Plastikman - Closer

This is the darkest, most paranoid and lonely record you may expect to hear in a lifetime, period.
Well, at least under the minimal moniker, which may say volumes, as minimal techno inherently tends to get rather dark and introversive.

Richie managed to transcribe a genuinely psychotic state with his music – the message from the individual tracks, which as standalones posses the ability to rip apart ones mind, sum on each other when listened to in succession with a build up of tension to bring either a closeup and rejection of the whole thing, or either a wave of insights by the recipient psyche. Obviously, Hawtin is an expert in reaching the deepest and darkest corners of the subconscious.

Musically, this is minimal techno at its best and is definitely a classic.

A very annoying release.

On one hand, the first half of it is very boring in being minimal for the sake of it, badly constructed and awfully pretentious.
On the other hand, the second half is really flowing, with a growing atmosphere, much more emotion and sounds that greatly remind of Sheet One.

Annoying because, even though the first half makes you want to puke for hours, the second half makes buying the album necessary.

Awful. Simply awful. Hawtin rehashes the same tired Roland sounds+effects, adds cheesy sub-high-school-poetry lyrics with some lame pitch and delay. I'll stick with "Consumed"...it's far better than this and about the last good thing he's done.

As Artifakts (BC) marked the begining of my interest in minimalist electronica, this release marks a little bit of a rebirth for me. This seems to be more experimental regarding the textures created and is quite ominous and menacing at times with his own distorted voice used to full, and some would say detremental, effect. Yet this album retains an overall sound somehow warmer then the previous consumed LP.

Very scary music. It seems like you either hate closer or you love it. Personally, I think it's very groundbreaking minimal... some of the darkest, most disturbing minimal I've heard. Maybe it's a glimpse into Hawtin's mind. If so, the poor guy is tortured. I usually don't dig vocals in music, but the "vocals" consist of dark, deep thoughts spoken into a pitch-shifter; some of the statements make me contemplate life in this insane world. Overall it's very intelligent music. This album is definitely worth getting if only to expand your musical conscience.