Customer Reviews

Artifakts (Bc)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

First came Sheet One (1993) with the first sounds and beats ever produced by Richie Hawtin (Plastikman). Then came Musik (1994), which made electronic music a new thing and feeling. Shortly after, Richie planned his third album, Klinik, but after his world tour, he dropped it. In 1998 came Consumed, and only about a month after, Artifakts came.

Artifakts contains some tracks from Klinik, and the others like Are Friends Electrik? and Hypokondriak. Richie wanted this album to be his third album, since it has another old sound than Consumed. Korridor is just a non-beat-track with no really concept. Just a sound repeating over and over again. Psyk is much better; starts with a kick and then moves on with cymbals, snares and much more, until a synthesizer is repeated and repeated, but actually it sounds good. Dong, dong, dong, dong...that is actually what Pakard sounds like. Over 12+ minutes, it repeats and repeats the same sounds, when a kinda siren playing in the background. I think, it's kinda boring, but it's sounds good in the end. H Y P O K O N D R I A K is OK, but it's a little annoying, when you hear it many times (especially when they're after each other), and that's why this is my hate-track on Artifakts. So......Rekall is very nice made. I like the synthesizers used in this track, and the beats are perfect. Skizofrenik is also good - enough. It's an OK beat, but it's not the best. Are Friends Elektrik? is really good, just as good as Psyk. Then it goes with Lodgikal Nonsense, just a 2:17-track, but it's really funny! I laughed, when I heard it. Just letting Richie spin the normal conversations into funny talk!

Artifakts is an okay album, though it could be a little better. But as the ending of the trilogy with Sheet One and Musik, it's really good. Sheet One does the movement and trips, Musik goes into funkier beats and melodies, and when we get to Artifakts, it's a flashback to Sheet One and the long endless ambient style. My tip is to buy this one before Consumed, to get the real feeling, that Richie is getting better on the way. Anyway, it's a nice album. *presses Repeat-button* :-/

Simply put...if you like electronic music that defines a genre...then pick this up. I disagree with a lot of the reviewers on this piece. If you listen to the first three tracks only for eternity...it's worth the price. There are some interesting pieces from tracks 4-7...but they are nothing compared to the conceptual slowmotion groove apocalypse that is set by the first three tracks. Korridor...although beatless...sets up Psyk, an all time speaker crusher which melts into the ultra-chill Packard. [Which you must bow to the sheer largesse of instantly.] Total preludes to the entire "Consumed" Record from a conceptual standpoint. Which I would recommend any interested party pick up as well. Minimalism at it's best. Artifakts B.C. is what good electronic music should be...timeless. [In an age where gear upgrades occur on a daily basis and the hybrids of style have already created endless new classifications.] This one will never be lost. It defines...it delivers. It would do so if it only had the the first 3 tracks. It get's 4 stars based on those tracks alone.

It seems like even when I don't think i'm in the mood to hear something off this album, it only takes me about 1 minute of listening before it takes me back into it's zone. It's nice to see people alive in electronic music nowadays that realize the importance of techniques like what Hawtin is using in his work.

Any fan of 'Sheet One' and 'Muzik' will appreciate 'Artifakts (BC)'. 'Consumed' may be a new direction for Richie's production, but let's face it, this is the Plastikman sound we have grown up on.

I'll leave 'Consumed' on the back burner until I want to break out some serious drugs... which I don't expect to be soon.

I picked up this Plastikman album with a bit of skepticism a while back... Afterall, I've had enough of his rather mindless hyperkinetic beatfeasts from his prior EP's... In all trueness, I was addicted to the sounds found on "Marbles" and "Substance Abuse," (from his prior releases) and was wondering when he would ever return to that same brand of liquid 303 coolness... I heard "psyk" and "packard" in a record store and they were enough to bring a big grin to my face and buy the album... Definitely more minimal and streamlined than his prior releases, but still head strong with the tripiness.

Aside from the length, this album is excellent. The sound is similar to his earlier work, yet more intelligent. The fact is I think Ritche is simply becoming a better musician. You can hear some of his earlier ideas, but they are expressed with much more finesse. While the albums are very different, I can hear some of Consumed in the sound. Track 5 is a MASTERPIECE. I remeber Richies days at the Shelter in Detroit. It is wonderful to hear him getting even better with age. So many artists simple cannot break out of set patterns. Rithie continues to evolve. Oh Yeah...did I mention that he is a genius?

Has the ticking of a clock or the roar of a vacume ever activated interior circuts that, while dormant in the brain, hold a koncept of infinity? This neural transmission from Richie Hawtin seeks unification with the universal binary concept. Face it, we are either On or Off, One or Nothing. Plastikman is On. He is One.

Well, Richie Hawtin did it again. He further pushed the boundries of what "minimal" can mean and still be called music.

Taking the idea behind "Sheet One" and bringing a step further into complete isolation, "Artifakts" takes all the elements of the music and strips it down until the bare minimum is there; basslines, sparse beats, acid (!!!); and on top of it all, lilting synth lines that float over the soundscape.

It opens with "Korridor", which is a piece of minimal ambience that sounds wide open and claustrophobically small at the same time; "hypokondriak" is a minimal drum excercise a la "sickness", and songs like "Pakard", "psyk", and "rekall" bring the acid full force. For fans of, well, anything, this album is worth a listen or 1,000...trust me, it takes a while for all of it to sink in. BRILLIANT release and highly underrated if you ask me.

This whole album is nothing but undertones. This album is very quiet (if you listen to it you'll understand). It is not %100 ambient. I wouldn't even know how to describe it because I have heard nothing like it other than his other album, Consumed (although a little quieter). I listen to this when I want some background noise, ie sleeping and working.

I hope my brief review didn't sound negative, because I do like this album.

Being an Electronica fan for many years, I long heard that Richie Hawtin (his real name) was one of the well respected name in the world of Intelligent Techno Dance along with Derrick May, Kenny Larkin and Juan Atkins to name a few. I then bought this album to know if Mr. Hawtin really deserved his place among the greats. It does. The music is very minimalist in the song structure but I think it serves only to emprison the listener in a kind of time cell to make him more receptive to the message hidden into the song. Plastikman's music is simple, effective and beautifull.

A dance feast for the subconscious mind. Thanks Mr. Hawtin to show us what humility and simplicity means.