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RICHIE HAWTIN, "DECKS, EFX & 909"

Richie Hawtin has beenDJing, playing and recording Detroit and minimalist techno for a decadenow under his own name and as Plastikman, F.U.S.E., etc.Here he uses his most basic set of creative tools: a crate ofvinyl, a couple turntables, a mixer, a few effects boxes, a foot pedaland the classic TR-909 drum machine for an hour long dj set. This discis, thankfully, the opposite of his tediously minimal and slow buildingPlastikman compositions ... this is upbeat techno for the dance floors.A few minutes in the beat is up and running as Hawtin works his waythrough 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 very brief break at track23 then the beat comes slamming right back in and continues on to theend. It's tracks 24 through 38 (the last half hour) where things arereally pumping with a solid assortment of beats and washes culminatingwith the future dub of Rhythm & Sound's "Never Tell You". Hawtindoes a great job of meshing the musical components, changing anddeveloping the mix and just plain keepin' it interesting. This isprobably the first cd by him that I want to listen to more than acouple times! Hawtin is currently on tour in Australia.

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