Ricardo Villalobos – Empirical House 2017 LP [a:rpia:r] ARPIAR015

https://www.discogs.com/Ricardo-Villalobos-Empirical-House-LP/release/10258232

The productions of Chilean minimal maestro Ricardo Vilalobos have always been a little more jazzy and funk-fuelled than many will admit, though these elements – alongside the brilliance of his South American inspired drum programming – have come to the fore in recent times. They’re certainly in evidence across the four fine tracks that make up Empirical House. Check, for example, the looped double bass, slack-tuned kicks and snares and woozy vibraphone flourishes of opener “Widodo”, or the undulating, almost tropical melody lines and glitchy, outer-space grooves of “Bakasecc”. Best of all is the title track, an unflinchingly trippy, woozy and borderline Balearic chunk of minimal house brilliance.
Empirical House is Villalobos’s first solo release on [a:rpia:r], following remixes of DJ Sneak in 2010 and Raresh in 2014.

Tracklist:
A. Widodo 11:59
B. Bakasecc 12:28
C. Subpad 12:24
D. Empirical House 13:26