Djedjotronic – Cruising (Central Processing Unit)

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French electronic producer Jeremy Cottereau only just graced us with his highly anticipated debut album under his Djedjotronic alias ‘R.U.R.’ a couple of months back, and now he’s returned with this latest 12” EP ‘Cruising’ on Sheffield-based label Central Processing Unit. As with his debut album, the four new tracks collected here take their aesthetic cues from the sort of classic electro structures fashioned by the likes of Kraftwerk, Anthony Rother and Dopplereffekt, all sheeny synthscapes and pristine robotic rhythms.

‘Cruising’ opens proceedings in contemplative territory, its lush blend of airy synth layers, brooding bass chords and snapping snare kicks evoking the sense of gliding in some vacuum-sealed pod through a cityscape at night, the twinkling Model 500-esque electronics trailing away into the darkness at their edges. ‘Celular’ snaps things back to attention as contorted voice synthesis effects and ominous spoken vocals intersect over a backdrop of robust drum machine kicks, darkly funky electro bass pads and eerie minor key synth flourishes, in an offering that suggests a far more evil take on Kraftwerk’s ‘The Robots’ injected with additional coldwave paranoia.

On the flipside, ‘Tunnel’ opens with ominous droning synths drifting in and out of tune against spidery flickering breakbeats, before a throbbing 4/4 kickdrum pulse locks in alongside stark, dramatic EBM bass synths in an offering that sits closer to the likes of Front 242 or The Hacker, and it’s easily the most streamlined and dancefloor-tooled moment to be found here.

If the aforementioned track represents this EP’s most black-clad offering, ‘#1#0#2’ closes things with a wobbling bass-loaded wander through cold skeletal electro breaks and distorted analogue synth growls that winds up the levels of tension before dropping flashes of dramatic synth colour in against a rattling 4/4 groove and jittery arpeggios that carry a touch of ghostly rave atmosphere. With this latest EP, Cottereau is less interested in tearing up the rulebook, than he is in paying heartfelt homage to his classic electro influences – something that he certainly does well.

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