"Alcachofa" by Ricardo Villalobos

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Yeah what's up with his fucking dj sets? My biggest disappointment of the year was hearing him play at sonar. Grr.

Jacob (Jacob), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 04:05 (nineteen years ago) link

I like fierce, pounding techno, but his was a case of too much of a good thing. Eventually I found myself wishing it would please stop.

Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 04:41 (nineteen years ago) link

Well, granted that Sonar set (I'm assuming you mean him & Richie?) was a freaking 8000 person room at peak hour -- a slot that often goes to Mills, Cox, et al, so they pretty much had to go banging. My favorite Villalobos gigs are when he collaborates w/ someone like Luciano (as Sense Club) and they do a decks + laptops kinda thing, like the Sense Club + Akufen + Cassey Britton gig at MUTEK Chile this year. Actually, I've seen Ricardo really go deep just DJing as well, but that's been in tiny clubs, never on a scale like Sonar.

philip sherburne (philip sherburne), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 06:14 (nineteen years ago) link

Hes at Fabric with Craig Richards the week I'm back in London - do I go?

AdamL :') (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:58 (nineteen years ago) link

To clarify my last post -- I wasn't referring to the Sonar gig (which I didn't attend) but to the times I saw him at MUTEK. And in fact, the one gig I had in mind when writing that was a peak hour/Cox-y slot on a weekend night at Metropolis, so yes, he had to go banging.

I suppose the "problem" with such a slot is that you've got to take a no-bullshit, let-it-all-hang-out approach. It's got to be a sequence of peaks, with no time to build up, cool down, and stretch out. In that way, I think he's better if he plays for four hours rather than an hour and a half. For instance, Villalobos and Dandy Jack played for a million hours on the last night of MUTEK 2002 and I was never bored.

Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 15:17 (nineteen years ago) link

tell me about Sense Club.

AdamL :') (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 00:11 (nineteen years ago) link

Inspired by the revival I've been playing this just now as I cook up some tomato soup. Very good stuff indeed! Has helped the time pass well.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 02:04 (nineteen years ago) link

Tomato soup!

AdamL :') (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 02:28 (nineteen years ago) link

Homemade, my friend. Tomatoes just picked two hours ago by me, fresh basil that old as well, onions and more. It will be a treasure (and fresh bread as well).

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 02:30 (nineteen years ago) link

Ned, you foodie!

AdamL :') (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 02:34 (nineteen years ago) link

Yay!

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 03:14 (nineteen years ago) link

three weeks pass...
new RICARDO VILLALOBOS:

RICARDO VILLALOBOS: thé au harem d'archimède

Details of a new mini album from RICARDO VILLALOBOS, due October 11th on Perlon.

RICARDO VILLALOBOS

Here are the details on the new Ricardo Villalobos mini LP on Perlon. Out October 11th, 2004 in Europe. Which is roundabout October 12th over here. When promos arrive I will let you know.

Ricardo Villalobos
thé au harem d'archimède
(Perlon)

3x12" / CD

perlon43/perlon43cd

tracklisting:3x12"

A1. hireklon
B1. serpentin
B2. forallseasons
C1. théorème d'archimède
C2. hello halo
D1. temenarc 1
D2. temenarc 2
E1. miami
E2. stereobox
F1. true to myself

tracklisting: CD

1. hireklon
2. serpentin
3. forallseasons
4. théorème d'archimède
5. hello halo
6. temenarc 2
7. temenarc 1
8. miami
9. true to myself

Archimedes' theorem defines the buoyant lift: Diving an object into a vessel full of water causes an increase of pressure inside the vessel. The displaced amount of water, i.e. the lifting force is equivalent to the object's body volume, i.e. its weight-force.

Transfering this theorem to the music of the overwhelming parallel universe of Ricardo Villalobos' new triple EP/album length CD, one will realize the following: Diving all of its notes into reality results in the displacement of the same to a high degree, since the music has an enormous volume by expanding airily. Which means nothing but the musical principle of psychedelics taking effect here. This time by using the method of reduction, Ricardo is closer to the tradition of the cultured jam sessions by the legendary German 70es musicians' collective Ash Ra Tempel around Manuel Goettsching (known from his Prototech solo production "E2-E4") than to the simply structured march through occasionally rather uninspired club metrics.

While experiencing this uniquely fascinating work the amazed listener is witnessing a musical terraforming, at the same time the colonization of the new planet: every single track creates a mystic space in which sound elements are able to spread out in all directions. Teeming, often melancholically coloured sound organisms awake on the field of free flows - among them Flamenco patterns ("Hireklon") or warming bass lines ("Miami"). Just as one is used to it concerning the tracks within Ricardo's DJ sets, which hardly can be marked by a simple definition of beginning and end any more. A confining grid is dissolved almost completely, physical laws are replaced by emotional ones - by the mathematics of intuition.

Ricardo's percussive talent is undisputed: the sophisticatedly elastic rhythm meanders of Latin American/Caribbean origin sound as if they have been introduced to the wild from the base of a cool, impeccably clean laboratory which is located somewhere in the Science Fiction vastness of the Chilean Atacama desert. The loss of sense of time appears in favour of the event of intensity. Frequently the tracks appear surprisingly volatile, despite the considerable playing times of several titles which are absolutely required for exhausting the free, rhythmic modulatons. One wishes them to last forever, like the whole production.

In the staggers of these animating blurrings of perception Archimedes' theorem transforms into the romantic image of "Tea in the harem of Archimedes". This synthetical mind expansion of bizarre beauty is highly addictive!

Source: Forced Exposure/FE Publicity e-mail

DJ Martian (djmartian), Saturday, 28 August 2004 13:42 (nineteen years ago) link

Niiiiiiice.

adam. (nordicskilla), Saturday, 28 August 2004 14:53 (nineteen years ago) link

someone is getting paid too much to write forced exposure promos

m. (mitchlnw), Saturday, 28 August 2004 14:55 (nineteen years ago) link

I want some of what person was smoking when they wrote that.
Can't wait for the album though!

Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Saturday, 28 August 2004 14:57 (nineteen years ago) link

Guys, also midheaven and turntablelab are good sources of dance and realted approaches that other places ignorantly ignore (although I'd also keep an eye on forcedexposure)(sometimes amazon uk, if you wanta deal if thier mail order etc.)

Don, Sunday, 29 August 2004 02:27 (nineteen years ago) link

"With their mailorder," that is (meaning: international orders in age of War On etc. o course)

Glitchy Don, Sunday, 29 August 2004 02:30 (nineteen years ago) link

Once again dance pushes the boundaries over what a mini-lp means

Jedmond (Jedmond), Sunday, 29 August 2004 03:29 (nineteen years ago) link

Remember those sixty minute Underworld CD singles?

Mike Ouderkirk (Mike Ouderkirk), Sunday, 29 August 2004 13:35 (nineteen years ago) link

SWEET. i cannot wait to hear this.

big baby jesus, Sunday, 29 August 2004 15:46 (nineteen years ago) link

three weeks pass...
On first listen this is really good, if lacking in hooks.

toby (tsg20), Thursday, 23 September 2004 13:00 (nineteen years ago) link

101st best album of the 00s

teh pow! (blueski), Thursday, 23 September 2004 13:09 (nineteen years ago) link

btw by "this" i meant the new mini lp, if that wasn't clear...

toby (tsg20), Thursday, 23 September 2004 13:11 (nineteen years ago) link

...it wasn't!

adam. (nordicskilla), Thursday, 23 September 2004 14:40 (nineteen years ago) link

Puns are great! Thé au harem....HA!

scotstvo (scotstvo), Thursday, 23 September 2004 22:26 (nineteen years ago) link

so.. does no-one have anything much to say about 'harem' or did i miss the thread where we talked about it? i'm rather liking what i've heard of it, though somewhat cautiously.

m. (mitchlnw), Thursday, 7 October 2004 20:40 (nineteen years ago) link

Mini-LP my ass. The CD is 73 minutes, and the vinyl looks to be even longer.

Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Thursday, 7 October 2004 20:40 (nineteen years ago) link

Mitch and I try to revive Villalobos at the same time

Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Thursday, 7 October 2004 20:41 (nineteen years ago) link

(the first xrevive?!)

m. (mitchlnw), Thursday, 7 October 2004 20:46 (nineteen years ago) link

one month passes...
there must be a thread somewhere where people talk about the 2ls remix of dexter, right? i'd somehow ignored it when it came out, but hearing it on fabric 19 has made me realise how utterly amazing it is.

toby (tsg20), Tuesday, 9 November 2004 13:57 (nineteen years ago) link

'harem' seems a bit too ... cerebral to me. (for lack of a better word.) i dunno, i'm having trouble getting into it.

big baby jesus., Tuesday, 9 November 2004 14:57 (nineteen years ago) link

big baby j, you don't smoke enough weed! (or, hey, maybe you do. i'm just sayin'.)

philip sherburne (philip sherburne), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 02:19 (nineteen years ago) link

oh we can take care of that. i dug the vocal tune at the end a lot, and some other moments too. i should give it another chance.

big baby jesus., Wednesday, 10 November 2004 06:15 (nineteen years ago) link

one month passes...
we really haven't talked about 'harem' enough. i finally really got into it a few days ago, when i played it really loud. i'll write more about it in a bit, but here's a question: what are the differences between the cd and vinyl versions? apart from having an extra track ('stereobox'), it seems that the versions of 'hireklon' and 'true to myself' are both nearly 15 mins long. are there any other differences?

toby (tsg20), Tuesday, 21 December 2004 10:12 (nineteen years ago) link

i own the vinyl. maybe i just had shitty mp3's (seems unlikely), but 'hireklon' has a LOT more going on percussively than on the cd-r i was listening to before...

the other tracks are identical. i've not done a side by side w/ 'true to myself', but my copy of that on mp3 was definitely fucked up (adbrupt cut off) so there's not much point.

a, Tuesday, 21 December 2004 12:01 (nineteen years ago) link

five months pass...
he's very jazzy, isn't he??

vahid (vahid), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 17:28 (eighteen years ago) link

i am looking forward to lots of drum circles, windchimes and didgeridoo on the upcoming fabric mix.

vahid (vahid), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 17:32 (eighteen years ago) link

stop it, you!

Yakuza Ghost Six (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 17:33 (eighteen years ago) link

In the vein of Harem being a "mini" LP, the remix of true to myself will be forty-five minutes.

mike h. (mike h.), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 18:44 (eighteen years ago) link

vahid i have supported yr anti microhouse crusade...until now.

strng hlkngtn, Wednesday, 8 June 2005 18:58 (eighteen years ago) link

Several respected micro music lovers recommended this to me, but I never really got into it.

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 19:04 (eighteen years ago) link

Alcachofa?

Yakuza Ghost Six (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 19:06 (eighteen years ago) link

Brilliant record.

Yakuza Ghost Six (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 19:06 (eighteen years ago) link

???

vahid (vahid), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 19:22 (eighteen years ago) link

i really like this album! alcachofa too, although i thought it was less like an artichoke and more like some sort of prickly desert bush.

but seriously ...

ricardo's percussive talent is undisputed: the sophisticatedly elastic rhythm meanders of Latin American/Caribbean origin sound ... the tracks appear surprisingly volatile, despite the considerable playing times of several titles which are absolutely required for exhausting the free, rhythmic modulatons

he should form a group with pharoah sanders and osunlade!

vahid (vahid), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 19:24 (eighteen years ago) link

I am Pharoah Saunders' biggest fan.

Yakuza Ghost Six (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 19:25 (eighteen years ago) link

and yet I cannot spell his name

Yakuza Ghost Six (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 19:27 (eighteen years ago) link

I am going to listen to this Alcachofa again.

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 19:27 (eighteen years ago) link

recently i have made a turnaround and realized that the early section of taka taka (before claro intelecto comes in) is what i always wanted from microhouse and found lacking in labels like kompakt, poker flat, etc ... an understanding of spatialization that isn't ripped wholesale from 70s dub, truly new rhythmic signatures which take in "organic" rhythms but hint at more, too.

it's even more than what i always wanted from dj pica pica pica and nobukazu takemura - sounds like gamelan tapes played backwards at high speed, with the dj leaning on the mixing board with his elbows on the buttons marked "delay" and "pixilate".

has there really been anything like "taka taka" since? "button down mind" pt 2? i fear that falls into the same traps akufen fell into with his fabric mix, too many cartoon animal honking and farting, not enough of ricardo's sunbaked grace.

vahid (vahid), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 21:51 (eighteen years ago) link

Taka Taka IS good!

Yakuza Ghost Six (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 21:52 (eighteen years ago) link

anyway lots of dahnce vinyl switches between 33 and 45. i thought it was about maximizing levels / sound quality esp. bass?

mattresslessness, Thursday, 31 July 2014 15:51 (nine years ago) link

I've heard their work used well in a few mixes but it's usually a remix they did, or a short segment dropped in by Surgeon or other djs of his ilk

mh, Thursday, 31 July 2014 16:02 (nine years ago) link

plenty of autechre tracks could bang in a set.

― mattresslessness, Thursday, July 31, 2014 11:26 AM (39 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haha like what?!

― the late great, Thursday, July 31, 2014 11:27 AM (37 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

― mattresslessness, Thursday, July 31, 2014 11:26 AM (39 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"oh yea, you know, like 'q3ztuuu,' '0102303-394,' 'XIDIDIII"' loads others!"

marcos, Thursday, 31 July 2014 16:14 (nine years ago) link

lol

mattresslessness, Thursday, 31 July 2014 16:15 (nine years ago) link

"I admire the guys skills at putting together groovrs, but his music is often kinda alienating and gray"

You know how people say that when you're about to freeze to death you start feeling all warm? A lot of Villalobos tracks have that effect on me.

Matt DC, Thursday, 31 July 2014 17:07 (nine years ago) link

to be fair you can really fall into those grooves after the first eight hours of dancing

mh, Thursday, 31 July 2014 17:21 (nine years ago) link

it doesn't bang necessarilly but

LOWRIDE

brimstead, Thursday, 31 July 2014 18:02 (nine years ago) link

Dancing to Autechre is easy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiLK7S2fXqQ

Moka, Thursday, 31 July 2014 18:18 (nine years ago) link

Surgeon could probably pull off "second bad vibel" in a set

brimstead, Thursday, 31 July 2014 18:23 (nine years ago) link

^would listen so hard

mattresslessness, Thursday, 31 July 2014 18:31 (nine years ago) link

dance too, lol

mattresslessness, Thursday, 31 July 2014 18:33 (nine years ago) link

yeah iirc he (surgeon) actually has used autechre in several online mixes

the late great, Thursday, 31 July 2014 18:40 (nine years ago) link

you could say autechre has been a "tool" of the "surgeon"

mattresslessness, Thursday, 31 July 2014 18:42 (nine years ago) link

Surgeon could probably pull off "second bad vibel" in a set

― brimstead, Thursday, July 31, 2014 1:23 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Totally.

Clipper is a total banger, too.

ed.b, Thursday, 31 July 2014 23:31 (nine years ago) link


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