Latest releases reviewed

MAXENCE CYRIN
Modern Rhapsodies
F Communications
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French classical pianist Maxence Cyrin has long employed an adventurous approach to music-making. The latest addition to his freewheeling resumé (which includes dark electro singles for the PCP and Superstition labels, a musical called Les Valets de la Hype, and a spell as a crooner in a Parisian club) is a bunch of solo piano interpretations of classic rave and electronic music anthems. It really should not work, but somehow Cyrin reinvents all manner of hedonistic dancefloor fodder as chamber pop standards, going from the club to the conservatory without either over-egging or losing the spirit of the original tune. It may be somewhat disconcerting to hear hedonistic anthems like Felix's Don't You Want Me or Aztec Mystic's Jaguar reworked into a gentle blur of piano chords, but Cyrin maintains the original mood and energy by simply highlighting the melody which shadows every tune. A new breed of piano-house. www.fcom.fr - Jim Carroll