It's been more than a year, but the Western Hemisphere has finally caught up with burgeoning French electronic label Gooom Disques. M83, Cyann & Ben, Mils, and Abstrackt Keal Agram comprise the white-hot nucleus of the imprint (and, for that matter, the French electronic scene, at least as far as we <> can ascertain). If Europe has traditionally housed small, prolific pockets of groundbreaking electronic artists, Gooom is the DFA of the labels that sponsor them, sporting an upstart roster of innovative acts and an impressive cache of mixtapes to prove it. Abstrackt Keal Agram are the most hip-hop-oriented of the crop, as witnessed by frequent collaborations with rap duo Atoms Family and a pesky jones for remixing, which resulted in last year's sensational transmogrification of M83's "Run into Flowers". Unfortunately, Cluster Ville, the Morlaix, France duo's sophomore album, lags somewhat behind their proven remix skills.
The album kicks off on a sterling note with a trio of songs that run neck-and-neck with the bulk of the Gooom repertoire. "Del", the incendiary opener, chugs for four minutes on a determined beat while weaving a firm tapestry of no-frills synthesizers. The compositional style recalls nothing so much as instrumental rock bands like Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky, whose songs incorporate a static foundation on which they can perform instrumental variations, forcing the listener to experience every subtlety in order to gain a full appreciation of the music. "Pièce" continues in this fashion, as a similar beat drives a gently pulsating array of synthesizers. Meanwhile, a Rhodes piano scatters spare, repetitive dabs of color, suggesting Prefuse 73's sci-fi beatmaking. The aptly titled "Brouillard" is a scatterbrained montage of orchestral swells, parsed beats, and hissing found sound. Coupled with spare, monastic murmuring and an austere synth melody, the song sounds like a Hitchcock mystery overture from the 22nd century.
Those three inaugural tracks, however, constitute the effervescent summit of Cluster Ville, which means it's gently but steadily downhill from there. When the haze clears, the listener is left with the inexplicable "Mata Hari", a dull, mechanical rap that features clunky verses, drooled in the Queen's best English, from Cryptic and Alaska of the Atoms Family. The French stylings of James Delleck and La Caution on "L'oreille Droite", Cluster Ville's only other vocal track, are a slightly smoother and more interesting, mainly due to their foreign novelty. Other songs, named for such great minds as "Nietzsche" and Grandaddy's "Jason Lytle", show promise early on, but are quickly smothered by lachrymose monotony and epic length.
Cluster Ville is distinctively hip-hop in flavor, more indebted to Josh Davis and Scott Herren than to other musique electronique artists such as M83 or Air. At times, though, the group seems equally enamored of the American hip-hop aesthetic as they are of its sound. The aforementioned "Mata Hari" is littered with irreverent, tough-talking emcee samples and references to, among other things, Apocalypse Now, Elton Brand, and naturally, guns, and while there's nothing wrong with these subjects, the song lacks a context to substantiate their usage. The overwrought solemnity of certain songs is another hindrance. Without the much-needed contrast of sunnier moments, "A.C.," "Audio Crash" and "Petersbourg", which form the middle section of the album, turn languorous, plodding onward like cogs in Maxime Gorky's factory. Too often, the duo seem to force emotional gravity upon their songs through a reliance on minor key drones and near-industrial beats. The effect is enervating.
Abstrackt Keal Agram are the hyperkinetic little brothers of the Gooom Disques roster. They posses the enthusiasm and the talent to create good work, but Cluster Ville lacks the consistency, urbanity, and introspectiveness of recent albums by M83 and Mils. Whereas their labelmates have assimilated technology into their songwriting styles to the point that it's become as elemental as acoustic instrumentation, Abstrackt Keal Agram still seem unduly fascinated by it. If they can trim their eagerness, and lend the same verve to their original songs as they do to their remixes, Gooom might have another winner on their hands. And if they can't, well, the label could still employ them as the resident house mashers.
