Despite a clear admiration for the ambient tradition, some irksome excesses such as sonic squiggles and skittery noises mar the intrinsic beauty of this composition.
Best known for his critically lauded Akufen productions on Force Inc. and Trapez, of which I was only occasionally enamoured, Leclair released this album back in 2005, and, for some reason unbeknownst to me, Mutek has decided to reissue it alongside discs from Crackhaus and Skipsapiens "exclusively" for the U.S. market. The 71 minute long work, divided into nine time-coded sections, goes through various transitions, sometimes building constructively on previous themes, other times veering into more surprising terrain with mixed outcomes.
The opening track, billed as a collaboration between Leclair and Mille Plateaux act Rechenzentrum, introduces the warm effected pads that decorate the aural canvus of the entire record. "64e jour" takes the piece to the next level, employing a rather simple repetitious melody to accompany the pads and manufactured glitches. The rain that appears near its end ushers in the more natural environs of "85e jour," full of tropical and oceanic flourishes exemplifying a rare case where Leclair's rampant experimentation pays off in execution. On "114e jour," that watery glaze fades out and makes way for diced guitar strums and echoey stabs that soon reveal a housier swing, inciting an anticipation that fails to be fulfilled as Leclair digresses back to hodgepodge clatter for the sake of clatter.
The guitar returns for "150e jour" as Leclair builds a multi-tracked folk-infused and vaguely Balearic electronic structure much better than most attempts by lesser bedroom-based artists, finally dropping a proper, albeit muted, 4/4 beat around the six minute mark. After such an effectively executed section, he somehow manages to digress yet again on the following cut, combining aquatic gurgles and one-dimensional static that evolves into something more minimal, rhythmic, and, at this point, familiar, yet just as disappointing. "205e jour" stirs things up instantly by reinserting some of the overall piece's best musical elements before abruptly shifting gears for a club-friendly closer replete with all the trimmings of quality microhouse.
Frequently throughout my active listening of Musique pour 3 Femmes Enceintes, I wished Leclair would have just let his ambient textures and luscious melodies breathe without the constant interruption of his superfluous sample contructions. As I've implied throughout, these intrusions more often than not tend to spoil the broth of an otherwise sumptuous stew.
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