Ricardo Villalobos - Vasco (2008)

Been in a massive minimal-electronics mood this past week, so here's some music from the maestro of minimal techno/microhouse.  Vasco, meaning 'Basque', was originally released as a pair of 12" vinyl EPs a few months apart, before this CD version ditched the remixes from the vinyl but added one new track, and massively extended another.  It works beautifully as a double-album length immersion into just how much can be done with so few elements.

Taking up the first 31 minutes is the epic Minimoonstar (Full Session), which as noted above only ran for 13 on vinyl.  Given such room to breathe, the listener can fully appreciate just how intricate a Villalobos production can be, and how audacious an envelope-pusher he's been at times.  Whereas Fizheuer Zieheuer/Fizbeast (link below) were based on much more spartan, beat-driven repetition, Minimoonstar's percussion programming is a delight in its constant variation.

The next two tracks match their vinyl counterparts, sans remixes.  Electonic (sic) Water is full of subtle clicks and pulses, with the occasional ear-blasting spike, and the wonderful Amazordum is the most relatively conventional track here.  Rounding out the CD is the previously unreleased Skinfummel, which samples dialogue from the French erotic thriller Nathalie... (2003, dir. Anne Fontaine) to great effect.  The claustrophobic, disorienting production makes for an unsettling, memorable closing track.

link
pw: sgtg

previously posted at SGTG:
Fizheuer Zieheuer
Safe In Harbor