Robert Hood - Minimal Nation

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.

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.