French boys Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Augé originally got their start in the music scene playing in bad Metallica and Nirvana cover bands, and the album art of Cross makes it look like a doomy metalcore release, but the record is anything but metal. In fact, it's almost everything but metal. It's a grimy mix of dancehall, techno, '80s R&B, and lounge with Clockwork Orange synths, deadly static crunches, hard-hitting kicks, grinding groans, and a spliced Off the Wall slap-popping bass. Scattered and chopped to all hell, ...
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French boys Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Augé originally got their start in the music scene playing in bad Metallica and Nirvana cover bands, and the album art of Cross makes it look like a doomy metalcore release, but the record is anything but metal. In fact, it's almost everything but metal. It's a grimy mix of dancehall, techno, '80s R&B, and lounge with Clockwork Orange synths, deadly static crunches, hard-hitting kicks, grinding groans, and a spliced Off the Wall slap-popping bass. Scattered and chopped to all hell, the songs often feel revolutionary. This is partially due to the duo's "anything goes" attitude. It's as if Justice is reacting to complacency in latter-day electronic music and seeing how far they can take their slicing and dicing before the chopped up compositions fall apart. At certain moments, samples are dissected into such little snippets that it's hard to even decipher the instrument from the clicks and pops in-between the splices. Usually when the songs unravel to this point, they suddenly halt and get reeled back in to cohesion with the sudden snapback of a fishing lure that has been swept into the rapids. Instead of using their laptops to keep their beats tight and precise, Justice uses them to shake up their songs to such a gnarled, jittery point that they sometimes sound like mistakes. These happy accidents give the tunes a humanistic touch, like futuristic beats deconstructed by cavemen. While the instrumentals are often sinister and melancholy, as if they were concocted in a cold, cavernous atmosphere (which they were, in Rosnay's basement), the tracks with vocals are perfectly designed for a hot nightclub. "DVNO" has disco handclaps and bouncy vocals that could have been ripped from Oingo Boingo, "D.A.N.C.E." is tricked out with a Go! Team double-dutch flavor, and "Ththhee Ppaarrttyy" incorporates a cute-voiced rapper coaxing her friends to get "drunk and freaky fried" over a keyboard potentially lifted from Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants. At the darker end of the dance spectrum, "Stress" is an exhausting exercise in patience with a teapot whistle screaming over a tension-building Space Invaders type bassline, and "Waters of Nazareth" combines a crunchy church organ with a bottom-heavy synthesizer rolling in gravel. Admirably random samples dug up from underground sources like '70s Italian prog-rockers Goblin, combined with a reckless abandon and an adherence to melodic hooks, makes Cross one of the most interesting electro-crossovers since Ratatat, and the guys in Justice do an excellent job building on Daft Punk's innovative foundation. ~ Jason Lymangrover, Rovi
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Add this copy of Cross to cart. $4.48, poor condition, Sold by Movie Surplus rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Mobile, AL, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Ed Banger/Vice.
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Seller's Description:
Auge/Chaton/DeRosna; Auge/DeRosnay/Hartl; Auge/DeRosnay/Pinso; Justice [Dance] Poor. Used-Acceptable, withdrawn library disc(s) with liner notes. Disc(s) should play great without any playback issues. Disc(s) & liner notes may contain typical library markings like stickers, protective label covers, & writing. Discs may be repackaged in library style casing. Back artwork & any other promo material not included.
Add this copy of Cross [Vinyl] to cart. $15.83, like new condition, Sold by newtownvideo rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from huntingdon valley, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2011 by Ed Banger.
Add this copy of Cross to cart. $23.07, Sold by Entertainment By Post US-KH rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Indian Trail, NC, UNITED STATES, published 2011.
Add this copy of Cross to cart. $36.51, new condition, Sold by Importcds rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Sunrise, FL, UNITED STATES, published 2011.
Add this copy of Cross to cart. $44.64, new condition, Sold by Entertainment by Post - UK rated 2.0 out of 5 stars, ships from BRISTOL, SOUTH GLOS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2011.
Add this copy of Cross [Vinyl] to cart. $93.17, new condition, Sold by BetterBookDeals rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Toronto, ON, CANADA, published 2011 by Ed Banger.