Ritchie Hawtin’s Minus label had a phenomenal 2006 and this year is building up a formidable head of steam too. Since 1998, the label has driven and defined what’s come to be known as minimal techno but constantly pushed it past the outer limits. But a vital point is the spirit of fun and adventure which courses through the funked-out future-scapes which bowl out of its personality-studded roster. They’re all here on a compilation which rams home just what a great label this is. Not a retrospective, more a slapping of recent vital organs on the table. A feast of techno friends like Troy Pierce, Gaiser, Heartthrob, Marc Houle, Mathew Jonson, JPLS, Loco Dice, Magda and Hawtin himself with ‘The Tunnel’. all sculpting alien electronic soundscapes unlike anything else around but still great to cavort to in a club. I’ve already reviewed all these titans as singles. Ambivalent’s marvelously sick ‘R U OK’ is plain hilarious. It also includes a bonus CD of Troy Pierce weaving them all together like he’s arranging his radioactive garden to trip up the nearest goat.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: KRIS NEEDS
