well, i'm a little surprised, actually. this is far from groundbreaking, but joel has demonstrated a level of potential with this that i wouldn't have otherwise assigned to him. he hasn't quite found his voice yet, but i think he should be encouraged to continue making abstract music in an attempt to carve out his own space. it'll be a shame if he responds to the backlash by turtling back into generic edm.

yes, it's heavily indebted to trent reznor without demonstrating the depth or subtlety of reznor's best work. that's not the worst thing ever, as reznor's output has been spotty over the last fifteen years. i'd love to hear somebody pick up where he left off about 2003. this isn't it...

...but it is a step forward in a genre that has taken ten steps backwards and should be cautiously applauded.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALAkF14LLsQ