Label: Fabric (London)
Catalog#: FABRIC 71
Format: CD, Mixed
Country: UK
Released: 10 Sep 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: House, Minimal

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.”