- Ricardo Villalobos appears here on Pressure Trax, a label whose aesthetic seems perfectly in tune with the Chilean's. It's a platform for Villalobos to serve up one of the more immediately accessible—if still gratifyingly nuanced—releases of his illustrious career.
On first contact, there's not a huge difference between the two parts of "Voodog." "Part 1" is the more upfront and perkier of the duo; "Voodog Part 2," its weirder cousin, adds jazzy xylophone and synth licks to the mix. Both share the same rhythmic complexity and schizoid vocal layering—in fact, you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd opened multiple browser tabs on SoundCloud.
Villalobos puts down a twitchy, minimalist pitter-patter that at various points distorts into a barrage of hyperactive techno hi-hats. A highly recognisable disco sample—from First Choice's "Let No Man Out Asunder," as used on Royal House's stone cold house classic "Can You Party?"—is dropped in and out, seemingly at random. A hummed vocal loop is a constant, as is a British-accented female voice in the middleground—stretched, cut up and barely decipherable—joined by a diabolic male who is little more than distorted noise. Sounds like a mess, doesn't it? Yet these divergent elements are the record's killer trick. By presenting so much aural information to the listener, Villalobos ensures that engagement in the music is sky high.
TracklistA1 Voodog Pt. 1
B1 Voodog Pt. 2