track 14 is the best on it

superb mix - probably the best alongside Mayer and Smagghe's.

nearly 7pm here just a few hours before we see him!!!! can't wait!

nearly 7pm here just a few hours before we see him!!!! can't wait!

Sweet sweetness...11pm in my flat just chillin for a few hours before he hopefully shows us the 4th dimension of sound at fabric...can't wait!

After a couple spins this doesn't wow me like it could or perhaps should. The first few tracks are rather uneventful and 'Four Wheel Drive' isn't nearly the pop track everyone is making it out to be. There are a few moments I really liked, but at the present I'm still waiting for this to reveal itself to me.

Henrik Schwarz's "Live" album is a lot more my style.

Interesting 'review'.

sorry that review is too wanky by half.

my advice: buy it. it's good.

A very well thought-out review. This gives me something to chew on the next spin.

absolutely genius

Grande Ricardo forse il n°1 al momento

ciaoooo

hmmmmmmm nice review mate! lol. I got it the other day and to be honest i think its a tad shit.
I'm sure its a grower though.......but the mix just dosent seem to go anywhere!

this and fabric 31 marco carola are the best yet!

I semi agree!! Marco Carola's a belter....love it. Luke slater and ralph lawson have to bein the running to though!

Isn't the "What is a mix? What is an album?" argument tired? Producers/DJs have put out albums as mixes before in the past without anyone raising an eyebrow. But because this is Villalobos and it's on Fabric, everyone's having kittens. And by golly, this reviewer just had a truckload of 'em.

True that. Martinez is releasing his new album as a mix next month but nobody thinks that is revolutionary!

If Ricardo Villalobos has elevated himself into the category of "genius", then please explain why it would be stressful for such a genius to put together a DJ mix with tracks other than his own?


The Butcher
www.detroitfightclub313.com
Th3 Truth Must B3 Told....

why does whether it's been done before matter? people have danced before too, but somehow i'm pretty sure my boogie aint bastardising my predecessors...

pithy write-up, but the mix has more life than words can limn on. that it's a set of tools distinguishes this within the series, and within his own oeuvre, unique and set-pointillating as its components are when slid in next to the rest of the spinning wax. and i guess it's interesting for it. an individual milestone, let's say, rather than ye olde "done before" slander. cause why should i choose to give a fuck?

don't you/i/we go out and dance to the derivative every weekend anyway? i like it cause i like to dance.

quote:

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Posted by TheButcher
If Ricardo Villalobos has elevated himself into the category of "genius", then please explain why it would be stressful for such a genius to put together a DJ mix with tracks other than his own?

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I love The Butcher.

its a top cd!! the end!!!

objasnio covek!!!

Me personally i feel that Ricardo is the most contemporary and relevant artist invovled in this discipline,
that we hawk eye whatch!!!! As the music beems and people scream discourse on forums like this, all i can
say is that this mix made me smile and while away the time, it didnt matter where i was!!!

Belissimo Hombre...... Genius!!!!

This may indeed be a good mix CD by Ricardo Villalobos. However for the sake of illuminating those individuals that may still lurk in darkness, it is much more stressful to do a live DJ set than it is to do a mix CD.

A live DJ set(1 hour+)is demanding because the DJ has to absorb the vibe and energy from the crowd and give right back 5x harder with passion. There is the factor of distractions which must be calculated before every live DJ set.....what kind.....late flight, no sleep due to time zones, hotel wrong, shady promoter, no decent record store to shop at, no place to eat good food, indigestion from bad food, girlfriend (boyfriend) mad, wrong clothes for weather, cant access club to check sound, final payment for appearance questionable, DJ booth not set as requested 6 months earlier, still tired from the night(morning) before, funny ass candy ravers smacking each other in the face with glow ropes.....lol...that is stressful.

Closing the door for 5-8 hours....turning off the cell phone, turning off regular phone, no television, eliminating all distractions, satisfying the girlfriend (boyfriend) with "quality time" in order to......dig through the crates to bang something from the heart and mixing old classic tracks that people have not heard in a long time....with new stuff......should not be stressful.

Th3 Butch3r
www.detroitfightclub313.com
Th3 Truth Must B3 Told......

(Thanx for the love rchinn!!!!)

I can take or leave the mix, like a lot of it but it never resembles when you see Ricardo play for 3 or 4 hours, mainly due in my opinion to using it as a platform for his music. Would have loved to of heard a couple of gems his usually has up his sleave that turn up on the club scene months later, half the fun when you dwnload a mix of his is trying to find what it is he's playing.

Very good point. Nothing like having your favorite DJ release a mix CD FROM A PARTY that you attended.

i think the fact that the vast majority of mixes that get heard are prepared in studio and still loved points to a general indifference to the 'stress' you refer to butch. i really think an estimation of 'skill' in the delivery of dance music should be one considered retrospectively, lest it straight-jacket the listener into the seats of concert halls or the admiration of some prodigous xylophonist, yodeling castrato or an eleventy-billion strong symphonic orchestra.

id prefer not to be categorical, but i think mixes are about, firstly, emulating the sustain of what contemporary dancing has become, glorious as it is, and eclecticism. while the sustain is by no means easy - in fact, it's almost exclusively our yard stick for quality - it's the one we understand the best. the variety question however, really shrugs shoulders.. is the world tired of hearing an album (or discography) rehearsed for them on stage, with gusto if they're fortunate? i certainly am. that live sets from electronic artists have become so ubiquitous comes hand in hand with releases like this and those of false et al. i'm not universally opposed to live sets, but i have a seriously low boredom threshold, and i'm not gonna sweat to hear what i could at home with a far better drink. those douchecork djs out there we really hate are guilty of the same thing: rehearsing a known list of songs.

homogenous outings like this ultimately fail to be relevant as a representation of a dancing environment, in my opinion, when they forsake the sacred heterogeny and simply aim to thwart bedroom djs hoping to mix the tunes off cd. i think ricardo's comments hint at the latter, but you have only to listen to the disc to realise that this collection is inherently diverse, a compression of what his vast, serpentine crate achieves. and it's got your feet and your arse as endeavour. only crackers dance with their hands.

for me, compressed as such, this still achieves that sustain. how it's brought to you is about as relevant as the age of yoyo ma's cello. the same people that said "thou shalt not play recorded or repetitive sounds to the public" are the same people that will say "thou shalt not work in private and timelessness to produce a public, temporal sound." and, really, to leave a club remembering how he fiddled with the gain and not what it sounded like is kindof blasphemy in my eyes. or is it ears.

Nice! It's easy these days create own trax, mix it, perform (call it: software music?!).. Ricardo did! Very simple concept but strong trax, good collaborations.. I really admire and love all song, also the mad-vocals ...and from Now I'm waiting all tech-minimal djs doing the same... Ricardo was THE FIRST - Im my opinion Villalobos TOP Album: 'The au Harem du Archimede'! Genial*

I love this mix! With the wide availability of live sets, the classic mix cd has kind of lost its appeal to me. Also, when at home I like my cd's a bit 'deeper'/ambient and experimental. A good example would be Hawtin's Transitions. I'd probably get bored of them on a dancefloor, but great for home-, car- or headphone listening.

Whereas so many people seem to be impressed with Villalobos' live performances, I think he's complete crap: always doped up, messing up mixes, completely lacking control of his gains. Okay, he definitely knows how to pick his tracks, but that's the only reason I ever check out his sets. Here however he shows another side of him: the patient producer who is prepared to risk losing some listeners through his minimalistic buildup, but damn, what a great buildup it is.

This is one of those Fabric cd's that'll stay in my playlist for a long time!

can i just say, the reviewer has severely crawled up his own ass when writing this, wading through a marsh field on K would be easier than reading that

Could there ever be a more over-rated dj in the history of dance music? Me thinks not.

Ricardo is the Keoki of this decade.

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Posted by primevil
can i just say, the reviewer has severely crawled up his own ass when writing this, wading through a marsh field on K would be easier than reading that

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Bleh. I found it tough to digest...just like the CD.
Maybe the reviewer is the audience Villalobos is going for?

I reckon Villalobos is mostly a hype spawned from his back to back sets with Hawtin. His productions often sound great, but if you want to use them in a set of your own you almost have to use layering tools such as Ableton, because who wants to listen to 15 minutes of slight sound variations? This kind of makes buying his (vinyl) records a waste (unless you're good on 3 or more decks).

When it comes to mixing, I have to agree with Airportpanic. The man simply can't do a proper mix if he doesn't have a buddy next to him who corrects his errors.

i ordered this online over 2 weeks ago but still have not received it thanks to the postal stike!!

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Posted by MeccyJeccy
i ordered this online over 2 weeks ago but still have not received it thanks to the postal stike!!

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you have been missing out mate

i think i'll rectify the situation and buy a copy the old fashioned way from a shop!

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Posted by Flamman
I reckon Villalobos is mostly a hype spawned from his back to back sets with Hawtin. His productions often sound great, but if you want to use them in a set of your own you almost have to use layering tools such as Ableton, because who wants to listen to 15 minutes of slight sound variations? This kind of makes buying his (vinyl) records a waste (unless you're good on 3 or more decks).

When it comes to mixing, I have to agree with Airportpanic. The man simply can't do a proper mix if he doesn't have a buddy next to him who corrects his errors.

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totally disagree. altho a villalobos set can sometimes be a little uneasy to get your headround at times, his 'live' mixing style is one of the most creative and complexed ive ever heard. hawtin and villalobos are like ying and yang you just cannot compare the two. hawtin is so precise and scientific in his approach and villalobos is so organic and free in his approach. for me they both hit the same standard but from completely different worlds.

quote:

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Posted by howie180
I can take or leave the mix, like a lot of it but it never resembles when you see Ricardo play for 3 or 4 hours, mainly due in my opinion to using it as a platform for his music. Would have loved to of heard a couple of gems his usually has up his sleave that turn up on the club scene months later, half the fun when you dwnload a mix of his is trying to find what it is he's playing.

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I agree. The live feel is not very present in this album,

Isn't that always the case with CDs, EPs, LPs and Vinyl though?

Sometimes the material comes short in bringing to life the charisma or 'real personality' of the artist. In this case the means of communication are merely un-efficient for people like Villalobos. That's why he barely records sets for radio or web casters

quote:

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Posted by primevil

quote:

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Posted by Flamman
I reckon Villalobos is mostly a hype spawned from his back to back sets with Hawtin. His productions often sound great, but if you want to use them in a set of your own you almost have to use layering tools such as Ableton, because who wants to listen to 15 minutes of slight sound variations? This kind of makes buying his (vinyl) records a waste (unless you're good on 3 or more decks).

When it comes to mixing, I have to agree with Airportpanic. The man simply can't do a proper mix if he doesn't have a buddy next to him who corrects his errors.

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totally disagree. altho a villalobos set can sometimes be a little uneasy to get your headround at times, his 'live' mixing style is one of the most creative and complexed ive ever heard. hawtin and villalobos are like ying and yang you just cannot compare the two. hawtin is so precise and scientific in his approach and villalobos is so organic and free in his approach. for me they both hit the same standard but from completely different worlds.

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You should see my little brother dj then. He grabs the most random records and fades them in, lots of times trainwrecking but it's very unexpected. So innovative! He's even better when you're on E. Heck, if Hawtin were standing next to him fixing his mixes for him he could be the next Superstar Dj Villalobos.

oh dear....

because hawtin would have wasted all his time in the first place dj'ing and supporting such a mediocour dj right? hmmmm i think not. when people ask richie who his fav dj has been over the past few years he has always said villalobos. richie is a clever man and as an artist himself is also an appreciator of art

would it be very naive to ask what horse house is?

lets get one thing straight people. villalobos is producer, nothing more. dont get me wrong. i think the man has some amazing talent, and there are multiple records and remixes of his which i canstanly spin. there are not many out there that can produce such warmth and organic feel to a track, villalobos is a master of his machines, no doubt.
however the man cannot dj to save himself. there is an art to throwing tracks together that would normally not belong. anyone needing schooling on this need only look as far as stacey pullen. THIS is a spontaneous dj with flair and know-how to pull off brave mixing. the only time ive heard decent sets from villalobos is when hes going back to back with hawtin.
and on another note, this fabric cd is absolute shite. villalobos has been rumoured to do a fabric mix for the last 3 or 4 years. for something that has taken so long, with so much build and expectation, it is total rubbish. sure, what a cool concept to use all your own material. i get it, its very errrmmm... clever. gimme a fucking break. the material here is nothing more than bullshit boring, without doubt one of the worst fabric mixes going round... nuff said!

until you have heard villalobos on his home turf at fabric, do not question his dj ability.

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Posted by primevil
until you have heard villalobos on his home turf at fabric, do not question his dj ability.

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2nd that. he was a pimp when i seen him there. in fact every time i have seen him he has been a pimp!!!!!!

this is a great review... very insightful and provoking... as for the mix.. what to say about Ricardo? He keeps me in the studio... day and night... never allowing myself the comforts of standardized formula or technique... 'true to myself' indeed. -JP in minneapolis

I haven't read any of the above, but I assume it's the usual house/techno music snobbery. All I have to say is that this is a bloody good CD funky, bassy, trippy, melodic...for me it has it all. Personal favourite would have to be track 14.

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Posted by mikminushowever the man cannot dj to save himself

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Your so far from the truth it hurts

cd was not as good as i hoped for, but after seing villalobos at fabric my faith has been restored. quality.

Great review ! This is to me some of the grooviest Ricardo's tracks i've ever heard... and it feels good !!

Ok, but how would you rate it, if the same music was made by a complete unknown loser dj/producer?

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Posted by crisdv8
Ok, but how would you rate it, if the same music was made by a complete unknown loser dj/producer?

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a loser would have never produced work of that quality!