Is Minus becoming the Get Physical of minimal?

mr.statik · Post by **mr.statik** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 5:19 pm

wanted to know what everyone feels about this, I mean I'm a huge minus fan , I love the stuff,buy and play the records but somewhere along the way I can't avoid the the thought that maybe there's TOO much spotlight on minus and it's artists....
and now 2 12"s with rmxs? for me minus was supposed to be each artist's vision on this specific 'area' of the minimal sound...
I guess it's really cool that everyone there cashes in the hype and all, getting some great music out, but perhaps somewhere along the run the whole 'underground' or 'avant-garde' feel is lost.... Hope that the whole buzz about minimal music doesn't have the opposite effects in the not so distant future...

But again, who knows maybe all this is a good thing, but i can't ignore the fact that commercialism rarely equals quality....

adam · Post by **adam** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 5:26 pm

There's a lot of good music out there, but there's a lot more weak music. When someone consistantly delivers high quality, top notch records all the time (like Minus), of course they are going to be in the spotlight. They've earned it. (note: not looking for a flame war from anyone who doesn't dig it... )

Thomas D and Jack Thomas · Wed Mar 22, 2006 5:31 pm

It's just Richie's infamous powermarketing at work. The last couple M_Nus records I've actually been into, but for the most part I think the label is completely overrated. I tend to think artists like Magda or Pierce push the m-nus label more than richie does. Richie's been playing a lot of harder techno these days. Realistically, I think m_nus could deal with cutting about half their output and focus on quality again rather than quantity. Once the whole minimal fad dies, m_nus won't be as popular and the label will return to more mysterious and occassional releases like back in the day. I'd actually say this label is becoming the Primate or Intec of minimal techno.

Don't get me wrong, I like some of the releases a lot but a lot of the stuff is just way too similar...heartthrob, troy pierce, latest false, etc. THE DRUGGED OUT HEROIN SOUND IS TIRED, RICHIE. Although, the A1 and B1 Magda and Gaiser cuts were great.

mr.statik · Post by **mr.statik** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 5:38 pm

I'd actually say this label is becoming the Primate or Intec of minimal techno.

well we all saw what happened to primate...let's hope the same doesnt occur in this case as well

Thomas D and Jack Thomas · Wed Mar 22, 2006 6:01 pm

mr.statik wrote:well we all saw what happened to primate...let's hope the same doesnt occur in this case as well

That's a whole different topic on it's own.

Prime (the distributor of Primate) jumped on the drum techno bandwagon and P&D'd a million techno labels. Then they were spending money quicker than they could pay it back. In the end, Prime went under and and nobody got paid like they were supposed to. If you don't think this is going to happen to some of the minimal distributors in the next couple years you're sadly mistaken.

The amount of new minimal labels popping up is ridiculous and definitely rivals the number of new labels Prime was dealing with. On top of that, most minimal labels (even the ones spoken about on this site 90% of the time) are lucky to do around 1,000-1,500 copies tops. When Prime was around, some labels were doing INITAL pressings of around 2,800 copies with 3-4 represses after that.

Realistically, if you look at the numbers and success rates in the "minimal" industry...it's clear most of it is all hype and talk. While minimal may have drawn in new listeners, they're still not exactly buying up tons of records.

iC3MaN · Post by **iC3MaN** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 6:39 pm

i quite think they are still pushing the boundaries, i really loved the idea that they gave new artists a chance with minmax. still i agree that magda and troy push the label further as i am seeing hawtin is moving gradually off minimal into a harder something because i dont think it still can be called minimal. another thing that piss me off with minus is that they take ages from when they release the promo until they release it. just like 25 bitch of troy and loco dice - sleeping with shadows which still doesnt have a release date.

mr.statik · Post by **mr.statik** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 6:46 pm

Troy's is coming out next month, dunno about loco dice, is this a solo ep as well or a track comin out on the forthcoming compilation?

gusta · Post by **gusta** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 6:49 pm

Sometimes I don't understand the popularity of the latest 10? releases.
Imho, it's all the same and I think it's pretty boring.

Minus never has been one of my favourite labels but I miss the diversity from the releases like false "sink the ship", geometry, walk in the park orginal. I think like some of you said, too much on too little time.