Plastikman – Ex

Mute

In a world inundated with live recordings and DJ mixes, what makes a release stand apart from the barbarous hordes?

The fact alone that this is mnml mastermind Richie Hawtin‘s first record under his Plastikman guise in a decade, since 2003’s Closer, means that people will be paying attention, no matter what. The question is, does this record stand on its own merit, or does it flourish in the shadow of Plastikman’s famous stick figure? Right off the bat, let me say: this is probably not the new Plastikman record yr waiting for, although it is comprised of all-new material. Hawtin was invited to perform at an international gala at the Guggenheim Museum last year, and ambitiously decided to cobble together a set of brand new material for the occasion.

EX is a live recording of what went down at that black tie affair – seven tracks of restrained, minimalist acid techno that is frequently beautiful, haunting, moving. The seven tracks, which all begin with the letters EX, are presented as a continual whole, placing EX somewhere between a record, a live recording and a DJ mix. That is not to say it doesn’t have its stand out moments, however. The waves of fizzy synth pads on album opener “EXposed” are a warm welcome; and the moody mysterious synth lead on “EXpand” is haunting as well as catchy. It kept reminding me of The X-Files for some reason, which laced the listening experience with images of aliens and government conspiracies, which are reinforced by the nuclear glow of the album cover.

There are many tasty moments throughout the record, but it all seems like a lead-up to “EXpire” when the dam finally bursts, when the storm rages, and heaven and hell burst forth. “EXpire” is classic Plastikman, a swarming synthetic petri dish with subterranean basslines and gothic Castlevania strings. This is as close to main-room-at-peak-time as mnml techno gets, and it wears that crown well. There is a moment towards the end of the “EXpire”‘s seven minutes where 8-bit Pac Man sounds climb and spiral towards heaven, only to plummet like a meteor shower with comet tails of feedbacking echoes and reverb. If you had an ’80s childhood, this is like having yr memories remixed into glorious scintillating sculpture. It holds a profound effect, but is difficult to articulate.

So, let us return to the initial question. What separates EX from the loads and scads of live recordings and DJ mixes that already exist and can be had for free, other than a recognizable brand and name? Even in a blindfolded taste test, EX is damn good, particularly for those that like careful, meticulous techno. Most of EX is carved out of simple drum machines, a TB-303 or some similar Acid-sounding lead and maybe a bass synth as well. It is the model of restraint — frequently only two or three sounds at a time. I don’t care who you are, performing in front of a black tie jetset audience at the fucking Guggenheim, with one drum machine, a couple of small synths and a few effects takes some carapace. All of Hawtin’s rig sounds remarkable, warm and fat and full, which is further rendered in exquisite detail, lovely mastering and lush reverbs.

I am told by some that know that EX is not as good as Plastikman’s classic material, Sheet One or Musik, although I have not heard either in a while, and haven’t gone back to check. It’s also not the studio masterpiece that I’m sure people are waiting for, but instead should serve as a reminder of what Hawtin is capable of, that he’s still out there, ambitious as ever. I’d also like to think that EX might end up leading some festival level electronic music fans to the underground world of hardware hackers and analogue alchemists, like what’s been coming out on Hospital Productions lately, or the revisionist electronics of Bass Clef, Lee Gamble and Ekoplekz.

So, all in all, EX is an EXcellent EXample of EXtremely nuanced minimalist acid-laced techno, that is tEXtured, EXciting and EXudes confidence.

-J Simpson-