The first full-length in four years from 28-year-old post-techno electronic musician Richie Hawtin under his Plastikman alias, Consumed has more going on underneath its cool, minimal surface

Consumed

The first full-length in four years from 28-year-old post-techno electronic musician Richie Hawtin under his Plastikman alias, Consumed has more going on underneath its cool, minimal surface than first meets the ears. Contrasting pretty heavily with previous Plastikman efforts, Consumed is a slowly evolving, serious work of tranced out microgrooves with deliberately paced, almost textural changes in synth washes and percussive sounds. Neither ambient nor techno, but existing in a delicate, contemporary space between, Consumed reminds one of a less harsh-sounding Porter Ricks or a sedated Mouse on Mars with an even heavier Kraftwerk fetish. The music has a serious metronomic thing going on, but it foregoes traditional beat tyrannies and bowel-rattling buzz bass in favor of an altogether more ethereal, subsonic groove. It's delightful. --Mike McGonigal

Consumed