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Title: Ambient Prococateur
Review: French ambient provocateur Anthony Gonzalez trades the elegant white noise of Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts for a more pompous adventure with Before the Dawn Heals Us. Gonzalez's soundscapes were once contained and mimetic: songs with titles such as "Birds" and "On a White Lake, Near a Green Mountain" contained a hint of what was to come. The songs on Before the Dawn Heals Us become the soundtrack to an imagined concept: a particularly harrowing night in the life of what, from the titles, may well be a vampire. Or a drug addict. Or someone who just can't sleep. It's hard to know from the music, which features much synthetic choral manipulation and dissonant guitars. The best bits are the spoken word interludes, especially on the beautifully conceived and executed "Car Chase Terror!", which is all that and more.
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