Ricardo Villalobos creates wide vistas of engrossing rhythm and noise, often labelled as a minimal or micro strain of techno/house. He has, over two decades built a reputation for epic DJ sets which have been known to last up to 8-10hrs, and is a major draw at the world biggest dance festivals. Enviously straddling both populist energy rave and underground experimentation, his music is quite hard to write about, lacking subject matter and being all about kinetic energy and interlocking percussion. But here we go...
Ricardo Villalobos was born in Santiago, Chile. The Villalobos family fled Pinochet's dictatorship in the 1970's and landed in Germany. The young Villalobos became obsessed with early synth pop, particularly Depeche Mode who he followed when on tour in Europe.
Villalobos' family settled in Berlin, a city with a substantial displaced Chilean population, and as such house parties involving South American music and rhythms were common. Berlin then became the European capital of techno in the 80's-90's. Young second generation Chileans were attracted to and instrumental in this scene, and a good understanding of where Villalobos' style evolved from would include imagining the percussive congas and shakers of samba projected into a technological future, whilst retaining folk elements of the homeland.
Looking into an imagined past to project a Utopian future. There is also a strong political edge, simply in the fact of glorying in a tradition, and partying in a way that would have been impossible under Pinochet.
Alcachofa was Villalobos' first full length, but he had a long string of 12"s and remixes behind him at this point, the ideal format for this music really. Unlike most techno full lengths though this one does really work as an album you want to listen all the way through.
It begins with Bahaha hahi, a typically onomatopoeic title, and a warm up for what's to come, introducing the palette of textures familiar in much of Villalobos' work. Glitches, squelches and other wet sounds, dry compressed percussion, busy fleshy detail and muttered vocal snatches, all in the service of dance-able rhythm.
Next is the one-two hit of Dexter and Easy Lee, also released as a 12" single. Pared back from their massively extended versions. It is not unusual for his tracks to be 15-20mins long and the 2006 release Fizheuer Zieheuer stretched to 37mins. When Villalobos was asked about the running times, he simply said that this is how long he liked to listen to them for. Like all the best minimal techno, the appeal lies in the magic that can be created by following your ear as the music almost imperceptibly changes, focusing your attention of different sonic elements, playing tricks with time and space.
Dexter, essentially knits a static electricity beat, bass pulse and kick drum around each other, until a minor chord, Cure like bassline comes along to play. These few ingredients can keep my rapt attention for 8+mins.
The minimal tag is really a misnomer. Although there may be few elements in each track, there is nothing minimal about the way the tracks build in momentum, or the deceptively complex patterns which are weaved, the effect can be quite busy.
Easy Lee swaggers along with a neat robotic cowboy melody, sung above watery percussion and nautical congas which build and build.
Fool Garden (Black Congas) again uses few flavours, flitting between a vocal ululation, and a twinkling keyboard sound.
I Try To Live (Can I Live) uses a snatch of reggae vocal with bangin 4/4 kicks and fearsome swathes of acid. Theogenese has a skipping, major key upfull vibe, before Wawomao gets dirty with a post punk, ESG like bass riff and chicken scratch funk guitar.
What You Say presents a series of shiver inducing timbres, which must sound incredible through a loud PA, and the finale Y.G.H. plays out as a perfect outro, with John Carpenter like synth washes and a pulse which holds back from the rush of release.
Unlike many techno albums which play out like a series of tracks, this one feels like a journey, but with tracks which also work in the club.
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