The Juan MacLean
http://www.thejuanmaclean.com
styles: dance, kraut
others: LCD Soundsystem, Kraftwerk
 Less
Than Human
DFA, 2005
rating 3.5/5
reviewer: grigsby
Ahhh robots. It's funny how the same digitized vocals has entered the public
lexicon to immediately signify "robotic." Despite years of use, to this day, if
you want robot, all you need is a goofy computerized voice; just ask Air (if
they haven't hid all their copies of 10,000 Hertz Legend), Nobukazu
Takemura, or Daft Punk. As such, if someone is going to say something
interesting about robots, what are the odds that it is going to come in the same
voice we've heard a million times before?
Given my desire for robotic innovation, Juan disappoints only a couple minutes
in with "Shining Skin Friend" and that ever-familiar voice. Though a decent
song, I began dreading having to listen to an entire album dominated by
ruminations on mechanization and the loss of humanity. However, Less Than
Human overcomes its title with strong songwriting and great production.
Things really come together on the previously released "Give Me Every Little
Things." The synths bounce, wobble, and ping; the beats are big, and the hook is
catchy. The first single, "Tito's Way" follows a similar pattern but is darker,
more cacophonous, and features a second set of heavily echoed drums that want to
beat you into submission as if you were listening to Hex Enduction Hour at a
club. The second half of the album focuses a bit more on melody, and less on
ass-shaking. Both "My Time is Running Out" and "Dance With Me" feature
beautifully melancholy melodies, the latter's courtesy of LCD Soundsystem's
Nancy Whang.
To reduce the album to a mere sentence, then, Less Than Human is the
sound of James Murphy transforming the songs of a guy who has spent a nauseating
amount of time fiddling about with Kraftwerk-y synths into an album as enjoyable
at home as it is on the dancefloor. Despite providing no justification for the
gratuitously un-inventive employment of robot voices on Less than Human,
if "The Juan" can keep turning out music of this caliber, he won't need to.
1. Ad 2003
2. Shining Skinned Friend
3. Give Me Every Little Thing
4. Tito's Way
5. Love Is In The Air
6. In The Afternoon
7. My Time Is Running Out
8. Crush The Liberation
9. Dance With Me
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