The career of Hawtin's a familiar one. Drawn into the spatial and space age world of the possibilities of electronic music by his father's collection of Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream, his desire to learn and discover was aided by the proximity of Detroit to his home town. With the likes of Juan Atkins raiding the history book in order to feed their active minds and take things a step further, Hawtin was ideally located on the fringes of a city that was bursting with talent, primed to explode and become one of the world's leading exporters of the electronic beat. Finding allies and like minds, Hawtin quickly progressed, arming himself with an ever growing array of electronic weaponry it wasn't long before Richie found his stride taking on the guise of Plastikman releasing a salvo of records that would change and astound the dance world. His two albums for NovaMute/Plus 8, `Sheet One' and `Musik' proved that sycophantic plagiarism was not the only option. Sparse and dangerously psychotic, the album's set standards and pushed the sound of electronic forward into uncharted territories. But with a 4 year gap since his last offering Hawtin has remained uncharacteristically quiet, preferring to surface in a number of experimental guises and as a consequence of his hectic DJ schedule. Yet idle this boy ain't and while others have preferred to rely on formula, Hawtin has been away plotting. Plotting on a grand scale.

Transgression is not something familiar to Plastikman. A sharp focused agenda based around a hungry desire to progress and improve is something more familiar to Hawtin. Afraid of the expected and with a love of expanding the boundaries , Hawtin has carved out a deeply unfamiliar sound and in the process made that crucial and difficult jump from functional producer to fully fledged musical artist. Of course the album, `Consumed' mines familiar areas, relying heavily on Hawtin's love affair with the minimal, yet with this latest outing, Plastikman has offered and delivered spacious and uncluttered vistas not seen in previous incarnations. Time has provided Hawtin with a refuge, freed from expectations and the demand of rigid formulas, Plastikman has been able to float free and explore the outer limits of his musical mind. Deep, luxurious and aquatic, `Consumed' falls somewhere between the laconic rumble of Maurizio's electronic output, the lazy echo fed drive of King Tubby and the more familiar musical tricks of Plastikman of old. Applying the less is more doctrine and closely working and expanding the elements he has put into the mix, Hawtin has created an album on a grand scale, a piece of work that fills every available space with the minimum of effort. 5 + 5 = 1000 if you see what I mean. This is the work of a confident artist hitting his stride and coming out of the late 80's dance explosion intact and ready to progress and take things further.

With the minimal of fuss, the album is a subtle affair, luxurious, warm and deep. Opening with the metronomic ticking of `Contain' the album progresses at an even pace. At times laconic and laid back, as in the second track 'Consume', the album is all encompassing and filmic with it's wide screen sounds and embracing rhythms. The album shares a spatial fixation with the dub pioneers of the 70's utilising minimal instrumentation to maximum effect and tracks such as `Inside' share the same abilities to draw in and subdue the hapless listener. `Consumed' is a masterpiece, but like many great works, it's worth lies in it's attempts to revolutionise. An album made for the head rather than this dance floor (but dispel any thoughts of 'intelligent' techno right now, this album is without contemporaries), this album transports the listener further beyond the lure of the strobe without them having to stand on a dance floor for five hours. The future sound of the world today without a doubt.