Franck Vigroux

It's been said that electronic music-making tools in the '00s have killed off the electric guitar. Franck Vigroux offers an original compromise between the two. There's not much riffery to be found, but there's plenty of noise more akin to the stuff that comes from a guitar rather than someone holding down keys on a keyboard. Painfully pure or rapidly oscillating tones cut through your brain overtop a surprisingly diverse array of beats, from deep house to drill and bass jackhammering. But these beats are not the dominant element; this is as much a drone album as anything else, tending towards metallic, short delay sounds, sour-sounding synth pads and severe vocal samples. I respect this album for being informed by two fairly distinct worlds and refusing to make camp in either one. The glitchy but austere cousin of dub that is "Venise" brings it all together for me.