CD, Sound On Probation, 2007
www.soundonprobation.com
New releases by the French musician Laurent Perrier are highly anticipated and eagerly awaited by yours truly. The reason for this is last years “Downfall/Disperse” which caught me completely off- guard. It went straight to my personal favorites of 2006 and, to be honest, it still gets played quite often with much admiration.
Zonk’t seems to be Laurent’s main project having four releases out so far, one of which is a one-track-split-vinyl with Electronicat. This full-length fourth album is – according to the promo-flyer enclosed with the promotional copies – a synthesis of the styles on the previous Zonk’t releases. Which comes in quite handy for ‘-trope’ is my first experience to Zonk’t.
The album ‘-trope’ counts ten tracks which range in between the 4 and 10 minutes, counting up to almost an hour’s worth of highly listenable music, because that’s what it is. One would maybe expect a former member of the legendary Nox to come up with some really heavy depressive sound constructions, especially after hearing ‘Downfall/ Disperse’, but it’s the total opposite.
Summing up my experience of the album, the result could be described a: “nicely layered, very well produced, IDM-sounding tunes with a twist”. The “twist” in this case is the use of sounds. They are a bit different then what one could expect on IDM releases. No sudden bass- patterns and filter sweeps, but more towards the sound-use of for example Vromb. And maybe that part of the sound is what triggers you to replay the CD and enjoy it again.
Because of the lack of ‘what you think you are about to hear’ (through the IDM approach on the album) there is a tension which opens up the whole sound-design of this release. And that is exactly what makes this a good album, for listeners of IDM as well as the industrial generation with a tendency towards the more quiet or relaxed sounds. Laurent Perrier is a name you definitly will hear more of in the future. A multi-talented musican / artist with much more capabilities then just one single style. And not many artists are capable of excelling in multiple genres.
[7.5/10]
— Bauke van der Wal