Writing is one way to shake oneself out of the food-induced torpor that has been a refuge since Christmas day. Well, that and running which, while enjoyable and fulfilling, does knacker one out for the rest of the day. Maybe not a good idea to play this piece of blissful excellence then. Springing from the loins of the mid-nineties trip hop hinterland, it’s probably fair to surmise that although many associate the sound of filter disco with a lot of what came out of Paris around thirty years ago, the fact that there was a very vibrant funk and downtempo scene running parallel at the same time is largely forgotten. Etienne de Crecy straddled both scenes and this, his remix of Air’s ‘Soldissimo’ on his seminal ‘Super Discount’ series of 10” singles, is a touchstone of those times. Whether stuff like this came about of its own volition, or as a reaction to the burgeoning popularity of French rap, mixed with the emergence of Mo’ Wax, is debatable. What is certain though is that neither de Crecy or Air made music that wasn’t merely ephemeral. In spite of this, ‘Soldissimo (EDC Remix)’ has the most stoned vibe outside of the late 1960s California that undoubtably inspired it that it’s possible to have. Sounding like a lost loop from Love’s ‘Forever Changes’, or an outtake from ‘Stairway To Heaven’, it’s an iridescent, hallucinogenic piece that feels both medieval and modern simultaneously; and, even though its composition is uncomplicated, it has a sophisticated knack to play with space, reaching far into the abyss of the subconscious.
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