Etienne Jaumet: Entropy
Versatile

Entropy offers a very promising twelve-inch vinyl teaser for Etienne Jaumet's upcoming debut album Night Music; that the album is mixed by Carl Craig should tell you something about the EP's sleek electro-techno sound. Based on the available evidence, Jaumet, also known as the keyboard player in electro-pop outfit Zombie Zombie, has an obvious talent for crafting well-dressed club cuts that sparkle with prog-techno élan.

Jaumet flies solo in the ultra-cool title cut, which finds a mid-tempo neo-tribal pulse pitter-pattering breezily while a bass line throbs and spacey synth flares stretch out for seeming minutes at a time. Australia-based Christian Vance contributes additional production to the EP's other cuts, the first of which, “For Falling Asleep (Christian Vance Beats)” struts a bumping house groove to strong effect (and punctuates it with an occasional dive-boming synth stab), even if the track's over too quickly. Vance's “Slow Burning Saxless” remix of the same track burns up the B-side's tarmac with a tripped-out light-speed banger that's ecstatic in all the right ways. Though there are only two originals here, they're strong enough to suggest one should keep an eye out and an ear cocked for the full-length when it appears in October.

September 2009