Plastikman, Richie Hawtin's production alter ego, is a dark, sinister project. The brainchild of an acid-influenced mind perhaps, but however you look at Plastikman, and hear the sounds coming from him, you cannot escape his enigma.

Soundscapes that are at times inexplicably bleak, yet rich with trippy, downtempo fervour is what Plastikman is all about. Plastikman is a concept, as much as it is a real person, contained inside a body, designed to take electronic music into a new dimension, to places it has never been before and infect people's minds with it. Whatever was going on in Richie Hawtin's head when he developed Plastikman is anyone's guess, but beyond the disturbing, corrupted nature of the music he gave birth to under this moniker is something very, very sophisticated.

In the same way our world needs scientists, music, particularly electronic music, needs someone like Richie Hawtin. I'm reluctant to use the term 'pioneer' as it's such an overused word in music, but it certainly can be attributed to Hawtin. There was a day when a mixing desk, a few samplers and a laptop was enough to make a great live performance, but Plastikman has changed all that with his live show. We've seen the videos and we've heard the stories of Hawtin, cocooned inside an LED screen, sending packed-out arenas into hypnosis with his sensually stimulating techno odysseys. Now we can finally see the iconic live show ourselves, but more stunning than ever as Plastikman 1.5 will soon be touring Europe and the US, with three dates booked in the UK.

I've already secured my ticket for the London leg of the tour, to be held at Brixton Academy, and I would strongly being prompt about doing the same. Early bird and tickets for the balcony sold out within the first 24 hours of their release, and as with any high-profile event in London, the rest do not hang around for long. If Plastikman alone isn't enough to tempt you, then support from M-nus royalty in Magda and Ambivalent may do so. He will also hit up Manchester and Glasgow before he moves concludes his tour in Italy on December 7th. The links below are the places to get your tickets for any one of the three parts of his three UK stops:

Plastikman 1.5 - Manchester Academy, Manchester: Thursday December 1st 9pm-2am (£25)
Plastikman 1.5 - Brixton Academy, London: Friday December 2nd 9pm-2am (£27.50)
Plastikman 1.5 - Barrowland, Glasgow: Saturday December 3rd 8pm - 1am (£25)

To celebrate the news of this tour, for I can hardly contain my excitement, here's my top 5 of Plastikman. It took me a to compile this list, for all of Plastikman's output is original in a very unified style, but what I've come up with reflects his most indulgent and compelling work. Whether it's his eccentric infatuation with the letter 'K' in his track-naming (I'm sure it has nothing to do with ketamine, seriously), or his acid obsession (which might have something to do with the corresponding narcotic...), all Plastikman's work exhibits a musical mind adverse to playing it safe.

5. Plastikman - Marbles


4. Plastikman - Plasticine


3. Plastikman - Spastik


2. Plastikman - Konception


1. Plastikman - Are Friends Electrik?

It's a big weekend for our, and many others minimal indulgence. As you should be aware, it's fabric's 11th birthday weekend. The Saturday 'night', which doesn't actually stop until 5am on Monday, is loaded with the finest minimalist structures. Ricardo Villalobos will be in command at various times throughout the event, Âme will perform live, while Damian Lazarus among others will engage in 4 hour+ long sets of stripped-down beats. In celebration of such an important event ahead of us, for both SOTW and Electronic music in general, this particular Sorry I'm Minimal post features a new mix from my good self, featuring mostly new material I've acquired in the last couple of months (and a little surprise at the end), and of course the mandatory pack of minimal tunes. But I also feel like throwing in a few old favourites!

Sry I'm mnml...

The mix is only about 20 minutes long or so. It showcases some of my favourite minimal beats from the hundreds I've acquired over the last couple of months. Some tunes are slightly deeper, some more summery and housey. I thought I would finish off with one of my favourite minimal productions of all time. Nothing new at all, but a perfect demonstration of how to stretch the perimeters of electronic music's most pared-down style. Brimming with rich, deep and rhythmic sounds, there's no prizes for who guesses finishes my little mnml mix.

20 Minute Mnml Mix by SotW Blog

The first three of the pack are included in the mix. For full track listing visit our SoundCloud dropbox.

Gathaspar - Cologne




Ramires & Babalao - Air-Con




Nico Lahs - Ask For Soul


Super Flu - Oktavlachs (Hanne & Lore Remix)


And lastly, I couldn't help having a bit of Richieeee. Although he's not at fabric on Saturday (Sunday or Monday), as far as abstract minimal goes, Hawtin's still the daddy.

Plastikman - Konsumption

I mentioned in the previous post that there had been some significant developments in the minimal world, and there is nothing more significant when it comes to minimal techno than Richie Hawtin's sinister production alter-ego, Plastikman. Minimal Monday will make a return soon, I promise, but when news broke that Plastikman's Kompilation CD had been released, a collection of the moniker's best tracks, without question I felt it deserved an independent post. Come on, it is Richieeeee after all.

Perhaps the most influential and controversial personality in the underground techno scene, Richie Hawtin created Plastikman in the early 90's in response to an epiphany he had about the progressive restrictions of the harder techno sounds more commonly associated with that era. What emerged was an almost schizophrenic other side to Richie, a geek who became obsessed with pushing the boundaries of electronic music's parameters and the limits of musical technology. Ever since, his live shows have been an experience of futuristic hedonism which have recently included Hawtin caged behind an o-zone of LED lights on -stage while he fiddles with an array of laptops, synthesizers, samplers and whole range of other equipment that only he knows how to navigate.

What he was playing was some of the darkest, most formidable minimal techno ever heard. This wasn't music to make you smile and groove gently too, like you would expect from the latin dons of minimal such as Villalobos or Luciano. This was music to rave to, keeping the intensity of old techno but reducing the BPM to make something stripped down and perhaps even more hedonistic. Tracks like Spastik, despite the rapid drum patterns throughout, is remarkable slow, and has now become one of the most iconic minimal anthems. Now all of Plastikman's most important productions have been assembled together on his Kompilation CD. It's an incredible collection of tracks, displaying why there is oh so much fuss about Richie Hawtin. It's an essential album to have, right from the shadowy acid-laced 11 minute opener Plasticine through to the hollow confines of its finale, Ask Yourself.

Plastikman - Helikopter