Weekly Classic: Laurent Garnier’s ‘The Man With The Red Face’

Every so often, a track gets made that - intentionally or accidentally - changes the game. These are the records which have made billions of hairs stand up and soundtracked the best moments of our lives. These are the records that have inspired & laid the foundation for quality electronic music as we know it today.

Laurent Garnier - The Man With The Red Face (2000)

Laurent Garnier’s body of work is the stuff of electronic music legend. Moonlighting as a DJ whilst working as a waiter at the French embassy in London in 1986, he quickly became a fixture at the legendary Hacienda in Manchester.

Garnier’s artistic achievements are immense; even the tip of the iceberg would require a ten thousand word essay (you really should read his book, – but one of the jewels in his crown is most certainly 2000’s Man With The Red Face – an absolute behemoth of a record which continues to deliver the goods to this day.

From the first few seconds of the first listen, you know you’re in for a treat; brooding bass and sax licks are carried by shuffling percussion. The manner in which the track develops is incredible – the best records in the world, like a story, have a start, a middle and an end – Man With The Red Faceraised the bar here.