Anthony "Shake" Shakir* ‎– Frictionalism 1994-2009

Before this came out, Anthony Shakir was perhaps the most overlooked and underrated producer in Detroit Techno music. Now that this collection exists, I can see a lot more people becoming fans of his style. Three discs is a lot to digest but there are very few weak moments here. You know that minimal, clickety-clackety digitized stuff from the late 90s that's now ubiquitous in the techno scene? Imagine something like that but more soulful, more interesting, and much better executed overall and you have a good idea of Shake's style. There are even a few great tracks here that even utilize some inventive sampling and hip-hop type beats too. Bottom line, if you like Detroit Techno, "minimal techno", or just good electronic dance music, you need to buy this pronto. Just get it now so you can avoid having to pay $300 for a copy on eBay a couple years later.

NOTE: this collection is packaged in a "super jewel box" DVD case. I'm really not a fan of this type of packaging as it uses up a ton of plastic, is awkward to store, and doesn't really protect the discs as well as it could. The three discs stack on top of each other inside the case. For double disc collections it works okay without messing up the discs too much but the spindle isn't really tall enough to accommodate three discs. That means the top disc comes off the spindle and shakes around, scratching the playing surface. If Rush Hour or any other label has any sense, they will avoid packaging like this in the future.