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Laurent Garnier, "The Cloud Making Machine"
Just when techno so desperately needs a good shot in the arm (orperhaps, the mouth or ass) from one of its biggest and most respectedstars, it is instead subjected to another installment of "When GoodArtists Go Crap." The Cloud Making Machineis the musical equivalent of an American liberal arts student dickingaround Europe for a semester, largely meandering without so much as aspeck of the intended or desired resulting enlightenment.
Mute / F-Communications
Lacking eventhe occasional sonic spasm evocative of Garnier's true worth or talent,these ten truly dreadful pseudo-cinematic tracks are as mind-numbinglyboring as 99% of the pretentious scores to even more pretentiousdramatic films. It embodies everything that I didn't like from 2000'scritically acclaimed Unreasonable Behavior packed into oneoutrageously unfocused crapfest, dipping into too many genres for itsown good. Between the fluttery yet dull flamenco flourishes on "HuisClos" to the falls-flat-on-its-face IDM meets neo-classical fusion of"Act 1 Minotaure Ex," I am almost tempted to believe that this albumwas intended as a goof, a tongue-in-cheek snipe at the self-indulgentcompositions and obligatory radio-singles comprising movie soundtracks(not to mention an unusually cruel joke on Garnier's worldwidefanbase). The hallucinatory dreamstate spoken and shouted word of"First Reaction (v2)" attempts to make some kind of bold politicalstatement amidst Garnier's cacophonous free jazz fuckery, yetultimately says surprisingly little. The lowest point of the albumarguably comes when Garnier foolishly fumbles with rock n roll on "(IWanna Be) Waiting for my Plane" with its bland looped guitar riff andlazy mindess lyrics. The AFX-esque "9.01-9:06" and the DJ friendlytribal house cut "Controlling the House Pt. 2" would potentiallysalvage this album if the rest of the material here wasn't so awful,but even these two are marred by unoriginality and lukewarm tedium. AmI being unnecessarily harsh? Am I perhaps too immature to understandthe intricate complexities of The Cloud Making Machine? Am I sostubbornly unwilling to excuse this radical departure that I'm unableto offer a fair, evenhanded analysis of the album? No. It's a boringpiece of shit that is, at times, excruciating to sit through andthoroughly impossible to stomach. Avoid as if Vincent Gallo himself hadrecorded it.
Mute / F-Communications
Lacking eventhe occasional sonic spasm evocative of Garnier's true worth or talent,these ten truly dreadful pseudo-cinematic tracks are as mind-numbinglyboring as 99% of the pretentious scores to even more pretentiousdramatic films. It embodies everything that I didn't like from 2000'scritically acclaimed Unreasonable Behavior packed into oneoutrageously unfocused crapfest, dipping into too many genres for itsown good. Between the fluttery yet dull flamenco flourishes on "HuisClos" to the falls-flat-on-its-face IDM meets neo-classical fusion of"Act 1 Minotaure Ex," I am almost tempted to believe that this albumwas intended as a goof, a tongue-in-cheek snipe at the self-indulgentcompositions and obligatory radio-singles comprising movie soundtracks(not to mention an unusually cruel joke on Garnier's worldwidefanbase). The hallucinatory dreamstate spoken and shouted word of"First Reaction (v2)" attempts to make some kind of bold politicalstatement amidst Garnier's cacophonous free jazz fuckery, yetultimately says surprisingly little. The lowest point of the albumarguably comes when Garnier foolishly fumbles with rock n roll on "(IWanna Be) Waiting for my Plane" with its bland looped guitar riff andlazy mindess lyrics. The AFX-esque "9.01-9:06" and the DJ friendlytribal house cut "Controlling the House Pt. 2" would potentiallysalvage this album if the rest of the material here wasn't so awful,but even these two are marred by unoriginality and lukewarm tedium. AmI being unnecessarily harsh? Am I perhaps too immature to understandthe intricate complexities of The Cloud Making Machine? Am I sostubbornly unwilling to excuse this radical departure that I'm unableto offer a fair, evenhanded analysis of the album? No. It's a boringpiece of shit that is, at times, excruciating to sit through andthoroughly impossible to stomach. Avoid as if Vincent Gallo himself hadrecorded it.
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