Mutek .[3]. - Return, Restoration, Repetition

["tobias c. van Veen" <tobias@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

[3] Mutek ; Drucks

If day one and two were about zoning--zoning out, zone-space, zone-drones,
anchorde @ Ex-Centris--then day three was about beats. I commented last year
(in the Wire review) on the still prevalent high-art/low-art distinction
often implied between abstract/beatless/arhythmic (high art) and
beat-orientated (low art). In fact, after a few conversations today with a
representative of the Canadian Music Centre, it was interesting--well,
disappointing--to discover that such distinctions still anchor the
definition of a "composition" in New Music and electro-acoustic. Beats are
bad, not to be taken seriously, etc. Now, if it's one person, or at least a
choice representative who might disrupt this hierarchy in a way that exceeds
the austere claims of clicks and cuts and enters the realm of what can only
be called the "mental," this is Richie Hawtin's investigations as
Plastikman. Not only his albums, but his events, which pushed decibel levels
alongside extreme durations of physical, and eventually mental, exhaustion.

Yesterday was the Plus 8 / M_Nus showcase. But we are not there yet.

First, I missed all the panels again. But I do know that the morning panel
on digital distribution went something like this: all those in favour of the
net (Hawtin included) argued something like: MP3s can be stored on a
harddrive, and gee, a harddrive is much lighter than a crate of records. And
those against said: what about money, and what about the original artifact,
and packaging, etc.. And then a bunch of people stood up and said very
postmodern things about the authenticity in the age of digital reproduction
and so on.

Now, irony of ironies, anyone tuning into the Mutek.ca website lastnight to
hear the stream quickly realised a key set was missing: Richie's. Why ..?
Well, word has it the pro-MP3 man didn't want his set broadcast as it was to
contain unreleased material.

Umm ... excuse me?

It doesn't take a degree to understand what can easily be interpreted as the
hypocritical nature of Hawtin's arguments in lieu of his earlier statements
and, moreover, his commercial investment in Final Scratch. It could be
argued that a pro-MP3 stance doesn't necessarily entail a supportive
attitude toward streaming one's set. And undoubtedly there were legal
reasons. But given that the streams are non-recordable Real Audio, fairly
low quality comparably, and that Hawtin was djing his new material--thus
making it difficult to distinguish, in any case--the legals could easily
have been wrangled. No other artist has had this concern.

Let's backtrack a little.

The day started off with a Studio event, which was primarily a grab-bag of
performers who, for one reason or another, just didn't seem to fit anywhere
else. As it was free, and on a Friday, it was also packed. First off was
Montag, a multi-instrumentalist who impressed anyone within distance,
playing a violin, several keyboards, a mandolin and a few wind instruments,
set to analogue synthesizer rhythms; the sound was something akin to the
source material for a Boards of Canada track. Needless to say, it was
excellent. Next up was Ototo, a minimal techno act that was fine, playing
unmixed tracks off their laptops and a controller-synth. Again, "fine," but
the time could have been taken to mix the tracks together or add an
improvisational layer; there was certainly nothing special about the
performance of these otherwise minimalist techno tracks, a few of which
reminded me of earlier Background releases. Then, [sic], who in a rather
listenable set improvised drones and noises with a theramin-device and a few
knob boxes. A non-linear journey into Jen Morris' very twisted world of
thievery. The artists just kept coming ... as next was Pierre Crube. Now,
Pierre was very nice, playing two Casio keyboards. Yes, preset rhythm time,
all kitsch and camp, replete with indie-rawk facial expressions. It was
funny for a minutes, kitsch for 5 minutes, and questionable for the
remaining 30. Why, I ask, did Mutek book Crube? Nova Huta and Felix Kubin
gestured the way last year as to how to create
kitsch-conceptual-performance, and with exploring the realm of preset
rhythms. Pierre was nice, innocent, and should have been performing at a $2
Casa show, not Mutek. Again: why Pierre?

Finishing the evening, however, was surrealist downtempo hip-hop artist
Sixtoo, working with a collaborator on a Rhodes and synths, four turntables,
and a full MPC-box set-up with the beats. Smooth turntablism mixed with
smoother beats, head-knodding delicious, Ninja Tune style. Unfortunately,
due to some contractural agreement, Sixtoo couldn't rhyme at the show [what
the fuck?..]-- which is too bad as his latest album, _Antagonist Survival
Kit_, is an understated exploration of post-Tribe rhymes, Anti-Pop rhythms,
and live instrumental sampling. Nevertheless, a smokable set.

So then we all ate and headed over to Metropolis... and I learnt how much
Andrew Duke can eat...

First on at Metropolis was a live set from Toronto techno producer Jeremy P.
Caulfield. His dark edge intact, Jeremy introduced his moody productions to
a slight German Can feel, bass-heavy, menacing, and slow pounding. The
technoheads were out in full force.. unlike the previous evening, no
LSD-trippin' goth kids were babbling over Coil. Instead, there were just the
post-ravers, a few Plastikman tattoos making their appearance here and
there, a contingent of recognisable technoheads from across North America.

Thus, the atmosphere was one of a highly critical cabal: either Richie and
his entourage would stage a comeback, or fail. Mutek is a rough testing
ground. Music has advanced far, far beyond simple kicks and sparse sounds.
Could M_Nus and Plus 8 deliver?

The first sign was not a good one. Magda's set was unimpressive from all
angles. Yes, she had good track selection. But who wouldn't, given she's
been handpicked by Richie, and no doubt receives the best promos in the
world? Her set went nowhere, had little narrative, was barren of all
elements of techno-turntablism save dropping out the bass--hardly a
difficult maneouvre. It lacked in both programming and skills; although it
was "setting the stage" for what was to follow, it failed to even gesture
towards the theater. It began deeply minimal; it began with the material
Richie ends with. It neither peaked nor valleyed. And from a Dj's
standpoint, Magda's skills were just about bedroom-average. The predominant
mix-length was about 4 bars, and these mixes were starkly obvious. I
couldn't help but think .. what a waste, when Mike Shannon, Algorithm, Adam
Marshall, a whole slew of talented, Canadian techno DJs could have filled
this role. It makes one wonder as to why Magda was picked, and raises all
the ugly and negative questions of gender in such a situation, where a
female DJ, with little track production under her belt, is opening for
Richie Hawtin. One can easily research her bio online; she's been Djing
since 1996 around Detroit, and has been a staple opener for Hawtin since his
Millenium show. Nonetheless, it is perhaps all this attention that needs to
be questioned. True, her choice in music is excellent, delving far into the
abstract realms of minimal techno. But she is a DJ, and must be evaluated as
a DJ, as a techno turntablist, as a selector and a manipulator of wax, and,
for a DJ who is nearing on seven years behind the decks (which, for a techno
DJ, is not that long--most techno DJs are past the 10 year mark now), her
skills are, simply, not as inventive, polished or performative as they could
be [and for someone apparently tutored by *Claude Young*, I find myself
utterly confused].

[I should note that all my criticisms along these lines are open-ended: if
reasons can be given, preferrably with a display of talent, my opinion is
easily mutable. But one *must* question, and I remain adamant in refusing to
play the back-patting game in this respect.]

So: Jeremy P. Caulfield should at least been given Magda's set time.

Next was Mathew Dear. Readers of Dustedmagazine.com will know I was
unimpressed with his _False_ album under the moniker of the same.
Repetitive, bass-laden, minimal techno with no remarkable directions to
speak of. Nonetheless, he completely changed my opinion as to his
*potential*, laying down a vital live set, one that worked the crowd and
interplayed a vast array of material. All minimal, to be sure, but
referencing such mentors as Robert Hood, with intricate tonal arrangements,
realising the stark necessity of high-hat placement and arrangement, and
overall presenting a dark platform to produce from, a dark tower, arranging
noise and feedback, cutting slamming beats that delved into the potential of
the mental aspects of the minimal genres. Hopefully this new material will
see release (perhaps it is already available?), as it is certainly a step
far beyond his False release on M_Nus.

Finally .. Richie Hawtin ..

Like Coil, Richie is somewhat mythical. His early-90s parties were the stuff
of legend: a row of massive bassbins, a dark warehouse, red spotlight,
difficult directions, 6 hour sets .. his Sickness/Recovery event with Jeff
Mills in a cornfield .. his arrest .. his LSD references .. Richie was the
main force behind a disturbing journey through the mental-altering states of
minimal techno, and he's one of the originators, right there from the start.
What set apart Richie were the undercurrents of masochism, a cult-ish
worship for being fucked by the music, beaten down into submission. There
was, indeed, a Richie-cult: shaven heads, Plastikman tattoos, head in the
bassbin all night... and now, Richie has blond hair, blue eyes, and
contacts. Plastikman may be gone, but a new Richie Hawtin as reinvented
himself, and what a transformation it was. As Graham Miller told me that
night, Richie sculpted the sound, like pottery, utilising Final Scratch like
no one else could, churning tracks into minimalist, throbbing beasts,
monsters of bass, high-hats often completely removed, buried, mental
programming sequences, an onrush of breath, a slow pounding ... never a
hard-techno track the entire night, the set was all but unrecognisable,
leading me to wonder as to how much was his own unreleased material from his
new album ... for it seemed like it was all new all over again: minimal
techno was back, it was haunting, it made one envision a future that could
only be thought in sound. We fetishized the speakers, gave over, tired feet
moving against our will, even... and Richie delivered two solid hours of the
deepest minimal techno heard since.. Jak?. Skeletal breakbeat structures
poked out through the howling, at points, through the live-granulation,
tonal shifts, and computer trickery; what sounded like Plastikman acid lines
and chords drifted in and out, leading down into isolated sequences only to
open again onto vistas confined only by the distance of the horizon. The set
began with no beats--just rhythms, a howling of noise left from Mathew Dear
setting the atmosphere for a tension-filled entrance of the beat-drop. And
then what a journey it was, although only half as long as it should have
been: I would have liked to hear him take this path, this concept, this
thought of sound he is processing, for another solid two.

Yes, the question is answered: Richie Hawtin is back.

Of note, the only recognizable track dropped that night was by Ricardo
Villalobos, second-track to last. The fact that the material was so
manipulated, and that most of it was new, and his, was testament to Richie's
skills as a sound sculptor, a techno-turntablist, and to the potential of
Final Scratch, despite its downsides. The question remains as to whether one
can use the same techniques and not sound like Richie; and Richie used a
good amount of vinyl in the mix; however, certainly, we heard a new
direction, a new path, a variation on a theme, to be sure, but given that we
barely knew how this theme started, this meme of technology and computer
music, we have far, far to go in its unfolding.

Sat. 31 May 8:27pm

tobias c. van Veen

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