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 within themselves. 

It is very predictable music, and that's its biggest sin. I applaud Bangaltar for taking the risk of doing something different, but I think that if he seriously wants to delve into academic music, he has to study more, since what he has composed does not denote a comprehensive analysis of classical or even modern composers.

The pieces lack a danceable character, there are few rhythms, but the few that exist are very poor. The sad thing is that there is no hint of potential for improvement either. Les Amazones is eloquent of the problems of this opus: while reminiscent of Daft Punk and with a certain amount of success, it is still boring. Take for example the pizzicati played on the bass, there is just no imagination! You hear this music and all it makes you think is: “You have an orchestra, man! Take advantage of it!” In Treize nuits, a piece that hints at a modest beauty builds a crescendo... that ends in nothing. Bangalter again and again creates frustration. It offers us glimpses, hints, clues, that lead to nowhere. 

Nor does it seem that there is no self-awareness on his part: the work lasts an hour and a half! You have an entire orchestra recording for so long, that is, there was obviously a significant budget but it was very wasted.

Mythologies is a compilation of disjointed clichés, and it commits the worst possible sin in a work of art according to Andy Warhol: it is boring. We all expected more from it, which is basically the definition of a disappointment.