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Okay…so in all my years of working in and around DJ culture, I never got the chance to hear Richie Hawtin spin. I wasn’t much into rave culture or Techno. I was mostly into the house sound with DJs like Roger Sanchez, Erick Morillo and Danny Tenaglia. Boy, now do I know what I’ve been missing! My favorite DJ is Terry Lee Brown Jr., who is the bridge between the former and the latter. Terry Lee Brown Jr brings the flavor of house, but also the sounds of Hawtin’s techno. I’ve now connected the dots and hope you will too.

For those of you who don’t know Richie Hawtin, he’s a legendary DJ/Producer who made music under the pseudonym Plastikman. Recently he’s been producing under his own name. He’s also responsible for input into the development of DJ tools like Stanton’s Final Scratch and–correct me if I’m wrong–has a hand in the online music store, Beatport.com. I think that’s true. Need to check my sources.

On this day, the crowd of young people who follow Richie showed up and were rewarded with an incredible performance. Hawtin created such energy with his music, it leaned into the spiritual realm all DJs who operate in Techno and its many offshoots. The minimal pounding beats, staccato fills, clicks, mind numbing leads and all sorts of intelligent sounds took your breath away. Everyone in the place, face forward toward the stage, hands slicing and fisting pumping in the air. On this day, it was Richie’s tribe of followers seeking the elements of life, love, joy and pain in his music.

Our new friend, Tiphany Parker, who’d we’d met the day before during the Underworld event, had also never experienced a Hawtin set. She was blown away as well. Richie just earned himself another new fan. I know she’ll be scouring Beatport and the other services for the rest of the week looking for Hawtin’s Plastikman tracks, while hoping to learn more about his history and the legacy he’s built in the DJ culture and Techno genre. I’m a new (renewed?) fan as well.

I thought I knew before, but I really didn’t. Even though I’ve heard Carl Cox spin at the long defunct Twilo, seeing Richie in the tent at the Virgin Mobiel Festival was a different experience altogether. Now, I can honestly say that I know why they use the term, “This IS Techno!” Because, with Richie…this REALLY IS Techno! It’s a way of life, just like Rock or Alternative. It has its roots, fashion, dance moves…everything. It’s a genre that will come and go but never die. We see new genres, like Electro, becoming the fad of the moment. But the contributions of Techno makes the sounds of Electro possible. A parent child relationship if there ever was one.

One final note. I have to personalize apologize to Richie, or anyone who reads this blog for that matter, for never making the effort, until now, to hear him tear it up. As someone who’s been in the electronic music scene for some 25-years, I should know better. I guess now, I do.

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This week I was in Washington D.C. with my lovely girlfriend, Missy. She had a national study abroad conference to attend and asked me if I wanted to jump on the Delta Shuttle out of New York’s Laguardia Airport to join her. It’s only a short hop. Just about a 45-minute flight.

On Memorial Day, we checked out “Recognize!”, a hip hop exhibit running now through September at the National Portrait Gallery. I was surprised to see hip hop artistry in such a historic museum, where portraits of many of our country’s President’s grace the walls and classically beautiful landscapes stretch across the marble.

Then again, the museum also featured Impressionist artwork on display on the gallery’s higher floors. It was neat to walk through the rooms and people watch to see what kind of folks were interested in the exhibit. They seemed to come from all walks of life. Mostly tourists, of course, but there were some young African American kids about high school age taking in all the elements of the hip hop exhibit, which included video art, spoken word/poetry, photography, painting and one tribute collage commemorating the lives of Biggie, Tupac, Easy E, Aaliyah and Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes.

Besides the exhibit, I also got the chance to shoot the statue of Alexander Hamilton, a key player in the development of the U.S. Treasury Department. I also took a shot of the White House lawn and some interior shots of the National Portrait Gallery. Hope you enjoy!

In a sign of things to come, the venerable dance label, Ultra Records, headed up by CEO Patrick Moxey and GM David Waxman, have signed a distribution deal with Warner Brothers Records distribution arm, Alternative Distribution Alliance, for North America.

In an era where the music market is so fragmented that a double-platinum album is looked at as a huge success, record labels may be influenced by Wired editor, Chris Anderson’s recent book, The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More. Anderson’s book takes a look at the record business among other markets and points out that the aggregate sum of all minor music sales total more than the sum of all popular hits.

The shuttering of New York’s Strictly Rhythm Records spelled trouble for dance music in the early part of the decade. Without a hit record to feed into the major label system, Mark Finklestein’s dynastic label made him and his staff wealthy as the bunny paid out a handsome sum to purchase its catalog of music as well as the label.

That was, I believe, before Warner Brothers purchased ADA, which would have been a better fit for the Strictly as a distribution partner. Mainly because ADA understands dance and electronic music. Having had to traverse the WEA Distribution system was most likely the straw that broke the camels back. Accountants at Warner Brothers probably wondered who was this little label selling a few hundred thousand, when they needed to break records in the millions to contribute to the mother ship.

The same thing happened with the Warner Brothers, Kinetic Records partnership. The label, which broke Paul Oakenfold and Sandra Collins in the U.S., is a shell of its former self and has made little impact today.

Can Moxey, Waxman and Ultra carry the torch for the rest of the dance music industry in today’s volatile music market? I think so. Every since Moxey hired Waxman, the label has been slowing building a tremendous catalog of mix compiliation series on its own and with its across the pond partner, Ministry of Sound.

Recently, Ultra signed Tiesto, which is akin to Kinetic’s signing of Oakenfold or FFRR’s signing of Goldie (speaking of FFRR, wouldn’t it be cool if that label made a come back!). Ultra has also inked deal’s with Kaskade, which is a key signing as the DJ/Producer’s track, Here I Am made it into a key scene in the the recent hit film, The Devil Wear’s Prada.

I think the powers that be at Ultra understand that it’s not only record sales alone that are going to keep you in business. It’s publishing and royalties over the long term of an artist’s career, which are equally if not more important. Having someone like Tiesto or Kaskade produce music that ends up in car commercials or movies can pad the label’s bottom line and help them to do development deals with up and comers that may not have been possible before.

Another big name signing is Victor Calderone. Although not as big as Tiesto globally, Calderone has made a mark for himself as a popular circuit DJ. His sound crosses over into the anthemic-oriented gay market, but his music is also digestible for a Crobar or Roxy heterosexual punter who probably won’t visit Ibiza this summer, but they’ll sure spend money at the Borgata in Atlantic City or travel to Vegas for a weekend of clubbing.