ScannerFunk

Scanner is the alias of musician Robin Rimaud, renowned for his “telephone terrorist” tactics of sampling conversations for his soundscapes. He returns here with a release that builds upon his colourful career as producer of soundtracks, art installation work and DJ sets at the Electronic Lounge. Private phone conversations aside, this ten-song journey is largely instrumental. There have been allusions to counterpart Moby and the comparison is not ill founded. For example, something in the breezy and melodic synth refrain of “Cosy Veneer” and “Speechless” definitely smells of that brooding songster, though Moby’s newer material has found itself in every other mix, car advertisements not excluded. Whether Scanner’s songs are headed that way is hard to tell, but they certainly do not traverse any uncharted territory. Though voice sampling, especially private conversations, may not be particularly “avant garde” any longer, there may have been some voyeuristic pleasure involved in the intrusion that is absent here. Where the “funk” that is added onto Scanner’s name is coming from is somewhat unclear, as this LP is funk-free, a trip through sparkling and almost holy techno landscape. There are hints in “Automatic,” with its quasi-Giorgio Moroder sexy beat and in “Spinique,” which has an urgency unseen elsewhere in the album. It is a safe listen, which doesn’t discount its worth, but certainly doesn’t promise anything exceptional.