- So here's what we know: Plus 8, the era-defining '90s techno label run by Richie Hawtin and John Acquaviva, released a new 12-inch this month with the number 25/1. The rest is a mystery. We don't know who it's by, and Hawtin's camp claims to be unaware of its existence. The only other detail to work with is a message on the record's label: "From my mind to yours," a riff on the title of Plus 8's seminal 1991 compilation From Our Minds To Yours Vol. 1. With tracks from Kenny Larkin, F.U.S.E., Speedy J and others, that release helped usher in a new era of minimalist techno from both sides of the Atlantic. This week, 25/2 dropped, suggesting this will be an ongoing 25th anniversary series.
Whatever the story may be, the music on 25/1 doesn't quite justify the record's mystique. What you get are three cuts in the lean and spooky style of Artifakts [bc]-era Plastikman, though the spirit is more nostalgic than forward-thinking. "No Way Back" is a fairly standard acid tool, albeit one that would nicely maintain tension in a techno set. "Stretching" is a beat workout that's absorbing enough—strobing and oblique, with eerie pads and the occasional backwards loop—though it, too, is a bit reserved. "Simple Simon" has more oomph than the other two, thanks to a snappy hi-hat pattern and an assertive two-tone bassline. All three feel safe compared to the classic Plus 8 stuff they're referencing, much of which still sounds dangerous a quarter of a century later. To properly live up to that legacy, you'd need a record with sharper teeth than 25/1.
TracklistA1 No Way Back
B1 Stretching
B2 Simple Simon