Rating: NNNN
Richie Hawtin’s DE9 set pushes the limits of the traditional DJ mixed disc. Assembled from over 100 tracks, he cuts the original songs into fragments and loops, then rearranges them into one long piece. The process works surprisingly well. Unless you already know the originals, you might not notice the manipulation at all. This is as funky as Hawtin has ever sounded on a recording, using chunky, house organ samples and fragments of vocals to augment the minimalist techno throb on which his reputation rests. The liquid quality of his past work is less evident, but the other-worldliness is still there, as is the spastic syncopation that lifts him above the pounding four-on-the-floor crowd. Quality techno innovation from one of the genre’s most progressive producers.
