Resident Advisor: Rewind: Richie Hawtin – Decks, EFX & 909

As DE9 celebrates its 25th anniversary, Resident Advisor explores its seismic impact on electronic music.

17 Feb 2025

"I think it's amazing that everybody is playing digital now," he warmly observed. "I appreciate how more people are using tech to edit and change the records in a way that I think a DJ should. Actually, DJing now is very much like DE9."

On November 6th, 1999, an abandoned concrete factory in Windsor, Ontario, was set to be filled with feverish ravers for a one-off celebration. Festivities were in order for one of the most era-defining mixes in electronic music: Richie Hawtin‘s Decks, EFX & 909.

Decks, EFX & 909, AKA DE9, distills the techno titan’s slick DJing into a power-hour of rapturous minimal, EBM and dub techno. Blending 38 tracks and loops using just vinyl and a 909 drum machine, his mind-blowing skills are in full force.

The mix marked a pivotal moment in the Midwest rave scene. Disrupting the garish maximalism of club music at the time, its bold minimalism set the stage for Hawtin to dominate the coming decade.

As DE9 celebrates its 25th anniversary, Resident Advisor explores its seismic impact on electronic music.

Read the full feature.