Le Noise

Daniel Lanois makes a guitar for Neil Young--Young takes said guitar, records eight songs by himself, Lanois takes thos eight simple songs, adds maximum effects and electronics, manipulates it all and voila--Le Noise--one of Young's most interesting albums and that is saying something for a nan whose career has traversed an awful lot of musical territory through the years. I am a big fan of Lanois' aesthetic, much like Rick Rubin, he has a canny ability to bring things out of artists that others may not have known were even there, and he accomplishes that with Young. I like Young's mellow stuff, not so much his harder guitar-driven wailings, but it all comes together on this album with unique outcomes. This is a solo album that is really a duet--collaboration between artist and producer--a producer who 'feels' his way into aonsg and uses the mixing board as an instrument in itself. Le Noise might just be the most innovative and creative album to come out this year--mood music for the complex age.