Artists: DJ Red, Ricardo Villalobos
Release: Raw Cacao EP
Label: Wolfskuil LTD
Release Date: Nov 25, 2016
Raw Cacao
DJ Red builds a focused progression with a thumping bassline throbbing away in the background. The machines begin to chime in as it unfurls, speaking indistinctly and rooting themselves in your mind. This is a brand of techno that leans towards psychedelia. It draws vivid, unfamiliar images that you cannot turn away from. Its minimalism creates an ever-changing atmosphere that is just as hard to escape. But why should you? Raw Cacao is in itself a fitting escape.
Raw Cacao (Ricardo Villalobos Remix)
Ricardo Villalobos is on remix duty, completely reorganising DJ Red’s original for an enchanting, psychedelic exodus into the unknown. His punchy low-end staggers around as if groping in the dark, hollow voices speaking out incomprehensibly from uncertain distances all around it. As the kick finally emerges from an obscure collection of discordant concord, the track takes off into a tense, frenetic second half. Villalobos is one of the scene’s most eclectic storytellers, and in this remix his ways as a sage shine through. I can see this in many DJs’ closing sets.
Expect to hear either of these records over a soundsystem this winter. Both create distinct environments around you that are easy to get lost in with the snowfall outside.