Tag Archives: Laurent Garnier

Let’s Dance – Various Artists: Fabric presents Laurent Garnier (Fabric)

Posted on by
Reply

What’s the story?

Let legendary French DJ Laurent Garnier take up the story:

“Clubs have been my second home since the start of my career. Once you’ve witnessed that unique connection you can create in a club with a crowd, once you’ve experienced it from behind the decks, you just know you are where you’re meant to be. This special journey with fabric is of course a tribute to the legendary London club – a place that’s been a home to so many clubbers, DJs and music-lovers for so many years – but most of all, a tribute to all the dancefloors and all the clubs around the world.”

Garnier presents four mixes that express his love of Fabric – The House Odyssey, Rhythmic Resonance, Into The Low-End and The Way Home.

What’s the music like?

As you might expect, Garnier delivers a mixing tour de force.

The House Odyssey hits the floor dancing after a short introduction, running through some bassy moments with Aberton and Caiiro via Mike Dunn. There is some really nice spatial play on Terry Hunter’s mix of Deon Cole feat. Terisa Griffin & Terry Hunter‘s Where The Freaks At, which Garnier segues into Demarkus Lewis & DJ Lady D’s A Deep-Felt Love. By Skatman’s What you Gonna Do and Harry Romero’s Liquid Samba things are really pumping, Junior Sanchez’ Strong Enough powering through to the end and the slightly Balearic feel of Basile du Suresnes’ So Good.

Rhythmic Resonance is brilliantly executed, a propulsive mix that finds an early high point with John Tejada’s Different Mirrors, building up strong momentum through the likes of Carlo Reutz, Lewy, Electric Rescue and Marco Bailey, by which time the beats are bouncing off the walls.

Into The Low-End is of course best heard on the right equipment, as Garnier heads for the bottom of the bass bin. It hits a percussive groove with Martin Badder & Maria’s No Two Ways About It, and by the time we hit Dismantle’s Hammer Time, things are really starting to motor. Garnier covers a lot of ground in this mix, with clipped beats, vocal doozies and some frantic rhythms that hit many peaks like Zero Zero’s drum & bass quickie Anything Can Happen.

The Way Home enjoys some much slower jams, with highlights including Adriano Koch’s I’ll Keep You Waiting and Dialog’s Book Of Life, featuring Benji. There are some really good smouldering late night grooves here, especially later in the mix from Richie Culver, Lorne and Melody Gardot.

Does it all work?

It does – and you will surely be introduced to a whole glut of excellent new music if you take on Garnier’s intricately picked set.

There is also an extra EP of Garnier exclusives to enjoy. Odyssée Maison, with Dan Diamond, is a housey winner, while the percussive Resonances From The D goes deep on the techno side. Playing With The Low-End goes bassy but arguably best of all is On The Way Home, an ambient beauty.

Is it recommended?

It certainly is. This is the closest thing to an old school DJ compilation mix you’ll encounter all year – and you are strongly advised to get on board while stocks last!

You can listen to clips from the mix at the Juno website – and get a full tracklisting from the dedicated Bandcamp page:

Published post no.2,402 – Monday 23 December 2024

Switched On – Laurent Garnier: 33 Tours Et Puis S’en Vont (COD 3 QR)

Posted on by
Reply

by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

33 Tours Et Puis S’en Vont is the first album in eight years from Laurent Garnier, one of electronic music’s favourite sons. French dance music without Garnier would be unthinkable; indeed, house and techno without his input would be immensely poorer, even before considering his contribution to more jazzy quarters of the musical sphere.

In his career, Garnier’s output has been notable for its consistency. This bumper album, however, takes him back to the basics of making people dance, in a mixture of instrumental and vocal tracks operating predominantly at a fast tempo.

What’s the music like?

Propulsive. This is Garnier taking his music for the dancefloor back to first principles, with not a filler in sight.

There are many highlights. Au Claire De Ta Lune is excellent, a driving rhythm supporting shimmering textures and a long, arching drone-like figure. If anything In Your Phase is better, with a foreboding combination of slow siren, held notes of peril, a driving beat and an urgent vocal from 22Carbone. This combination of quick, driving rhythms and long, sustained notes serves Garnier really well, together with a sharp instinct for structuring the tracks just right.

Multiple Tributes (to multiple people, for multiple reasons) cools the temperature a little, while Reviens la Nuit is a powerhouse, driving and sharply edged. So too is Saturn Drive Triplex, topped by euphoric vocals and an incisive vocal from Alan Vega as Garnier cranks up the distortion. Trumping all these is The Real World, which gathers strength over 11 minutes to become a powerful and hypnotic masterpiece, Garnier pacing each layer to perfection.

Sado Miso is intriguing, a drum and bass-laced track that shows Garnier hasn’t lost the ability to experiment successfully on a record. This one is nippy to say the least!

Does it all work?

It does. These pieces have the same raw energy that Garnier has demonstrated in his club-based music ever since the late 1980s. A ‘back to basics’ album that reaps dancefloor rewards!

Is it recommended?

It certainly is. This is Laurent Garnier on peak form – and how wonderful it is to still be able to say that a mere 35 years after his debut!

Listen

Buy

On Record – The Limiñanas & Laurent Garnier: De Película (Because Music)

Posted on by
Reply

liminanas-garnier

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

This is the tale of a friendship, a musical spark and the concept album that came out of it. Laurent Garnier met Lionel and Marie Limiñana back in 2017, and the three bonded initially over Lionel’s ringtone, The Kingsmen’s Louie Louie.

They stayed in touch, hooking up to make an album following a 1960s’ couple on a road trip. We join the pair, Juliette and Saul, at the southern border of France, near Spain, and we pass – in the words of the trio – through ‘squalid brothels, third-rate dance clubs, ‘60s vintage caravans, smack, Roger Harth and Donald Cardwell productions, distortion and fuzz-pedal sound effects. Gilles Deleuze, Professor X and the preacher from ‘The Night of the Hunter’ are some of the characters that inhabit the world of this drama-inspired record’.

Initially Lionel included some electronic beats in the album, leaning towards Garnier’s long-established techno workings, but the Frenchman rejected these in favour of keeping the Spanish duo’s psychedelic sound at the front of the mix.

What’s the music like?

Prepare for some adrenalin-fueled highs as the music of De Película takes shape. The three musical protagonists have harnessed their love of Krautrock – and especially Can – to make a set of driving musical grooves that are by turns thrilling and mesmeric.

They express themselves through propulsive rhythms on tracks which often choose a single pitch as a bass and stick to it, creating a hypnotic groove for the listener. When pared with a spoken word narrative the music works really well. Je rentrais par le bois…definitely falls into this category with its slowly creeping melody and psychedelia, as does Juliette dans le caravane, which adopts a similar profile. Steeplechase speeds off into the distance, a thrilling rush of sound over a pulsating groove, If anything Que Calor! is even better, with the attitude of Edi Pistolas’ spoken word coursing through its veins.

Some of the slower rhythm tracks hark back to the big beat sound emanating from Brighton in the late 1990s, but ultimately go beyond that to ape the cavernous sound of late 1960s’ psychedelia . Tu tournes en boucle is one such example, while Juliette adds a smoky texture and atmospheric commentary.

Does it all work?

It does. De Película is a lot of fun, flexing its muscles but not wanting to be taken too seriously. It is easy to sense the fun Garnier and the Limiñanas had in each others’ company

Is it recommended?

Yes. Laurent Garnier’s fascinating musical evolution continues, but this collaboration reflects well on both sides, bringing out their strongest musical identities in music that gives its listener plenty of thrills and spills.

Stream

Buy