Richie Hawtin @ Axis Thursday!!!!!

[avalonboston1]

This thursday will be a special event in AXIS with DJ Richie Hawtin spinning!!

This will be a 19+ event with doors at 10 PM.

Axis is located at 13 Landsdowne Street Boston, MA 02215

Here is a bio for Richie (more info can be found at www.avalonboston.com) :

Biography

With sculptured glasses and a close crop that make him look more like an architect than a global DJ/producer, Richie Hawtin appears as the Peter Pan of the dance beat. Superficially nothing seems to have changed since he went away almost 3 years ago. Looking like a little boy lost with his slight frame and over sized trousers, Hawtin parades around like nothing's changed, but appearances can be deceptive. Forever known for his unrestrained assaults and mind-altering manifestos, Hawtin has rapidly become part of the electronic mafia. A salvo of albums and blistering DJ/live sets have seen his name become synonymous with his own peculiar brand of sparse dance sounds, but times have changed. With time as an ally, Hawtin and his Plastikman alter ego, have had space to think and develop their vision. Things are clearer now and with a militant manifesto of revolutionary change as a guide, Hawtin has grown up and carved out a new album that is as different as it is astounding. Prepare to be eaten by 'Consumed'.

The story starts way back when, well the late 70's to be exact, when the family Hawtin uprooted leaving the rural idyll of deepest Oxfordshire trading it for a life in Windsor, Canada where Hawtin senior had taken a job with local car giants GM. A quaintly different proposition altogether in comparison to its metropolitan neighbor across the water, Detroit, the lure of the sprawling motor city nonetheless proved an early attraction for Richie, who made regular trips under the tunnel to satisfy all those pre pubescent needs, cinema, shopping, etc. Detroit stayed with him throughout his early teens and a baptism into the heady world of live music at the hands of Prince in Detroit was Hawtin's first official dalliance with the gig.

With music gradually strengthening its grip on young Richie, he soon began to supplement his record collection by regular trips to local record stores picking up the latest German and Belgian electronic masterpieces by the likes of Front 242 et al. By the summer of 1984, the future sparse agenda of Hawtin was beginning to take shape through his developing love affair with the minimal grandeur of the European electronic mafia. Yet the mind of Hawtin had already been turned on to the possibilities of the electronic medium by his father?s collection of Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk records, (incidentally Hawtin senior appears on the cover of Richie's Robotman track 'Do the Do'). Concurrent to his growing love of the electronic pulse the teenage Hawtin, like many others nation-wide, was gripped by the fashion for break dancing and its musical accompaniment, electro. Without his knowledge Richie became familiar with the early works of the Detroit pioneers such as Juan Atkins and Derrick May, yet it would be some time before the penny would drop and Hawtin would realize that the amazing music he was hearing was actually being produced on his very doorstop over in Detroit. The once proud motor city was soon to play a major role in the life of Hawtin.

"I remember listening to Jeff Mills on the radio playing all this crazy shit when he was called the Wizard," Hawtin reminisces fondly. "I looked out for the records he was playing and found a few stores in Detroit selling the tracks. I looked on the labels and found a lot were from Detroit and I was like holy shit, this stuffs from right here." By mid 1987 Hawtin's mind had become opened up by the proximity of a city whose rapidly increasing musical output was reinstating it to its once dominate Motown driven position as number one dance city. Intrigued, astonished and driven by the alien sounds of Kevin Saunderson and his Detroit contemporaries, Hawtin tamed his passion and channeled his love affair with the electronic beat via his latest hobby, Djing. Starting his own club in his hometown of Windsor, Hawtin was soon invited over the river to DJ at The Shelter underneath St Andrews Hall in Detroit. It was here he became fully exposed to the rapidly developing scene in Detroit and equally showcased his talents to a captive audience. Soon realizing that the DJ's that he admired were actually composing their own music, Hawtin's insatiable appetite to consume and participate soon led him towards the studio in order to satisfy his passion. The world was soon to be exposed to the crazed and psychotic musical vision of the white guy from Windsor.

Always comfortable with computers and around electronic technology, Hawtin soon became involved with Kenny Larkin putting together a number of prototype tracks, although the pair was hindered by the lack of equipment sculpting their sounds on a lone keyboard. Yet Hawtin was yet to meet his foil and future business partner, the hyper active John Aquaviva who was introduced via a mutual friend. Aquaviva, who was already studio literate and additionally owned a bank of equipment, hit it off with Hawtin and both headed to the studio armed with Hawtin's love of the sparse electronic rhythms coming out of Detroit and Europe and John's studio knowledge and love of the disco beat.

Finding that Detroit had an already saturated musical infrastructure, the pair were forced into the position of starting their own label, the now defunct Plus 8 started in 1990, in order to expose their warped sounds to a wider audience. The labels success rapidly snowballed with others attracted to the sparse minimalism of Hawtin?s youthful output. The label soon picked up tracks by the likes of Kenny Larkin and a developing Speedy J and soon became forced to initiate the subsidiary labels Probe and Definitive to channel the varying strands of dance music that the label soon began to attract. With Hawtin learning his craft and the labels success constantly showcasing the sounds of Plus 8 to a receptive audience. Hawtin was poised to become a global phenomenon with his own peculiar brand of electronic alchemy. Yet the grandeur of his Plastikman alter ego was yet to woo a whole generation of kids reared on a diet of electronic beats and wild acid lines.

By late 1992, Plus 8 and the pubescent sounds and vision of Hawtin were beginning to reach fruition. The label had realized its 'From Our Minds To Yours' compilations to widespread praise and Hawtin?s musical agenda of sparse minimalism was falling into place. By 1993 London based NovaMute Records was sufficiently impressed by Hawtin's output to offer a deal and establish a relationship that continues to this day. With Richie now fluent and capable in the studio and able to transfer his vision to musical sounds, his debut album under the name of Plastikman for the label in 1993, 'Sheet One' was something of a revelation. With rampant drum assaults violently fed through and looped back via filter after filter, the sounds of Hawtin were completely alien and revolutionary. Not infused with the lush orchestration of fellow Detroit contemporaries, Hawtin stood alone battering listeners with incessant polyrhythmic drum patterns and a rigid agenda of militant minimalism born out of his love of mid 80's European electronic music. Original as much as revolutionary, Hawtin had arrived. Rapidly following up the success of 'Sheet One' with his second album 'Muzik' in 1994 and a momentous Glastonbury appearance in 1995, Hawtin soon gathered a rapid following among the public and critics alike. It had been 10 years since Hawtin had fallen for the lure of the synth, but in that time, Hawtin himself had added an extra chapter in the ever-developing history of electronic music. And then silence.

"I began to feel hemmed in when I started putting the new album together,? Hawtin remembers. "That's why it took so long, I needed some time, some silence to gather my thoughts". Having established a stern template based his dance floor friendly minimalism born out of his growing status as globally applauded DJ, Hawtin was beginning to force himself into a corner. Predominantly known for functional tracks that were lapped up by dance floors across the globe, Hawtin soon found himself in a position where he was in danger of taking the easy option trading on his glories, knocking out digestible tracks and sounds that had made his name. Yet idly utilizing old ideas is something alien to the Hawtin psyche, a need to develop and evolve has permeated his output and Hawtin was not about to fall prey to lazy repetition when it came to putting together his latest album. "I'm my own worst critic," he states emphatically. "I did a lot a tracks but I felt they didn't take a step forward, they were covering the same ground so I gave myself a gap, took myself out of the public eye and I think that was really helpful". With time to breath, gather thoughts and digest new musical forms that were beginning to interest Hawtin, he was able to focus new ideas, take a step back and re emerge with an album that absorbs previous ideas using them as pointers to further visions and thoughts. Off the dance conveyor belt and without the need to spit out 12" after 12" for the sake of it, Hawtin was free to explore and develop his visions. The album 'Consumed' was about to be spawned.

"Consumed is more to do with the 1st LP," Hawtin explains. "This album is based on small ideas expanded. It's much darker and has a lot more space and depth than previous tracks, it's almost 3 dimensional." 'Consumed' is without doubt a major leap for Hawtin. Freed from the shackles of expectation and with time as a buffer, Richie has carved out a grand lush album that satisfies his newfound vision. Born as much out of his growing love of art and in particular the spatial delights of Anish Capour as the sonic deep rumblings of out there experimental musicians such as Maurizio and Sound and Rhythm, the album is a testament to Hawtin's growing confidence and status as full fledged musical artist as apposed to functional dance producer. The album carves its own environment, dangerously deep and lush, the warm sub aquatic sounds on the album envelope the listener like a giant blanket. With minimalism still on the agenda, Hawtin has in fact taken this maxim further utilizing the sparsest of instrumentation while at the same time coming out with a larger sounding album courtesy of his ever-growing production capabilities in the studio. The album works on a less is more doctrine, but Hawtin is able to cram in as much meaning and emotion with the simple manipulation of a particular sound than most artists are capable of by cramming everything into a 10 minute burst. Production values are to the fore with each sound worked on with the minute precision so every possibility of that sound is explored to its maximum potential. The album is grand while at the same time understated, with apparently little effort something great has been created. The whole package is created with the sleeve, which acts as an outward representation of the music within. A dark textured strip on a black background, the strip represents a void, a small space that contains something much larger within. Precisely thought out and developed to its furthest corners, 'Consumed' is a masterpiece. The fruition of all Hawtin's visions, 'Consumed' is a solid testament to Hawtin's ability now and in years to come. Richie Hawtin, your career's only just begun.

[cornergirl]

who's goin tonight?

[mixwell]

I may be stopping by for a bit.

Whats going on @ Vertigo?

[vyto]

Whats a Vertigo?

[cornergirl]

I may be stopping by for a bit.

Whats going on @ Vertigo?

haha, that's a good question! i didn't talk to anyone about playing tonight because of hawtin @ axis, but i think peter might have someone over there, just not sure who!

[djcarr]

I'm obviously there! I wouldn't miss a night of straight up techno in Boston (the land of house and hip hop).

Is there a guest list?

[cookie6]

Whats a Vertigo?

A kewl song by Con-yay (dont know how to spell it, dont care enough to google it)

[DETROIT]

Did anyone go?

[flavanugz]

yup, hurtin.

sick shit

[djcarr]

Dailey and Hawtin were nasty last night. The fun ended there as my vehicle was gone when I left. Apparently the city has street cleaning at random times with missing signs to notify you of it. Had a blast going to the police station after leaving a club only to be sent all the way to Brighton to sell my soul for my vehicle.

I love Boston.

Damn Red Sox...

Eli, Bad Boy and Rise tonight should help.