There is also another version of this release, which has an extra track on one side (c ?); i have a white label of it, as well the original.

As an introduction to minimal techno, this double 12" is unsurpassed, many have tried to emulate it, no one has succeeded.

This was Rob Hood's first release following his departure - along with Mills - from Underground Resistance. It is doubtful that he intended to kick start another direction for techno to head off in, though is it hard to argue that, at the time, it certainly needed something to prevent it's descent into loud and relentless boring jackhammer 4/4ness.

Personally, I think the "moveable parts, vol.1." ep is a far superior release...

cheers, marc.

The year was 1994. Something was mutating in the music from the Bladerunner-esque city at the top of the Mid-West: the hitherto string-laden albeit abstracted futurism of techno was corroding down to something which was closer to the frame of its chassis. It was this LP - and it became a marker of a turning point in techno music at least. In the context of a new millennium some newish things become apparent: 1. Some of it is not very 'minimal'. ['Internal Empire' is actually a lot starker and sinister than this LP, not to decry 'Minimal Nation' for *not* having those qualities to any great extent.] Also, don't be surprised by the odd lush pad sequence to well up over the trackiness. 2. It's _extremely_ funky. If you know the theory of 'on-the-one', Test it here. This is black future Funk with a capital 'F'. 3. Even though it doesn't really sound dated in 2009 - it's very evidently from a different era: the analogue atmosphere is very palpable. You can almost smell it. [You can certainly hear the hum of the cheapo recorder this was finished on]. And there's circumstantial evidence everywhere of the VCOs and diodes used to make this LP - one track is titled 'SH101'. In my view, this remains a milestone - don't miss it [again].

Just to give some balance to the analysis here - I personally think this is one the most overrated albums in the history of Techno. It continually gets credited for defining the minimal sound and influencing so many after - fine - but who cares when the music is this bland? Ok Sleep Cycles is a quality track but the rest are so painfully bland and dull it honestly bemuses me how so many seem to think this such an important work. Hawtin to pick an obvious example was doing similarly stripped back stuff at the time too but there is nothing with the brooding enchanting melancholy of something like 'Plasticine' here - just cold blippy dull and boringly repetitive analog sounds. Don't go spending a fortune on an original Axis copy until you've checked it first.

Absolutely right, this album is one of the fixpoints in techno history. Museum with its Hood typicaly strings is so deep, never heard again. Ride and Station Rider E are two tracks of the same topic, like one is the remix of the other. So he putted them on separate records to mix them together. Try it, you can create a mindblowing ride into eternity - everytime different.

The Mills mispress record sounds like it was recorded in his New York/Limelight phase after he left Underground Resistance in 1992. Hard-hitting techno ala Waveform Transmissions Vol 1.

Rhythm is right up there w/ "Starlight" & "The Pace" as my fave minimal tracks of all time. The track actually lives up to it's title, because every time I hear it I just wish that it was maybe two to three minutes longer because it's workings hypnotise me so much. There are some other high quality cuts on here, "Unix" & "Museum" come to mind but it's Rhythm that rocks for me on this release.

This repress features two new tracks to replace two from the original Axis version. The Pace is missed, but admittently the additional tracks are worth having in there.

The record responsible for cementing the term 'minimal' as a genre within Techno.