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Intolerance reviewed at
Progrography |
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 by David
Connolly, Aug 2005
published on
progrography
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Artists
occasionally send me discs to review on Progrography, and
I’m afraid I’ve been sitting on Intolerance for a while.
Sitting on it and listening to it, until the songs arrive at
an appointed hour like old friends. Electronic/club music,
which this is, isn’t something I usually get too chummy
with, since it all tends to sound the same to me. And
initially that was my impression of Intolerance. But the
melodies are so catchy, the course so swift and interesting,
that it kept finding its way onto my CD player.
Intolerance’s ascension in my collection has come at the
expense of latter-day Tangerine Dream works (Oasis) and
Jean-Michel Jarre’s club records (Les Chants Magnetiques),
but I’m happy with the trade. Like TD, MarryAnn understands
the importance of moving the listener along, and even slips
in interesting sounds like the little signposts that
Johannes Schmoelling used to paint. And like Jarre, MarryAnn
has a common touch that reaches across to the dancefloor,
with accessible (sometimes obvious) melodies. Generally
speaking, self-produced and self-published artists are
something of a risk in terms of quality and creation, but
that’s less of an issue for electronic music. After all,
artists like Vangelis and Tangerine Dream have been
self-producing and in some cases self-publishing for years.
MarryAnn acquits himself (yes, that’s right, MarryAnn is a
man) with tight editing and judicious multitracking. My lone
complaint is with the rhythms, which rely too often on
distracting or predictable drums tracks. It’s the only thing
“low budget” about Intolerance, and a small price to pay for
soaring melodies and joyous arrangements. In fact, I haven’t
heard this much positive energy come out of a machine in a
long time. Recommended tracks (in case you’re window
shopping with an MP3 player) include “From Now To Eternity,”
“Intolerance” and “Lost Dreams.” |
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