KVR Audio

deggy · Post by **deggy** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 3:29 am

Mr. Tunes wrote:I live in Vancouver now but yes I consider myself a Torontonian. I used to read Ben Rayner for years in the Toronto Star.
He has been in charge of reviewing all the relatively underground releases for years there. If he wasnt good he wouldnt have kept his post for this long but i think that people who are a part of the underground scenes are more critical of his work naturally.

I guess I was exaggerating a bit. I don’t disagree with a “large amount” of what he says. I just find that he is a definite part of the Toronto “hype machine” and they sometimes praise a lot of mediocre artists with good promo. In my humble opinion (which doesn't matter that much I guess) he's alright with some things. I've been reading his reviews since the mid 90s. I just find that back in the 90s, he would elevate a few artists in the underground world to godlike status and almost consistently without fail, he would then write really harsh reviews of anything that gained any sort of mainstream appeal. I often tend to agree with his harsh statements towards the mainstream drivel that’s saturated the world of popular music in the late 90s. However, I did notice that he kind of regurgitates the "NOW Magazine" opinion on almost everything. He also has an incredible skill for writing pretentious reviews that don’t really tell anything about the music being reviewed.

Steven West · Post by **Steven West** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 3:31 am

That's what I didn't get about him I guess... So he made good in Detroit spinning house tunes, but he's really into this ambient ding dong ditty stuff exclusively now? And he goes by other names as well right? So does his other guises do something a little more 'upbeat' like Jack Daniels et al?

He don't go good with scotch so far, and that's my only vice I do these days.

emdot_ambient · Post by **emdot_ambient** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 3:39 am

Steven West wrote:He don't go good with scotch so far, and that's my only vice I do these days.

Oh, I think he's perfect with Scotch, as that's a slow sippin' drink.

Not sure about his other guises recently but he did a more upbeat, well, at least not quite so minimal, release a long while back under the name of Fuse, album of the same title. Quite nice stuff there in an early IDM kind of way (? genres always escape me)

DuX · Post by **DuX** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 3:51 am

Smoke some pot... then smoke some pot... smoke some pot... and you'll start feeling Consumed and it will eventually get even Closer

. and then you fall asleep.

p.s. maybe his next will be "Asleep".

ross g · Post by **ross g** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 4:23 am

I only heard one cd. I bought it because I was looking for some electronic music to listen to and read he was good. It was under the name Richie Hawkins,I can't remember the name of it but the liner notes said something about how he composed the cd while traveling. I never would of bought it if i knew that, not to say that traveling makes bad music, but from memory the description of the equipment and production methods made the music seem to sound as boring as it turned out to be. I think it's safe to say I'd like to hear synth music that had more programing going on, not just raw 909/606/303/whatever. I know these are totally cool intruments and can produce good music, but if that's all that is going on, it all tends to sound the same (to me anyway). Say what you will about the composition but to me the sounds are also important. I have only used an 808 and a 505 (that second one doesn't count, i know, good kick sound though) and i've heard cd's where they list the equipment on the liner notes like a badge of honor. To a certain degree this is cool, but when you are sticking to the specific roland gear... hey, throw a f**king modular in there please.... yes, i think it would make the music better. as a person who tried to not emulate roland per se, but attempt to make drum sounds beyond a filter res sweep kick, those roland drum machines had a rep for a reason. but how many tracks can one listen to with the exact same sounds? the richie hawkin cd i heard was boring. i like stuff that not only grabs, but keeps my attention. there is no reason a "minimalist" piece of music can't do both.

rg

(edit) i just wanted to add that i only heard the one cd and don't know what else he produced, so i'm obviously biased, but i stand on the general principal.

hcv242 · Post by **hcv242** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 5:20 am

i really like basic channel and chain reaction stuff. but never been much into hawtins music. it sounds boring to me... not because its minimal or else i wouldnt love the two labels ive mentioned. one of my fave minimal producers of this decade has to be Vladislav Delay, he is the man to praise...

about 909's, dunno how people keep on using those hats... i hate those hats with a passion.

Please Stop 909 Abuse... Stop it .... Stop it ....

TVD · Post by **TVD** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 5:35 am

Richie Hawtin is to Techno, what Paul Oakenford is to House & Trance.....

Just another overrated electronic artist that only knows how to generate media hype to sell bullshit records!!!

My boy BT can beat both of their sorry ass in composing or DJ-ing (even if he's guilty of overproducing their tracks sometimes)!!!

ross g · Post by **ross g** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 6:08 am

TVD wrote:Richie Hawtin is to Techno, what Paul Oakenford is to House & Trance.....

Just another overrated electronic artist that only knows how to generate media hype to sell bullshit records!!!

My boy BT can beat both of their sorry ass in composing or DJ-ing (even if he's guilty of overproducing their tracks sometimes)!!!

i know nothing about bt except a video i saw and he seemed really "metrosexual" with a very pretty girl, smooth hyper-produced music, and an expensive hairdoo...(also jerky video dance moves...content, who needs it...see sig below)

rg

Roritor · Post by **Roritor** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 7:06 am

BT is the American Oakenfold. Maudlin music.

Not all of Hawtin's stuff is good, but some of it is great. Marbles from Musik is one of the greatest acid techno tracks of all time. Closer, I agree, is contrived and boring.

I think his best work is DE9: closer to the edit, which although nominally a DJ CD, is really a Hawtin creation, as he takes very small elements from different tracks and creates something new out of them. Wonderful deep techno, even the dropping of a new high hat into the mix can take the track to another level, and when a melody comes in over the rhythms, it can be sublime.

ericj23 · Post by **ericj23** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 7:57 am

quite like him but he peaked with his second single - FU - back in 91 - is he still on that "minimal pseudo electro please get over Nitzer Ebb they were twats" phase ?

Shame - he has a really good grasp of chunky acid monsters

dystonia_ek · Post by **dystonia_ek** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 1:07 pm

Some of the early FUSE singles stood out in their day... the first couple of Plastikman records were pretty good but there were certainly much more talented folks in the +8 stable (it's a shame that people like Huren and Himadri didn't get more attention - that second Teste EP (Regions/Praecox) was something really different)...
Still have a soft spot for 'Substance Abuse' by FUSE and 'Vortex' by Final Exposure though, even if they sound totally dated.

deggy · Post by **deggy** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 4:29 pm

But I mean, there are many electronic recordings out there that are often referred to as minimal that I enjoy a lot (For example, I once heard somebody call Aphex Twin's Select Ambient Works Vol. II a minimal album. I don't know if any of you (or I) would agree that statement but I do love both of the select ambient works albums. Neither are anywhere near as minimal as Hawtin's stuff and a lot of the Aphex stuff is much more accessible I find).

I guess it's an apples and oranges thing because a lot of the other minimal electronic recordings that I listen to seem to focus on different things. A lot of them seem like they really are attempting to highlight subtle details in timbre. Others may (also) focus on interesting harmonic or microtonal or rhythmic ideas etc.. Anyways, I’ll check out “Consumed”. I might like that CD a bit more than the other ones I’ve listened to.

hues · Post by **hues** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 3:26 am

I saw him with Dan Aquaviva in a show with Moby and the Prodigy in NYc. they had a drum machine with distortion... and a strobe light.

they put on a really good show.

deggy · Post by **deggy** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 7:02 pm

hues wrote:I saw him with Dan Aquaviva in a show with Moby and the Prodigy in NYc. they had a drum machine with distortion... and a strobe light.

they put on a really good show.

Was Moby doing a dj set or "live" PA? How was the Prodigy set back then?

TVD · Post by **TVD** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 8:49 pm

Roritor wrote:BT is the American Oakenfold. Maudlin music.

Oh Bull!!!

BT writes, compose, and produce his own music (including his own remix album).

Paul Oakenfold only buys (or steal) other people's tracks (and even then, the mix albums are still garbage).

What do think about Richie Hawtin/Plastikman?