the composer behind this is apparently a classically trained pianist, and it's really quite easy to hear the french tonality in the writing, be it directly from chopin or debussy or potentially even from trent reznor. this is really where the root of the sound is, rather than in jazz or fusion; it may go through some kind of filter of corea or hancock, but it begins firmly in the francophone tradition of classical piano music - that is where the ideas ultimately begin, and ultimately exist. the fade out, fin is practically a prelude, perhaps bringing to mind blonde women in sinking churches, floating away over the horizon through the montreal river. it's actually a bit of a rough patch, there, where the ottawa slams into the st. lawerence. don't fall in. that said, this is also firmly in the genre of electronic music, even if it sounds more like jan hammer than it sounds like deadmaus...
on the electronic side, i could be stretching in pulling out specific influences from the likes of plaid, rustie, slugabed and lingouf; the point is that it exists in this kind of post-dubstep x idm crosssover space that hit a bit of a high point around 2011-2013 and then sort of disappeared. remember that first hudson mohawke record where he actually messed around with the gear a little? or that rustie video with the scenes from trains, planes and automobiles? that's a good starting point to work outwards from, and splice that francophone piano into.
the writing is also rather expertly orchestrated, all of it apparently written into the keyboard and sequenced back over midi, a now old tactic that has never really taken off but that has always had such enormous potential. if i were to make a criticism of the disc, it is that it is only a tease. he's still young, though - and this is an introduction.
highly recommended.
i wish i got out to see it.
