Micro-house pioneer, Marc Leclair (Akufen) returns to his neglected Horror Inc. alias for an LP of cinematic, jazzy breakbeat and house arrangements. His clinical editing skills are found in fine balance with a wider scope for sweeping, maximalist strings and synths on nine limber, dextrous compositions. Incorporating his friend's ice hockey field recordings into opener, 'Phowa' sets a spatial awareness which carries through the album, from the mystical, noirish motifs and poised swing of 'Mourning' through the rainy day modes of 'Remembrance' and the winking, Gallic romance of 'I Can't Look At You', to the svelte shuffle of 'The Sentinel' and 'The Absent', before taking a deft diversion to the hushed Lynchian jazz atmospheres of 'Bardo Thodol' or 'Crepuscule', and arriving at the sparkling, Luciano-like closer, 'Dans La Nuit'. Ultimately he's tempered the frillier glitch tendencies of his other works to much smoother effect, resulting a real ace for the house head at home.
