An increase in production techniques give way to more complex-sounding genre-minimal. People had been dancing at 140 + bpm for most of the decade but improvement in production techniques and equipment meant not as many beats had to be used to create a solid rhythm, leading to Techno becoming much slower. As the 1990s gave way to the 2000s, Techno was losing its crown as King of underground music. To understand what Alcachofa brings to minimal, some context is needed. Unsurprisingly, Ricardo was ahead of his time. As with most of his productions, those records grow to become more appreciated over time. Chilean certainly wasnt unknown quantity as aforementioned records were successful in varying degrees, but Villalobos hadnt hit the heights of some DJs and producers at the time. He had a whole host of releases under his belt, such as his debut album Contempt, as well N-DRA, 808 Bassqueen and Que Belle Epoque. In regards to man himself, Ricardo had been releasing music since 1995 and DJing long before then. But the label hadnt seen anything like its 83 release which would go on to push the label to new standards and new heights. Producers such as Melchior Productions, Isolee and label co-founder Roman Flugel had released music to acknowledgable degrees of success. At the time of Alcachofas release, Playhouse had 82 releases along with a number of mix CDs and compilations. Playhouse at time, there was no chump label. It has become a benchmark that every great piece of electronic music is measured against. It is a piece of art that in years following has come to shape the entire genre as well as shift and modify house and techno. It can arguably be considered the greatest minimal album of all-time and is certainly up there with the best underground albums of all-time. The design of the sleeve could be described as low quality, yet it remains mesmerising and distinctive, and that is not just because it is one underground music defining album On 23 September, 2003, Frankfurt base label Playhouse released Chilean producer Ricardo Villalobos ' album Alcachofa. You actually have Alcachofa?! I holding Ricardo Villalobos Alcachofa in my hands! The above exchange is from a friend's party I attended last year, Whilst digging through his record collection, there was one sleeve that stood out even in a stack of thirty, forty records. Pop it on after these ones finish playing out. " Alcaucil * Alcachofa silvestre | Cynara es un género con una… | Flickr", by Flickr, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0