In the pipeline for years, the on again/off again Ricardo Villalobos' entry in the Fabric mix series finally arrives with a twist: ‘Fabric 36’ is a mix of fifteen new Villalobos productions.

Is it an artist album? Is it a DJ mix? Villalobos sees it as a fusion of the two: “It is all my productions and it’s a form of introducing an album as a mix. Every time you do an album and then you do the next one, people start to compare how the music is different, why you did it on this label and not that label. They try to define it, “the other album was better,” “there’s no hit like ‘Easy Lee’ on it” and so forth…it’s exhausting, really. So I think you always have to find a new way to introduce your music and present yourself. I really prefer for it to be treated like a normal mix CD, with no hype.”

Presenting an album as a Fabric mix might sidestep comparisons to past albums, but despite his intentions, releasing on the closely watched Fabric label isn’t likely to ease the Villalobos fervour. “I hate when there is too much hype and people love you because of nothing, even when they don’t know you, even when they’ve never heard a record of yours played,” says Villalobos. “The people are so devoted, but they’re not really concentrating on the music, it’s only this hyped thing.”

Close Villalobos watchers will recognise a few of the track names (the South American chant ‘Primer Encuentro Latino-Americano’ has been a staple in his set for months), but elsewhere the mix promises to be all new material, including collaborations with Jorge Gonzales from Chilean politico-rockers Los Prisioneros and Japanese techno stalwart Fumiya Tanaka.

Villalobos on the sound of the mix. “I’m more known for head-y, trippy music, so of course it is still very trippy and monotone, in the monotone way of delivering always the same tone and doing something to your brain. But it is more dancey and housey and summery. I always think of the dancefloor when I create music, so it’s a projection, a vision. And it’s not one track after another after another, it develops very subtly.”

“When I was just a little kid, I was always looking on and recognising something that was making people dance. This has always really fascinated me,” explains Villalobos. “As a musician, you are searching for that your whole life. I’m constantly on a search for the truth about the dance floor - why do people dance, what’s the secret behind it.”

‘Fabric 36’ tracklist

01. Groove 1880 – Ricardo Villalobos
02. Perc and Drums – Ricardo Villalobos
03. Moongomery – Ricardo Villalobos
04. Farenzer House - Ricardo Villalobos
05. M.Bassy – Ricardo Villalobos & Patrick Ense
06. Mecker – Ricardo Villalobos
07. 4 Wheel Drive – Ricardo Villalobos & Jorge Gonzales
08. Fizpatrick - Ricardo Villalobos & Patrick Ense
09. Andruic & Japan – Ricardo Villalobos & Andrew Gillings
10. Organic Tranceplant – Ricardo Villalobos
11. Prevorent – Ricardo Villalobos
12. Fumiyandric 2 – Ricardo Villalobos & Fumiya Tanaka
13. Won’t You Tell Me – Ricardo Villalobos
14. Primer Encuentro Latino-Americano (based on a same named song of: Los Jaivas and Manduka) - Ricardo Villalobos
15. Chropuspel Zündung – Ricardo Villalobos

‘Fabric 36’ mixed by Ricardo Villalobos will be released on September 4th to Fabric First members, on October 7th in the US and on October 9th elsewhere. 208 Comments