When the duo burst out of the split of the mid-'90s with several albums of challenging , the member they left behind, , seemed to fade into the background. He emerged very occasionally to release excellent material, but for all intensive purposes, it appeared he would be remembered only for what had accomplished as a threesome. , although only his second proper album since 1997, is another excellent album of listening techno; it bears all the hallmarks of his classics without overly relying on them, and it has to force a readjustment in how critics view him in the history of . Most closely resembling 's 1995 record (right down to the interludes), the record is driven more by mood than technology; the drum programs aren't complex, but has a way of bewitchingly conjuring the past with his productions that not even can touch. As before too, plays a big part in the sound of , as does 's interest in the classics (that is, Egypt, Greece, and Rome). The two-part is the best piece he's released in ten years, and it's abetted by yet more great stuff: and ~ John Bush