[Lick My Deck]

Thomas Melchior’s once restrained release schedule, which only occasionally exceeded one record per year, befit a master of patient, subtle grooves. But in the wake of his landmark 2007 sophomore album, No Disco Future, the gaps between Melchior releases have shortened considerably. Not only has the period given birth to the Cinderfella alias, it’s seen Melchior venturing further afield from his home base at Perlon (while still contributing two EPs to the storied label) and rejoining his Soul Capsule collaborator, Baby Ford, for two new singles on the renewed Trelik imprint. One wonders, though, if the lengthy gestations of his releases were actually to their benefit. Because as exciting as it’s been to receive a flood of new Melchior material, the unrivaled quality associated with his name has dipped significantly. Where even his most reduced tracks once hypnotized while sounding effortless, many of his current works have lacked that earworming quality and feel somewhat half-baked. For all its lengthy repetition, the same fate befell his Latin-themed 2010 single Apariciones for Lick My Deck. Apariciones Reworked aims to inject some magic back into the original tracks with remixes by Melchior’s long time friends Baby Ford and Ricardo Villalobos.

Some may be surprised that both veteran producers opted to refine Melchior’s originals rather than transform them more radically. This speaks to either the level of respect they have for the source material or a lack of better ideas. In the case of Baby Ford’s “Cinza De Fenix,” the former rings truest as he focuses on making the track more immediate. The original’s snorting, unkempt organ riff is pushed to the front to wriggle like a marionette in the thicket of bloops and clinking percussion, making it much harder to ignore but not much more interesting. The newly plucked bass line, however, is a winning addition, as its distended notes open up a great deal of space in the busy track. Villalobos’ remix pulls “Todo Mundo” out of the haunted house and into the mirrored fun house, shedding many of the cacophonous percussive elements along the way. Instead he reaches for a crisp, bass-gulping beat upon which the original’s Spanish vocals have their pitches bent and their speeds tweaked. While his version is less cluttered or demanding, it feels as if the venerable producer ran out of steam before he had the chance to make a memorable contribution. It becomes the kind of track you’d find Villalobos using in his DJ sets as a base layer for more arresting material, which would an enviable position for any less established producer but seems like a punt for his own remix. Although fans of the original Apariciones will likely enjoy this vibe-extending remix package, it offers relatively little of the awe-inspiring creativity which once established these three producers as leaders in their genre.

[Echochord]

Here’s a fun surprise: right after I reviewed the Vladislav Delay Quartet LP a couple weeks ago, a brand new Vladislav Delay 12″ appears on Boomkat and Hardwax. Adding to the surprises is a remix from Ricardo Villalobos and Max Loderbauer, as well as its release on Echocord. I’ve long associated Echocord with a certain strain of dub techno, and to see Vladislav Delay’s name appear on the label is quite odd indeed, given his own abandonment of dub techno almost a decade ago. However, with the foundation of the quartet, Sasu Ripatti has seen fit to return the Vladislav Delay moniker to pure electronic experiments while letting the quartet continue on the path mapped out by Tummaa. The Latoma EP, then, constitutes a pretty sharp left turn for both record label and artist, and a pretty stellar one at that.

“Latoma” begins with a tangle of submerged electronics, but a steady, slow kick drum soon pummels its way through with cavernous bass rubs in tow, recalling to some degree Andy Stott’s recent work. Sounds continue to be piled on and snarled further, slowly melding together into a melodic whole, while a snare drum beats away tirelessly in its attempt to make the whole thing seem a lot faster than it actually is. “Korpi” is more typical of previous Vladislav Delay experiments in broken time signatures, with Ripatti’s warped rhythmic sense the star attraction. It builds in a way most techno releases simply wish they could, with each unstable release of low frequencies ratcheting up the tension to delirious effect.

The A-side of the record is certainly an imposing side to follow, but the dream team of Ricardo Villalobos and Max Loderbauer are drafted in to create a remix that is almost as good. Their version is an extended trip into “Latoma’”s source material, manipulated and warped by whatever diabolical machines exist in the deepest corners of Schneiders Büro, and guided by Villalobos’ heady, thumping beat. Loderbauer’s modular systems cut through frequency space in wide chunks, providing brief, fleeting moments of levity amid a sea of undulating sounds. We all know what its like to watch as scenes drip down into the increasingly-consensus-driven mire (some would argue that’s where Villalobos himself has been the past couple of years), and that makes music that is unafraid to be challenging all the more precious. Latoma is well deserving of this status, and it sees three of electronic music’s most noteworthy figures in top form.

[Perlon]

It’s testament to the strength of the music coming out of the Perlon camp that the label who ushered in the wave of micro-house and minimal that washed over the entire electronic scene is still going strong, long after the heyday of those genres. But then, even the Perlon records that epitomized minimal still somehow managed to stand apart from that very category. Eleven years on from the first Superlongevity compilation, which featured just eight tracks over two pieces of vinyl, the fifth chapter in the series boasts no fewer than 28 exclusive tracks and a box to house the seven pieces of vinyl it’s spread across. The compilation is also available on CD, though as it is only available mixed, the true rewards for this weighty box-set lie in the quality rich analogue format, something the Frankfurt born label have always been adamant about preserving.

With such an overwhelming amount of music to digest (like Ostgut Ton’s Fünf release) it would be easy to do the comp a disservice by not allowing the tracks penetrate past the surface of the mind. At first contact there is the immediate, characteristic Perlon sound at the fore; intricate and percussive-led tracks that radiate with the brittle crackle of a fire reduced to embers. But further inspection reveals there are almost as many sides to the compilation as there are tracks and there are pockets of deeper feeling inherent in these productions, a real warmth that sinks in past the initial contact. The all star line up of contributors that stretches back to the earliest days of Perlon — from label owner Markus Nikolai to Dimbiman, Pantytec, Narcotic Syntax and Ricardo Villalobos through to newer signings Cassy, Shackleton, San Proper and Portable, represent both the history and the future of the label.

One of the striking things about this behemoth package is just how cohesive the whole thing is. Save for a couple of exceptions — notably Shackleton’s typically on-point, esoterically free-flowing “Paper Throne” and the rambling, heedless mathematical glitch of Villalobos’ “Guaguay” — the tracks pass easily and logically from one to the next. The quality of the tracks is also exceptionally high, with only the aforementioned “Guaguay” and Fumiya Tanaka’s “Sorry Cucumber” really feeling like they failed to hit the mark, both suffering paradoxically from an indulgent sense of minimal verbosity. Elsewhere though, STL’s “Lost Somewhere” sounds like a zero-gravity exploration to the outer reaches, needing only a small handful of sounds to create an ethereal, haunted atmosphere with all of the grain, texture and depth that is endemic of his productions. The static heavy “She” by Tobias is also one of the many highlights, sketching out spacey, echoing keys over a distorted, broken beat and a plummeting bass line.

Soulphiction provides ample amounts of kinetic groove with his jazz infused “Circulate,” while Half Hawaii (Bruno Pronsato and Sammy Dee) serve up one of the sweetest, skewed house vocals in recent times with the infectious “Bring Back the Love,” sending Caro’s honey-rich vocals breezing over a warm, mechanical house groove. It’s not the only vocal moment to grace the comp either; “Magnificent Cat Won’t Do” finds Cassy in a late night, laid back mode, fleshing out her vocals more than she has done on her more recent records, and Portable strikes a rich vein of 80′s inspired, melancholic synth-pop with the closing track “Keep On.” Sammy Dee and Pantytec hit the mark with their respective efforts, both producers pushing deep with excursions into the cerebral, minimal techno that has always exemplified the label’s sound. In saying that, there has always been a certain playfulness to some of Perlon’s artists that also shines through on their Superlongevity series. Whether it’s the cheesy, film score funk embodied in San Proper’s “Lady Cop,” Kalabrese & The Rumpelorchestra’s mojito sipping, island-life lounge of “The 2010 Kitchen Session,” or the ethnic, plucked string finesse of Morane’s “Kalumpung A Kalimku,” it’s clear Perlon aren’t ready to take themselves too seriously just yet. Where other labels have foundered and become irrelevant well before they’ve clocked up as many years as Perlon, it’s refreshing to see Superlongevityfive shows that not only is the German imprint a long way from their use-by date, but they’re still releasing some of their best material.

[Sei Es Drum]

Sei Es Drum releases don’t tend to come out very often, but whether or not you agree with label boss Ricardo Villalobos’ statement that they all “come out because they have to come out” there is no doubting that each release carries something special about it. The latest offering from the label is a two tracker that will likely prove to be the most popular to date, even if only for the spellbinding A-side, which itself will hugely divide opinions.

Villalobos teams up with Argenis Brito and two unknowns, O. Weidenthaler and M. Messelis, to deliver “Peculiar,” an incredible minimal workout that liberally samples Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t It Peculiar.” Where so many deep house and disco tracks sample the great, late soul singer, most do so by lifting a short vocal phrase or velvet sigh. “Peculiar” takes the entire vocal of the early Gaye hit and laces it over the top of the writhing, punchy track. It’s a fit that feels uneasy at first, with the honeyed soul of Gaye’s phenomenal voice seeming worlds away from the spacey, synthesized surge of the music. But by the end of the track I found myself won over by the disparity of the two ingredients, the unlikely bedfellows making for a weird but wonderful treat. I’m guessing though that many will feel otherwise, grave robbing issues aside.

On the flip side Ricardo teams up with old hand 3 Phase for a decidedly less controversial and less interesting track, “3 Züg.” Stretched out over sixteen minutes, it’s a fairly stock-standard Villalobian meander injected with some audible peculiarities of its own. The slowly building track incorporates spooked out pads and industrial background noises, together with some ambient nature sounds, but in the end feels like it is almost a purist rebuttal to the somewhat sacrilegious use of Marvin Gaye on the A-side. Sei Es Drum’s latest may be a matter of picking your particular poison, but I’m not about to argue with the labels mission statement just yet.

[Alphahouse]

Though their time together didn’t last as long as the career of the subject of their pun-based pseudonym, Ricardo Villalobos and Dandy Jack’s cheeky venture into experimental house and minimal techno is unquestionably of higher quality. Their few official releases together were arguably overshadowed by an incendiary live PA, much of which never became available for sale, though thanks to the people at Alphahouse we get to revisit a piece of Ric Y Martin history. Originally released on the Episode label as “Cerro San Cristobel” and “Teiwass” in 2000, these two slices of Chilean, minimal funk breathe life once more, with the A side now christened “Camino Ensenada.”

Showing a little bit more sign of wear and tear, “Camino Ensenada” is a dense collage of glitchy, minimal business that stutters and crackles with the all of the familiar tropes indicative of turn of the century minimal techno. Subtle chords play out in a slight progression over the knot of brittle percussion, with equally demure pads gently rounding off the unforgiving edges of the jerky, jumbled groove. “Teiwass,” with its more spatial, uncluttered approach, is less in the style of Ricardo; its laconic touches of cello manage to mine a deep pocket of feeling while a simple two note, plucked bass line adds a further sense of organic rhythm. Neither of these tracks have so much of a narrative arc to their structure as they do a hypnotic, relentless groove. And although “Camino Ensenada” does show a few signs of age both sides are imbued with a timeless quality that ten years of shelf life cannot dilute.

[DFA]

Though DFA is deeply rooted in promoting mutant strains of disco there has always been room in their roster for quality house and techno too. But checking out their latest release, Since We Last Met, I had to keep making sure this was the same DFA Records that had recently seen releases from Ray Mang, Yacht and Black Van. For not only is NDF the work of Bruno Pronsato teaming up with Sergio Giorgini, but their first release together for the aforementioned label features one Mr. Ricardo Villalobos on remix, hardly a name you’d expect to find on DFA. Pronsato’s tracks are never short of feeling, but perhaps it is this collaboration with Giorgini (half of Benoit & Sergio and Birds & Souls) that has brought a more organic feeling to his latest project. As the hopeful, opening melodies build upon each other, a wooden flute appears amongst the more brittle claps and shakers that are unquestionably Pronsato’s. Deep, resonant drums add to the accumulating sense of wonder and beauty, eventually giving way to a regular 4/4 kick around the four minute mark. Throughout the track a world-weary voice lazily recounts the hopelessness of seeing an ex-lover on the street, realizing that whatever pure feeling there once was is now supplanted by a forced ambivalence.

Ricardo’s first mix clocks in at over 17 minutes and as such is a digital only affair. It is classic Villalobos, riding a seemingly endless tribal loop and packed full of delicate minutiae atop, be it needle scrapes, blown out, flapping woofers, or tiny sparks and glitches. It’s as if these were all offcuts of a mammoth studio project left lying around on the studio floor and were swept up and stitched together with the frayed edges of the original. These tiny scraps of sound bubble and pop out of the speakers, creating their own organic groove. Ricardo keeps the melodies of the original buried under these many layers, occasionally letting them bleed through a little more in places but largely keeping them subdued. His 12″ mix, still taking up most of the space on the record, plays around with subtly different vocal effects but largely is just a truncated version of the 17 minute mix. Like his best remix work, these remixes are bewitching and intricate and push the original on to greater heights. In the words of Pronsato and Giorgini themselves, “Since We Last Met” is “dance music twilit by melancholy.” They just forgot to add the necessary superlatives to help describe how good it is.

When the Detroit Electronic Music Festival started back in 2000, music festivals in general and electronic music festivals in specific were a much less common sight. Now the world is positively bursting with them, as scenes as farflung as Croatia and as close (for Americans) as Seattle and New York vie for clubbers’ frequent flyer miles. Detroit’s festival, now known as Movement, has had to step up its game to retain its dominance as the U.S.’s leading festival of its kind. For the 2010 edition, Movement has expanded to five stages placed throughout Hart Plaza, one of which is sponsored by its sister festival, Movement Torino. With so much to choose from, LWE has decided to reprise last year’s popular festival guide. Because the daily schedule has not yet been released we’re breaking things down by stage, so at least you’ll know where to be to see these incredible artists at work. Updated: Schedules are posted below.

Glacéau’s Vitamin Water stage

Plastikman photo by cuzinmank

The Vitamin Water stage is without a doubt the biggest (set in the concrete ampitheater) and fittingly hosts each night’s final headliner. Here you’ll find Richie Hawtin resurrecting Plastikman for his second U.S. appearance in many years, as well as live performances by 2007 headliner Model 500 and Kevin Saunderson’s Inner City.

Larry Heard

You’ll also find us at the Vitamin Water stage to see Chicago house legend Larry Heard spin, producer/comedian Kenny Larkin performing live, a dub-flavored DJ set from Mark Ernestus of Rhythm & Sound, New Zealand funkster Recloose, and a live set from up-and-comer Luke Hess. We might also check out DJ Sneak, Stacey Pullen, DJ Pierre, and Matthew Hawtin if time allows.

Red Bull Music Academy Stage

DJ Koze

There are few forces as powerful as RBMA within dance music and they’re bringing the goods to their stage next to the concrete pyramid. We’ll certainly be in attendance for the oddball antics of DJ Koze, the mighty improvisations of the Moritz Von Oswald Trio, the ineffable beatwork of Martyn, and pianist extraordinare, Francesco Tristano. We’ll also stop by for Kraak & Smaak, Michael Mayer, Jimmy Edgar & co., and Simian Mobile Disco. That said, don’t be surprised if some of your unexpected favorites emerge on the RBMA stage, as they did last year for us.

Made In Detroit Stage

Theo Parrish

There’s been a lot of talk about why Paxahau, the company running Movement, decided to keep the Made In Detroit stage in the underground bunker for a third year. Last year we ended up avoiding the stage far more than we would’ve liked because of its dreadful acoustics. Although no explanations have been provided, we have been assured by people close to the festival that the area is being acoustically prepared to deliver a better sound. With all our hearts and for the sake of Detroit’s treasures, we hope so.

Robert Hood

All that said, there is an abundance of reasons to brave the cavernous space: Headlined by Detroit masters Theo Parrish and Robert Hood (who is playing live), the stage also features DJ sets from living legend Anthony “Shake” Shakir, the “Godson” Rick Wilhite, Sistrum Recordings head Patrice Scott, rising star Kyle Hall, and UR-affiliated Rolando. We expect to stop by for sets from K.Hand, Punisher and Ryan Crosson (live) as well, and shake our heads at having Magda of all people as a headliner.

Beatport Stage

Do we really have to tell you? (Ricardo Villalobos)

Although his name was only added to the bill recently, one of Movement 2010′s biggest draws is the first American appearance since 2002 from mad genius/superstar Ricardo Villalobos, so you can bet we’ll make our way through the Beatport stage’s densely packed crowds to take in his headlining set. We’re always eager to enjoy a set from Cassy, especially if it’s outdoors, and we’re especially excited to see outrageous jazz/funk/house trio dOP in action. We’ll also be stopping by for sets from Radio Slave, Martin Buttrich (live), and The Martinez Brothers — mostly to see if the lattermost live up to the hype.

Movement Torino Music Festival Stage

Derrick May

Movement’s newest stage is sponsored by its Italian sister festival and is headlined by founding father Derrick May, who also headlined Torino in ’09. You’ll find us dancing to sets by Kirk Degiorgio, Orlando Voorn, and Monty Luke (live). In all honesty, we can take or leave the rest of the line up.

Updated: Here is the festival schedule:

Check out LWE’s Guide to Movement Afterparties.

[Sei Es Drum]

Ricardo Villalobos’ best productions, the records of his I will play for my children to help explain why daddy can’t remember large swaths of his early twenties, might be behind him. But whenever I’ll tune into a bootleg or Youtube video from a Ricardo festival set (W has left the White House, sir; now will you please book some US gigs?), I can’t help but imagine him seconding Lil Wayne’s rueful boast on the burden of singularity: “We are not the same/ I am a Martian.” Everyone’s favorite floppy-haired, German-Chilean pure sound advocate has traversed stoned aural landscapes where few ears have dared venture before, and it’s only through the labyrinthine logic of his magnum DJ sets that three-quarters of his record bag makes any sense. I thus greet each new platter from Sei Es Drum, Villalobos’ quasi-white label platform on which he tosses the public some of his sets’ most typically-Ricardo material, with the excitement of owning a souvenir from this man’s space voyage and the trepidation of knowing it will bring me no closer to ultimate hallucinogenic-bongo knowledge.

“Baile,” credited to RV and featuring sleazy Los Updates dude Jorge Gonzalez on vocal duties, basically lives up to expectations. Villalobos, an unabashed Depeche Mode fanboy, injects about as much post-punk, electro, and breakbeat into his rhythmic palate — and as much aggression in his bass line — as he has since his landmark remix of Thomas Dolby’s “One Of Our Submarines” in 2002. Over the course of its twelve and a half minutes, syncopating beats keep things tense in between breaks of steamy, straightforward hats and snares. Aside from some punched-up kick and acid filters in the final third, though, this party keeps an even keel, perhaps to a fault. Like much of last year’s Vasco, “Baile” finds Villalobos trimming much of the fat from his arrangement but not his run-time. As his work from the last few years has shown us (see his remix of Shackleton’s “Blood On My Hands” or “Fizheuer Zieheuer”), letting your machines trip on for extra-extended periods can tease out serious euphoria from simple arrangements. And some of Villalobos’ most impressive work, like “4WD” (also with Jorge Gonzalez) and his take on Depeche Mode’s “Sinner In Me,” uses simple, sparse vocal melodies to warm up otherwise Spartan sound design. Unfortunately, these elements just don’t coalesce as well here, and Gonzalez’s vocals feel especially underutilized and un-integrated. But perhaps in the context of a heavily-layered transition on a club’s well-endowed sound system — i.e. Ricardo’s typical Thursday evening — “Baile” really jams.

Reboot, whose work for labels like Below and Be Chosen has revealed a deftness with driving organic percussion, never strays too far off the South America-Germany axis on the flip. If SIS’ innocuous Sei Es Drum anthem “Trompeta” from last year played like a CliffsNotes “Fizheuer Zieheuer,” then “Caminando” mimics “Primer Encuentro Latino Americano,” a quasi-remixing an acoustic singalong into an arena-sized tribal house rally. Reboot’s well-edited drums here absolutely slam, possibly because it sounds like there are thousands of them. As a potential dance floor moment, “Caminando” would feel far more at home eliciting good vibes at a Luciano gig than feeding red-eyed paranoia at Ricardo’s. It’s a downright mainstream A&R snag, even at well over twelve minutes, by the standards of house’s most avant-garde tastemaker. But even a Wire cover star must feel like sweating through that designer t-shirt every now and again.

[Deutsche Grammophon]

The third volume of Deutsche Grammophon’s “ReComposed” series was a match made in heaven: longtime friends and past collaborators Carl Craig and Moritz von Oswald teaming up to “recompose” classical pieces by Modest Mussorgsky and Maurice Ravel in their own inimitable styles. The resulting LP was one of 2008′s finest, and just before the year finished, this slate of remixes by Ricardo Villalobos and Craig was issued as a companion piece. The only shame of it is that the 12″ hit shops too late in 2008 to make year-end ballots.

The Villalobos/Craig/von Oswald remix marks the first time the three titans have worked together on one track (although it isn’t a true collaboration); and while the 12-minute “Uli, mein Ponyhof” remix isn’t exactly the life-changing work soaked-pants fanboys may hope for, it is indeed a fantastic piece of music. Peppered throughout with bites and snippets of the familiar classical pieces (trust me, you’ll recognize them when you hear them), Villalobos’ version glides along on a bed of funky analog bass, layers upon layers of skittering percussion, and bouncing, bounding sound effects. Stylistically, the mix falls in line with Villalobos’ “Fizheuer Zieheuer” or Luciano’s “Amelie on Ice” — propulsive minimal techno splashed Pollock-like with samplings of traditional works to create an interesting dance floor hybrid. Thanks to the shorter running time, however, “Uli, mein Ponyhof” feels more direct and floor-ready than “Fizheuer”; this is Villalobos’ most effective remix in ages — or at least since “Blood on my Hands.”

Craig’s “Movement 8 (c2 version)” — with a “Piano Moment” credited to Kelvin Sholar — recalls the rest of the LP with von Oswald on many levels: a crisp, streamlined techno track with bits of piano and ominous string swells woven into the fabric of the track, not just sprinkled on the surface. A few minutes in, an echoing, dubbed-up metallic riff clangs about (the first in a series of such effects), revealing von Oswald’s influence, and the rhythms get hotter, heavier, and deeper. After trucking along through a few breakdowns, the track settles in its final minutes with some warm ambient bliss. This single may have technically been released at the tail end of 2008, but its sure to find a welcome home in some crates well into the new year.

[Cocoon Recordings]

As a tie-in to a series of April club dates in Japan, Sven Väth’s Cocoon Recordings released a special Japan-only compilation CD in celebration of the event. Now available worldwide due to popular demand, six of the seven CD tracks are also being released on vinyl as a special three-part single to celebrate Cocoon’s 50th single release. The line-up showcases the cream of the Cocoon canon, with Schneider and Galluzzi, Tiefschwarz, Gerber and Kalata, and Pig & Dan participating across the first two parts. Part III, however, pulls out the big guns, with Väth butting heads with Anthony Rother and Ricardo Villalobos each contributing a track.

Väth and Rother unleash “S’kränkt,” a punishing big room beast built on the back of a crunching bass attack and some expertly deployed stops and starts. There isn’t much of a tune present, just plenty of noisy and random analog synth bursts, but the vaguely verse-chorus format is genius — simply flit back and forth between the giant grunt-and-handclap-punctuated break and the bass-driven synth parts and voila! Instant dancefloor mayhem.

Villalobos checks in with a track to tide us over between the two parts of his “Vasco EP” for Perlon that fits the rave-tastic Cocoon mood nicely. Dropping the long, slowly unwinding, moody mode of his recent work in favor of a pounding bass groove, “Akklää” is the most straightforward, four-to-the-floor techno that ol’ Ricky has given us for some time, but that isn’t to say that its without thrills. Tweaking the fathoms-deep bass line into distortion, and finally, near disintegration over the track’s first section, a pan-pipe loop arrives just in the nick at the three-minute mark to lighten the tone. Later, some pots-and-pans percussion loops and a couple of secondary tubular-bell-like riffs are added, but from there on out, it’s basically Ricardo Does Acid, tweaking, tumbling, and twisting the parts as only he can. “Akklää” is certainly not the most cerebral or revelatory thing that Villalobos has ever released, but it is an absolute monster of a track (did someone say Godzilla?) and serves as a timely reminder that at the end of the day, even our most highly revered composers sometimes just want to make asses quiver.