Track Listing

1. Early Blow - Ratio
2. Dumped - G. Flame, Mr. G
3. User (02) - B2 - Richard Harvey, Richard Harvey
4. User (04) - A2 - Richard Harvey, Richard Harvey
5. User (01) - A2 - Richard Harvey, Richard Harvey
6. User (01) - B2 - Richard Harvey, Richard Harvey
7. 001a - A2 - Richard Harvey, Richard Harvey
8. B2
9. Road to Rio EP - B2 - Santos Rodriguez
10. B1
11. Road to Rio EP - A2 - Santos Rodriguez
12. A1
13. 002A B1 - Richard Harvey, Richard Harvey
14. Call of the Wild - Jeff Mills
15. L8 - Jeff Mills
16. Scout - Jeff Mills
17. L8 [2] - Jeff Mills
18. Orange/Minus 1 - Richie Hawtin
19. Orange/Minus 2 - Richie Hawtin
20. Minus/Orange 2 - Richie Hawtin
21. Let Your Body Learn - Nitzer Ebb
22. Minus/Orange 1 - Richie Hawtin
23. What the Hell Was That? [Intermission] - Richie Hawtin
24. Killabite (002) - A1 - Killabite
25. Loops - A1 - Ben Sims
26. Alarms - Jeff Mills
27. Force & Form [Surgeon Remake 2] - Surgeon
28. Zen - Pacou
29. Five - Heiko Laux
30. Dead Eye - Baby Ford
31. Club Soda - Savvas Ysatis
32. It's Process Not Substance - Stewart Walker
33. 5 - Jeff Mills
34. Neo - Vladislav Delay
35. Aliens Don't Boogie - Thorhaller Skulason
36. Question (003) - B2 - Marco Carola
37. Kykeon
38. Never Tell You - Rhythm & Sound

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #109153 in Music
• Released on: 1999-11-02
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Amazon.com
Ex-Plastikman techno artist Richie Hawtin's latest release continues his predilection for stripped-down beats and less-is-more aesthetics, slamming down the needle on a record of merciless mixes and remixes. It's quite a workout, with relief coming only in the form of occasional, slightly quieter thumps. Hawtin works with slices of his own material, along with the ruthless concoctions of Jeff Mills and a selection of other DJs from Detroit's influential techno community. Other eclectic influences make their way onto his turntables, the most obvious being a flash of industrial rock courtesy of Nitzer Ebb. Most of it gets swallowed up in Hawtin's metronomelike devotion to rote bpms and hard, minimalist stylings. Still, when it's done with this level of driving force, the sheer momentum is enough to force your limbs into involuntarily movement. From the opening pulse of Ratio's "Early Blow," Hawtin extrapolates on a short beat structure with perfectly rhythmic precision, growing and building through a series of melodyless phases. The album peaks with the Nitzer Ebb break, leading into Hawtin's short, irresistible remix of his own "Orange/Minus 1" then abruptly stopping with one of the album's few respites--a quick clip of movie dialogue. It's a brief pause, and the omnipresent beat restarts only slightly less demanding and brutally danceable than before. Hawtin's record is a stellar example, at a time when twisted jungle beats rule the dance floors, of getting people to dance a lot more by using a lot less. --Matthew Cooke

Customer Reviews

It does NOT get any better than this.
"A Music Fan" is an idiot. Do not listen to him. DE9 is NOT repetitive... at all. In fact, this CD is a perfect example of speed and diversity... Hawtin is just so good at subtle layering and mixing that "A Music Fan" probably didn't notice it. Make no mistake. This is straight-up techno at it's absolute best. Hawtin is a madman behind the decks. He has an almost superhuman control of rhythm that goes beyond simple mixing from track to track. At times in this CD he layers four different elements on top of one another. He does so with almost superhuman speed... just as you start getting hooked on one pattern he starts up another hypnotic beat. The structure of this CD is perfect. He starts out with some slow thumping grooves and gradually turns it into a frantic slam fest before bringing it all back down again.

This entire CD is totaly danceable or perfect for chilling. I am quite fond of listening to it on long car trips. I put it on repeat and let it go.

Outstanding, if you can handle it...
I recently picked this up with a little hesitation, having heard that the mix was basically just hard, banging, no-frills techno. That is true. Other mixes have obvious peaks and valleys, for instance, while "Decks, EFX, and 909" has... harder drumbeats for the peaks and more subtle bass for the valleys. While other mixes have lots of vocals and warm synth tones, here we have... drums and bass. (Occasionally some human voices, but don't count on it.) In other words, this is not a Top 40 dance mix - it's strictly for the brave.

But, if you are one of the brave, check this out now. It's very intense, but also very danceable, and the constantly shifting rhythms and programming keep you from getting bored. Oddly enough, if yo're into techno, the subtle changes in drum patterns and stabbing synth lines is more interesting than a lot of more mainstream stuff with many more elements to the tracks. This mix is a triumph of minimal techno. If you're looking for something hard, intense, and raw, add this to the shopping list.

BEYOND AMAZING- THE TECHNO MASTER AT WORK
This is my favorite techno cd. Period. I heard it for the first time last month, and fell in love with it. It builds a tremendous amount of energy and variety, and it is very much like Richie Hawtin's live sets(for those who haven't been lucky enough to experience them...)

Decks, Efx & 909 is a journey through minimal "bare bones" techno with moments where some extra complexity is thrown in for effect. This is NOT a boring album, but is rather a slick monster of an album which EVERY techno fan and partier should own, and listen to before putting on their fat pants and heading out.