Ricardo Villalobos - What's Wrong My Friends?

Ricardo Villalobos
What's Wrong My Friends?
Perlon

Perlon has had an amazing year. Early on they released "Joker Family Park Part 2", Matt John's sequel to his first under the same name, cementing him as an extremely hot producer to look out for. "Superloooongevity", Perlon's fourth label comp, presented, as usual, a great assortment of tracks from Perlon all-stars as well as some new people. Plus, STL's "The Early Tracks" and Melchior Production's "Different Places" were massive hits as well. However, it is Ricardo Villalobos' follow up to undisputed-track-of-the-year "Fizheuer Zieheuer" that may have been Perlon's best release last year.

"What's Wrong My Friends?" shows Herr Villalobos moving in a different direction. We have horns a la Fizheuer, but the beat has a hint of tribalism that we've not seen in a few years from him. It's a new area, one that could go either way. On its own it's a great track, but it's not the best on the EP. "Gugga Sempa" picks things back up. A throwback to the feel of "Thé Au Harem D'Archimède", here is where things come together. It's not that "What's Wrong My Friends?" is bad, quite the opposite, it's better than most things out there, it's just that I like to see him at his most minimal, which is where "Gugga Sempa" falls.

Next we have "Africolaps", the shortest track on the EP, and one of the best. It starts of promising, and subtle beats quickly build on top of each other while a loop of an (African, I suppose) singer is heard. It's certainly the one here to play when people need to start dancing. Which brings us to "Dummolator". We start out in Fizheuer territory, with Villalobos playing around with the parameters of his drum machines, phasing and manipulating as he goes along with one beat, while keeping a steady one underneath. And, well, not much else happens until around the eight minute mark where we get a deep kick drum that really propels things. And again, this pretty much keeps up for the remainder of the track. It certainly gives those who dislike him plenty to hate on, but for those who love him, it's where he really shines. In my opinion, it's the best on the EP.

None of the tracks here really breathe like his "Achso" release and none are as long-winded and revolutionary as "Fizheuer Zieheuer", but minimal techno really does not get much better than this. I expect great things from both Perlon and Villalobos this year.