Richie Hawtin
From My Mind to Yours

It happens that when a genius starts playing in his studio, relaxing between tours, he churns out two hours of killer music worthy of five stars branded on the flesh. But that's okay, when the results are this good, any presupposition is acceptable. It already happened with EX, and the master of minimal techno Richie Hawtin repeats himself a year later with this From My Mind to Yours, an enigmatic album: is it a compilation or the new album? Both essentially, the Ontarian prankster dusts off some of his historic monikers to create a fictitious collection of tracks to celebrate his colleague John Acquaviva and the label they created and manage together, Minus Plus 8. So here come various Plastikman, FUSE, Richie Hawtin himself, and new entries like 80xx, Circuit Breaker, and Childsplay. As the cherry on top, we also get to witness a Plastikman track remixed by FUSE. Madness. Fortunately, the typical ambiguity of the nature of the material is at least resolved from the outset, considering that Hawtin states from the beginning that it's all new stuff; not that it's not perceived, but sincerity is always appreciated.

For me, quite simply, this is his new album, and the results are beyond any expectation: 15 interminable tracks for an interminable total duration (over two hours!) erect a nihilistic and absolutist monument to the god Hawtin, a world that can be experienced only by following his rules. The idea of putting together an album consisting of the artist's different facets is a simple pretext to further explore the style, which is always the one we know: techno inspired by the Detroit sound, glacial, mysterious, but less interested in the mental and psychotropic journeys explored with the Plastikman brand. Rather, the rhythmic aspect closer to the dancefloor is highlighted, so everything sounds more compatible with a club dimension, obviously in the right proportions. In this sense, even the Plastikman material does not connect with the themes of Consumed and Closer, but rather with the first era of Sheet One, Musik, and Artifakts. Less contemplative and more dynamic, a concept immediately explicated in the most energetic track, Systematic (as Circuit Breaker), pure entropy in techno sauce that moves menacingly between ambulance sirens and an unbridled use of typical rhythmic solutions of the genre, so off to clapper, charge, crash, heavy hat, and the 303 acid bassline ready to explode. A delight for enthusiasts, even though for those accustomed to the Plastikman brand, it may be unsettling with all this energy and a rather conventional formula, this should not surprise too much given Hawtin’s known eclecticism, always divided between DJ activity and the more visionary work in the studio. Them by FUSE, however, immediately sets things right, instantly revealing itself as the best episode of the entire album: 15 breathtaking minutes played on swirling 303 lines, simple kick, and minimal hats. In the second part, sinister synths also hit the dancefloor, contributing to a decidedly tense atmosphere. Here we see all of Hawtin's skill and uniqueness, managing to keep the listener glued with minimal effort for an unreasonable duration without ever boring them, a result other artists in the genre can only dream of. Remarkable, however, is the technical ability, the use of the TB-303, reaching truly new qualitative heights, with programming that defining as convoluted is an understatement. Probably no more of the analog hardware remains, and it is the result of innovative emulation techniques.

All tracks maintain a surprising quality level, uncommon for such a long album made by one person. The part dedicated to the Plastikman moniker, as mentioned, moves away from the more minimal and melodic album atmospheres, everything is played on rhythm, and the result doesn't differ much from works like Helikopter and Spastik, just to give an idea of the tone. Tracks with bizarre names, like Gymnastiks, Akrobatiz, Purrkusiv, and Cirkus, aren't instantly gripping but can reveal new levels with every listen. For EX nostalgics, there’s also a small surprise, or so to speak, considering we're talking about the 10 minutes of EXpanded, a track from the album revisited by Hawtin to sync with the spirit of this fake collection. The atmospheres are those known from the album, but the novelty is the hard techno arrangement completely absent in the record, thus shifting from a more hypnotic formula to a frantic dancefloor one, even if limited to our brain. In a similar style, we also have Xtension by R.H.X., the second-best episode of the album after Them, with beautiful atmospheres provided by sci-fi pads where a 303 line lightly moves. Here too, 9 minutes pass like a breath of wind, without ever hinting at boredom. Also noteworthy are the "new entries," 80xx and Childsplay, especially the latter, offering through Stretching a new disturbing personality of Hawtin. Another very successful episode of the album. ROBOTMAN doesn’t want to miss the party either, a moniker known only to the musician's hardcore supporters, which with Simple Simon somehow ties to the atmospheres of Consumed, but always with a very sustained rhythm.

Easy wins could be the motto of From My Mind to Yours, a disruptive work suspended between divertissement and sonic testament, which is reductive to define exhaustive. An album that never feels the weight of boredom despite its excessive duration, not perfect in all its parts but endowed with breathtaking quality peaks that delineate the undeniable skill of the character and the uniqueness of his musical universe. Certainly very suitable for those not much accustomed to the mental digressions of the artist and wanting to enjoy his more techno side. Those who know how to follow the rules of the game will enjoy it to unimaginable levels. Considering the not exactly abundant quantity of studio material released by Hawtin, a giant of the genre is truly unmissable. 5 rock-solid stars.