Artist: Pierre Lx
Album: Out 1
Label: Initial Cuts
Release Date: 25/04/2011
......relocating to the UK for a film degree he goes on to release an album of improvised session tracks made with hardware, named after Jacques Rivette's 1971 movie of the same name.
In doing so classic electro, dubstep, and techno collide, or so it would sound after first hearing Out 1. A talented 25-year-old, Pierre LX has already caught the attention of places like Fabric, and faces like Cassy, transcending borders and locales like his mechanical canon does genre, all the while retaining a very London tone (listen to the Hessle Audio-esque Overflow, it's guttural low end and sharp, analogue melody).
L.A. Dreams, despite the Californian title, certainly owes much to the streets of Britain's bass capital. Dub chords, broken kicks, and off-tempo percussion create something that's close to electronic roots, like spending a summer's day in the park listening to The Mad Professor, here speechless but not sedated. Then the rhythm is finally revealed, turning things a shade of downbeat breaks, more useful in a chill out room than the middle of the afternoon.
And then there are slightly darker tones. The slowed-down Sandwell District style intro of Olympia, for instance, offers an example wherein the four fours immediately come to the fore, while cascading synths provide an edge of futurism. Only after five minutes or so are we given the warm, low organs that carry the piece out via a much housier vibe, showcasing a penchant for contrasting light and, er, less light.
Apparently LX's intention was to create an album people could approach from different angles. So Index 1 might be the most acidic workout here, throwing up punchy snares and reverberated tones. But the eerie harmony is more reminiscent of Stanley Clarke's classic sax, sample, and shooting instrumental, Black On Black Crime (featured on the soundtrack to Boyz N The Hood). Hovering behind its beat we're given a tried and tested genre in its truest form, but also a track veering towards experimentalism. As with the other seven, it makes for a refreshing change that's well worth investigation.
