Diary of a Lonely Sailor

by Dean Carlson From depressed tech-house to cool subliminal synthetics, Jean F. Cochois ' work on Diary of a Lonely Sailor contributed to the ascendant popularity of clinically eclectic dance music in comedown Eastern Europe. Much of this, his third album of original material, trod the fine line between quiet alien textures and stodgy house fundamentals, but rarely in an irritating way. Diary demonstrated that Cochois had learned from the stark anti-drama of his earlier releases. If his sampled vocal instincts were a bit off, as in the ingratiating "The Guiding Light," the rest of the material stood up straight and focused its strengths around an occasional angular German facade. Particularly good was the microhouse Green Velvet trip-hop of "Life Is Just a Timeless Motion" and the touch of trampled, malnourished jazz noir in "More Than Ever (No Doubt)."