the receptor totally in charge of the interpretation. Dub is style of reggae, yes, but it's a studio technique before that. The use of effects, the focus on the process, the concept of remixing, the producer turning into a composer instead of a simple engineer. Dub techniques are responsable for a revolution in the music production aesthetics. You can see dub versions from Carl Craig songs, Hi-hop songs, Madonna songs, Stevie Wonder songs, etc etc etc. When you have music made in layers, you have dub. Kw