Info:
Long before Richie Hawtin became what he is today—superstar DJ, mastermind of the Minus label, entrepreneur, technological innovator, style icon—he was best known for a single project: Plastikman.
Between 1993 and 2003, Plastikman created an astonishing body of work, one that didn’t so much define a time and place as explode them, expanding the dimensions of Detroit techno and redefining the possibilities of electronic dance music itself.
Across six albums (Sheet One, Musik, Recycled Plastik, Consumed, Artifakts (B.C.), and Closer) and numerous singles like “Spastik,” “Plastique,” and “Sickness” Plastikman evolved into one of contemporary electronic music’s most distinctive voices: minimalist, psychedelic, groovy as anything, ever mindful of the transcendent properties of pure electronic sound.
Sheet One was the first Plastikman album, written by Richie Hawtin and released in October 1993 on Novamute Records. The album focuses on laser-precise minimalist rhythms to drive a series of echo-box acid lines that gradually acquire power over the course of lengthy album tracks. Coming out of the minimal techno scene in Detroit, this album makes frequent use of the Roland TB-303, which gained prominence in the electronic music world as a staple of Chicago’s acid house scene.
The front inlay of the album is perforated, giving it the look of a wall of LSD tabs. The cover was so realistic that a man in Texas was arrested when a police officer saw the CD on his car seat after pulling him over on a traffic violation.
The album is now re-issued by Mute with the original artwork and remastered audio.
Multi-awarded Plastikman was selected by Mixmag as the Greatest Dance Act of All time in 2012 and Greatest DJ of All Time in 2011.
Info:
Richie Hawtin’s triumphant return to the stage as Plastikman in 2010 proved that his best-known alias is as innovative and as relevant as ever. Hawtin has taken Plastikman’s most classic material, originally released between 1993 and 2003, and reworked it for a truly live performance accompanied by mind-bending, synchronized visuals—a sound and light show like no other, one that collapses the distance between present-day festivals and the uncompromisingly underground warehouse parties of the mid ’90s.
For many attendees, this is their first taste of Plastikman. Since 2003, Hawtin has been far better known simply as Richie Hawtin, the celebrated DJ and mastermind behind the Minus label. Some fans today were still infants when Plastikman’s acid ripple first began streaming from Hawtin’s basement studio in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
For long-time devotees and new fans alike, Hawtin now presents Plastikman’s Arkives, a comprehensive box set that pulls together all 17 years of the Plastikman story so far, including remastered versions of all six previously released Plastikman albums and a trove of rarities, unreleased sessions and new material.
Arkives, which is a strictly limited, made-to-order edition—only as many copies will be manufactured as have been pre-ordered—will be released in four different formats:
Reference (11-disc CD/DVD/book edition)
Analog (6 records on 180-gram vinyl in a deluxe box, with poster), Digital (digital download version)
Collection (including all CDs, vinyl, book, DVD, and bonus digital downloads)
Arkives Reference, the main personalized edition, features 11 CDs and 1 DVD. The deluxe packaging includes a slipcase with foldout sleeves for all 12 discs, plus a 64-page book that tells the Plastikman story in archival photos and a newly commissioned text. The set includes newly remastered versions of all six previously released Plastikman albums—Sheet One, Musik, Recycled Plastik, Consumed, Artifakts (B.C.), and Closer—and five further CDs of rare and unreleased material:
Rekonstruktions collects Plastikman’s classic and hard-to-find remixes for other artists, including La Funk Mob, System 7, New Order, Depeche Mode, Hardfloor, and even an unreleased remix of his own Robotman project.
Replikants features all-new remixes specially commissioned for the project, in which Hawtin’s influences and heroes rework Plastikman’s back catalog. Reaching far beyond the world of techno, the disc features luminaries such as Vince Clarke, Cliff Martinez, François Kevorkian, Moby, Chris & Cosey, Severed Heads, Flood, and Mute’s Daniel Miller & Gareth Jones.
Two further CDs contain previously unreleased material. One features the never-before heard, complete recording session from which “Spastik” emerged, along with an unreleased John Peel in-studio live session. Still more previously unreleased Plastikman material follows on the second of these CDs, including the soon-to-be-released single “Slinky.”
In addition to the CDs, Optik is a DVD of classic & rare Plastikman videos plus previously unreleased footage of Plastikman live at Glastonbury, 1995 and Plastikman live at Mutek, Montreal, 2003.
Arkives Reference also includes a digital download code redeemable at m-nus.com, which will unlock additional material not included on the CDs (or other Arkives editions), insuring that each collector receives the most complete Plastikman Arkives to date.
In addition.
Arkives Analog features 6 pieces of 180 gram vinyl, exclusive tracks and a limited edition poster, presented in a deluxe custom box.
Arkives Digital will be the online download version of the project. Offering a ‘lite’ version of the package including a limited selection of the material found in Reference and Analog editions.
And last but not least, for the most decerning Plastikman fans, m-nus.com will feature an exclusive combination package, Arkives Collection, containing both the Reference and Analog editions.
Special extra bonus incentives will be offered to those who order Arkives Reference or Arkives Collection early at m-nus.com.
Just as Hawtin and his crew used to cap admission to their underground parties, Arkives’ edition will be strictly limited to the pre-orders received. It’s a once in a lifetime chance to experience the full sweep of Plastikman’s journey so far.
