 |
SPEED
TRIBE
24 HEURES DU MANS
DVD DANCE.COM RELEASE: JUNE
17, 2002 REVIEW: JULY 16, 2002
 |
To
combine hard pumping music with fast car chases have always been attention
grabbing on the big screen. Some movies have even made it the sole purpose
of their existence, like "The Fast and the Furious". So why
does this new DVD about the Le Mans car race with music by Front 242 side-project
Speed Tribe and visuals by Rod Chong and Sharon Matarazzo make me fall
asleep? I'll try to tell you why.
First of all, the music is pretty boring. Not at all what you would expect
from Patrick Codenys and Daniel Bressanutti, the sounds coming out of
my speakers have no apparent soul or substance, rather it just blunders
along, leaving no imprints. It really shows that the two are expert knob
twiddlers, but that's not enough. My package comes with a bonus CD, containing
longer and remixed versions of the "soundtrack" music. Most
tracks are instrumental electronica and some sound a bit like Aphex Twin
or Autechre. I think this release would be much better off not mentioning
the relation to Front 242 as much, to keep people's minds free from preconceptions.
This is ambient techno, not EBM.
Secondly, the visuals leave much to be desired. Pictures of cars whizzing
by is featured prominently. It would be more interesting if you had some
information about the cars, or the drivers. Now they are all very anonymous.
To be fair, there are three interviews with drivers, but they are audio
only, and there is no way to tell if they are driving the cars in the
main film. I don't know if all the footage is from one or several races,
but I think they're depicting one race, from start to finish. Mostly there
is only a fixed camera used, no action shots from within the car. Sometimes
there are some text messages on screen like "When you are at speed,
there is no fear".
I'm not really sure what to make of this. Who is it made for? I love cars,
but then give me some interesting info, and beautiful action shots! I
love music too, but then give me some interesting tunes!
JOHAN
CARLSSON
|
|
