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Trance Forum ť ť Forum Music Reviews - Plastikman - Closer (NovaMute, 2003)

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Plastikman - Closer (NovaMute, 2003)

Kaz
IsraTrance Full Member

Started Topics : 90
Posts : 2268
Posted : Sep 3, 2003 15:24

The guy who single handedly changed the techno scene. The person who brought acid music to it's highest extremes. DJ of the highest order in the world, artist that has changed the entire electronic view of minimalism. Richie Hawtin (aka Plastikman) did to the techno scene what Simon Posford did to the psytrance scene. One of the rare electronic revolutionaries. It's been five long years since his last release as Plastikman (his releases as Richie Hawtin are much more dancefloor oriented as opposed to Plastikman's legendary deep droning). To say I came to this album expected it to be less than spectacular would be an outright lie, considering Consumed is still one of my most played albums after all these years.

Tracklisting:

01 Ask Yourself - (8:47)
02 Mind Encode - (5:41)
03 Lost - (4:37)
04 Disconnect - (4:57)
05 Slow Poke (Twilight Zone Mix) - (7:50)
06 Headcase - (9:55)
07 Ping Pong - (9:30)
08 Mind In Rewind - (10:21)
09 I No - (3:42)
10 I Don't Know - (10:04)

Starting with his famous dark atmosphere, this time built on strings and creepy vocals, building it up slowly for the bassdrum's entry in the middle of the track, the journey into the mind of Plastikman begins. In Ask Yourself, no use of a 4/4 beat, but rather a rhythm with some noise, a single hit and some clicks, every time a different sound enters, a subtle added delay or a small improvisation on the beat happens, it changes the entire soundscape in a way that Plastikman is famous for... The atmosphere is set for the album.

One of the more famous Plastikman bass sounds enters in Mind Encode, this time with the beat (with a strong wink towards the IDM world), again with a slow development and each new sound entering (or even every time he adds reverb) changing the groove to something different, bringing the rhythm work more to the center then in Ask Yourself.

No bassdrum, no groove, just 100% enviromental sounds developing all the way, Lost is a deep dive into the dark side. No need for agression or in-your-face bluntness, but rather a slow walk, with a clean plucking sound working it's way through all the way, up to Disconnect, where it becomes the groove setter and not just another enviromental tidbit, kicking up with subtle sound games on the delay, volume and other things all the way. Slowly but surely adding more elements into the mix, a minute and change into the track, there's a sweeping flow already taking control of the mind. The creepy vocals entering with an FSOLish feeling (well, they reminded me in atmosphere the famous 'I had killed a man, a man who looked like me'). Again, no need for a 4/4 beat here to build an irrepressible brainwash.

Slow Poke (Twighlight Zone Mix) starts off with a clicky rhythm, this time much more in the center than earlier tracks, with bleepy sounds picking up (and a distorted Nokia cellphone melody as an effect popping up just once), in the end with a pitch-down that slowly molds itself into the groove of Headcase.

For the first time in this album, we get a solid 4/4 beat, the droning continues with subtle sound work and a delicate buildup making sure that the flow becomes more and more dominating with time, changing the groove ever so slightly all the time, giving a different perspective to the sounds and rhythms all the way with with a break (which all of you Plastikman fans may find a bit surprising, but yes, it fits perfectly) and near the end of the tracks a couple of glitches (again, suprising the hell out of me), and an ending sequence that only one man in the world could work up.

And then comes Ping Pong, this time not waiting for building a rhythm, with a hard beat (again, not something I really expected in a Plastikman album), this time not waiting too long for the percussion to enter, and keeping a dark and vicious sound, droning and hitting harder than anywhere before in this album, again, using his subtle buildup of sound to make the sound more and more full and agressive, built up into an irrepressible beat by the middle of the track, flowing smoothly all the way.

Starting up with strings and a strong hit of percussion in the second beat slot, the creepy vocals apear, slowly the groove builds itself, and for the first time in this album, there's a dominant hihat sequence helping build up the groove. In Mind in Rewind, the soundscape continues filling up bit after bit, with the slow acidic feeling creeping deeper and deeper as the track continues, oozing with atmosphere all the way, with absolutely no need for a 4/4 stomp or complex breakbeat to give it some rhythm.

I No is just strings and bass, building up atmosphere in a dramatic and hypnotizing way building up for I Don't Know, when the 4/4 beat adds up to the strings and bass with the dark vocals helping set the enivronment for the track, and some massive reverbed hihat work in the track building up a powerful rhythm, using some deep rhythm games, with the slow development and changing of perspectives on the groove that are a trademark touch of Plastikman's, a well developed melody popping up, and the melodic touches just give this track an insanely potent rush of trippy feelings, and with a dramatic ending, winding down the entire album, until ending with a feeling of 'hope you enjoyed your trip' as the strings come to an end.

Some of the people already used to the classic Plastikman sound will find this album not filling their expectations. For people not looking for another 'Consumed', this one is pure gold. Deep to extremes, dark as it gets, controlling your brain in harsh acidic patterns. This is probably one of the most well structured pieces of music, as each track on it's own, and as an album even more - each track developing farther and farther along the path set. Using fat analog sounds (yes, I'm a 303 junky, but then again, most people are and some just know it) and insanely controlled sound work, making sure each reverb fills up the sound exactly like it should, every delay giving the exact extra oomph needed, this is another minimalist masterpiece from the leader of the known techno world. This is NOT a dancefloor release, at least not by the terms known by the psytrance scene (hell, I'd dance to it at a party, but I doubt that my view on this will be shared by too many people here).

I can use many superlatives to describe this album, from trippy, hypnotic, brilliant, flowing, powerful, deep, atmospheric... You get the point. I think that this not only doesn't fall from the standards of Plastikman's earlier works, but he shows that even if he changes his style, he still does his own thing, and he does it like only he can do.

Favorite tracks: 1(!), 3, 5, 6-8(!), 10, but they're all totally awesome.

http://www.myspace.com/Hooloovoo222

Candy
IsraTrance Full Member

Started Topics : 184
Posts : 2273
Posted : Sep 3, 2003 18:21

Hey Kaz, thanks for the review.
I will sure look for this album.

Majority is never right!

"Without music, life is meaningless."
-Friedrich Nietzsche

HujaBoy
HujaBoy

Started Topics : 27
Posts : 492
Posted : Sep 4, 2003 11:36

U bet your arse i will get this one!!!
One of the best dj-producer i have ever heared.

Anak
Anakoluth

Started Topics : 108
Posts : 2395
Posted : Sep 4, 2003 15:36

looking very good. havent heard of that release til now.
i'll get it

Anakoluth A Pebble in Your Eardrum's Shoe since 2001!
http://www.myspace.com/anakoluth
http://www.ektoplazm.com/profiles/anakoluth/
http://cronomi.com

Kaz
IsraTrance Full Member

Started Topics : 90
Posts : 2268
Posted : Sep 4, 2003 16:09

Promos have been out since July (so naturally, the friend of a friend of a friend way of work means it got around to nearly every techno DJ worldwide by now), should be out (officially) on CD and 3xVinyl early October.

http://www.myspace.com/Hooloovoo222

misha
IsraTrance Junior Member

Started Topics : 40
Posts : 363
Posted : Sep 5, 2003 03:06

Thats the shit, i got it too from the Boshke Basements , one of my favorites for a long long long time to be.Im looking forward for original copy, as i heard its going to be a bit different from a promo version.

Candy
IsraTrance Full Member

Started Topics : 184
Posts : 2273
Posted : Nov 20, 2003 09:03

Bought it yesterday from Krembo.

Minimal dark techno. As usual Plastikman specialty is starting with one sound and adding another one and another one.
Hypnotic and trippy as hell. Will make you dive into dark land.
Amazing piece of work.

Also (as usual), cover is dark minimal, all black. But the beautiful thing is that they even printed inside the cover. Thanks to Uzmc (Synthax) for spotting that out.

Majority is never right!

"Without music, life is meaningless."
-Friedrich Nietzsche

Alex Boshke
IsraTrance Full Member

Started Topics : 59
Posts : 613
Posted : Nov 20, 2003 18:18

Excellent album from Mr.Hawtin to pass the cold winter season nights at home.

Goblim
IsraTrance Full Member

Started Topics : 104
Posts : 731
Posted : Nov 20, 2003 23:27

This is a very interesting album... I especially like the three techno tracks Headcase, Ping Pong and I Don't Know... Most minimal tracks I've ever heard... Cool