Trentemoller: The Last Resort

Buy in the U.S. • Buy in the U.K. • Buy in Germany • Buy in Japan

Kim Kirkpatrick: Anders Trentemoller's The Last Resort is quite a musical blend of contemporary genre, with programmed techno, ambient and minimal electronics, and scratchin’, all blended together with some fine guitar and heavy bass playing throughout. The Last Resort touches on many a predecessor’s sound and beats, going back to Tangerine Dream, early Human League, New Order, and Tricky (to name a few), right up to the latest from the Kompakt label. For an hour and twenty minutes each track flows into the next smoothly, and the direction changes frequently, but Trentemoller guides the transitions with intelligence and creativity.

The Last Resort spends much of the time in an atmospheric, down tempo mode but genres are always being changed, the coloring and mood is ever shifting and swirling until you really have no idea what track you are hearing, or even how long the CD has been playing. On "The Very Last Resort" Trentemoller comes into the track ambient, hissing, dreamlike, with backwards and acoustic Spanish-flavored guitar. This gives way to waves of echoes, cymbals, and a tremolo Spaghetti Western electric guitar. The track slowly, naturally fades out with organ and some subtle channel shifting. The other twelve tracks are just as flowing a mix as the one described above; any of them can drift by or hold your attention completely—it's up to you and your mood at the time.

I think you need this CD if you want to be up to date with current music. It stands out as masterful, complex, and infinitely listenable. As I mentioned above, it takes over your listening experience; you get lost in it, lose your sense of time—an effect I always enjoy from some music. Search out the initial release if possible—it has an extra disc of remixes and singles. The bonus material will give you some background on Trentemoller’s work.