Plastikman - EX

Plastikman
EX
10 June 2014
Mute

4 stars out of 5

 

Windsor, Ontario’s Richie Hawtin has been an integral part of the Detroit techno scene for two decades now. EX is his first new LP as Plastikman since 2003’s Closer, and it’s still not a proper studio LP. Recorded live at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2013, EX doesn’t immediately sound like a live record—there’s no crowd mic—but in terms of how its minimalist waves and tides flow through the listener it definitely feels more human than, say, Plastikman’s classic monster of a record that was 1998’s Consumed. EX feels not improvised, but emoted; not programmed, but played.

Reviewing an electronica record is always a questionable pursuit, but reviewing minimalist techno takes that questionability to new levels. One could talk about the ice cold textures and the ominous bass lines and run out of any meaningful adjectives very quickly. One thing does stand out about EX, however: there’s never a dull moment. Hawtin knows how to build and release, how to make subtle manipulations, and how to bring background sounds to the fore to change the focus so that the tracks breathe, grow, and adapt like living creatures.

EX’s understated majesty blossoms most fully on “EXhale,” the nine-minute closing track that blooms into waves of shifting ambient bliss. While perhaps technically not conforming to an ideal of minimalist perfection as Consumed did, Plastikman’s latest is an engaging slice of techno. Best enjoyed with good headphones, low lighting, and closed eyes.

reviewed by Richard Krueger