Thomas Bangalter: an ambitious disappointment
Dance is no stranger to Thomas Bangalter, one half of the most successful electronic music act in French history. And for his first solo album, Bangalter has put aside the “machines” to focus on writing Mythologies, a ballet piece played by an orchestra. The obvious question is: does it sound like Daft Punk at all? The answer, unfortunately, is: no, this album does not have anything that makes you think of Daft Punk -or of any good music in any case. I have evaluated the piece as an entity, and I recognize the injustice of not doing it along with the choreography. However, I consider that there are many ballets, especially those by Stravinsky, that also function only as independent orchestral works. Mythologies is filled with clichés and a very predictable orchestration. The main problem with this album is that you are expecting catchy melodies with apparent simplicity, which is what Bangalter has gotten us used to. Nonetheless, these pieces lack cohesion, not only with the rest, but
