Laurent Garnier - Retrospective

Retrospective follows one of the most significant minds in techno from 1994-2006 (a little less than half Garnier's actual career), starting with his initial excursions in the realms of acid techno (complete with sounds courtesy of the 808) and continuing through to his more recent projects including complex elaboration on these earlier styles utilizing jazz, vocals, tribal rhythms and modern technology as well as outright experimentation into the realms of IDM and downtempo . What all this means: even if you don't dig techno, you will definitely find your fair share of tracks on this collection of ''greatest hits.''

Despite the name, this album doesn't listen like what one would expect any album titled Retrospective to sound like; that is, progressing in a linear, chronological fashion. This, however, is perfectly suited to the career of Garnier, who started his career in England during the mid 80s, becoming a resident at the legendary Hacienda club in Manchester and a key part of the so-called Madchester scene, allegedly even influencing acts such as The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. As one might guess, his initial music tastes were suited more to the house scene coming out of America at the time; by the 90s, however, his repertoire as both a DJ and a producer had expanded to include not only more traditional deep house and Detroit techno but also the rougher edges of acid techno, all the while incorporating his love for jazz. Furthermore, not only is Garnier not the type to chronologically build off his previous releases (his musical progression both in terms of his career and DJ sets can't really be viewed as a one-way street but rather as a mutualistic multiplicity in which each part informs and feeds off of one another) but this collection and its attendant song order reflects Garnier's own aptitude: an adeptness not only in multiple styles of electronic music and techno but also his uncanny ability to harmonize these various strains, not only over the span of a lengthy and highly successful career but also over the course of a single track.

Sure a decent chunk of this album might be characterized as ''acid techno'' but this is pure reductionism--everything track on this album reeks of Garnier's signature touches, meaning that even the most ''traditional'' or basic tracks are still enhanced and embellished depending on his artistic style at the time. Don't be turned off by the terminology here--this is nothing like what you'd find on most rave dancefloors (somewhat ironic considering that Garnier was actually a pretty important part of the early 90s rave scene in France). Even at his ''simplest,'' Garnier is still taking the basic driving rhythms of techno, combining them with the laser synths and distorted spoken word vocals characteristic of the acid rave era and pushing it all a bit further in assorted ways, depending on where exactly he was in his career. And sometimes he just abandons it all and goes for a drive into the wilderness.

One finds on this album not only tracks that are examples of his more traditional ravey, acid-, and house-based sound (''Flashback (Video Mix),'' ''Coloured City'') but also a unique integration of components of jazz into both into this more traditional sound (''Acid Eiffel'') as well as into his more contemporary-styled work (''Man with the Red Face,'' ''10000 Leagues (Wake Lab Mix)). Sometimes his style goes in completely other directions, creating a sound that anticipates the work of M_nus label founder Richie Hawtin's acid (as in the drug) phase as Plastikman (''Sambou,'' ''Raw Cut'') in which Garnier uses the 808 as a jumping off point to create almost trance-like minimalist tracks, a precarious statement considering that Hawtin himself is single-handedly considered to be (one of) the most important figure(s) in shaping the sound of the contemporary techno. And sometimes Garnier chooses to abandon traditional techno tropes entirely, opting for more unconventional and avant-garde approaches. Take, for example, a Jazzanova-esque remix of a DJ Marky track and an IDM-esque track entitled ''Barbiturik Blues'' that sounds like something Aphex Twin might have done if someone slipped a few benzos in his cocktail and then stuck him in a jazz lounge during his Ambient Works period. And then there's the track ''Downfall,'' which actually brings to mind an amalgamation of the minimalist and acidic impulses on Surfing on Sine Waves with some of James' crazier stuff heard on Druqks, a blend Richard D. himself never managed to achieve. ''For Max'' far predates Modeselektor's absolutely killer track ''Rapanthem'' while ''Le Voyage de Simone'' is complete with trippy atmospherics and ambiance alongside soulful vocals lost in repetition; not terribly surprising considering the name of the track sounds more like something off an Air album.

This album's ability to showcase variety while still conveying Garnier's singular identity as a producer makes this collection stand out in its uncanny ability to capture a somewhat disordered and muddled career (in the best sense of these terms) without sounding fragmented and disjointed as a whole. All in all this a complex and varied album worthy of attention, serving not only as a great introduction to the development of techno and house sounds over the past 10 or so years but also to one of the most interesting characters in this whole scene who is not only one of its ''godfathers'' but who has also managed to successfully progress with the times in a way that very few legends manage to do.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=P37IR06O

For those of you who are interested, I've also uploaded a great studio mix Garnier recently did for the Resident Advisor Podcast series. Get it here.