Starting in 1993, Canadian dance music mastermind Richie Hawtin, using the name Plastikman, stripped Detroit techno down to its barest essentials, and releasing six albums of absorbing thump. Now, Hawtin is collecting everything he has ever recorded as Plastikman in the Arkives box set, available for order right now through December 31 from this site.
Arkives includes remastered versions of all six Plastikman albums, as well as rarities, unreleased sessions, and new material. The box is available in four different formats, including the 11-disc CD/DVD/book set Reference and the six-LP vinyl box Analog. In its CD form, the box includes a slipcase with foldout sleeves for all 12 discs (five of which are comprised of rare and unreleased material), as well as a 64-page book. That's a lot of Plastikman.
Over the past twenty years Richie Hawtin has been one of electronic music community's most active participants; as a DJ, a label owner, a producer, a performer, and an avid contributor to the development of music and performance technology. His accomplishments range from having been named the 'World's Best DJ' in the most credible electronic music polls; to being invited to compose music for the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics; to exhibiting a sound installation for the French Ministry of Culture's Millennium Exhibition in Avignon, France. He has also invested in, endorsed, and help develop some of the most forward-thinking products in the electronic music space including Native Instrument’s pioneering Traktor Scratch software, number one dance music digital retailer Beatport.com, the Tonium Pacemaker portable DJ system, and Allen & Heath's limited edition custom CTRL:92 DJ mixers - the first-ever to be fully Midi-enabled, which both he and his father helped to conceptualize and design. This year he revived his incredible Plastikman show in unique festival settings in conjunction with his custom SYNK iPhone application at Sonar, Coachella and Movement Electronic Festival in Detroit in the U.S. just to name a few.
iTunes is also releasing today the Plastikman Remiix iPhone app which also allows you to combine and transform original Plastikman tracks and interpretations from your iPhone or iPad. Read more here.
