The scattered refuse of August has become revitalized and those life sucubuses reassembled in an ungodly creation not unlike the penis robot that closes the
Dead or Alive trilogy. And just who is going to be our September golum? Why, no one else than our favorite mystical minimalist,
Ricardo Villalobos, that's who!
Until a month ago, our guru of the longue durée had cloaked his
Fabric 36 in a sheet of mystique, refusing to even comment on it in his
Wire interview. And then the bomb was dropped--the mix would contain nothing but Ricky's own material, most of it unreleased and unheard, pieced together to form one brilliant masterpiece of singular multiplicity. Well, that was at least what I was hoping for and baby, I GOT IT. THIS ALBUM FUCKING DESTROYS. IT WILL PROBABLY CHANGE EVERYTHING. VILLALOBOS IS THE SAVIOUR.
Whew.
Hyperbole aside, the record is a total mindfuck--taking the listener on a mind trip through free jazz, a
Yakudo jam session, twisted vocals and narratives, all while keeping that 128 in the background and never straying from the mighty 4. And yet, on any listen, the subject is bound to be tripped up by Villalobos masterful grasp on time and rhythm, always twisting and contorting the beat to unearth new treasures. It's basically the flipside of the equally brilliant
Donuts--and it's about time someone since Mr. Yancey has delivered a full-on assault on normative conceptions of phrasing and sequencing within pop structures. It's like watching a Sol LeWitt cube city be disassembled piece by piece.
Well, as much as I'd like to just give you the album as one single track (for, like Donuts, that's the way to listen to this--why do we need to apply the categorizer 'mix' to justify one continuous piece of music?, I can't do it. Instead, I'll give you a health dosage of the album at its most bafflingly brilliant.
Ricardo Villalobos-Andruic & Japan
Well, moving down a step from outright brilliance to hot fiya in the TRP quality pyramid, Detroit's truly spectral techno talisman
Omar-S dropped a single back in April with the understated title of "The Grandson of Detroit Techno!" I don't know what kind of ghosts Omar has floating through his machines, but his sedated yet bombastic style turns what should be a charging anthem into a floating, almost ethereal treat that truly evokes the sound of a city disappearing. Good job Omar!
Omar-S-The Grandson of Detroit Techno!
And to conclude this dancin' frenzy on the dubstep tip, the very consistent and non-South London-based
Argon Records just dropped a doozy twelver from
Babylon System that has been melting my internal organs in between Fabric 36 sessions. Check it!
Babylon System-Dancin' Shoes
