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by Donny Kutzbach
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After 1977 (a.k.a. the post-Star Wars era) the folks at Disney really tried to capture that sci-fi and space movie market. 1980’s magnificently dark epic The Black Hole didn’t win audiences or shuffle those all-important tie-in toys. Then came 1982’s Tron, which was ridiculously ahead of its time and helped to flesh out the concept of virtual reality. It was a modest success but not the huge hit the Mouse was hoping for. So it was a real surprise to hear, nearly thirty years later, that Disney would release a sequel with Jeff “Flynn” Bridges on board. It was almost as big of a surprise—and certainly as pleasant of one—to find that the Parisian electronic music wizards Daft Punk were on board to craft a soundtrack. It’s almost too perfect of a fit. It’s clear just looking at the cyborg masked personas of duo Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter and their laser light show that the world of Tron has always been an inspiration.
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by Cory Perla
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It is ironic that an album titled Not Music should carry with it so many different musical influences. With elements of krautrock, bossa nova, lounge, and electropop, London’s Stereolab have returned from a two-year hiatus to release a familiar-sounding yet expansive new album. After an unexpectedly short ”indefinite hiatus,” Not Music—recorded during the same sessions as their 2008 album Chemical Chords—delivers exactly what fans expect from Stereolab: mellow, smart music for essentially everyone.
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