[Barraca Music] (buy vinyl) (buy mp3s)

Scrolling through new releases the other day I came upon “El Prologo Remixes Pt 1.1″ by Affkt and Danny Fiddo, a record which seemed notable only for its superstar remixers, Ricardo Villalobos and Luciano. How did two fresh-faced producers with scant discographies on a new label, Barraca Music, snag these giants (and Radio Slave on the digital version) for remix duty? Listening to the originals makes it obvious: The meticulously groomed percussion, sputtering drum breaks, Latin diatribes and blurred marimba progressions of “Points” and “Cartas Para Geisha” are the bread and butter of Villalobos’s and Luciano’s sets. Recently these masters have taken good care of their emulators (see: Sei Es Drum and Cadenza’s last 10 records), so a couple remixes for their new followers is very in character. Yet as this EP makes clear, reworking tracks made in your own image has its pitfalls.

Not one to be upstaged easily, Villalobos opts for a broad canvas of nearly 16 minutes to unveil his interpretation of “Points.” For the first six minutes he works largely within the scope of the original, almost as if creating a Villalobos-only edit for bewildering already disoriented Ibiza crowds. Swapping in signature crisp hi-hats, paring back overgrown percussion, and inviting the original’s mumbling Spanish speaker to ramble at length, he adds distressed synth blurts and overt drum machine abuse to truly mark his territory. Villalobos finally reveals his hand in minute seven, painting a pinwheel’s swirl of tone color with marimba mallets. Stretched and bounced against the track’s ever expanding walls, this rainbow whirlpool threatens to swallow clubs whole and leaves only a faint pulse to set the pace. Typical of an artist who fancies his music all-consuming, Villalobos envisions the wider world in which his students make their aural dioramas and brings it to life. As a bonus, its sumptuous rump is an effective tool for slathering melody across the next track you mix in.

Knowing he’ll never snatch the mad genius jester’s cap from Ricardo, Luciano seems content to keep the party moving with his remix of “Cartas Para Geisha.” Brushed snares and cymbals and cascading sub-bass rumble mark the biggest differences between the versions — all textbook Luciano and not vastly different from the original that cribs from the same tome. Only the reversed marimba line lapping at listeners’ toes moves beyond Luciano’s presets, and arriving so late it’s almost not worth mentioning. Villalobos would have been in the same boat had he not driven “Point” off the path so studiously paved by Affkt and Fiddo. This is hardly a bump in the road for “El Prologo” fans who presumably adore its forefathers as well, but more skeptical buyers may justifiably feel they already own tracks of this ilk. Despite Villalobos’s prismatic wormhole (which is worth a download if nothing else), “Remixes Pt. 1.1″ merely connects the dots between obvious influences and official endorsement.

For our fifth report, LWE correspondent Colin Shields offers his top 5 singles (from the first half of 2008) that suggest minimal isn’t dead, actually.

It’s a familiar story: Life seemed so good in 2006. Minimal, a genre that had simmered along in dance since its conception, had hit the mainstream in a big way. A whole slew of chefs had set out to reduce the sounds of house and techno, and found in their pots a sauce that could instill in beats flavors that ran the gamut from psychedelic to block-rocking. The minimal scene felt like it had discovered both a music and a lifestyle that were a paean to sensual opulence. What came up has come down: faddishness and mediocrity infected what in Rob Hood’s time had been a style too off the beaten track to lure pretenders.

In 2008 a craze for all things minimal has been replaced by an Oslo-associated house revival on one hand and a fascination with the Berghain sound of techno on the other. While these scenes prosper, the creative underbelly of minimal has also flourished. At the same time, the deep-house and Detroit revivals have often been little more than uninteresting minimal with a new haircut. This means the (supposedly) pernicious influence of vapid minimal trendiness is probably far from over, but rather just rolls on in a different guise. If all this is true, though, one simple question remains. Since (what’s made out to be) the blood sucking parasite of trendiness is gone, shouldn’t minimal be in rude health now? Here are five to show it is.

01. Ricardo Villalobos, “Minimoonstar” (Shackleton remix) [Perlon] (buy)
No surprise at who tops my list. Villalobos is certainly one of the minimal producers who needs no defending to anyone. “Vasco EP Part One” has had us bloggers going gaga, but it’s also worth noting again how effective Shackleton’s mix is here. Berlin minimal techno has had a huge influence on the side of dubstep worth listening to, at least if my ears are any judge, and this is just one more reminder of that ever fertile interchange. After the opening vocal, the feeling of spaciousness and depth developed are really otherworldly. This would be a sublime track to which to die.

02. Ruede Hagelstein, “The Modest Theme” [Souvenir] (buy)
This one distinctly isn’t crossover. Instead, it’s all about delayed gratification. The soft footed opening is modest indeed; but as the end nears, the bursts of horn that have made a statement of intent since the beginning come back in a brash, proud way. The combination of floor-thumper with intricate long player Hagelstein has pulled off here is deft in the extreme.

03. October, “Go Outside” [Perspectiv] (buy)
Frayed edges and misbegotten elements stitched together insouciantly here. The frequent breakdowns only make the listener pay closer attention; this creates a feeling of surface tension as the track nevertheless builds smoothly in intensity. There’s never quite a kick drop to mark the peak, but rather just a feeling of climactic energy that arrives most of the way in before subsiding again. Add to that the lovely, harmonic warehouse-tinged tones and “Go Outside” has found something winning as well as distinctive.

04. DJ Koze, “Zou Zou” [Kompakt] (buy)
Many people might not call this minimal, but if that’s your reaction, let’s argue about it later. The more important fact: “Zou Zou” is really stunning. As usual, Koze has made a track that feels like a tangle of hirsute limbs, leaving the vocals and the beats and some chords to rub up against each other in a very prickly way. “I work it” is the lyric and I imagine that’s just what this would motivate you to do on the dance floor. Even at home, though, the exhortation to movement is immense. For such a melodic track, there’s also a sense that every single bit of sound adds something percussive, too. Each element here surprises afresh when the dynamics of the track alter, which they do frequently, and they never sit together fully naturally. They do combine into one beautiful monster, though, and yet again most other producers look like spring chickens next to Koze.

05. Jichael Mackson, “Flatscreen” [Stock5] (buy)
Mackson is never an easy one to pin down and “Flatscreen” is as slippery as he is. A long, lean, sometimes faltering drum voyage is the name of the game. This is another track that creates its own language by hesitating now and again, leaving the listener to swirl in an eddy before being spat back into the rapids. After a few minutes, the mellifluous progress made by the intricate beats begins to be absorbed very deeply, and by the end of fourteen minutes the Beatport version at double that length doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.

01. Ricardo Villalobos, “Electonic Water” [Perlon] (buy)
Soon to be the subject of its own review, Villalobos’ “Vasco EP Part 1″ is a stunning addition to his already vaunted discography. The rippling melodies of “Electonic Water” largely stay submerged, only occasionally rearing their heads to roar with blistering intensity at passersby. Thick with the irregular rhythms of a hypnotic cowbell, muffled walking bass and a fiercely slapped belt (or some approximation) and riddled with ear-piercing electric flare ups, “Electonic Water” conjures a daunting swamp alive with robots instead of animals.

02. The Per Eckbo Orchestra, “Beat Bravo” [Oslo] (buy)
Guillaume Coutu Dumont yet again exhibits how he’s earned his buy-on-sight credentials with this new collab with Oslo boss, Federico Molinari. “Beat Bravo” navigates a well lubed jungle lush with rolling hand percussion, wandering vibe progressions and chiding vocal drops. It’s just toolish enough for a long mix and just tuneful enough to stand on its own — exemplary of Oslo’s signature sound.

03. Jim Rivers, “Mirage” (tobias. remix) [Simple Records] (buy)
How this young Bristol-based producer went from prog house to releasing on Simple Records and being remixed by Tobias Freund is a mystery to me. But his colorful and blocky original makes for great remix fodder, as proven by the delightfully thick treatment Tobias metes out. Its buzzing low end aerates the dance floor below as dub upstrokes plant seeds and refreshing torrents of delayed synth soak dancers. A fine introduction to Rivers and a finer remix from one of techno’s masters.

04. Chic Miniature, “Escandalo” [Crosstown Rebels] (buy)
As if there weren’t enough excellent Coutu Dumonts solo and collaborative releases, this one revisits his partnership with Mutek-affiliated producer, Ernesto Ferreyra. The result sounds a bit like My My with more meat on its bones, filling every nook and cranny with a collage of live, sampled and generated sounds. The previously released “Kimono,” in all its badgering poppiness, is sure to rile up dancers and DJs alike.

05. Touane, “Tolousian Duck” [Persona] (buy)
Although his efforts are rarely acknowledged, the versatile Marco Tonni keeps churning out great and impossible to pigeonhole tracks for labels like Lan Music, liebe*detail, MiniSketch and his own Persona. “Tolousian Duck” is perhaps Touane’s most anthemic tune to date, hooking dancers into its ever expanding motif. Highly recommended.

06. Leonid, “Mora” [Statik Entertainment] (buy)
07. tobias., “I Can’t Fight the Feeling” [Wagon Repair] (buy)
08. Rndm, “Wakefield” [Dial] (buy)
09. Move D, “Drone” [Modern Love] (buy)
10. Peter Grummich, “Mountain” [ProgCity Deep Trax] (buy)