Ricardo Villalobos

Salvador collects eight tracks from minimal techno king Ricardo Villalobos’s vast repertoire of 12-inch singles. At a running time of 79 minutes and a range of eight years, the tracks here are just a taste of what’s out there. Still, for fans who find themselves turntable-less when it comes to this producer, whose vinyl output and heavy remix schedule leave too many gaps surrounding the micro-housed finesse of 2003’s Alcachofa and epic insular mind-fuck of 2004’s Thé au Harem d'Archimède, this collection should go some ways toward stretching the picture. It’s worth noting, though, that the eight-year range here is not really indicative of artistic development, as six of the Frisbee tracks are from 1998 to 99, while the seventh is a Senor Coconut remix from 2002. "Que Belle Epoque 2006,” a reworking of a track from 2000, does add a nice contemporary glimpse of a producer whose beat patterns have gradually moved toward an innovative syncopated technique. Whatever the minor curatorial gripes, Salvador is nevertheless an eye-opening taste of a career that has taken part primarily in the din of the world’s cooler nightclubs. Frisbee has done its part in reissuing its Villalobos vinyl on CD. Here’s hoping other labels follow suit.