Novamute Vinyl & CDs

Review: The Motor duo of Mr. No and Bryan Black are back with "Unhuman", an album of stripped down and refined sensibilities. If Motor have gone some way to setting themselves apart from other electronic live acts, then "Unhuman" has developed their sound away from the continued metallic pummel of their debut "Klunk". Whilst obvious club pleasing tracks such as the acid workout "Flashback" have already become live show favourites, the album (released on Novamute) displays a warmer and more developed sound.

Review: Nitzer Ebb are back with a "Best Of" compilation "Body Of Work 1984-1997" on Mute and "Body Rework: Remixes", the accompanying collection of remixes from contemporary artists and DJs inspired by the band's proto-techno industrial legacy. "Body Rework" sees such Ebb classics as "Control (I'm Here)", "Join In The Chant", "Murderous" and "Let Your Body Learn" remixed by the likes of Black Strobe, Xpress 2, Derrick May, The Hacker, Phil Kieran, Thomas Heckmann, Robag Wruhme, Terence Fixmer and Motor into updated electronic versions of their industrial blueprint.

Review: To celebrate its 30th anniversary, techno titan Richie Hawtin aka minimal pioneer Plastikman has remastered his influential second album Musik from the original tapes and pressed it up to limited edition bio-vinyl. It was first released in November 1994 via NovaMute and his own Plus 8 and was soon hailed as a masterclass in minimal techno, catapulting Hawtin toward the heights he still enjoys today. Prior to the full album release, the track 'Plastique' hinted at a more dancefloor-oriented sound while maintaining an unsettling edge that characterises much of the ensuing album's abstract and alien allure.

Review: A truly landmark album in the history of techno, Richie Hawtin set the bar very high for himself and his Plastikman alias with this record. Sheet One is fabled in many ways, from the notorious blotter-sheet sleeve to the inscription about drug consumption on the run-out groove, but its the music itself which has stood the test of time. Wringing layers of emotion from a 303 beyond what most thought was possible, Hawtin created an exciting new extrapolation of the Detroit techno he took his lead from, foreshadowing the increased minimalism which was yet to come. Some 30 years old and still a dazzling masterpiece of modern electronic music, it's sounding better than ever on this special edition reissue via Novamute.