''Thé au Harem d'Archimède'' is the second studio album by

Ricardo Villalobos Ricardo Villalobos (born 6 August 1970) is a Chilean-born German electronic music producer and DJ. He is well known for his work in the minimal techno and microhouse genres, and is one of the most significant figures in the minimal techno scene. ...

. It was released by Perlon on LP and CD on October 12, 2004. The album's French title, which translates into English as "Tea in the

Harem A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...

Archimedes Archimedes of Syracuse ( ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Greek mathematics, mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and Invention, inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse, Sicily, Syracuse in History of Greek and Hellenis ...

," is a reference to the Mehdi Charef film '' Tea in the Harem'' (French title: ''Le thé au Harem d'Archimède''), as well as a

mondegreen A mondegreen () is a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase in a way that gives it a new meaning. "A misunderstood or misinterpreted word or phrase resulting from a mishearing, esp. of the lyrics to a song". Mondegreens are most often create ...

of the French phrase " Théorème d'Archimède," also the title of the album's fourth track. ''Thé au Harem d'Archimède'' continues to build on the nuanced percussion of Villalobos' previous album, '' Alcachofa'', while eschewing melodies in favour for rhythm and groove. On vinyl, "Hireklon" is extended by over five minutes and features a longer

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

solo, while the delay and dub effects on the clapping is toned down significantly. An additional song, "Stereobox," is also present.

Reception

Reception was mixed to positive. Andy Kellman, writing for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, says that Villalobos is "perfectly content with forming luscious, pensively roiling, ten-minute grooves that double as some of the most organic-sounding electronic productions imaginable". A review for Dusted Magazine, by Jon Dale, lauded the album's unusual synthesis of sounds and influences, while noting that it was not as accessible as Villalobos' debut, '' Alcachofa''. Ron Schepper's review for

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

had a similarly mixed feel, noting the album's less accessible nature when compared to ''Alcachofa'' and stating that "Villalobos dives ever more deeply into percussive gumbo and leaves accessible hooks behind".

Resident Advisor ''Resident Advisor'' (also known as ''RA'') is an online music magazine and community platform established in 2001 and dedicated to showcasing electronic music, artists and events across the globe. Its editorial team provides news, music and ev ...

ranked ''Thé Au Harem D'Archimède'' 77th on its list of the Top 100 Albums of the '00s.

Track listing

;CD pressing ;Vinyl pressing

Credits

*Ricardo Villalobos - writer, producer, main performer *Cassy Britton -

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

on "Miami" and "True To Myself" *Rashad Becker - mastering

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:The Au Harem D'archimede 2004 albums Ricardo Villalobos albums