One of the markers of your dedication to a band is your willingness to buy records released by individual members. By this measure I could be regarded as a "less than half hearted" Depeche Mode fan as "MG" by MG is the only solo record by a member of the group that I own. I suspect Martin Gore chose to employ the MG moniker for this album to differentiate it from his earlier solo records or his work with Depeche Mode. None of the sixteen instrumentals that make up this record offer any concessions to pop or rock. This is abstract electronic music with only the occasional dance beat or twist of self indulgent noodling to add colour.It is quite fitting that the opening track "Pinking" is named after an engine fault as the song is a bit of a miss fire. As soon as you think the atmosphere is about to build into something interesting, it ends. "Europa Hymn" is an improvement and reminds me of B12 or Aphex Twin with some unmistakable Martin Gore flourishes thrown in. Another standout is "Stealth" which rumbles along with some nice chords and minimalistic beats. "Crowly" is a bit more aggressive sounding and is reminiscent of Gore's collaboration with Vince Clarke "VCMG" (how do they think of these band names? Amazing). Everything else washes over me like a sea of mediocrity.
As I swap the discs and handle the packaging I can't help but feel the quality of this pressing is a little wasted on the music. Both discs sound as good as you would expect from a heavyweight Optimal media pressing, and both a CD and digital download were included in the package. Yet nothing on here really grabs my attention. This is a soundtrack to a movie that has yet to be made, and I think I might enjoy it more in such a context; but as a piece to listen to, it doesn't really interest me that much. 2/5
