Marsen Jules - Golden

Marsen Jules
Golden
(07.2007, Genesungswerk)
7.0/10

In the last few years it seems like a dump trucks worth of electronically infused neo classical minimalism has be dropped onto the avant landscape creating a vibrant, sometimes overwrought sub genre of downtrodden instrumentals. Marsen Jules was on the forefront of this movement and continues the sentiments here with Golden. Still incorporating the autumnal, frostiness of his previous releases to layers of strings and glitch electronics, Jules seems to be wading in the water a bit, progressing at Jurassic speeds, if at all. Golden moves in and out of its tracks from the simply gorgeous to others that are overly straining in their minor chord chill. The question becomes this: do I really need another overtly emotional indie classical album (Granted that may be more personally applicable than it would be to listeners generally)? The answer, I suppose, is sure. While it is definitely not breaking into any new territory, Golden still maintains a high standard of composition and an undeniable beauty. The album would work well as any casual listener of the genre's token album but probably wouldn’t add much to an enthusiasts table. Marsen Jules maintains the status quo here; fortunately he has set that standard fairly high.

-Mr. Thistle

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