Plastikman - Musik (30th Anniversary) [NovaMute]

In celebration of its 30th anniversary, Plastikman, aka Richie Hawtin, has remastered his groundbreaking second album, Musik, from the original tapes for a new limited edition bio-vinyl release.

The record was first released in November 1994 via NovaMute and Plus 8, following Plastikman's debut with the album Sheet One (1993). A masterpiece of minimalist techno, Musik quickly catapulted Hawtin to new levels of success. Its release followed Plastikman’s first live performance, staged in a black vinyl-lined room at Detroit’s semi-derelict Packard Plant, where Hawtin was a central figure in the burgeoning underground scene.

Before the full album reached the market, the track “Plastique” (later described by Q as “...the flipside to Hawtin’s earlier singles, with clipped percussion, a feline acid and muffled bass”) laid the groundwork for a more dancefloor-oriented album, albeit with an unsettling and sinister side.

The album, described by The Guardian as “music as you’d never heard it before” and by The Wire, which included it among its Albums of the Year, as “...a masterpiece,” defined a moment in techno that still resonates today.

Now, 30 years later, the album has been remastered from the original tapes, reminding us why the name Plastikman remains relevant and how the album's intensity — both on and off the dancefloor — has not lost an ounce of its potency over the years.