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While to begin with it takes a few minutes to adjust, once you've settled in, you'll realize what a marvelous experience you're exposing yourself to, what a unique approach that brings stuff you've heard before to you in an artistic format that is totally fresh and exciting. Jeff Mills, respected techno artist, here finds himself with an orchestra at his disposal as a number of his tracks are rewritten for said orchestra and performed. At first, you think, "This is just classical music, maybe movie score type stuff." And it is, but it's also more. Besides the organic and traditional flavor an orchestra can't help but generate, there are the techno elements. You've heard classical plenty, but here it appears in a new context. Ditto the lean, sublime beats and techno structures that find themselves both juxtaposing against and mating with the orchestral element. Also meeting are retro aspects as occasionally the music will recall old fashioned instrumentation and contemporary aspects (soundtrack style composition and the electronica). It may take a bit of an open mind to fully appreciate this, but even those with reservations will find themselves hard-pressed to deny the artistry on display here. -- review by Kristofer Upjohn
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