Fizheuer Zieheuer

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dogger

Sweet Virginia
So I've finally got hold of the vinyl edition of this, and it turns out that THIS is the track that's been, literally, haunting me ever since I heard Luciano spinning it on a sunlit Berlin dancefloor back in June. I swear that those horns, and the riff, have been in my head ever since. And now, re-listening, it turns out to be probably the best thing Villalobos has done, and quite probably the best release of the year.

What first grabbed me was, of course, those horns. Like nothing I've heard on a dance track before, and in the original context (a small but packed dancefloor lit with brilliant summer sunshine) it struck me that they are an utterly perverse, utterly original praise of the dawn, heralding, in their shakily pompous way, the dawn of a new day. On repeated (home) listenings, the textural detail and quality of production start to shine through. It's waaay more stripped down than, e.g. Achso, with just a handful of elements doing the work for the full forty-odd minutes. There's lots of classic RV downbeat trickery, and repetition of elements over a considerable time span (often more than 32 bars). This creates the effect Sherburne was talking about in his most recent Pitchfork column, the effect of completely transcending the individual elements, and in so doing hinting at the infinite. It's just that Fizheuer Zieheuer does it better than any one else I've heard. In fact, this release confirms for me the idea that RV, at his best, is operating in a different league to even the finest other minimal producers (Matt John, Pan-Pot, Matthew Dear, Buttrich etc).

So what do you all reckon?
 
nochexxx

nochexxx

harco pronting
it's uncanny, everywhere i turn this blokes name crops up. no real idea as to who he is but i'm going to have to to check it. your write up was well inspiring.

i love minimal house but am also extremely fussy (expeically in this genre):eek: .
 
Guybrush

Guybrush

Dittohead
I have been listening to it all day now, it is absolutely spellbinding, easily one of the tracks of the year for me.

The song was discussed a bit on the "minimal thread" and I remember someone, rightly, mentioning how LOUD the horns are when they make their entrance (made all the more forceful by the preceding five-minute build-up); beside their sheer potency I love how they sound festive and mourning at once (dance music needs more East-European folk influences -- infinitely more interesting than the, by The Undisputed Truth so dreaded, latin thefts). What is also contributing to the song's hypnoticness, I think, is how the left-panned triplet-delays (I think they are called) contrast with the rigid four on the floor rhythm at the centre, listen to it through headphones for maximum dizziness.
 
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oblioblioblio

Wild Horses
this is a totally perfect techno record. On some levels a certain part of it will be taken away when it starts doing the rounds a little more frequently, in that the suprise element of 'what in the fuck is this?' will be lost. But the beauty of the record is that it is not hard for a dj to recontextualise it, as it has been totally hand crafted for this exact purpose. All the little tweaks can easily become part of the furniture, so to speak, in the picture that the dj is drawing. The movement of the bandpass filter on the snare, for example, and some of the delayed percussions all have a much more significant effect than simply the adding or subtracting of elements in the context of creating a mix. Really magical stuff. Ricardo, I salute you.
 
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childrentalking

Well-known member
hearing this record out through a soundsystem has provided me with a few of my most cherised music memories. i'll never forget. and i enjoyed it more every time i heard it -- where i knew what was coming, i was just excited to hear it again! so perfectly mixed.

while i'm skeptical villalobos initially intended this for public release, i'm happy i can play it in my living room whenever i want and somewhat relive the joy. sounds so much better than a low-quality dj set recording. i really hope people don't start playing it out though. unless they use it wholly as a beat tool (check out ricardo's use of it w/ shackleton from the fabric birthday party for a perfect example of this).

strangest thing about this record is that people who aren't particularly into techno/electronic music (hell, any type of 'subcultural' music full stop) seem to really *really* dig it. and this is in a home listening stiutation. something about those horns...
 
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childrentalking

Well-known member
the last 22 mins are just a DJ tool, and I've never even heard anyone play that part out. whatever. rather that than a blank side.
 
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smn

Well-known member
The first thing I've gotta say about FZ is that there's a bit in the horn section which reminds me of a bit in the Cole Porter classic Everytime We Say Goodbye. I don't have the musical knowledge or vocab to pinpoint it as I'd like so all I can really say is that a couple of the horn parps always bring to mind the "... from major to minor" line. Strange, eh?

Anyhoo the track is brilliant and undoubtedly one of the best things he's done.

He still supposed to be doing a Fabric mix btw?
 
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dogger

Sweet Virginia
oblioblioblio said:
this is a totally perfect techno record. On some levels a certain part of it will be taken away when it starts doing the rounds a little more frequently, in that the suprise element of 'what in the fuck is this?' will be lost. But the beauty of the record is that it is not hard for a dj to recontextualise it, as it has been totally hand crafted for this exact purpose. All the little tweaks can easily become part of the furniture, so to speak, in the picture that the dj is drawing. The movement of the bandpass filter on the snare, for example, and some of the delayed percussions all have a much more significant effect than simply the adding or subtracting of elements in the context of creating a mix. Really magical stuff. Ricardo, I salute you.
Click to expand...

OTM. Although it's never going to be as dizzylingly incredible (i would actually say unsettling ) as the first time, it certainly stands up to repeated listenings (because of subtleties like the snare you mention). but it's the fact that it's such a dj/dancefloor-friendly record, as well as a satisfyingly detailed one, that makes it so special....
 
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gek-opel

entered apprentice
ie- used for mixing in and out of other tunes, using as an element (perhaps via eq "kills") to run with other tunes...

I'm half convinced by "Fizheuer Zieheuer", but there's an overly loud hi hat hiss that runs for almost the whole piece on the off beat that kind of grates after a while... Nit-picking fo sho, but its loud-ness gets in the way of the subtle, gradually shifting triplet delayed percussion clatter in the middle distance. I would add that Ive yet to hear it in a dancefloor situation, and therefore am probably missing the fact that over time that hi hat hiss would disappear as yr mind and body tune into the tiny differences which emerge across the piece, the kick drum/hi hat melt away in infinite cycles of repetition.

Anyone heard the extended CD version???
 
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childrentalking

Well-known member
yeah, DJ tool = used primarily as a background/recontextualisation for other tracks (that, for e.g. might not have such a pronounced backbeat), or as a bridge between other tracks. providing the spine in a mix without necessarily being the main focus of attention...

Fizheuer definitely needs to be heard in a dancefloor situation for its full effect, but I can't help but feel the maximum impact is impossible to achieve if you're fully familiar with the tune. like I've said previously, it's all about slowly getting used to/lost in the dubby thunks then having the horns ROAR out over the soundsystem, completely unexpectedly. the element of surprise/novelty is so key. I think I'd like the track anyway but my LOVE for its first half (and obsessive relistening) absolutely stems from the residual reactivation of those first couple of Fabric experiences...

it's nowhere near as polished as Villalobos' other recent productions, and I highly doubt it took him very long to put together. essentially, it's an incredibly unique idea, and perfectly engineered for the type of situation he excels in (post 7AM carnage). so if techno is utilitarian at its core, then yes, I guess this a perfect techno record.
 
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childrentalking

Well-known member
also I'm sorry but the vinyl rip of this is bad, which may well be contributing to your annoyance with the lack of separation/clarity in the mix. and, there's low end in this track! i swear!

the 'full version' on the CD (fizbeast?) is just going to be like B of the vinyl the whole way through, only without the boompa boompa background horns. and track one, obviously, is A and B without the side flip...
 
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DJ PIMP

Well-known member
childrentalking said:
perfectly engineered for the type of situation he excels in (post 7AM carnage).
Click to expand...
ok, i get it better now - but is it epic or self indulgent? i can't quite be bothered to listen to it.

i'm sure its handy if you want to plonk something on... go take a pee, smoke a spliff, get a coffee, sex0r some random groupy like the winds of egypt and still have time to rifle about at a leisurely pace and find your next half dozen tracks when you get back to the decks.

ketamine must make things really, really, really, really exciting.
 
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childrentalking

Well-known member
er it's only 14 minutes long... as should be clear by now this whole 37 minute business is a total red herring. "ketamine must make things really, really, really, really exciting" -- have you even heard it?!
 
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DJ PIMP

Well-known member
yep... tho admittedly not on a p.a.

edit: let me know if i've forgotten to take my wanker pills this morning :)
 
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nomadologist

Guest
Villalobos is one of those minimal or whatever guys all my friends tell me I should like, but he seems so uneven to me. On Ach So he'll go from a shit hot dance number with really satisfying full frequency range, to epically boring "textural" exercises where it sounds like he forgot to turn down the frequency on the console that electric currents are audible on so there's a lot of ugly hiss and on top of that, NO low end.

This opinion hasn't been effected by the broad spectrum of drugs I've been on when I've heard it. Always the same reaction, but because I respect the caliber of opinions being thrown around here, I want to give Fizheuer Zieheuer chance. Won't be surprised if I remain ambivalent. Some really good DJs become shitty addled messes and it affects their output.
 
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