Lone
Galaxy Garden
Release Date: May 1, 2012
Genre(s): Electronic, House, Club/Dance, Left-Field House, Ambient Techno
Record label: R&S
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Album Review: Galaxy Garden by Lone
Great, Based on 8 Critics
Based on rating 82%%
LoneGalaxy Garden[R&S; 2012]By Will Ryan; May 9, 2012Purchase at: Insound (Vinyl) | Amazon (MP3 & CD) | iTunes | MOGTweetAs a producer, Matt Cutler has always been more about texture than structure. 2010's Emerald Fantasy Tracks slithered between techno, house, UK bass, and Warp-esque downtempo, barely cognizant of Cutler's more IDM and Dilla-based beginnings or the surrounding landscape of dance and electronic music at large, favoring a hard-to-pin placemat where he could easily shift and manipulate his vibrant, percussive tropical textures into a glinting mosaic of rounded edges and symmetry laid atop jagged lines and right angles. Cutler's approach on EFT felt very of-the-moment, melodies and rhythms culminating into a carefully woven tapestry of hyper-kinetic impressionism before dissolving at the end of each song.
Based on rating 8.2/10
Matt "Lone" Cutler is the best neo-rave producer out there. Give or take Rustie, he may be the best dance producer to make a name in the last five years, period. And Galaxy Garden, the fifth Lone album since 2007, is a wonder, his most complete statement yet, both a refinement and an expansion of the genre-of-one he's been perfecting over the last few years.
Based on rating 8/10
Never underestimate the pull of house music. It gave us immortal YouTube moments, eye-popping t-shirts, glow-sticks in Woolworths and increased mineral water prices. It also got nine-to-fivers out of their lounges, and all thanks to kids trying to make disco music on really budget equipment (and ketamine). Many never got over the 1994 Public Order Act and the movement’s swift commercialization, so when young upstart Lone began channeling it on Lemurian, he was met with both cheers and titters.
Based on rating 4.0/5
Like a lot of people, I was pretty excited when Lone found a genuinely fascinating angle on raver nostalgia with 2010's indelible "Pineapple Crush." I was significantly less enthused when he appeared to be creating that track over and over again, even after signing to a resurgent R&S. But last year's one-sider "All Those Weird Things" had him exploring new textures and an emergent sense of elasticity, a rejuvenation that soaks into his debut R&S album (and fifth overall). If you, like me, were worried that Lone was set on a path of relentless retread, Galaxy Garden should set you right.The album's appeal is all about texture: Galaxy Garden is glossy and reflective where his past work was all flat matte, despite its technicolour bursts.
Based on rating 3.5/5
Review Summary: While Galaxy Garden finds Lone finally giving in to his inhibitions, this new facet of his identity ends up coming at a priceDepending on what side of the fence you land on, you’ve either applauded or decried Lone’s (a.k.a. Matt Cutler)efforts to simply refine his sound rather than stretching his hazy palette beyond the sundrenched borders he’s paraded in since Everything Is Changing Colour dropped back in 2007. And while five albums in six years is indicative enough of Cutler’s dedication to his craft, the almost insistent nature of his release schedule has dictated the lack of capriciousness in his work.
Based on rating 5/10
Lone’s Galaxy Garden sums up its own style pretty well in the title. It’s bubbling, upbeat electronic music full of cascading synth effects and backed by tribal beats. It’s catching from the first note, but certainly doesn’t hold you to the last. Lone has a solid, unique style, but most tracks focus too much on one good idea.
Opinion: Fantastic
A fantastic reinvention from the Manchester producer, and one of 2012’s best. Mike Diver 2012 Having made a name for himself with previous collections of gauzy Madlib-inspired fare, Manchester producer Matt Cutler steps his Lone alias out of its perceived comfort zone for this fifth long-play set, with the focus switched to streamlined beats and shimmery synths. As befits any release on the revitalised R&S imprint, it’s not short of a pulse-quickening passage or three; but by mixing physically compelling motifs with cerebrally explorative textures, Cutler has realised perhaps his greatest album yet.
Opinion: Very Good
Lone is Nottingham, UK's Matthew Cutler, a producer with a history of unapologetically wearing his influences on his sleeve. While previous albums received positive reviews, his warbled hip-hop beats came off as the sound of an artist struggling to find his voice. Galaxy Garden (Cutler's fourth official album in as many years) takes the hazy, nostalgic melodies of his previous efforts and reimagines them through early '90s house and Detroit techno.