Laurent Garnier - Retrospective

As if a two CD package with Laurent Garnier's name on it called "Retrospective" is not a reason on its own to buy it, this excellent collection throws in some very welcomed bonuses for us die hard Garnier fans. While most of his followers are bound to already own most of these tracks, be it on cassettes, vinyls or CDs, it's always nice to get a little reminder of those timeless numbers.

About the new additions now. First off, I was totally intrigued when I saw the inclusion of the live mixes of Acid Eiffel and The Man With The Red Face, which are arguably the pinnacles of his career. Just those two make this compilation worth your money alone. To make things even better (like they weren't pretty good already), you get the spectacular timeless collaboration between Carl Craig and Laurent Garnier, Demented, first time on CD here! Sambou, another vinyl exclusive track, alos managed to pave its way on the second CD, and it sounds great. The relatively unknown remix of Butterfly, a track by drum 'n' bass heavyweights DJ Marky & XRS, also came as a pleasant surprise. And this double CD package seems to be full of them too.

Now, for an older follower of the frenchman's work, this has enough gems to validate the purchase, but it is by no means an essential buy. Personally, I find it a great release, though I cannot escape the impression that there are some classics missing here. It's an above average overview of his career, and if you want my honest advice, buy his 2xCD "Early Works" album from 1998, and listen to this before giving "Retrospective" a proper spin. These two releases compliment each other quite nicely, and before, or instead of venturing into hunting down his vast discography, by listening to them you should have a pretty good idea of what the man is about. And no, do not stop here.