Richie Hawtin Albums (9)
'From Within, Vol. 1'
Release Date 3/17/2006
Tracks 5
Label World Ambient
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What The Critics Say
Extending the concept behind 2001's DE9: Closer to the Edit, a project that utilized Final Scratch, DE9: Transitions takes advantage of the increased possibilities brought forth by the software Ableton Live. Richie Hawtin further distorts the notion of a standard selection, combining often-treated elements from several tracks at once, to such an extent that he gives the amalgams his own titles. The Detroit Grand Pubahs' "Dr. Bootygrabber," False's "River Camping," Galoppierende Zuversicht's "Linguini al Denta," Heartthrob's "Golum," Ricardo Villalobos' "A5," Sleep Archive's "Elephant Island," and three of Hawtin's own productions are swept into this brand-new vortex and come out as "Minimission," throwing off the common response to hearing a track on a mix and desiring to hunt it down on its original state. In other words, you won't be able to obtain any of the commercially available tracks within that track and hear them the same way, and playing them all simultaneously would be as pleasant on the ear as several sets of baby booties flopping around in a dryer. Another way to observe the extreme otherness is to scan the track credits and spot the repeat contributors, like Villalobos, who shows up over 20 times (thus potentially giving a mixtape traditionalist like Nick Hornby a heart attack) and probably wouldn't be able to identify all of his appearances; while the reverberant rhythm of Stewart Walker's "Lakewalking" and the ambient vocal wash of Pantytec's "Micromission" can be sniffed out without much difficulty, a lot of sources are used for a single note or blip. But the real testament to Hawtin's vision is that the mix is more linear than any other released in 2005, riding a steady gradient that could fool non-geeks into thinking that this is a standard-form techno mix with no obvious inclusions, even though dozens of up-to-date favorites and a few decades-old classics factor in. The stability of the sequencing is such that listening in one concentrated effort can make it more draining than the average dance mix. If you do find that your appetite for cushiony bass-drum thrums, knife-slit accents, wobbly-yet-constricted noise effects, and displaced vocal samples isn't completely satisfied, there's an MP3 on the accompanying DVD that presents the mix in its original 95-minute incarnation. The DVD also contains the mix in 5.1 Surround Sound, along with a couple videos, live material, and an interview. Stripped of all context and background information, Transitions remains a thoroughly thrilling, multi-functional disc that places early-2000s minimal techno in the best possible light. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
'The Sound of the Third Season'
Release Date 10/28/2002
Tracks 20
Label Novamute
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What The Critics Say
Veteran DJs Sven Väth and Richie Hawtin commemorate their summer-long residency at Cocoon in Ibiza with The Sound of the Third Season, a relatively straightforward mix of techno with a creative twist. Since the mix is intended as a commemoration of the many Monday nights Väth and Hawtin spent together in Ibiza at Cocoon, as discussed and pictured in the liner notes, the two intersperse sampled dialogue throughout the mix as a means of better capturing the essence of the summer. This dialogue surprisingly doesn't intrude upon the mix at all, instead functioning as a sort of frame for the album: you begin the 75-minute album in the airport and then sit down for dinner among numerous party-bound individuals with an array of puzzling foreign accents; after a few minutes of this chit-chat, the music begins; dialogue creeps into the mix here and there, but doesn't really rise to the fore until late in the mix when you head off to the beach for the after-party; then, following a few down-tempo after-hours tracks, the album closes with "Closing Thoughts...," a brief 20-second clip of fittingly druggy Ibizan rhetoric. Of course, though these snippets of dialogue bring a bit of novelty to The Sound of the Third Season and make it more than just another Ibiza album, the mix itself is what's most impressive. Granted, though Väth and Hawtin don't really do anything particularly fascinating during their mix, unlike what you'd perhaps expect from Hawtin in particular, their mix is nevertheless amazing. They throw down numerous great tracks (too numerous to list) and don't do anything too fancy -- just mix one kick-ass track unmercifully into the next. The heart-racing intensity doesn't subside until the last quarter of the mix, when you're at the after-party on the beach, where Väth and Hawtin open with Swayzak's soothing "Make up Your Mind (Slight Return)" and bring the mix to a lulling close. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
'DE9: Closer to the Edit'
Release Date 9/17/2001
Tracks 30
Label Novamute
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What The Critics Say
Consider DE9: Closer to the Edit Richie Hawtin's turntablist record. Freed from the (only relative) constraints of his Decks, EFX & 909 setup, Hawtin applied Final Scratch technology, a system which pipelines any digital sound elements -- from CD, MiniDisc, an effects box, practically anything -- directly into the needle of a special turntable. (Needless to say, no digging through the crates on this one.) Hawtin spins through 30-odd tracks of moody minimal techno, including tracks -- or, to be more precise, elements -- from Basic Channel, Thomas Brinkmann, Stewart Walker, Carl Craig, Theorem, and Sutekh, plus his own F.U.S.E. and Plastikman guises. Most of these tracks are present in such wildly different versions, however, that listeners may not even recognize a usually familiar track; when all that's taken is a bassline and an effect here or a scratchy percussion line there, and each track includes elements of three or four different originals, the results are much closer to either remixes or a wildly eclectic turntablist album than a techno mix album -- thus the title. Instead of a hip-hop DJ's wild spinbacks, Hawtin uses only momentary pauses and beat disruptions to mark time and open new chapters in the mix. The result is a clean, precisely constructed mix, and one that ironically isn't especially evocative of the immense work involved in constructing it. All the better for the headphone and chill-out listening this record was made for, much more so than Decks, EFX & 909. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Decks, EFX & 909 is the next step for Richie Hawtin after his Mixmag live album from 1995 and the increasing minimalism of his subsequent Plastikman material (the Consumed LP). Hawtin displays not only his talents as a mixer but also as a producer, using turntables, an effects processor, and a Roland pedal, plus a TR-909 drum machine for added beats. An extension of his live sets (though not entirely recorded live), the album employs a degree of improvisation rarely heard on mix albums. Cycling through 38 tracks in just over an hour, Hawtin ranges through driving, minimalist techno with inclusions from Richard Harvey, Jeff Mills, Surgeon, Pacou, Heiko Laux, Vladislav Delay, Maurizio, Rhythm & Sound, Marco Carola, and a few of his own tracks. The result of Hawtin's obvious labor of love is a mix album that manages to be simultaneously intense and moody, pummeling yet restrained. The beats are clipped and precise, rarely deviating from a 120 BPM pace. Though fans might resent the fact that it wasn't recorded live, Decks, EFX & 909 simply couldn't have been done well in a live setting -- at times, Hawtin has four records spinning at once, and the layers of sound he adds to the show make this album a highly effective techno statement. Another devastating release from North America's most effective dancefloor experimentalist. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
'X-Mix, Vol. 3: Enter Digital Reality'
Release Date 5/12/1998
Tracks 24
Label K7
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What The Critics Say
It must have been some accomplishment, convincing both Richie Hawtin and John Acquaviva to do a mix CD together. Why then, one must wonder, would K7 try to cram two separate mixes from two DJing giants onto one measly disc? The Acquaviva mix is first and, clocking in at 45 minutes, it takes up the majority of the CD. While Acquaviva is known primarily as a house DJ, his mix remains firmly planted in the realm of techno -- acidic, creeping, futuristic techno that snakes and builds throughout. The mixing is superb, creating one continuous musical piece. Additionally, the entire segment is recorded onto the CD as one track, so it is near impossible to tell where one song ends and the next begins. The only two tracks that do stand out as peak moments are "Pepper" by Speedy J and K-Hand's "Flashback." With only 30 minutes of time remaining on the disc, the Hawtin mix is much shallower than what one should expect from an artist of his worth. The track selection (limited to only nine) is of high quality, but predictable. Three of the tracks, Hawtin's own "Spastk" and "Spaz" as well as Teste's incredible "The Wipe," all appeared on awtin's Mixmag Live!, Vol. 1. So while this CD is worth having to hear the unique side of Acquaviva, one must still look elsewhere for the true Richie Hawtin. Why didn't they make it a double CD? One can only guess. ~ Joshua Glazer, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Over the course of 1996, while taking a break from his work as Plastikman, Richie Hawtin released a monthly series of experimental 12" EPs known as the Concept series. Unlike the acid techno of the Plastikman recordings, the Concept releases explored stark minimalism, most of the tracks consisting of little more than percussion. Yet, as minimal as these tracks were, Hawtin's mastery of the 909 drum machine and his seemingly endless well of creativity ensured that every successive entry in the long-running series sounded unique and adventurous. However, the releases were limited and even the most fanatical listeners struggled to secure every monthly release; furthermore, as Hawtin's legacy quickly grew to increasingly international proportions in the late '90, these releases became incredibly difficult to find. In late 1998 Hawtin thankfully compiled some of the more noteworthy tracks from the dozen records onto this collection, Concept 1 96: CD. Comprised of 15 tracks that vary in length, anywhere from 13 minutes to 30 seconds, the collection showcases precisely how exploratory the series was. The same dubby percussion may form the ingredients for every track, yet you're continually amazed at how Hawtin shapes the same sounds into staggeringly different tracks, altering the rhythms, tempos, density, and so on -- essentially endless variations on the same core concept. And to enhance the conceptual aspect of the series even further, Hawtin also released a related collection, Concept 1 96:VR, that features similar-minded producer Thomas Brinkmann giving the tracks his own personally stylized variations. Much less accessible than his Plastikman recordings, Hawtin's work here is among his most experimental and cerebral. He strips away the melodic acid lines and moody ambience, leaving only the composition itself; in fact, he even does away with rhythm to a certain extent, leaving you only with the most minimal aspects of techno, the sounds and the way in which he shapes them. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
'From Within 3: Silent Intelligence'
Release Date 1/1/1997
Tracks 13
Label PW
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What The Critics Say
Richie Hawtin and Pete Namlook team up again two years after their last collaboration, and From Within 3: Silent Intelligence is possibly their best yet, featuring an eclectic mix of styles and greater studio manipulation. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
