Plus 8 Records Ltd.

Despite the fact that Plus 8 has had a limited number of releases in the past several years, records on Plus 8 continue to be at the top of my personal Top 10 List. I was blown away the first time I heard Plastikman's "Spastik". After feeling the intensity of that track I was inspired to buy some turntables and start mixing techno. I had the same feeling recently when I listened to Adam Beyer's "A Walking Contradiction" which prompted me to write this message.

Plus 8, major techno label with not only music releases in their catalogue. the missing cat-no´s always are very special, strictly limited and prettey funny gimmicks. For example: I have a mousepad for with the cat.no PLUS8073. But there are a lot more of this releases like a cup, a condom ... Great Idea and definitely collectors most wanted releases.

From the very start, Richie, John and Dan were quite supportive of our small but growing scene on the East Coast. Cybersonic, Psyance, Final Exposure and Kenny Larkin's first releases all are classic underground moments during the birth of the U.S. rave scene from 1990 on. Along with Plus 8 and their sub label Probe, Richie Hawtin and Dan Bell became the ones that made techno exciting on all fronts. There was the strictly for the headstrong sounds of 'Circuit Breaker', Trac-X and Trac-L records which were just drum experiments, hard, gritty and unmatched in weirdness. Spiritual High which had Trance roots. The LFO vs. Fuse project which just took opposite ends of hard techno and house to create a fusion that still after 12 years works. As a DJ who worked 4-6 gigs a week during the mid-nineties, "Spastik" by Plastikman will be my most memorable moment in my history. A record that was way to advanced to explain in words. Richie went beyond the call of duty on that creation. A history that has marked and celebrated techno in its finest moment. Plus 8.

Plus 8 definitely shaped how a lot of Americans preferred their techno and perhaps single-handedly made the Roland TR 909 a success (post-mortem), in the days of its release it was ridiculed in the music-instrument press as sounding "bunk"! I believe this label was also very largely responsible for the success of the Roland TB 303. Whatever your tastes, you've got to admit - they are unique sounding. I wasn't particularly moved as such by this label, but I was a fan of whatever Richie Hawtin material I heard - because his music possessed that rare quality of uniqueness. Were it not for Richie, I may have been like a lot of other drummers in the late '80s & early '90s who hated "machine music". But as it were, the more "mechanized", the better! Richie had that quality. But I lost touch in the later '90s when Richie got a little too self-involved and started making what I perceived to be silly music. Or was it music? It was just scattered blips and gurgles - I couldn't dig it as much as the earlier stuff. As stated earlier, this label didn't flip my lid, I was into NovaMute about 1993, but I did enjoy the Richie Hawtin releases at this time. But I wasn't a "DJ", and therefore wasn't at the shop every week checking out all the latest Plus 8 releases. If I were into it, however, I'm almost certain I would've liked just about all of it! I was too busy buying up old analog synths to be buying up dozens of records every week. Any way you slice it, Plus 8 was a phenomenal label in its heyday. As for now - well, honestly I haven't heard enough to really judge. Techno as a whole has gone down in quality, and I'm sure I'd ruin the fun for all if I heard the new stuff and complained about it. I'll just be happy knowing that Plus 8 was once the trendsetter for innovation! All the vintage stuff I have is KILLER!