Maxence Cyrin – Modern Rhapsodies (F Communications)

The last few years has seen a plethora of ‘acoustic’ cover projects. The best of these, Nouvelle Vague’s reinterpretations of a eclectic new wave and post punk and Acoustica’s renderings of Aphex Twin, have been both good humoured and have twisted the originals in unique ways. Maxence Cyrin, a classical pianist turned raver, has gone back to his classical training to reinterpret a range of ‘dance classics’. Limiting himself to solo piano he reinterprets a diverse range of anthems from Sueno Latino, and Felix’s Don’t You Want Me to hard trance anthem The Meltdown (by Lunatic Asylum), Anasthasia by T99, Rolando’s The Jaguar, as well as Aphex Twin’s Windowlicker, LFO’s LFO. The problem with this approach and track selection is that for the most part all of these classics work in a the club because they are simplistically structured, repetitive and rely on the twin powers of bass and rhythm to make them sonically interesting. Reduced to just piano they generally sound like gimmicky overwrought cocktail music with only the opener, Depeche Mode’s Behind The Wheel managing to convey any sense of emotion or complexity.