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Few French producers can claim to have been as influential
as Etienne de Crecy over the last ten years. He was one of
the first Parisian artist to release a house track and subsequently
the first to set up an independent dance label. He produced
and remixed the very first Air single, encouraged Alex Gopher
to release his tracks and even acted as a guiding influence
on Daft Punk. In fact its fair to say that, had it not been
for Etienne, Paris may never have become the International
force it is today, and Madonna may never have enlisted the
help of Frenchman Mirwais on her latest album. And just in
case his name isn't instantly familiar to you just consider
his previous two albums under the monickers of Motorbass and
Super Discount, and you'll have no doubts about Etienne de
Crecy's status as one of the worlds finest producers.
Etienne de Crecy was born thirty one years ago in Lyon and
moved to Dijon as a child. It was when he moved to Versailles
at the age of fifteen however that he would meet the people
with whom he would develop a lasting passion for music. As
a teenager he formed a band called Louba with Mr. Learn and
Pierre Michel Levallois. „I don't think it was very
good music. We were just learning our instruments.“
he recalls. However the band was notable for being a part
of a burgeoning scene which would eventually become the foundation
of the Paris dance music explosion. Among the other bands
with whom Louba would play were Orange, which featured the
duo who would become Air as well as Alex Gopher and Xavier
Jamaux from Bang Bang.
Soon after the demise of Louba, Etienne moved to Paris where
he started to truly discover the joys of sampler based music.
He had already worked on a collaboration with Mellows‘
Stephane Luginbuhl, however things only really started to
click for Etienne when he started to work as a studio engineer
at Studio Plus XXX. It was here he met Philippe Zdar (La Funk
Mob and Cassius) and found an instant production soul mate.
Soon the pair got an apartment together where they shared
a single sampler and a love of music. Together they would
trawl through their disparate record collections looking for
sounds to sample, gradually building tracks that drew on Chicago
jack trax, old house classics, copious quantities of disco,
and a smattering of Led Zeppelin!
In 1991 the first fruit of this creative friendship was released
on their own Cassius label. Called the Motorbass EP it created
waves throughout the UK scene, with many DJs left to scour
the nations shops in the hope of finding a rare copy. The
following year saw the release of the equally desirable Transphunk
single. By now the duo had adopted the name
Motorbass, they were poised to take on the underground and
then.... nothing. Apparently.
In reality Zdar moved deeper into his production work for
hip hop artists like MC Solaar while Etienne became increasingly
embroiled in his career as an engineer.
„I wasn't a very good engineer,“ he says “I
wasn't too interested. I did do quite a lot of hip hop stuff
and a few other interesting things, but I still don‘t
think that I was good at it.“
It was during this period that long time friend Alex Gopher
played him some tracks he'd been recording in his bedroom.
They called in another old friend Pierre Michel (from the
Louba days) who suggested they set up a label to release the
material, and with this Solid was born. The first release
came in 1994 with the silver packaged Gopher EP, with production
from Etienne, naturally.
The following years saw Etienne providing two tracks on the
Source Lab 1 compilation (the first collection to focus attention
on the nascent Paris scene) in the form of Bad Vibes by Motorbass
and Ecouter Fumer under the name of La Chatte Rouge. He was
also responsible for one of the standout tracks of the year
in the shape of his remix of the first Air single
Modular Mix. He was also producer for the original version.
Etiennes‘ star, it would seem, was starting to shine.
In 1996 however, that star seemed to be on fire. First up
came the debut Motorbass album Pansoul which received such
immediate acclaim that Muzik Magazine awarded it Album of
the Month even though there were only a hand full of copies
in the UK. Later that year however the project for which Etienne
de Crecy is best known was released. The Super Discount album
on Solid caught everyone's attention with its simplistic yellow,
black and
white cover artwork and kitsch concept. From its initial inception
as a limited series of four 10“ singles, it developed
into a compilation album featuring original tracks by Etienne
and EDC remixes of tracks by Air and Alex Gopher. Soon demand
was on a worldwide scale with the album crossing over into
more mainstream territories.
For the next three years Etienne was caught up in promotional
work for Super Discount, occasional remix work (Lil Louis
Clap Your Hands, Alex Gophers Gordini Mix and Air's Sexy Boy
among others), production work on the second album from Source
recording artist Teri Moise (he had produced her first album
in 1996) and a couple of dancefloor singles under the name
Mooloodjee for Solid offshoot Poumtchak. A year ago however
he embarked on a project which promises to be his most successful,
and the one which will finally bring the name of Etienne de
Crecy from behind his pseudonyms. Called Tempovision it is
finest work to date - simple as that.
„I originally thought it would only take about three
months to record, but it ended up taking the whole year.“
he explains „But I was trying to capture a very special
sound.“
That special sound he calls digital soul, a combination of
live sounding samples and clinical digital programming. Tempovision
itself is based around the loose concept of how technology
which is supposed to make our lives easier actually forces
us to waste more time. E-mails that take ages to download,
internet sites that take ages to source, call waiting. You
get the picture. The album is also inspired by the rhythm
that you get into when you‘re channel surfing on the
TV. No one thing grabs your attention so you move through
the channels with a regular rhythm. Not that either of these
concepts were on his mind at the beginning of the recording
process.
„It was only when I was in the US with Clip Payne (of
Funkadelic fame, and also Alex Gophers album) and he had got
this singer to do the track. Clip said to me, what is the
song called?“ I hadn‘t thought of anything really,
except I liked the word vision. So I just said Tempovision.“
From here the seeds of a concept was born.
„Really the concept is less important than the music“
he says. „I just wanted to use the cover artwork to
make a point that the rhythm of life is a special thing and
that its sometimes better to waste you time just doing nothing
out in the open.“
Or you could waste your time listening to Tempovision. Not
that you would think of it as time wasted. From the opening
Intronection with its modem bleeps, its an album of pure seductive
pleasure. Relax takes a laid back jazz chord sequence and
builds it over a deep house groove before erupting into a
jazz funk inspired keyboard motif that could have come direct
from the remake of Shaft. Only it would have shown the rest
of the soundtrack up. Out of My Hands follows the theme with
its windswept bouncing bass, shattered glass intro and echodrop
beats over which a gorgeous blues drenched soul diva drips
vocals of pure passion. On the breathtaking Am I Wrong? the
same voice begs am I wrong to hunger? over a disco driven
house groove which twists through eq changes and multi-hued
filters before erupting in 303 acid fest which is guaranteed
to slay clubs everywhere - the
underground to the mainstream. the first single in France
Am I Wrong? was supported by a computer animated video (created
by Etienne‘s younger brother) which sees cows picking
their own ribs for meat - and other such delights.
„It‘s not any kind of statement on vegetarianism
or animal rights,“ he argues, „it‘s supposed
to mean eat the boss. That‘s all.“
If Am I Wrong? offers a pretty substantial main course then
the trio of tunes that follow are the most filling side dishes
you will ever encounter. Noname takes chicken grease funky
guitar on a journey through digi-dub house while When Jack
Met Jill sounds like an old school jazz-in-the-house tune
as reworked by Timbaland. As each new bar opens so comes a
new surprise as strings envelope gorgeous, downbeat vocals.
A classic in the making. As is the next track, the instantly
addictive Tempovision which opens with the sounds of a fervent
channel surfer checking out the news stations before opening
up on to a string driven languid groove, which melts easy
listening over hip hop g-funk style. And if that‘s not
all, the many colours of dub, P-Funk and soul are also thrown
into the mix for a head spinning, lysergic meltdown.
The albums next piece de resistance comes in the shape of
Scratched which mixes deep house with hip hop turntablism
as Belita Woods belts out another aching soul lament. 3 Day
Weekend fuses slap bass, a jokers laugh, Latino funk guitar
and a beat made for butt shaking. Its party tune for a long
weekend which gives way to early morning jazz bar ambience
of Rhythm and Beat.
The final track Hold the Line is a locked groove which slowly
builds through layer after layer over an amazing fourteen
minutes and eight seconds. Its Etienne‘s answer back
to call waiting muzak. Indeed, if you were to call the offices
of Solid, its this track you would hear.
So that‘s it - Tempovision, a glorious way to waste
time. And the album which is bound to make Etienne de Crecy
a household name.
Martin James
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