- The noughties were good to Stuart Price. Either as Jacques Lu Cont, Thin White Duke or Paper Faces, the British DJ and producer has been able to keep a low profile while imposing his indelible sonic mark on both pop and house. On his stellar mix for fabric, he deployed versatile sounds with a coherence and dexterity that no one in the series has topped since. Meanwhile, he helped Madonna produce Confessions On A Dance Floor and embarked on a series of remix duties for high-profile singers like Gwen Stefani and Missy Elliot without ever losing his magic touch. But after stretching that winning formula a little too thin, Price needed a break. After a few years of relative silence, he's back under a new moniker, Tracques, with an album of hyperactive techno.
Tracques Volume One is cut from the same cloth as Price's remix of Tiga's "Plush," which increased the original's stamina to jacking proportions. He applies the same method here on "In The Morning" and "The Fly." Other songs, though, sound like studio leftovers from the likes of Boys Noize, especially the blistering album closer "Aftershock." There is relentlessness to this album that is both commanding and authoritative: it shows a producer fully aware of his own strengths and past accomplishments but also a curious musician who refuses to compromise. This is especially true on "Cinq," a beast built around awkwardly tumbling beats, and "Traintracks," a messy-sounding production that has too much happening at once. This is all clearly intentional, but that doesn't mean it works. Perhaps the album's major weakness is that even at barely just 35 minutes long, it can't ever shake that pervasive air of monotony.
Tracklist01. Click Track
02. Lunartick
03. The Fly
04. Motor
05. In The Morning
06. Cinq
07. Traintracks
08. Aftershock