Ricardo Villalobos, Fizheuer Zieheuer EP (Playhouse)

I would have thought that as we approach the dark and foul-smelling end of 2006 I would have been struggling to find anything to write about, resorting perhaps to reviewing whatever Westlife are releasing this xmas or, even worse, a best-of-year list. Ummm, actually, the list will follow next week.  But my point is that even amongst the avalanche of schmaltz and MOR being marketeted so heavily in December, some crazy fools are still releasing proper records - some damn fine ones too.  The latest one to catch my ear being the new “EP” from Ricardo Villalobos.

It was reading a description of this as “minimal techno…giving Steve Reich a run for his money” (hat tip: jemmy_chaos) which set my radar all a-pingy, and necessitated some well-rewarded further investigation.  On the first track Villalobos dresses some whu-whu whu-whu whu-whu whu trumpet stabs in dum-tssss dum-tssss house beats that wouldn’t normally turn my head for a second.  Until three minutes in when he slips in some off-beat percussion sounds which throw the whole thing off-kilter and into an entirely undanceable place.  From the filtered house of “Fizheuer Zieheuer” emerges something phased and hypnotic.  As if that wasn’t enough, he starts firing ping pong balls from a big air gun to the fanfaric delight of the assembled brass section.  Oh, and he keeps this going for over half an hour.  The second and more minimal track into which this flows ensures a high VFM scoring by lasting about as long, even if it does seem to be lacking quite the same spark of inspiration.

Like Arthur Russell before him, Villalobos is daubing artful slogans all over the walls of the disco with little thought of who will have to clean up the mess.  What an extraordinary thing to release at this, or come to think of it any time of year.

Listen and buy at Boomkat