Richie Hawtin "Decks, EFX & 909" Novamute minus4cd 1999 (61:29)
Richie Hawtin has been DJing, playing and recording Detroit and minimalist techno for a decade now under his own name and as Plastikman, F.U.S.E., etc. Here he uses his most basic set of creative tools: a crate of vinyl, a couple turntables, a mixer, a few effects boxes, a foot pedal and the classic TR-909 drum machine for an hour long dj set. This disc is, thankfully, the opposite of his tediously minimal and slow building Plastikman compositions ... this is upbeat techno for the dance floors. A few minutes in the beat is up and running as Hawtin works his way through a continuous mix of techno, house and dub music by himself, Richard Harvey, Jeff Mills, Nitzer Ebb, Surgeon, Stewart S. Walker, Vladislav Delay and many others. There is one brief break at track 23 then the beat comes slamming right back in and continues on to the end. It's tracks 24 through 38 (the last half hour) where things are really pumping with a solid assortment of beats and washes culminating with the future dub of Rhythm & Sound's "Never Tell You". Hawtin does a great job of meshing the musical components, changing and developing the mix and just plain keepin' it interesting. This is probably the first cd by him that I want to listen to more than a couple times! Hawtin is currently on tour in Australia ...
Where did I get this cd? - mail order via Riouxs Records.