The album that started it all has been reissued and is ESSENTIAL for Minimal Techno heads. infact the vinyl even comes with a mix cd too!
ROBERT HOOD "MINIMAL NATION"
MINIMAL NATION (SPECIAL EDITION)
Artist: Robert Hood
Label : M-Plant
Rating: 9.0 out of 10.0
Released: 2009-06-15
Type: Album/CD
If you know your classics, you might know that Robert Hood's iconic 1994 album Minimal Nation album is one of the most important techno albums of all age. Its stripped down beats and typical production paved the way for a sound that would, years later, take the dance scene by storm under the moniker of 'minimal techno'.
Minimal Nation can therefore be seen as the blueprint for minimal music, and this 15 year old killer is now about to be re-released as a Special Edition featuring the previously unreleased track SH-101 and the extremely rare Self-Powered, which only appeared on the Axis test press until now. Life can be good.
There's minimal and there's minimal. On the one hand there's Richie and co., and on the other hand there's the banging yet basic Detroit techno, under which we should file Minimal Nation too. That means that there's no room for soft kicks, digital rattles or weird fx, but just straight on four-to-the floor 909 kicks, vintage synth and bass loops and grand slamming drums. Minimal Nation contains 10 tracks that all carry the aforementioned elements, delivering an incredibly powerful and energetic flow of Class A Detroit techno. On Touch, the album opener, kicks it at around 128 bpm with fat beats, typical techno cymbals and a woodblock-style bass-line. The hi-hatting and use of breaks is oldschool (which, of course, is no surprise), but still have that special element techno junkies would die for. It's static, staccato and rhythmic at the same time. The same goes for pretty much every other track on this album: there's 303 acid stabs, dirty 909 and 808 drums, and truckloads of intense beats that, in all its minimal, packs a punch due to its nifty programming. Sheer brilliance.
SH-101, previously unreleased, is one of those extremely dirty acid techno tracks with not much more than a f*cked up, nervous 303 bass-line throughout the entire track supported by banging beats and ADHD-cymbals, but god damn it's good. Robert Hood fans will also be pleased with the rare Self-Powered track, which shows Robert's more subtle side on a track that reminisces of DJ Rolando and, at some points, Jeff Mills.
The re-release will include a special Minimal Nation mix CD featuring tracks from the album plus excerpts from Sterotype, Darkroom, The Core, The Protein Valve, Externus Oblique, Strativarious, Needs And Wants, and... And Then We Planned Our Escape. This mix wasn't included in the promo copy we received, but we know it's brilliant anyway...
Robert Hood's Minimal Nation has always been a landmark album that should hold a prominent spot in any techno fan's collection, but the addition of two rare tracks and the mix make this a true collector's item. Essential.
Minimal Nation track-list:
One Touch
Museum
SH-101 (unreleased)
Rhythm Of Vision
Unix
Ride
Station Rider E
Self Powered (previously on test pressing only)
Sleep Cycle
Rhythm Of Vision (original)
