LAURENT GARNIER レコード& CD

Review: A brand new red-marbled 12" edition single of '33 Tours Et Puis S'en Vont' by red-faced techno legend Laurent Garnier. The euphoric track appears as the title track of the fresh new LP of the same name, and his first in eight years; here, remixes are handled by the likes of Voltaire, World Of Intent and Avision, forming a physical edition of a much wider remix pack.

Review: Although his earliest LPs did contain plenty of dancefloor workouts, Laurent Garnier has traditionally used the album format to explore his full range of influences. It's rather pleasing, then, to find that his latest full-length excursion - his first solo set for some eight years - is a righteous and predictably impressive collection of full-throttle club cuts. It's naturally rooted in house and techno - he's a masterful producer of both - but there's still plenty of variety to be found across the album. For proof, compare, and contrast, the buzzing and hypnotic, arpeggio-driven trip of 'Tales From The Real World', the modular tech-house-meets-hip-house flex of 'In Your Phase', the spine-tingling moodiness of Alan Vega hook-up 'Saturn Drive Triplex' and the starry melodies and locked-in grooves of 'Liebe Grube Ausn Cucoron'.

Review: Titanic French techno talent and famously nice bulk Laurent Garnier has announced recently that he will be stepping away from touring quite as much as he currently does in the future. He softened that blow, though, with news of his new album 33 Tours Et Puis S'en Vont', via his COD3 QR label. It is his first solo long player in some eight years and finds him firmly focused on the dancefloor. His fizzing, synth-heavy techno style dominates, but there are plenty of lush vocal cuts, influences from hip-hop and broken beat, with even a drum & bass experiment appearing in the form of 'Sado Miso'. A fine return for this true legend.

Review: Laurent Garnier is widely regarded not only as one of the nice men in techno, but one of its most iconic and enduring protagonists. His F Comm label has been hugely influential since day one, and in 2020 is celebrating 25 years in operation. To that end, he is remastering and reissuing some of his most classic cuts. Here, it is 'Astral Dreams' from 1994 and his Shot in the Dark album. It is mechanical techno but with warmth and soul, bleeping melodies and a bumping rhythm that gets deep into your bones. The LFO Lucid Mix on the flip is more wonky and unhinged, with a cheeky melodic motif taking you down the rabbit hole.

Review: Ok, so the Speicher 95 series from Cologne's mythical Kompakt label is always capable of pleasing all sorts of DJs, from the shady outsider freaks to the progressive show-off, but having Laurent Garnier on top of that feels like striking gold. The legendary French producer and DJ doesn't exactly release a lot of music these days, so a new two-tracker by the man feels like something truly special to adorn our charts with. On the A-side, "1-4 Doctor C'est Chouette" is an explorative house voyage with plenty of life and organic energy behind its deep web of bass tones and spaced-out melodies; the flip, "From The Crypt To The Astrofloor", is another story altogether - Garnier enters a new realm of cerebral fantasy here, a world that sits more in line with films like Akira or Blade Runner rather than a basement dance floor. Magic.