Super Discount

Album Review

That Etienne de Crecy waited eight years to release this sequel to the project Super Discount and, above all, because of its musical content, seem to prove that his name is the only thing the two albums have in common. Perhaps the ambition and innovative spirit of this French electronic pioneer don't allow him to pigeonhole himself into one single style and, along with his usual loyal squires Alex Gopher (also present on the first issue) and Philippe Zdar (the other half of French classic Motorbass) gives his best in Super Discount, Vol. 2, De Crecy's songs (all of them with p2p program names) merge early Daft Punk acidity, Kraftwerk's electro, and the class, control, and sturdiness of Laurent Garnier's house. This daring blend, together with his own French electronic music's elegance, seems to reinvent the renowned French Touch, turning it here into French Punch. Accustomed to the downtempo ambient and cocktail-in-hand style of Super Discount (which sounded a bit restrained: always good, but never excellent) Super Discount, Vol. 2 unties itself and tangles you up in a swarm of electro synths, spatial sounds, addictive basslines, and deep house repetitive bases, all of which make it impossible to listen to this album in the same way you listened to the first: the lounger. "Overnet" is probably the most ferocious example of this wayward sequel: in the lines of Daft Punk's hits "Burnin'" and "Alive," repetitive and fast techno beats withstand the strikes of shrill synthesizers that tear your skin strip by strip; nothing here is elegant, it's piercing, overwhelming, and brilliant. But before this album's last cut leaves you not knowing where to look and with the cocktail glass broken on the floor, other equally good midtempos warm you up: "Grokster," "Soul Seek," and "Limewire" contain stimulating basslines, out of control synths, and robotic sounds over consistent and clean bases. "Fast Track," cooked on a lower flame along with Julien Delfaud, contains all the needed ingredients to become a hit with a hypnotizing bassline playing the main role. In sum, an impeccable sound for an unexpected and excellent record but not surprising coming from the master De Crecy.