Etienne Jaumet is a rising star (so they say). One half of Zombie Zombie, Etienne had decided to release a solo EP, a five track electronic affair - "Night Music." Etienne has managed to encompass a host of electronic machinery, a harp, a saxophone and some little vocal snippets into "Night Music."

Etienne has also managed to convince an esteemed luminary such as Carl Craig to get involved in the production and mixing of "Night Music" - quite an achievement. We also hear through the PR tree that it was the music itself that enticed Carl Craig, rather than the pay packet - interesting indeed. This background whets the appetite for "Night Music." France has long been a fruitful home for electronica, producing mainstream successes like Daft Punk, Air, Laurent Garnier and Sebastian Tellier. Could Etienne Jaumet be the next in line?

Night Music's opener 'For Falling Asleep,' points to a promising ride. No less than 20 minutes long, it is a brooding, emotive synth workout. From the foreboding auto-panned intro, to the acoustic Harp outro, through the heart rendering natural saxophone extravagances, 'For Falling Asleep' is an interesting acid inspired psychedelic piece of music, nodding to a psychedelic past and future, simultaneously. 'Night Music's arpeggiated bassline rises and falls through a combination of customary resonance and cutoff filters quite effectively. It is certainly quite an effort, and immediately we may begin to understand why Mr Craig was interested in getting involved. Unfortunately the remaining four tracks never quite reach the same heights as 'For Falling Asleep,' and listening to the remaining offerings, I couldn't help but feel that the whole production team had been a bit lazy.

Track Two 'Mental Vortex' is really different to what its title may suggest. It is very Kraftwerk, and very analogue in its nature but has no defined start, middle or end. 'Mental Vortex' just kind of plods along, strapped on the back of a nice Moog arppegiation and electronic percussion. Sadly it doesn't actually go anywhere.


The aforementioned tardiness is no more apparent than on Track Three 'Entropy.' Beginning promisingly, with a nice synth Bass warble and some nicely treated cowbell rhythms, 'Entropy' opens up into an elongated melody, born with a nod to electronica's rich psychedelic history. It is halfway through 'Entropy' that my views on 'Night Music' change. The percussion drops out, leaving us floating on a sea of bass arppegiation. The tension is certainly rising, with sweat droplets staring to form. Is this where Etienne reaches new heights in electronic music form and structure? Is this where he touches us with his intricate Saxaphone skills and technical production know-how? Is this where the untold sorcery of Mr Craig is summoned forth to bring the listener to new, inspired delights of audio wizardry? No to all of the above. All that happens is the percussion is slowly faded back in. Yes that is right, faded! Wow, volume automation of the highest quality, I must say, very smooth indeed, but surely there could have been a little more? A volume fade on percussion is almost as lazy as a volume fade at the end of a song. Yes, in the Pop world you may get away with it, but in electronic music, please don't have the audacity to insult my intelligence so much Mr Craig and Mr Jaumet. There are plenty of artists that have the ability to create songs with defined starts, middles and ends. Sadly the combined efforts of the two of you couldn't - not yet anyway.

As for the rest of the "NIght Music" EP, well it moves along, perching a ride on some nice synth sounds, without actually taking the listener anywhere special. Pity really, as I had even managed to stay awake after the first track.