Info Label: Musique Risquée Rel. date: Nov 07 Cat No: RISQUEE015 Reviewer: Adam Slowinski Reviewed: 16th Dec 07 Format: CD Rating: Tracklisting Salaat LinguÈRe Can’T Cheat With Concrete Domdom Les Gans Harmattan Salaat Dakar Yenon Ze Blob They Only Come Out At Night Fat Cat Player

There wasn’t much reason to doubt that ‘Face A L'est’ would anything but a great album. For starters, Guillaume And The Coutu Dumonts isn’t an artist who has made a habit of releasing disappointing tracks, and he has proven it time and time again this year with his productions and remixes on labels like Floppy Funk, Circus Company, Crosstown Rebels and Get Physical. The same goes for the Montreal-based imprint Musique Risquée, because it surely hasn’t built its reputation on lackluster additions to its catalogue. How did things play out this time? Well, I don’t feel let down, but I’m not overly impressed in any way.

Anyone who’s heard at least of Guillaume’s tracks knows that what he does best is beats. His percussive elements are often second to none and they’ve more than likely made a producer or two feel far inferior on more than one occasion. ‘Face A L’est’ is solid sonic evidence of this. However, what has worked time and time again on numerous EPs and remixes doesn’t exactly spell success in the longplayer format. The Canadian producer put too much emphasis on his rhythmes, the end result of which is that a large portion of the tracks have little more on offer. In most cases on the album, his cuts are interesting up to the halfway mark, after which they simply start to bore slightly. Almost ironically, the best tracks are the ones on which less focus is put on percussion, and sounds or conventions are toyed with. The most notable being the, in a way, Holdenesque (think 'Idiot' territory, only funkier) ‘Ze Blod’ and the brilliant ‘Fat Cat’ which, with its 50s style vocals, fairly romantic atmosphere (in a 1950s kind of way) and slow pace, is by far one of the boldest and most interesting numbers that have graced my ears in 2007.

Despite its flaws, I can safely recommend ‘Face A L’est’ because it is a good album, provided it is listened to in small doses. I’ll also take this opportunity to recommend the rest of Dumonts’ and Musique Risquée’s output, as all of it is stellar.

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