Record: The Cloud Making Machine
Track: 9 of 10
Label: F Communications
Released: 22 Feb 2005
Country: France
Genre: Electronic
Style: Future Jazz, Experimental
Credits: Artwork By [Design] - Hotspot
Artwork By [Illustration] - Hélène Builly
Mixed By - Scan X
Music By, Written-By - Laurent Garnier
The factory is most beautiful to look at by night. The old people say that it has always been there, spitting out its white smoke, heavy like rain filled clouds. They say that the cloud making machine has the power to recharge the batteries of the sky and to raise wishes up to the heavens. This is a story about a man who made a wish and told it to the machine. But his wish was too complicated to be granted straightaway. Months passed, hope became stronger than doubt, love became stronger than fear, the present became stronger than the past, the sun became stronger than the winter and the dance became stronger than everything else. At last his wish was heard. The machine makes clouds and sends everyone's wishes up to the heavens. Ask, and perhaps your wish will be granted.
Review allmusic.com :
Numerous veteran producers of dance music made safe albums throughout the early 2000s. They either confined themselves to being inspired by nothing but their past releases or lost their way entirely, turning out muck that didn't illuminate any more than a nondescript chillout compilation. Laurent Garnier, however, takes more chances than ever with The Cloud Making Machine, a sprawling, moody album guaranteed to throw longtime fans for a loop (if 2000's Unreasonable Behaviour didn't do it, this one will). The producer is joined by several musicians, including pianist Bugge Wesseltoft, vocalist/oud player Dhafer Youssef, and percussionist Sangoma Everett. In a sense, the album is an extension of 2004's Excess Luggage, his imposing five-disc mix that took in Detroit techno, Chicago house, film scores, dour chamber pop group Tindersticks and British folk-hero John Martyn. Few tracks are related in any way to the dancefloor, and even those are slightly bent, regularly funneling into compositions that inspire deep thought. The whole thing is more visual than visceral. While some producers are content with making albums that take few risks and no more than a couple spins to understand and quickly forget, The Cloud Making Machine requires a lot more from its listener. It's often impenetrable and there are a couple derailments -- hear the Stooges-inspired knuckle dragger "(I Wanna Be) Waiting for My Plane," which also turns out to be Garnier's "We're an American Band" -- but it's never off-putting.
Review trip-hop.net (french) :
Voici un disque qu'on ne peut aborder comme la plupart des autres. Il faudrait pourtant tenter de faire abstraction de la personnalité et de la carrière exceptionnelles de Laurent Garnier afin de se tourner vers ce disque sans préjugés, sans fantasmer inutilement sur ce que l'on pourrait y trouver. Impératif d'autant plus indispensable que l'on ne reconnaît pas Garnier ici, et que l'on nous a prévenu que le patron de F-Com avait décidé de prendre un sacré virage. The Cloud Making Machine n'est ni un disque pour danser, ni un mix magnifique et efficace pour vous envoyer au ciel et vous donner l'impression d'assister à un Dj set inoubliable ; The Cloud Making Machine est un disque à écouter attentivement chez soi, une oeuvre qui mérite une grande attention et qu'on l'explore dans ses moindres recoins pour en faire ressortir les sensations les plus inédites... les pieds au sol. De nombreux musiciens et amis du maître, notamment Bugge Wesseltoft au clavier et Dhafer Youssef au oud, apparaissent ici pour donner à cette incroyable " machine " à s'envoler une profondeur et une variété dont Garnier, en technicien génial, se sert pour parsemer l'écoute de portes vers des univers très divers. On reste impressionné par la maîtrise de l'électronique et des instruments, confondu devant l'éclectisme de l'album qui écrase avec grande classe toute la futilité des genres à la mode. Aux confins d'origines musicales très diverses, orientalisme, jazz, electronica, abstract hip-hop, ambient, rock... Garnier impose sa maîtrise technique et son érudition pour une synthèse des possibilités du numériques et évite majestueusement l'impression de se retrouver face à un catalogue de styles. On n'attendait pas forcément un tel album de cette légende du dance floor, mais on est soudain persuadé que seul Laurent Garnier était capable de réaliser ce chef d'oeuvre complexe et audacieux.
Tags: laurent garnier cloud making machine electronica fcom
