You would think that the label cash-in effort would be limited to the likes of Johnny Cash or Kurt Cobain, but apparently Ricardo Villalobos is a big enough name to warrant Frisbee Tracks latest exploitation of his back catalog. The original “Unflug” was released in October of 1998 and was one of Villalobos’ earliest productions—meaning it wasn’t nearly as accomplished (or lengthy) as his recent work, but was still decent enough, a stomping tech house thing with a nifty analog riff and some drifty background chords and of course those trademark layers of percussion.

The two mixes here by Franklin De Costa and Good Groove & Yapacc (who?) aren’t necessarily bad, but given that the source material isn’t exactly Ricardo’s greatest moment, how great can you expect the remixes to be? The Good Groove & Yapacc remix goes on nearly twice as long as it needs to in true Villalobos fashion, stripping the track down, accentuating the techy end of things and adding a deep bass swoop, but lacking rhythmic invention and that feeling that at any moment, the bottom could drop out and leave nothing but rainforest chants or finger cymbals for the next six minutes. De Costa turns his take into a bubbling percolator, filtering the original’s Latin percussion fills into something interesting and alien and spontaneous and vaguely akin to the sort of work that Villalobos does these days. Not a bad cut by any means, but if you’re looking for “Villalobos,” stick with his recent work on Playhouse or Perlon, not these half-baked releases aimed directly at your wallet.

Frisbee Tracks / FT 069
[Listen]
[Todd Hutlock]

It was a sweet inevitability that once computer technology plateaued in plug-in heaven, increasingly large groups of nerds, purists, idiots, and visionaries would run for or cling to their old gear. Street Knowledge, produced by Cassy’s partner and NSI half Tobias Freund, shows that there’s good reason for the flight into obsolescence. Street Knowledge is one of those brilliant deep EPs that stay put in your box for years. The title track is one of the funkiest, deepest, driving-est tech-house grooves you’ve heard in ages—the kind yo mamma warned you about.

As with his NSI release on Cadenza, Freund proudly displays all the gear used for the music on the back cover of the EP, so I can tell you that the bass on this puppy was generated by a Studio Electronics se 1 (defunct in its original form, of course). Man, it’s the business. This track just rolls along, with the bass overshot by short horn stabs, and 808 claps, shots, and cowbells (real 808, of course.). “Solid State” appears to have been composed from the same arrangement of machines, and while not as obviously killer as the title cut, it’s a groover with the same quietly classic mood, movement, and presence that marks the EP as a whole. “Bayside” on the B is another winner, a slightly more sober, gliding record that skims to a calm halt right in the middle, then spins off into the clouds. Ah.

The gear sounds great, but it’s Tobias’ intuitive use of all the sounds available here to generate a record that sounds “just right” that’s so inspiring. It’s about the touch. With barely a fat lead or a farty bassline in sight, Freund has created an incredibly attuned, proper EP that won’t go platinum, but may well become a classic.

Logistic / LOG055
[Listen]
[Peter Chambers]

Download

01: Tomboy - Young Enough to Know
02: Broke - Overhat
03: Klein and Zenker - Delusion (Jussi-Pekka Loves Old Trance Remix)
04: (A)pendics.Shuffle and Mikael Stavöstrand – Looking for Me (Mossa Mix)
05: Tiga - 3 Weeks (Troy Pierce Mix)
06: Florian Meindl – Chase the Robot
07: Mike Uzzi and Ben Recht - Talk You Down
08: Jeff Bennett - Surface Diving
09: Ripperton - Farra

Michael F. Gill
Sylvester – I Need You (Dim’s Maxi Disco Blend) [ITH Records]
Remute – Bounce 23 [Trapez]
V/A - This Is Rong Music [Rong Music]
Lil Louis - I Called You (The Story Continues) [Epic]
E-Dancer - Oombah [Planet E]
Midnightrats - Goalmaker [Magic Circus]
Macho Cat Garage - Ghetto Blues [Viewlexx]
V/A - Make Me What [Minisketch]
Benfay - Pink Silk Panties (Bang Goes Remix) [Stattmusik]
The Nova Dream Sequence - Interpretations [Compost]

Todd Hutlock
Depeche Mode - People Are People (Underground Resistance Remix) [Mute]
Tomas Andersson - Mot Matsalen! [Bpitch Control]
Radio Slave - Weeeze [Rekids]
Theo Parrish - Falling Up (Technasia Rmx) [Third Ear/Syncrophone]
Hot Chip - Over And Over (Naum Gabo Remix) [Astralwerks/DFA]
False - Kickball [Plus 8]
Thomas Fehlmann - Dusted [Kompakt]
Pier Bucci - L’nuit (Dominik Eulberg Mix) [Crosstown Rebels]
Booka Shade - In White Rooms (Shinedoe Remix) [Get Physical]
Nitzer Ebb - Control I’m Here (Superchumbo Dub) [NovaMute]