I can’t remember to have heard of this Canadian artist before. The official debut-cd reveals an interesting melting pot of electronics. It sounds quite fresh and full of nice electronic effects although I’m missing vocals. By the exception of one single track all the songs remain instrumentals and that’s maybe a point that has to be reconsidered. The only song with vocals is the “Mars ascending”-cut, but the remixed version by AntiStasis. Among the coolest pieces I’ll mention the harder “Landwehr” containing some heavier, industrial sounds and the more into wave like “Seventh veil”. Notice by the way that labelmate T.H. Industry made a remix as well. It’s a remix of “Iceland”, but I here prefer the original version! This is a project that can grow, but there’re some interesting ideas running through this debut! www.sonic-x.de (DP:6) DP.

GLENN LOVE “Belle Epoque” With this his fifth album the Canadian Underground artist Glenn Love rigorously continues what had already distinguished his previous recordings. With his Dark Electronic Beats he produces purely instrumental soundscapes that are partly dark, partly wonderfully dreamy, mixes them with atmoshperic Ambient, groovy Trance and even elements of Celtic music. What should be positively emphasized is that he still creates this flowing, atmospheric world of music in the “old-fashioned” way by exclusively using Hardware-Synthesizers. The disc’s 13 tracks demonstrate great variety, since numbers such as “Airships” and “The last evening” are ideally suited to Chillout, while “Landwehr” or “Mars Ascending” with their grooves would not be out of place even at the clubs. The last-mentioned track is also available as an AntiStasis Remix, and the driving opening number “Iceland” re-appears at the end in a tougher guise by the German Industrial-Project T.H. Industry. A very successful work that does justice to its name by truly offering the listener a beautiful epoch. S.P. English translation by Judith Orban August 2006

Medienkonverter.de – Review of GLENN LOVE – BELLE EPOQUE by Björn Attention: hot electronic tip! Canadian Glenn Love is back – with “Belle Epoque”, his second presentation after “Cruel Utopia” in November 2001. Here in Germany/Europe probably only insiders are familiar with his project, but in North America this active underground artist has already garnered much praise from his live performances at Canadian dark raves as well as on main stages, a reputation not least confirmed by his top ranking on hit-charts and much radio play. Purely instrumental (like the rest of the album) “Belle Epoque” is an electronic conglomeration, presenting plenty of variety ranging from monotonous forward thrust to complex, calm numbers and yet maintaining a very clearly recognizable through-line. The whole project was deliberately performed on analog synthesizers only, with no playing around on PCs. Of course it’s clear that other toys such as samplers were used, but really only to produce beats and samples for loops providing a fascinating, rhythmical trip into a soundscape that is sometimes chillout-heavy, peaceful, warm-sounding, even occasionally abyss-hugging, at other times beat-heavy and harsh. The first cut, “Iceland”, immediately provides good proof for this recommendation without first having to listen to the entire album. The sounds Love uses instantly awaken memories of earlier, analog days – the drumset and bassline are there in full force. On “Airships”, “Belle Epoque” or “Waking Dreams” Glenn Love’s playful way with sounds makes for a very pleasant tootling dancing rhythmically through your brain, “Waking Dreams” also seems to follow traces of Cyclotimia’s ‘Eschaton’. Opulent but not over-ornate, these titles are an inspiring feast for the ears, especially through earphones. Listening like that also allows you to most easily discern his self-confessed combination of Neo-Folk, Celtic, Electro, Ambient and Trance influences. On this CD the absolute groove with a rhythm that makes you move can be found in “Landwehr”. This track, equally infectious and atmospheric, is so compelling that it makes reaching for the ‘skip’ button definitely worthwhile – for ‘back’ that is; by the way, for “Seventh Veil” see “Landwehr”. Best would be to use the ‘repeat’ button only once at the very end; although the two re-mixes of Anti-Stasis and T.H. Industry are certainly not the worst, they’re not really in harmony with Glenn’s second release, nor is the first-time introduced “Mars Ascending” among his best songs. However, the “Iceland” re-mix could surely rock any electro dancefloor. “Belle Epoque” shouldn’t just decorate your shelf, but instead be constantly used in your well assorted CD collection. It doesn’t matter how you interpret the meaning of the title – whether as a reminder of earlier times (more musical underpinning than the actual historical background), or as an independent ‘beautiful work’, or as the impetus for a new musical flowering. In any case, in contrast to all of today’s many releases which generally can always be compared to some other musical style, Glenn Love and his recognizably individual style is in a category unto itself, namely “Electronica at its finest – and entertaining on top of it”. Even if you have no interest in such music, you absolutely should listen to “Iceland” with its distorted, whirring guitar riffs, “Airships”, “Landwehr”, “Waking Dreams” and “Seventh Veil”! English translation by Judith Orban July 2006

LEGACY MAGAZINE - March 2006 Glenn Love "Belle Epoque" (Sonic X/SXD) Techno in the Legacy Soundcheck??? That's probably what some colleagues thought too, and in their utter amazement handed out low point fines. But aside from the fact that 95% of Legacy writers should never be given any technoid music to review, GLENN LOVE'S creations have a greater right to exist than it appears. The man is actually a DJ, comes from Toronto/Canada, and also creates his own original music in his spare time. His 2001 debut album titled "Cruel Utopia" seems to have done well on his home turf, and therefore the German label Sonic X was prepared to give the man a leg-up in releasing its successor "Belle Epoque". But this disc contains not merely Techno, for the name GLENN LOVE stands for a colourful and vast - though partly somewhat antiquated - range of electronic music, encompassing elements of Ambient, Industrial, Trance, Chill-Out and EBM. It's nicely categorized on the label flyer as 'Dark Electronic Soundscapes', since there's no doubt it is 'dark', it's 'electronic' in any case, and instead of conventional songs the listener gets to hear instrumental, mostly atmospheric expanses of sound. Nevertheless the album is danceable and from time to time the 13 songs (including remixes of AntiStasis and T.H. Industry) produce an hypnotic effect. Frequently you get the feeling of listening to a soundtrack, while in your imagination you watch cameras rush through post-modern industrial waste lands and big city ghettos. Also remarkable is the fact that GLENN LOVE - contrary to tendencies on the current music market - is said to have rendered his songs exclusively with genuine Hardware Synthesizers. So there's no chance for Plug ins. "Belle Epoque" may be a controversial album not only for its erroneous placement on the Legacy-Soundcheck, but also because it doesn't offer readymade Standard Electro, revealing instead the attempt to add an individual note to the genre. For some spoiled modern-age-Electro fans this may be hard to swallow at first, but it says something about the artist's daring. (SB) 10 points