(F Communications/Creative Vibes)

Excess Luggage is comprised of five CDs each featuring a live set from Laurent Garnier. The first release from the series is a triple CD pack: a house set he played at Barcelona’s Sonar Festival in June 2000, a more tech styled set from Detroit in December 2002 and a mix called the PBB late night mix as featured online at www.pedrobroadcast.com in September 2002. The liner notes feature small narrative passages from Laurent that provide just enough background for the listener to feel like they’ve been let in on a secret: what it was like to be there.

As a DJ and producer, Laurent has the ability to create intense experiences for his audience – moving beyond the simple pleasure of delivering great tunes and into the hallowed territory of creating a set that reminds you why you started listening to electronic music in the first place. This series of live recordings is no different.

001 Mix at Sonar
Barcelona’s Sonar Festival has become one of the most popular, and critically acclaimed, electronic music festivals in the world. In 2000, Laurent was invited to perform for the fifth time since the festival’s inception seven years earlier. In order to baffle the press and surprise the fans, in Laurent’s place on the bill appeared DJ Jamon (Japan) in the closing set of the festival. Who was this unknown Japanese DJ (with a Spanish name) closing the festival? At 8am on the final day of the festival all was revealed. “DJ Jamon” was a one-hit wonder, wowing the crowd from the opening beats of Blake Baxter’s When we used to play. Featuring Nick Holder, ESP, DJ Gregory and Moby, Laurent courts cheesiness with Sandee’s Notice Me but reverts to classics territory with Mayday’s Nude Photo and Inner City’s Good Life. A superbly crafted set that you can’t help but dance to; it makes me want to book a ticket to Barcelona for Sonar 2004.

002 Mix in Detroit
Featuring crowd noise and imbued with a sense of raw energy, verging on chaos. The Detroit CD kicks off with a voice on the mic explaining that the venue is ‘fully legal’ (in the notes, Laurent explains that police armed with tear gas had shut down the club earlier in the evening) and Laurent is then introduced with much whooping and cheering from the crowd. Fortunately the intro is brief and there are only occasional returns to cheering throughout the set. Jazzy, deep tech: this is sexy techno with killer basslines. The familiar squealchy acid of X2 from Electric Soul, the Envoy mix of Slam’s Bass Addiction, which brings vocals to the fore, and Radioactive Man’s Bassick Element get things moving whilst Moody Preachers’ Abuses on Rachel and Hutton Drive’s It’s dark and I’m not afraid combine to keep things dark, brooding and unpredictable. Souldancer from Heiko Laux gives way to Laurent’s own Returning back to Sirius and The Man with the Red Face which, somewhat amusingly, gets introduced by the MC. Given how recognisable this track is, I can imagine my mum rolling her eyes and saying “Even I knew that!” This set will make you feel like you’re along for the ride on a crazy night in Motor City with someone else at the controls. Kick back and enjoy – just don’t stand still.

003 PBB Mix
In explaining this set, Laurent laments radio broadcasters neglecting their duties as influencers and discoverers and takes it upon himself to share his passion with his listeners. Compared to the previous two discs, this set is by far the most abstract and demanding on the listener, less immediately accessible. A diverse, thoroughly enjoyable collection of electronica, this set demonstrates complexity that demands and deserves listen after listen. Jazzland’s Bugge Wesseltoft (the musical genius who appeared on-stage with Garnier at Sonar in 2003) makes an appearance with Sidsel Endressen on Heartbeat, which features a chopped-up vocal treatment that borders on distressing. In response, the following tracks, Alain Bashung’s Madame Reve and excerpts from the soundtrack “17 fois Cecile Cassard” are soothing yet equally mesmerising. The downtempo Mitre Peak from Lowtech, Asa Chang & Junray’s Hana and the glitchy Plaistow Flex Out from Squarepusher carry the mid-section of the set. Kosma’s dramatic Mikrokosmos, John Martyn’s piano and cigarette-fuelled lament Strange Fruit, the eerie soundscape of Claude Chalhoub’s Red Desert and our own Pnau’s The Last Track round out an extraordinary compilation.

Acknowledged most widely in Australia as a quality techno DJ, this series reflect the breadth of Garnier’s taste and style through techno and beyond.