Plus 8 (also spelled as Plus8) is a Canadian

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the prod ...

, based in Windsor,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. Along with Underground Resistance and

Planet E A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a young ...

, Plus 8 was one of the early producers of

Detroit Techno Detroit techno is a type of techno music that generally includes the first techno productions by Detroit-based artists during the 1980s and early 1990s. Prominent Detroit techno artists include Juan Atkins, Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May, Jeff M ...

's 'Second Wave' music at the start of the 1990s.

History

Plus 8 was founded in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

DJs A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...

Richie Hawtin Richard "Richie" Hawtin (born June 4, 1970) is a British-Canadian electronic musician and DJ. He became involved with Detroit techno's second wave in the early 1990s, and has been a leading exponent of minimal techno since the mid-1990s. He becam ...

and

John Acquaviva John Acquaviva (born 1963) is an Italian Canadian DJ, producer, artist, and musical entrepreneur. Music career Acquaviva began his career in Detroit where he performed under the name of J'acquaviva+8. He met fellow DJ Richie Hawtin at The Shelter ...

. The label's name referred to the fact that on most turntables, +8% is the maximum amount by which one can increase the speed of playback. Initial releases were a series of increasingly faster

industrial hardcore Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

recordings by the pair themselves and their friends, using aliases such as States of Mind and Cybersonik, along with other

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

-based musicians such as

Kenny Larkin Kenny Larkin (who also releases as Dark Comedy) is an American techno producer from Detroit. He has been described by AllMusic as "massively influential" on American, British, and German techno. Larkin was born in 1968 and raised in Detroit, but ...

. The label began to retreat from hard and fast tempo after the release of Circuit Breaker's "Overkill/Frenz-E" and Cybersonik's "Thrash" in 1992. Hawtin and Aquaviva lost interest in the drug-fueled dynamic and rave culture that was driving hardcore techno. In 1992, after observing a crowd in a

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

club shouting an

anti-semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

football chant A football chant or terrace chant is form of vocalisation performed by supporters of association football, typically during football matches. Football chanting is an expression of collective identity, most often used by fans to express their ...

over Plus 8's song, Cybersonik's "Thrash", Hawtin and Aquaviva decided to change musical direction by slowing down the tempo and bringing funk and soul back into their music. Plus 8 releases include early

12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

s from Speedy J, and from Richie Hawtin's many

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

s including F.U.S.E. and Plastikman. By 1996 Plus 8 had also released a number of dance compilation albums. The label was suspended in 1997, as Acquaviva concentrated on DJing and Hawtin on his new label,

M nus Minus or M-nus is a recording label based in Berlin, Germany and Windsor, Canada. It was created in 1998 by Richie Hawtin when Plus 8, a label previously created by Hawtin, was put on hold. By 2005, M-nus was releasing 2 to 3 CDs and 12 to ...

, but releases (and re-releases of early material often licensed to other labels) have appeared from time to time, notably 2000's ''Plus 8 Classics'' triple 12-inch vinyl and CD retrospective.

References

;Citations

External links

Official site
* {{Authority control Canadian independent record labels Record labels established in 1990 Techno record labels

History

See also

References

External links