Traditionally, in the world of underground electronic music, minimal techno was one of the least conspicuous genres. I myself, up until a few years ago, couldn't tell you what constituted minimal techno, let alone name a single minimal artists.

In the past five years, minimal techno, through the efforts of artists such as Richie Hawtin, Misstress Barbara and also Trentmoller's dabblings, minimal techno has come into vogue for being the hip underground genre. Magda was another of the headlining DJs and producers who helped to establish minimal techno in the last few years. During this period, I decided to dabble in minimal just to see what all the fuss was about.

Before I press on further, however, I must point out that I was never a fan of minimal techno. The obsessively metronomical sound, casual crescendos and denouements and drawn out samples never quite clicked in my psyche. As I explained to my friends who were fans, it's not that I have something against the genre; I just found it to be very esoteric in nature. In essence, I found minimal techno to be a love-it-or-hate-it affair and I, unfortunately, fell on the latter side of the fence. The clincher for me was Crowdpleaser & St. Plomb's album 2006 which was, after their amazing song "Rather Be", a complete waste of talent (note: a few music sites strongly disagree.)

So imagine my surprise when I listened to Magda's minimal masterpiece She's a Dancing Machine. This is an album that showcases the very best that minimal techno has to offer, both in terms of selection and an extremely competent DJ's technical ability.

Indeed, Magda includes as many as 8 songs per track. She is at all times bashful, striking the impossible balance between playing great tracks and her impeccable mixing ability.

She's a Dancing Machine pounds on for 80 minutes with the consistency of Roger Federer's heartbeat. Moreover, it's consistent and never boring. Magda keeps you interested and stupefied at the same time.

This is a great album on all fronts in a way that is beyond words. For a person who was not a fan of minimal techno, I cannot say enough good things about this compilation. More than anything else, I couldn't escape the epiphanic sensation that I finally understood why people were excited about minimal. Moreover, I couldn't help but enjoy every second of the music that helped me get there.

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Magda - "K4 Ljubljana"