Trentemøller - The Last Resort

The Last Resort, a surprisingly accessible and wide-ranging work by minimal and tech-house phenom Anders Trentemøller, is a winter wonderland of quiet phosphorescence and pristine beats. Not that the Danish composer/producer/remixer is above contrasts, as in "Evil Dub," where he allows down-tuned and distorted guitars to run like the proverbial bull in a china shop of elegant, understated programming. But tracks like "While the Cold Winter Waiting" beg comparison to the frosty, glockenspiel-laced ambience of Iceland's múm, and the closer, "Miss You," is a hypnotic lullaby sure to receive ample acclaim. After all, Trentemøller's music is distinctly his own, and his eerie command of dynamics allows him a broad palette, exemplified by a gripping bit of turntablism that pops up in one of the album's first singles, "Always Something Better." The second disc's bonus material reveals the man the DJ community has long known: the patient architect who unobtrusively builds beats, loops, and motifs into a critical mass of refined minimalism. All this leaves little doubt that The Last Resort will earn Trentemøller converts from downtempo and electronica circles well beyond his established fan base.

I find this album to be mostly composed of minimal house and IDM. Most people would just label it electronica... but its much more then that. I never got into Trentemøller's previous vinyl tracks, but I soon regretted that mistake as soon as I heard this lush album. Tracks like "Take Me Into Your Skin" and "Moan" are some of the most beautiful songs i've ever heard. Everything in them is perfect.. the beats, the samples and most importantly: the structure. Trentemøller sure knows how to arrange everything perfectly. My personal favorite here is track 2, "Vamp", which in my opinion, is the best fuse of IDM and rock ever. The guitar in it is really something special.

Somewhat disappointing this one after all the stuff extolling its greatness. Clearly a talented musician with a an eye for good composition and tapping into the latest trends; there's minimal house, glitch, ambience and a bit of acid all thrown in for good measure. Trouble is its a bit all over the place and fails to present itself as a complete piece of work; feeling more like a compilation of tracks trying to tick all the genre boxes. Production also lacking; its sounds a bit synthetic and 1 dimensional lacking the depth, acoustic space and quality of sound you might find on a Lawrence or John Tejada production.

Every now and then an album is released that shifts my current musical preferences into completely different territories. It was in 94 with Prodigy's Music For The Jilted Generation. Astral Projection's Another World in 99' and subsequently Kox Box's Great Unknown and Hux Flux's Cryptic Crunch in 00'.
For almost 5 years i almost completely abandoned everything that went without the "Psy/Goa Trance/Ambient" label and recently started doubting the possibility to be utterly impressed by anything that is electronic and new. Spending hours with old recordings by Pink Floyd and crying over what was once a huge premise and turned into recycle bin or a money printing machine. Depends on what part of the Electronic scene you looked.
Trentemoller's music was introduced to me around a year ago by my Swedish friend Andres who sent me his Forest EP and told me that it's THE shit so i was forced to stop the Pink Floyd tune that was playing at the moment. I was blown away from the first second by the intricacy, the caressing melodies and the little weird noises that give that special character to Trentemoller's sound. Since then i swallowed just about every Trentemoller bit i could aquire and my appreciation rose higher and higher almost to the point of a blind admiration.
And now we finally have the album. To be perfectly honest i've been having it over a month now and as soon as it was available for pre-order on Amazon i ordered my copy. But it's not the point of the review...
The album starts with one of the strongest tunes of the album, Take Me Into Your Skin, which sound to me a bit Ott'ish circa "in dub" album. Although a bit more uptempo. The angelic female voice that wraps up the tune is nothing but amazing and serves the tune right. Proper beginner of the album.
The second tune, Vamp is one of the weakest links and it's basically a digital dubby groover that sound like something that Leftfield might do shall they still be together. Nothing fancy here, a bit of a filler before another killer.
Evil Dub is exactly what the title says. The dubby bassline is fatter than Marlond Brando in his last days and those little scratchy Trentemoller trademark sounds are omnipresent here and give that warm, almost analog sound. One of my personal favorites here.
Almost Something Better is up next and it was originally conceived as a vocal track and it is also the first Single from this album. The vocals were stripped down here but they appear on the vocal version in the bonus CD that will be mentioned later. Unlike what happens most of the time, the instrumental version is weaker than the vocal version and after repeated listens to the vocal one, this, instrumental sounds tad empty. Not to say bad, just a bit awkward. A brilliant tune nonetheless with vinyl scratches and strings arrangements that give a somewhat James Bondian atmosphere towards the end of the track.
While The Cold Winter Waiting is another magical tune with some gentle sounds, acoustic percussion and sonic manipulations to spice things up. Sounds a bit like the music the Santa Claus would play in his Santa-mobile.
Nightwalker shifts the gear up and presents us a bit more familiar Trentemoller dancefloor oriented rhythm and sounds. Deep, funky, groovy tune that makes your head move without asking it.
Like Two Strangers sounds very similar to While The Cold Winter Waiting with it's winter strings sounds and laid back beats. The Santa comes back home and he's alone in Christmas. Once again.
The Very Last Resort is another dubby monster that has a very Youth bass sound and interesting Ennio Moricone on mushrooms feeling from the middle towards the end. Fantastic sound work here. Another personal favorite.
Snowflake starts with some more dubby basslines and develops into something rather weird and confusing musically. A bit of a filler in my humble opinion.
Chameleon is a track that AFAIK was already released and it's a typical Trentemoller dancefloor killer with jazzy percussion and quirky fat house beats. Pure sonical bliss.
Into The Trees (Serenetti Part 3) is another personal favorite that starts with absolutely awesome jazzy percussion and uber warm analog-like bassline and leads. The sound is larger then life here and Trentemoller's sonic expertise here is fully evident.
Moan is another originally vocal tune that was stripped here and appears fully on the bonus CD. Once again, the vocal version sounds better and basically the same otherwise. This is another emotional epic tune with strong cinematic soundscape. Another favorite.
Miss You, the closing tune is the most minimal here and it's quite a sad ending for an absolutely mind blowing album.
Favorites: All of them are great really but if i was forced to give away the best they would be: 1!!! 3!!! 4! 8!! 10!! 11!!! 12!
Final words: Get it! It's the best album of 2006 and a perfect winter companion.

This is some of the most profound and beautiful techno / IDM I have heard. Production is second to none. Drum programming is genius. The first time I dropped the needle to the wax the slow build up of undertone crept into my mind and hasn't left since. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. The complexity of tracks like 'Take Me Into Your Skin' (that starts like a minimal drip of colour and sound and builds to splashing and thrashing crescendo) or the Spaghetti Western guitar and scalding broken beat of 'The Very Last Resort' are not to be missed. This is the future of techno. Deep, emotional, spine tingling joy.