Richie Hawtin - DE9 | Transitions

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Richie Hawtin is dreaming of the future again. More than 15 years after he began exploring new frontiers in electronic dance music, he is redefining the idea of what a DJ can be. From his stark techno tracks on the Plus-8 label to the spectral acid minimalism of his releases as Plastikman, Hawtin has always been, as he puts it, "searching for what's next". Now his new mix album, DE9: Transitions, has made another quantum leap of the imagination.

The promo copy we got here at the office only contains the CD, and not the 5.1 surround DVD. We have listened to the preview at Sonar though (several times) so can make quite an impression of what the total package will have to offer.

The DE9 saga started in 1999 as "Decks, FX & 909" (what Hawtin was using in his Minus Orange-period). The latest episode has been created with Ableton Live and Pro Tools though, again making him push the technological possibilities of this era. My musical- and technological taste have always been very similar to Hawtin's, so I still play the first two editions in this series very often. This third edition doesn’t disappoint me in any way!

The sleeve gives 21 track titles, but in facts it's probably over a hundred. As Hawtin says; the word "Transitions" has several meanings for him, one of them being the transition from one track to another. It is without a doubt impossible to hear when one track starts or ends, it's one big blend of clicks, hits, bits 'n beats. Everyone who has heard Hawtin play in past couple months has without a doubt heard gimmicks like "Research" (We All Search), "Seduction", "Noch Nah ®", the bubbling "Weiter Noch" and deep-looped "Where is Mayday". Closing this album is the absolutely stunning and beautiful "(D) Ecaying Beauty", what an end!

It's too bad we don't have the DVD in yet, because that's suppose to contain an even longer mix and as said the 5.1 version. The sneak preview of the surround sound was truly amazing at Sonar, like being sucked into a virtual techno world without boundaries. Judging by the CD itself though we may draw the conclusion that Hawtin did it again. Where non-minimal-lovers will probably find "Transitions" a bit boring, for the fans it's a must have! Every time you listen to it you discover new sounds, layers and emotions.

Our verdict: partyalarm

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If anyone cares.

friday oct 7th i had a chance to go to AES show in NYC at the javits center where hawtin did a "seminar" about the cd. ( as i said earlier )
some key points that he noted some of you may find interesting are

-he used over 500 songs to put together this album. -
someone in the audience asked if he had found a way to easily "warp"(www.ableton.com) entire tracks. he said "nope and that it was a real pain in the ass" anyone who uses ableton knows what he means.
-he obtained studio masters for 99% of tracks on cdunlike the previous cd which he said he spent more time de-clicking than anything.
-he recorded 70-80% of all volume, panning, effects and eq automation LIVE. he noted that he wanted to keep fades human where they needed to be exept for obvious parts like a section in the cd he describes as "one track moving and mixing from front to back as the next track is moving and mixing from back to front" that he had to 'draw' in by hand
-he said that the entire album is 128 bpm
(that was shocking to me especially after listening alot allready.)
-he mixed the album in 5.1 first then made a re-edited stereo version.
-he said "the 16 bit/44.1 stereo version is inferior to the 24 bit/96k 5.1 version but he is happy with it."


Now i havent listened to the 5.1 version yet. but i really have been enjoying this mix.
Im a big fan so my opinion is not objective whatsoever.
BUT i think its f&%king brilliant!

he even includes an mp3 of the 96 min version on the data portion of the dvd and in the jacket it says "....hope you will be kind enough to use it for your own personal use"
sorry for the rant im just inspired again.
-Joe

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Op donderdag 3 november 2005 19:02 schreef rheingold het volgende:
ik lap de mening van BF aan mijn laars want dat zijn mensen die wel erg snel hun neus ergens voor ophalen. mensen die er prat opgaan dat zij die ene dj waar nog nooit iemand van gehoord heeft wel kennen. de techno-scene zit boordevol met dat soort puristen. mensen die zo bezig zijn met zichzelf en hoe hip hun smaak wel niet is dat ze soms vergeten gewoon even te luisteren. en om dus op een mening af te gaan die daar gepubliceerd word lijkt me dus niet slim. gewoon zelf een oordeel vormen en dan pas kijken wat anderen er van vinden. en ook voor je mening blijven staan. dat lijkt me veel eerlijker ten opzichte van degene die maanden tijd steekt in een project louter om iets te geks in elkaar te steken. zoals die nieuwe van hawtin. dat is gewoon een te gekke plaat/dvd/cd. en eigenlijk verbaasde het me niks dat op beatfreax deze plaat minder in de smaak viel. minimal is ten slotte niet meer zo nieuw als een tijdje terug. dus de "hip" factor is enigzins verminderd. ik vind hem gewoon goed. wat een ander ook denkt.