In my last post I basically said Justice were lazy for letting up in the middle of †. In short, I've changed my mind. Valentine is the apex of their laid-back work to date (and there's actually been quite a bit) with a lead synth that hums and twirls its way through a series of simple yet engaging melodies.

TTTHHHEEE PPPAAARRRTTTYYY has an awful title, but it does feature Uffie, who is ultra-cool at the moment. While the instrumentation seems minimal it's actually very complex if you pay attention to it and it really suits the globetrotting (born in Miami, moved to Hong Kong, now a Parisian) girl's vocals, accentuating the growl in her sassy spoken word.

DVNO really improves with listens, as does most of Justice's work. It's got an engaging melody (Dr. Internet doesn't know who from; I'll tell you when I get the CD back) and a healthy serving of bombast. The instrumentation keeps you on a knife-edge throughout because it's quite unpredictable, and they've got an irregular distortion on the bottom of the voice, continuing the lush rumble subwoofer owners will hear throughout the album. This amounts to what's actually one of the most underappreciated songs on the album (I myself was skipping it habitually until I sat down with it the other day).

So I suggest you try those three again with a critical ear.

Also, I've changed my opinion of Wooden by SMD. I still think it's quite self-congratulatory (sorry SMD, the rest of the album's top) but it's grown on me a little. It's not wank like Scott is (sorry SMD), and it's not that good, but it's OK.

Finally, look what a bit of digging, reading inlays obsessively and the most useful yet unknown resource on the Internet has thrown up! The first MP3 on the page should shound strangely familiar. Yeah, it's crappy prog, but huzzah for fantastic sampling, bonus bonus points for Justice.
Oh, and I might be going to see them at Koko this September, if I can find anyone to go with me. I have not been the gig-goer I should have been recently. I will start regularly checking ticket websites.

I might talk about Daft Punk and the White Stripes a bit quite soon. EARLY TRAILING