John Foxx’s second release of October complements the first, his collaboration with Steve D’Agostino. ‘Ballardian B-Movies’ is a series of audio sketches that paints vivid pictures of built-up communities and technology, with some wildly varying moods. These can change at the blink of an eye, so one minute you can be taking in the exquisite suspended sounds of ‘Exit Strategy’, then the next you’re thrown into the middle of a powerful electro disco with ‘Crash Course’. ‘The Other Side’ playfully takes on a clock chime as part of its easy ambience, though as in much of Foxx’s work there are shadows that are almost out of sight but still present in the mind. Because of this, and its slightly chopped-up nature, ‘B-Movie’ never really settles, and is all the stronger and more intense for it.
4 out of 5
Reviewed by Ben Hogwood
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