hawtin might have finally lost it...

[jsz]

Money, money, money...

[soapz]

I wonder where it all went wrong for him? I know it has been spoken about before but im fascinated how he went from 2004/2005 Richie to 2012 Richie. Obv even further back but that was when i first heard him play. I can remember being overwhelmed by the quality of the tracks he was playing. There was a couple of subtle effects he would use, that psp loop thing every now and again, and also I remember his use of the filters was a lot cleverer and more precise than others I had seen before him. His mixing was quite clever back then also as he was always able to present the track to you in the best way. I remember it felt like you were being educated as you were dancing as every track held you on the dance floor. No matter how much you thought you knew he would be able to blow you away at one or more points in his set.

Maybe he went a bit mad and should have ended it along time ago but already had too many gigs lined up so couldn't back out and its been a downward spiral since..

I dont 100% believe its money that would change your attitude on music. Maybe your marketing strategies.. but not your taste in music. He's the only person I've ever seen to have changed so much in music taste in so little years. He must know that this loopy, artificial tech-house, or whatever it is, is sh-t. does he?

Basically he either..

..knows its sh-t and continues to play it.. which means he has just gone for the money and doesn't care along as people
keep turning up.

..knows its sh-t but believes all "the kids" aren't clever enough to appreciate deeper music so has to keep playing the
toy-techno as he is afraid to look old and not be cool to the younger gen..

..knows its sh-t but now has to think of many more artists careers than himself before playing what he considers riskier
music.

..knows its sh-t but believes he has such a more mainstream crowd to entertain that this is his only option of what to
play now.

..doesnt know its sh-t, and therefore has lost his mind

..doesnt know its sh-t and therefore has lost his hearing slightly

..never really had an ear for music and was always dependant on somebody choosing records for him, that person quit
in 2006.

..is no longer taking drugs which was the catalyst for creativity for him.

[soapz]

To sum up.. If you could travel through time and show an artist his work 7 years into the future, the people true to the art would be overwhelmed at what they heard, maybe a little bit confused but definitely intrigued at the new sounds. As them in the future would have the same taste as they do now but much more knowledge. I think 2005 richie would have topped himself!

[Fundamentalh]

With Richie you can travel him back directly 15-20 years ago, when F.U.S.E, Sheet One and Musik were totally amazing works, his sets on 3 decks were pretty good too...
So yes when you compare what he did and what he delivers now, we have reasons to be a bit disappointed.

He chose the ways of marketing and branding, probably for a change, but still I expect more from him artistically.

[Hutch]

Good points above, ,my question tho is, other than banging out big room tech house or just CLR style techno, what else can he do when there are 5k plus people? I think he could play more Berghain stlye would be cool.

I don't think I can blame him for the most part for his track selection the last few years. I can blame him for his record label turning into a pile of sh!t. I barely ever hear him play any of the releases in his sets. Which poses the question........WTF?

Another thing that annoys me are DJ's like Ambivalent, that make one hit, and dont produce anything for 2 years and just tour and ride Rich's coattail.

It's natural for us old schoolers to expect more from him as a DJ, but I just dont think there is anything else he can do playing for so many people.

[Themis]

Just play for less people? you dont have to go bigger and bigger and bigger..

just play one big festival a week in the summer, and the rest only little clubs in berlin and maybe some near by countries .. he should get more than enough money from that

[sheet1]

i cant see whats in the link, someone elaborate what i am missing on.

[cloutier]

i m_nus / enter branded toothbrush.