Can’t really think of many artists that toe the line between being geniuses and frauds more rewardingly or quite so infuriatingly.
I love Homework, it’s often maddeningly simplistic and repetitive, but the loops are undeniable and tracks like ‘Rollin’ and Scratchin’ and Burnin’’ can still kill it on a dance floor. Can’t say I really turn to Discovery a lot now, but it’s impressive how they turned that into a sound that could rule the pop waves and ultimately herald a new era of popular dance music, particularly in the US.
The less said about things like Human After All and Electroma the better. Utter guff really, the former almost an outright admission that they weren’t as good as you thought they were, they were over reliant on the same techniques, basic sample loops, pretentious twaddle…
And then they go and turn it around by taking the best bits of that album and making them shine in probably the definitive big stage electronic set of all time, which would ultimately lead to entire festivals of copycats. I sold my ticket to Hyde Park to go to my sister’s birthday and I’m still kicking myself about it.
And just as EDM and house were riding the waves, instead of embracing that, they return to delve deeper into their influences, release a disco album, herald a disco revival that perhaps no one really needed and proved their chops as producers in a way they’d only really hinted at before. All while making an album that sounds lavish and expensive, but incredibly hit and miss.
Dunno if I’d consider myself a fan as such, but they’ve certainly made following them a fascinating ride and cultivated their own legend in way few others have and as such I’d always be interested by any news of a new release or tour from them. I’ll give em a 4/5 for the highlights.
