Reynold--My Favorite Film

Reynold is Sam Rouanet’s solo alias. Also known for his work with Phil Stumpf in Duplex 100, the native-Frenchman gets his first shot at solo album work in My Favorite Film. At the age of six Rouanet began his musical career, playing classical guitar and violin until dropping those to pick up an electric guitar. Influenced both by rock acts like Fugazi and by jazz through his father, Rouanet moved briefly to Chicago to soak up as much of his influences as he could. He returned to France where he met up with Stumpf, and throughout his time with Duplex 100 his solo work began to shine.

My Favorite Film feels as if it’s one hour-long song broken into 12 pieces. Rouanet’s jazz influence is very obvious right from the get-go as well. "United" softly grooves as if it were an electronic jazz outfit. By no means employing vastly looming house beats, Rouanet sticks with subtleness.

"United" blends right into the kick-off of "Zoogarden." An ambient and ethereal ride, the song begins to form imagery in your mind with little trills and electronic effects. More than just one long song, My Favorite Film is a soundtrack to a movie that the music creates in your mind.

The rest of the album follows suit. "Emotionally Disturbed" mimics its title with small nonsensical drum beats and an uneasy melody. A child-like voice mumbles over everything, giving a sense of growing paranoia and distrust. The increasing uncertainty mounts through "Ville Nouvelle" and the bass-dominated "Bundang," before finally climaxing and finding rest in aptly-titled "Relief." The songs use their length to build emotion and imagery, and Rouanet masterfully adds little to achieve much, and the entire album stays relatively quiet.

My Favorite Film is indeed that, the listener’s own film playing out within their head while listening to Reynold. That said, the songs are on the whole boring if you listen to the songs with an alert ear. Little goes on within a song, they’re repetitive and dull. While it is difficult to listen to the songs purely because of their length and little movement, put together the album is an excellent sonic landscape. Put this one on in the background and let it unwind itself. Rouanet has shown maturity in his first solo album by crafting something larger than the individual songs, an hour long dynamic landscape that might become your favorite film’s soundtrack.

(Published at 365MAG)