Buy physical EP here :
bit.ly/BCR005_solune
Bass Cadet Records comes back with a solo release by Etienne from Arcarsenal under the Solune moniker. Four crossover pieces of music mixing multiple layers of influences circled between house, ambient, soundscapes, dub techno and tribal rhythms.
Solune tried to produce here a multifaceted piece of work, using the short EP medium as a chance to offer a condensed tribute to some of the genres of music that inspire him the most. He laid the stress on details and inserted small references that can be read on different levels. Ahead of his studio work, he took inspiration from Nick Tosches’ book “Country”, which link unsung heroes of american music to the myths of ancient Greece by unwiding the thread of the legends and folkloric music, telling how these stories travelled in time and space to what we get nowadays. Led by his passion about musical History, he wrapped up some pieces of the puzzle that build his musical character by subtly interweaving distant sonic identities. Always keeping it within his own sound palette, he tried to make a coherent picture from the most tiny details to
a larger scale.
Introducing the record, “Death Of The Delta Blues” is an ambient work which flows on a bed of vaporous pads, hazy field recordings and small percussions. Over this, grow otherwordly fife & drum elements and a moaning voice twirling in a midst of flangers, delays and reverbs. Setting up a moody tone, the cut draws inspiration from the weird ambiences found in the loud and wet stormy days of Mississippi Delta. Following up, “Magical Realism” is moving to a lighter and more souful mood.
Yet, the track is firmly built on a strong drum rhythm pattern, on which a deep organ sustains bright pads backed with intense percussion work. Lying over that, a high pitched synth solo, piano house chords, and funky vocoder sounds are playing with a female voice sample and male whisperings.
The flipside starts with “Thela In The New World” an epic old school house jam, taking us back to the Nu Groove era. Mixing lush house chords, a bumpy bass, wide strings and high frequencies soundscapes that add tension to the ambience, the rhythm gets swept up by a repetitive rimshot and heavy rides. The classic house vibes of the track clearly design it as a craft for the dancefloor. Getting into some weirder territories, “Versions Of Orpheus” closes the EP. Solune builds up there a broken rhythmic pattern and leaves some spaces for imagination, as voices, birds sounds, flutes, keys, percussions and synth pads collides together, getting in and out of the scene without evident order. Still everything gets together and offers an orignal, bright and fluent story.
released September 26, 2016
All tracks written & produced by Etienne Dauta.
Additional mixing on A2 by Alan Mathias & Etienne Dauta.
Design by Atilla Fidan.