Richie Hawtin: DE9 2005

[grit]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: buy this now

Originally posted by Skipper

Carl was the star of that night because he is clearly a PEOPLE'S DJ. Richie, nowadays, seems to be there for himself mostly.

Ritchie is at a point in his life where he CAN do whatever he likes musically. And he should.

If he was playing miminal slow stuff at the guv. he wasn't doin it cause he's ignorant about what the crowd wanted. He knows EXACTLY what the crowd wants. He did it for a specific reason. Whatever that reason may have been.
Once again respect to him for keepin it deep, and not neccesarily catering to what the mainstream audiences wanted.

 

[eLeKTRon]

Originally posted by Skipper
The guv crowd took WAY longer getting "started" on this particular night than any night I've ever been there. People were standing in the middle of the dancefloor, chatting, at 2am! I overheard people commenting like "when is he going to pick it up" and so on.

Oh shit, I have the answer!!

It's because at 2:00am the Tryptophan from their Thanksgiving turkey was still wearing off and their E's hadn't quite kicked in yet.

 

[Skipper]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: buy this now

Originally posted by grit
Ritchie is at a point in his life where he CAN do whatever he likes musically. And he should.

If he was playing miminal slow stuff at the guv. he wasn't doin it cause he's ignorant about what the crowd wanted. He knows EXACTLY what the crowd wants. He did it for a specific reason. Whatever that reason may have been.
Once again respect to him for keepin it deep, and not neccesarily catering to what the mainstream audiences wanted.

No, I don't respect a DJ who has been touring the world for years and thinks they can get up there for thousands upon thousands of dollars and forget who is paying them to be there.

I can respect an artist who perhaps goes in a different direction and gets experimental, trying new things - but at the end of the day, a DJ is there for the people on the dancefloor and you have to find a balance between what they want and what fits the night and your own personal style. If Richie is going to be playing like he's at the fuckin opera, then take gigs somewhere where we can all sit down and have a cup of tea and watch him flip his hair back and forth while he twiddles knobs and overuses the filter.

 

[grit]

maybe he wanted to give the people something a little different than what they're normally used to? in my opinion that's also a 'good' dj's responsibility. Possibly even play shit they didn't even know existed. whether it's mass dancefloor oriented or not.

and the opera example is a little extreme, no? i've heard from a number of people that the stuff he played at guvernment that night was great. so i'm sure it didn't vary TOO far off of stuff that should make people dance.

 

[Buddy Holly]

Dj's of his stature play out and get thousands of dollars by what they have established over the years. Like any mature rock band, after a while, you start producing music that interests you. When said material is released, the die hard fans will like it no matter what, because they respect his/her creative abilities. Richie Hawtin is at that stage in his life where he's played everything, been everywhere, yet still people will come to see him play. he can create folk music and people will still like it. I thnk he is cognizant of what people want to hear, but is trying to cut another new path in the way people hear his music. Look at Kenny glasgow. when he switched to playing electro, there wasn't alot of people who enjoyed that music. yet he continued to play it, regardless of what the club people wanted to hear. he played what he wanted and those who liked continued to support him.

 

[oddmyth]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: buy this now

Originally posted by grit
Ritchie is at a point in his life where he CAN do whatever he likes musically. And he should.

If he was playing miminal slow stuff at the guv. he wasn't doin it cause he's ignorant about what the crowd wanted. He knows EXACTLY what the crowd wants. He did it for a specific reason. Whatever that reason may have been.
Once again respect to him for keepin it deep, and not neccesarily catering to what the mainstream audiences wanted.

Yeah? Like that time he bored the shit out of the audience at Mutek by trying to not only play live but also do the visuals?

That's the way to entertain my friend

 

[~atp~]

"Playing for the crowd" is an implicit assumption I completely disagree with.

 

[blipblurpbleep]

Originally posted by ~atp~
"Playing for the crowd" is an implicit assumption I completely disagree with.

i think you're on to something...


i heard he has a mix cd coming out imminently...


i'd be willing to wager that a number of the tracks he played at guv are also on said cd....


i'd also be willing to wager that no matter how 'bad/inappropriate' he played at the guv, his next event in toronto will be well attended....


so who cares really.


when all is said and done he's had more hits than miss (as far as my tastes go)

 

[sweetdaddy]

i will be transitioning on the evening of November 1st

 

[eLeKTRon]

DE9: Transitions

Well I stopped in at HMV and picked it up tonight after work.

I've listened to it twice and I like it. The production is great. The mix starts off pretty slow but builds nicely and about halfway through it actually starts cooking (a little). Tracks 14 through 18 seem to be the standouts, so far anyway. I do recognize a number of tracks from the Guv set a of couple weeks back. Haven't heard the dvd yet though.

Is it groundbreaking?
Not really.

Will we haul it out 10 or 15 (or 20) years from now and say, hmmmmmm … ... interesting.
Maybe.

 

[sweetdaddy]

Re: DE9: Transitions

Originally posted by eLeKTRon
Well I stopped in at HMV and picked it up tonight after work.

I've listened to it twice and I like it. The production is great. The mix starts off pretty slow but builds nicely and about halfway through it actually starts cooking (a little). Tracks 14 through 18 seem to be the standouts, so far anyway. I do recognize a number of tracks from the Guv set a of couple weeks back. Haven't heard the dvd yet though.

Is it groundbreaking?
Not really.

Will we haul it out 10 or 15 (or 20) years from now and say, hmmmmmm … ... interesting.
Maybe.

i thought it was coming out november 1st?

 

[~atp~]

To be honest, the reason I play music is because the music and I have a relationship. I don't really have a relationship with the crowd. Sometimes a crowd can enter into the dynamic of my music-making and I suppose when that trio is working in harmony you maximize everyone's enjoyment -- however, I do not specifically believe that it is necessary to play for a crowd. There is a certain respect gained for DJs who have and use that ability (to shape their music to the crowd's aggregate mood) but I do not think that it is a real qualifier for a DJ in any way.

 

[sweetdaddy]

Originally posted by ~atp~
but I do not think that it is a real qualifier for a DJ in any way.

no, the qualifier is anyone who puts on music for other's to listen to. (ussually helps if the choice is a secret until it's played)

 

[Skipper]

Originally posted by grit
maybe he wanted to give the people something a little different than what they're normally used to? in my opinion that's also a 'good' dj's responsibility. Possibly even play shit they didn't even know existed. whether it's mass dancefloor oriented or not.

This is guvernment. ANything Richie plays - particularly if it was harder and less "progressive" - is going to be something different than what they are used to.

So are you suggesting he WAS playing to the crowd, or was just playing for himself?

 

[grit]

well i wasn't there, but from what i heard, NOT playin for the crowd. - and him obviously not givin a shit.

 

[grit]

ya know? how bout a lil musical mainstream resistance? yeah, it's very rare these days unfortunately.

but this IS techno.

 

[The Kid]

Blah blah blah.... y'all are talking out yo' mouths but you ain't sayin' nothin.

 

[grit]

oh i'm saying somethin.

what you sayin?

 

[eLeKTRon]

DE9: Transitions

OK now that I've heard the dvd, I'm upgrading my opinion to "buy".

I was skeptical that the dvd would be much different than the cd. Well I was wrong ... it is noticably different. I have a pretty good 5.1 system and that helps differentiate it, no doubt. Yes, finally some music actually *designed* for 5.1 and it is sweet. It really seems to come "alive". Richer bass, a seemingly fuller spectrum of sounds and the "surround" effect is pretty noticable. The dvd version is fully 22 minutes longer than the other. Surprisingly, on first listen I was hard pressed to even recognize the tunes. I thought .. "is this the same mix??". I actually had to do a side-by-side comparison to convince myself that it is in fact based on the same underlying tracks (albeit extended). I like the on-screen "transitioning" track display showing what's playing in the mix in "real time" so to speak. As someone said, there are aften 5 or 6 tracks in the mix at any given time.

And for the Richie fans of yore, there's a 30 minute live clip from Time Warp this year (unfortunately not in 5.1). Leaning more towards the bangin' side of techno, you can watch Richie flick his blond bangs out of his eyes for 30 minutes straight.

For $24.99, there's a lot of value in this package. For any fan of techno, it is a worthwhile addition to the collection.

 

[Skipper]

Originally posted by grit
ya know? how bout a lil musical mainstream resistance? yeah, it's very rare these days unfortunately.

but this IS techno.

I'm not suggesting he play "mainstream." It's safe to say that Hawtin has fully steered away from mainstream in every possible sense of the word.

However, it is still possible to play for himself, for the crowd, and stay away from being "mainstream." He started doing that in the last half of his set. Why he had to take everyone through a warm up phase at 2am is beyond me...

 

[vodka_soda]

Re: DE9: Transitions

Originally posted by eLeKTRon
OK now that I've heard the dvd, I'm upgrading my opinion to "buy".

Told ya

 

[digitalux]

Originally posted by Skipper
I'm not suggesting he play "mainstream." It's safe to say that Hawtin has fully steered away from mainstream in every possible sense of the word.

However, it is still possible to play for himself, for the crowd, and stay away from being "mainstream." He started doing that in the last half of his set. Why he had to take everyone through a warm up phase at 2am is beyond me...

so of course i am getting distracted while studying... by this thread! The previous comments you made were hilarious.... there are some riTchie Haters !!

Actually - I LIKED the warm up part of his set.... it reminded me of how minimal techno is distinct and why it will never fit into clubs; it reminded me that experimental or more artsy and creative music is not appreciated in a club that caters to an audience that only wants to party and not stop and think and hear what they are listening to... I liked it probably because at the time I was just done working and had been completely sober. It's sometimes a little chaotic to walk into a place like the guv and not feel on the same level as a bunch of really high people...

Ok - so I am not being particularly academic or intelligent in my response. The point is that I've always found Richie's sets to be interesting at art events like Mutek in MTL. but also... that time 2 yrs ago was poorly planned out - it was not fun watching him stressed out performing on stage, and also was not what people wanted (as Skipper said) at 2 am! people want to party...
but I really think Hawtin knows how to bang out the music - so I would speculate that he does his minimal thing to assert that he is in fact different and can dable in both (art and club) worlds or something like that... i really don't mind it much.

 

[why not]

Originally posted by Skipper
However, it is still possible to play for himself, for the crowd, and stay away from being "mainstream." He started doing that in the last half of his set. Why he had to take everyone through a warm up phase at 2am is beyond me...

i wasn't there, but this sounds like everytime i've ever heard him play live - long minimal 'warm up phase', and then after an hour or two he starts dropping the minimal funk, and people go crazy.

i've always liked how he builds and releases tension, and i admire the patience and confidence required to play 'difficult' music to an audience that might not be ready for it.
he's made a career doing this, so i don't know why we'd expect him to be any different now.

 

[~atp~]

why not, I'd generally agree with you, yet while I do not follow Hawtin *very* closely, I would say that of the 6 (??) times I've seen him play out, 4 of those times has been straight-up banging techno.

Incidentally, did you freaks make note of Aquaviva's set in the Drink when he was here? It had the room absolutely pumped.

 

[why not]

Originally posted by ~atp~
why not, I'd generally agree with you, yet while I do not follow Hawtin *very* closely, I would say that of the 6 (??) times I've seen him play out, 4 of those times has been straight-up banging techno.

Incidentally, did you freaks make note of Aquaviva's set in the Drink when he was here? It had the room absolutely pumped.

were you there from the beginning of his sets those times?

i've probably seen him about 8 or 9 times over the years, and everytime he played a certain amount of 'brain-fuck' minimal before picking it up.