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(Playhouse/Stomp)
Ok firstly let me just say this – “album of the year” for me. Hands down.
Can this Chilean man produce anything substandard? Not a chance. Just when you thought minimal techno couldn’t get any better, Ricardo Villalobos slaps you in the head with one of the most luscious albums of the year. Digital funk, layered with quirky stabs floating over thick dubby basslines and abstract reverbs. I am actually too excited to even type up this review… this is what techno is all about, fresh sounds for the headspace and the body-rock.
After the recent single release of ‘What you say is more than I can say’, I had a feeling that this album would be a stand out. The vocoded vocals of the first track ‘Easy Lee’ are menacing, a slow lethargic vocal that patters out towards the end of each sentence making for a rather dark tone that seems to lighten up when the beat kicks in and the quirky snaps and basslines start to scatter amongst each other and the vocals. Music from all directions, is the only way I can describe it, the bassline hitting you in the depths of your stomach, the idiosyncratic beats going to all parts of your brain… sigh, minimal bliss.
‘YGH’ again just fills you with sounds and snippets and samples, spaced out reverb and a clicky beat, I could go on forever with adjectives because there is just so much to tell in each track. ‘Bahaha Hahi’ continues the comforting minimal journey, starting with a heavy slowness overlayed by a quick frolic of oddity, it then slowly rumbles into a storm, definitely one for the dancefloor (actually most of them are).
‘I try to live (Can I live)’ is a bouncy tune, again with just so much going on its hard to put into words. The twisted “I try to live, can I live” sample going through the tune in sporadic moments, the constant bounce of the bassline – all fused together makes for a seriously deep and sexy low slung mashup for the booty. I think Ricardo’s latino flavour really comes out in ‘Waiworinao’, a repeated guitar riff with a siesta type carnival feel, someone get me a margarita please;)
I could go on all day and night about this album, every single tune has hit the spot for me, its not very often that I get over-excited about a release but this one has me smiling from ear to ear and so eager to dance up a storm this weekend. It’s funny how Ricardo’s moodiness and brooding tones can be so uplifting to a lover of this sound, the production is immaculate and strange, strangeness that Ricardo does like no other, he is in total control of his vision, his headspace and his hardware. Other reviews have said it would be best suited for home listening, but not this one… definitely some high quality dancefloor groove coming from a large portion of this album.
Alcachofa – Spanish for Artichoke
Description of an Artichoke’s flavour:
The morsel of edible flesh found at the base of each scale-like leaf or bract, dipped in a sauce that complements its flavour, is a tantalizing teaser; a hint of the taste treat to come when the firm disc that is the artichoke bottom is finally revealed. Freed of the soft inner leaves that surround it and the tough hairy choke that grows in its centre, it is just two bites of gastronomic bliss… How apt.
NB: this album also comes in a 3LP vinyl pack
