Take a trip around 'Stars Planets Dust Me' with Ricardo Villalobos

A soft but impactful landing would be an apt way of describing the gentle unfolding of ‘Stars Planets Dust Me’, A Mountain of One’s comeback album after over a decade.

Originally formed in 2006, Mo Morris and Zeb Jameson have taken A Mountain of One (AMO1) around the world through remixes, collaborations and haute-artistic encounters — 'Stars Planets Dust Me' was not just a reason for resurgence for the band, but also an excuse to also reform the dance floor into a more intimate affair.

Morris and Jameson’s method to madness was having the mythical Ricardo Villalobos master their 2022 album. Just over a year after the album’s release, the Chilean-German producer and DJ is now offering an intuitive set of groove-centric reimaginings of the cosmically wonderful album which comes gift-wrapped in ethereal cover art by Nick Towers and Dick Sweeney.

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‘Ricardo Villalobos reimagines: Stars Planets Dust Me’ is presented with a dual purpose that seamlessly transitions from day to night, from the beachside day club to the intimately deep atmosphere of the nightclub.

His remix of ‘Dealer’ is the first out the door, and will be followed by remixes, remasters and mix-downs of ‘Star’, ‘Custard’s Last Stand’, ‘Make My Love Grow’, ‘Black Apple Pink Apple’ and ‘Softlanding’.

Additional exclusive remixes are scheduled for digital and vinyl release soon and will include Ricardo’s highly sought-after 'Elko' remix of 'Black Apple Pink Apple'.

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Tracklisting

1. Star (Ricardo Villalobos Master)
2. Custard Last Stand / AMO1 Ambient Version (Ricardo Villalobos Master)
3. Make My Love Grow (Ricardo Villalobos Mix Down)
4. Black Apple Pink Apple (Ricardo Villalobos Remix)
5. Make My Love Grow (Ricardo Villalobos Make My Love Groove Remix)
6. Softlanding (Ricardo Villalobos Remix)
7. Dealer (Ricardo Villalobos Remix)
8. Black Apple Pink Apple (Ricardo Villalobos ‘Elko’ Remix) [Digital bonus track + separate vinyl release]

Listen to 'Dealer (Ricardo Villalobos Remix)' below.

Upon agreeing to master the original album, one track in particular stood out for Ricardo. He shares, “In my scientific search for some electroacoustic musical landscapes, the offer of remixing ‘Black Apple Pink Apple’ was just perfect for me… In general, the songwriting is so very good and particular, with all the instruments played into a sequencer, so it was very inspiring to strip down these pop songs into my dubby extensions, taking only the drums, bass, and vocals of the song.”

Before getting to work on the album, Mo connected with Ricardo through the dance floor first. “I lived in Berlin back in 2002-04 and used to religiously go to dance to Rici at the after-hours parties: little, tiny events. And he just used to blow my mind, I hadn’t heard anything like it before (or since). Ultra-modern and forward thinking.”

Mo continues, “A good friend connected to Ibiza happenings introduced me to Ricardo as it transpired that he was a fan of our early material, so I sent him some demos when we were in the studio creating ‘Stars Planets Dust Me’ and he loved ‘Black Apple Pink Apple’. The relationship and collaboration grew from there really, and I hope that this release is still at the start of what we can all create together.”

Commenting on the producer's unique, sonic gift, Mo concludes, "Ricardo has his own personal cosmic trademark."

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Whilst Ricardo’s remixes of the Balearic pop and electro-acoustic album rack up spins on the axis of sonic dream chasers, A Mountain of One, aka Mo and Zeb, are said to be busy in the studio, brewing a new cosmic concoction for late 2024.

‘Ricardo Villalobos reimagines: Stars Planets Dust Me’ will be fully released on Vicious Charm on 10 November 2023.

‘Dealer (Ricardo Villalobos remix)’ is out now and available here.

Arun Ramanathan is Mixmag Asia’s Director. Follow him on Instagram.