Lucien “Luciano” Nicolet’s Cadenza label is an exemplar of long-playing minimalism. Like Mathew Jonson’s eternal arpeggios or Ricardo Villalobos’ endlessly bending squiggles, Luciano records can be mixed in and/or left low in the layers for six, seven, even eight minutes, without having to worry about “the chorus” or the rhythm shifting phase. So although they do bear close scrutiny as complete compositions on their own right, much of Luciano’s work is already a “tool” in the hands of a creative DJ. But No Model No Tool is three clicks further down the line of least variation. This new release, the first in a planned series of self-confessed tools, is both an artistic statement (”When only the least will do”) and a tacit admission that DJing itself has changed, and that there is an emerging market for nothing more than the individual sounds-the sonic equivalent of selling Lego blocks, I guess.

No Model consists of two long rhythmic pieces, one metallic, the other rubbery; five “atmospheres” consisting of vocal loops, spooky pads and alien atmospheres; and one long pop ambient-esque piece with KLF-style sheep baas and an orchestra recording a David Lynch soundtrack in the hallway. There’s enormous scope for these tools, especially harnessing the immediate capabilities of more recent CD-J players, so from that perspective, No Model is worth considering. But the funny thing is (and maybe I’ve really been listening to too much “too little”) that this is actually a really satisfying listening experience. Barring “Tonneres,” which sounds like a tweaked-out Arthur Russell track, the tools flow along nicely and work especially well at pasting over the cracks in the silence that threaten to distract you from what you?re concentrating on. Curiouser and Curiouser.

Cadenza Split Composition / CSC001
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[Peter Chambers]