Heads High

Whilst passing through the Big Chill House for Slipped Disco’s UFO party last Friday, I was lucky enough to experience one of the most psychedelic electronic amalgamation of sounds I’ve heard in a while, delivered in the form of a live set by a French artist/producer, Etienne Jaumet.

Apparently, before his solo release, he was one part of a duo known as Zombie Zombie. To be honest, up until this moment, I was completely unfamiliar with Etienne’s work (although in my defense, this was his UK debut). What I can say however, is that listening to him live brought back memories of early 80’s sci-fi at its most inventive.

The set seemed to pay homage to techno in its original depiction, brought to mind by the famously reported dialogue between Stuart Cosgrove and Derrick May, who once stated that techno is “… like George Clinton and Kraftwerk are stuck in an elevator with only a sequencer to keep them company.” (Cosgrove, 1988)

As Etienne engaged in tweaking knobs and forging kitsch noises out of vintage machinery, his geeky mannerisms were a breath of fresh air in a scene that is increasingly becoming trivialised by trendy iPod DJs. Another thing that was very evident from watching his performance, was his undeniable skill in the manipulation of various synthesizers. Almost instantly we were transported into another realm of deep space exploration through his masterful deployment of cosmic sound effects, indigenous tribal drum patterns, live instrumentation and machine music.

Not always easy on the ear, plenty of experimentation and awkward noise forced us as listeners to work a little harder in order to reap the harvest of his creativity. It was well worth it.

From the set, Monsieur Jaumet definitely inspired me to dig deeper into his work. The results are as follows:

On Versatile Records, he released his first solo album last year, called Night Music bearing five lengthy tracks. Many label the album a techno effort, however like most semi-decent artists, pigeon-holing Night Music into a single genre just doesn’t do it any justice. My take is this, Night Music would be the creative output of techno, electro, cosmic jazz, deep space funk, disco, krautrock, psychedelic and prog rock forming a sonic conglomerate… Or maybe more simply put, what the Dr. Who soundtrack should be. I’m not going to break down each track but as a whole, the vibe of the album is unsettling, and deliberately so. The constant drone of sharp keys and minor chords may not sit well with everyone but if you are comfortable with this, you will surely get a sufficient dosage of instant vintage. Etienne goes all out on effects, from didgeridoos to birds chirping to bleeps and blips, his peculiar production style packages the aesthetic of a Pac-Man arcade into a highly intellectual yet danceable album.

Not only are electronic dimensions explored, real instruments such as the saxophones and other horns are ever-present in a style reminiscent to early Laurent Garnier tracks. We are truly taken back to the future in Night Music and its understandable why Carl Craig would jump on such a talent.

It is also clear that the same passion and effort Etienne put into creating Night Music, goes into his live performances, thus I thoroughly recommend catching him when he’s next on British soil.

Your modern day space odyssey.

Etienne Jaumet Myspace.