DE9: Closer to the Edit

by John BushConsider DE9: Closer to the Edit Richie Hawtin's turntablist record. Freed from the (only relative) constraints of his Decks, EFX & 909 setup, Hawtin applied Final Scratch technology, a system which pipelines any digital sound elements -- from CD, MiniDisc, an effects box, practically anything -- directly into the needle of a special turntable. (Needless to say, no digging through the crates on this one.) Hawtin spins through 30-odd tracks of moody minimal techno, including tracks -- or, to be more precise, elements -- from Basic Channel, Thomas Brinkmann, Stewart Walker, Carl Craig, Theorem, and Sutekh, plus his own F.U.S.E. and Plastikman guises. Most of these tracks are present in such wildly different versions, however, that listeners may not even recognize a usually familiar track; when all that's taken is a bassline and an effect here or a scratchy percussion line there, and each track includes elements of three or four different originals, the results are much closer to either remixes or a wildly eclectic turntablist album than a techno mix album -- thus the title. Instead of a hip-hop DJ's wild spinbacks, Hawtin uses only momentary pauses and beat disruptions to mark time and open new chapters in the mix. The result is a clean, precisely constructed mix, and one that ironically isn't especially evocative of the immense work involved in constructing it. All the better for the headphone and chill-out listening this record was made for, much more so than Decks, EFX & 909.