Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 04/07/2005
Label: DFA/EMI

John Maclean, formerly of Sub Pop electro-rock outfit, Six Finger Satellite, became The Juan Maclean (or man machine if you'd rather) at the behest of his former soundman, James Murphy. The latter is, of course, now better known as DFA mainbrain and LCD Soundsystem frontman, producer to the New No Wave and would-be remixer to the stars, if he ever returned their calls.

It's an odd pairing, especially when you consider that Murphy lured Maclean back from retirement where he was teaching in a New Hampshire detention centre. You can sense the push and pull of the DFA's utter now-ness combined with Maclean's unselfconsciously out-of-time approach throughout the record. But, despite that, it's a creative partnership which has yielded an essential new entry in the unfolding saga of the DFA.

The majority of "Less Than Human" shifts between two textures; a glacial, synth-brushed introspection and up-tempo robo-disco with live drums which Maclean sampled from his old Six Finger Satellite recordings. In addition, most of the tracks are peppered with lush yet restrained analogue synth melodies. "Give Me Every Little Thing" is propelled by urgent 90s Detroit-house synth stabs, a gigantic disco bassline and oozing electro-disco analogue melodies. A fantastically schizophrenic combination, as it turns out.

If Murphy and DFA partner Tim Goldsworthy sound like they might be taking over at times its only when they pile cowbells and handclaps onto the sort of beats they injected into The Rapture's finer moments. "Crush The Liberation" exhibits all of Murphy's production ticks but remains far more perfectly understated than any LCD Soundsystem track. Three and a half minutes in, the beats wind down elegantly for a minute-long sabbatical, when they drop back in the effect is irresistible. "Dance With Me" explicitly references Manuel Gottsching's oscillating electro-drone masterpiece "E2-E4", although, conveniently, is less than half its length at 14.05.

The preoccupation with mechanically-adjusted consciousness suggested in the title proves more than mere Daft Punk posturing. In some cases, absurd - "Shining Skinned Friend" concerns a love triangle involving a man, a woman and the man's gay robot friend - in others all too real. The inhumanity that pervades perhaps hints at the dislocation with which Maclean became acquainted throughout years of heroin addiction. For some, the absence of human warmth may prove the album's ultimate flaw. Still, until there are humans out there making music like this robot, we'll settle for it.

    by James Poletti