From Joseph Ross Lynn IV Sent Wed, Mar 22nd 2000, 18:11
From Joseph Ross Lynn IV Sent Wed, Mar 22nd 2000, 18:11
I gotta take a chance to defend Richie Hawtin here. First, maybe he was not as much of an originator or "innovator" as some other maybe less mentioned detroiters, but he brought the sound to a new audience. He was, for many, a doorway into the world of eletronic dance music. How many ppl do you know that have a plastikman cd and not much else? How many of you were the same way? I was. And I couldn't ask for a better introduction/indoctrination/whatever, and along every step of the way, richie hawtin has been there, unlike some other "innovators" And its not like he's appealing to the commercial masses. I won't even go there. So, regardless of the effects on the scene today (which are VERY debateable) richie brough techno to a new and very widespread (ummm, WHITE, maybe?) audience in a very big way. If it wasn't for Richie Hawtin, I might have never heard Red Planet, Minimal Nation, or Strings of Life. Richie (from probably 93 to 98 ish) was a HUGE part of the Detroit scene. Plus 8 parties were where you went KNOWING that you were gonna flip your lid. The energy in those gigs was undeniable, and the cohesive effect they had on the Detroit scene was a huge part of what made partying in detroit so much fun, and so REAL. Yeah, theres plenty of others who deserve credit, but richie is such a good primer to deep minimal detroit(ish?) techno, and his music has the staying power of few other producers period. He deserves all the credit he has recieved. Peace J. > > In a message dated 3/22/00 11:58:19 AM Eastern Standard Time, > xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx writes: > > << Not to mention, with all due respect to Mr.Hawtin, there > are OTHER detroit techno artists besides the said 4 and > him...coughAlanOldham...and others that its about time people learned about. > >> > > I think that people on this list are always going to complain > when somebody like the NY Times does an article because there's > no way they're going to get it right and we should be happy that they're > talking about half decent electronic music at all....BUT this brings up > the fine topic of why Mr. Hawtin is mentioned as the pioneer. Not to take > away from Mr. Hawtin, but is it perhaps because he's white? After all, > every other Detroit artist of note from that period is black. Atkins, > May, Saunderson, Larkin, Banks, Craig, Mills, Hood, Deason, Baxter, > Oldham, etc. etc. I like some of the old FUSE and Plus 8 stuff myself, > but, you know, wouldn't Carl Craig or Mad Mike be a more appropriate choice? > They seem to epitomize the Detroit sound both then and now and were > originators, innovators and elevators throughout the past dozen years. > Richie Hawtin started a couple years after these guys, wasn't as directly > involved in the scene and as far as I can gather from this far away > wasn't even liked by some of the people in Detroit, and most of his best > early stuff as FUSE et al. seems indebted to Underground > Resistance, Metroplex, Chicago acid, etc. That doesn't mean it is bad > or his accomplishments should be doubted, but it does seem a stretch to > call him a pioneer....rather call him a skilled producer with good taste. > > Matt > np: Psyche - Evolution > (yeah buddy!) > -- Knecht