Shackleton -- Blood On My Hands (Ricardo Villalobos mix)

Blood on my hands, Ricardo Villalobos Remix is number 27 on RA's list of the top hundred of tracks of the 00s.

In contrast to my fairly negative review of Watamu Beach, this track is minimalism I can support.

With an avowedly minimalist stance and a clock time just shy of 19 minutes one might worry that this sprawling doom laden track could easily get boring, but it really never does thanks to a few techniques.

In terms of overall impression the style of the song sits reminds me of something between Burning from the Inside and Brian Eno's ambient works, although obviously as a techno song it's faster and more beaty and totally different than either of them.

Eno always described his goal making ambient music as producing music that rewards but does not demand attention or in another phrasing, music that can be listened to it at any level of attention. Blood on my hands succeeds along that line and for the most part it's pretty easy to just kind of have this on in the background while you're working or doing something else (except for a few moments, some of the vocals are pretty arresting). That said, anytime you pay attention, interesting things are happening. Additional instruments / beats are moving in and out, elements are building up or slowly fading, atmospheric effects and sounds are used. Although I mentioned that the song reminded me of Burning from the Inside at a macro level, at a micro level it's totally different. Rather than aim for minimalism through repetition, this track is shockingly varied when you zoom in and its constantly changing and doing things that are subtly different than what it's done before.