Infine 2008 & 2009

Infine is a label overseen by French techno titan Agoria. It's seven releases old, numbering Danton Eephrom, Francesco Tristano and Clara Moto amongst it's artists. The end of this month sees Apparat release his second ep for the label, while new artist Rone follows on in February. It's output is always interesting and the EPs released so far have shown variety and originality.

This from their MySpace:

EASY MUSIC 4 HARD TASTE PEOPLE ! International & eclectic music home based in Paris. Created by Agoria, to pulse with love & passion projects from all over the world and different genre. InFiné is open-minded and looking for new way of spreading music for the future!

Here's a few words about those two upcoming releases.

Title: Arcadia
Artist: Apparat
Label: Infine
Cat Number: IF2008
Genre: Floaty Electronica

A: Arcadia (Boyz Noize remix)
B1: Arcadia (Telefon Tel Aviv remix)
B2: Arcadia (Original Video edit)

The "Boyz Noize remix" is a tease. It's very well produced, will, no doubt, do some dancefloor damage but I have two particular issues with it. It's epic length (Radio Slave style 12 minutes and counting) and it's tendency to breakdown every other minute into melodrama, thus ruining any momentum. When it rocks it's a passable homage to all things French, funky and strident, but it's ruined by it's inability to decide what it really wants to do. The "Telefon Tel Aviv remix" is much shorter at just over three and a half minutes and uses the vocal cadences over a much more sluggish beat. It's almost like a lengthened breakdown from the Boyz Noize remix, with the vocal to make it more interesting. Finally the "Original Video edit" comes in. It's very similar to the "Telefon . . ." remix, but twice the length and with slightly tougher beats. All in all an interesting package with reasonable breadth but for me, lacking that extra special something. Will go down very well at the end of the night as that all-important last tune on the trancier floors.

Title: Bora EP
Artist: Rone
Label: Infine
Cat Number: IF2009
Genre: Atmospheric Melancholia

A1: Bora (Original)
A2: Bora (Vocal feat A Damasio)
B1: Flesh
B2: Spanish Breakfast

I really like the original of "Bora." It's just a monologue in French, and I've no idea who's speaking, but it reminds me of the much more monotonous voice in Coctaeu's "Orphee." In any case this is a strong EP that scores high on atmosphere and evokes a certain bittersweet melancholia. It's funny, after praising the variety of Infine this is an EP that presents subtle variations on the same theme, but then it's a good subject to experiment with. The instrumental expands on the vocal by amplifying the drama and ambience. It's trancetastic in a very sophisticated way, breaking down into an acid riff that reminds me of stuff that came out on Rising High a long time ago. "Parasight" by Balil springs to mind. "Spanish Breakfast" is a slightly different animal, being similar in general tone to "Bora" but starker and more wiry. Finally "Flesh" sounds like a cross between Captain Nemo on the Nautilus' organ and breaks, but they're very understated.

Two good eps, that while different, do have common ground. My favourite is Rone's, but Apparat is a comparitive old hand and while his EP isn't quite my thing, it's fair to say that it comes across as an equally sophisticated piece.