Hawtin generally doesn't commission remixes, so it's a lucky that we get treated to a combo of two rather innovative minds in electronic music. The premise is simple--Brinkmann deconstructs a selection of the originals with his famous multi-tonearm turntable, so that the listener hears the same thing in each ear, only shifted extremely out of phase. The result is a mesmerizing set of sounds and patterns that seem to float around in space.

Concept 1, composed by Richie Hawtin, marked a yearlong correlation between musical development and the progression of time. The original series (1996) of 12 monthly twelve-inch singles comprised of 24 tracks, strictly limited to 2000 copies per release, was a timely musical emission of that moment. Before the compiled CD release of Concept 1 96:CD in February 1998, Thomas Brinkmann (Cologne, Germany) visited Windsor to play Hawtin some of his "Variations" of Concept 1. The results unfolded a new structure from the original material, exposing a new side of Hawtin's compositions.
Explaining his custom system to produce the Concept 1 Variations, Brinkmann notes, "I used a self-made turntable with 30 kilo plate, and two SME 309 Tone Arms utilizing both Ortofon and Van den Hul moving-coil pickups." Using the original Concept 1 records on his two-arm turntable, Thomas found unheard dynamics within these recordings. Even the imperfections of the vinyl pressing process find new character within his Variations. "The interventions with the actual vinyl are few: I slowed down the speed of the record and used the left pickup (arm) for the left channel, and the right pickup (arm) for the right channel. I found out that the use of different pickup systems for both channels is important for the sound," Brinkmann adds. "It's possible to hear a melodic displacement between the channels."

Re-thinking the depth of sound, Thomas said, "I don't believe in creativity, but in sensibility. We have to invent the things to make them visible or audible, even though they had been there before, only invisible and inaudible." Through his unique angle of attention, Thomas has allowed us to hear what he hears, something that was there but unheard until now. Summing up his technique, Thomas mentions, "With a little intervention and displacement of elements, the Concepts are sounding different. The same information they had before, but two times present. Like the idea of cloning and twins: still Richie's DNA with a little mutation. A different groove."


In the spirit of MINUS, Thomas has used an untraditional technique based on theories of alternative listening and experimentation to produce an image of difference. A scientific yet natural way of revealing the complexity of what was originally deemed minimal.

Richie Hawtin