RONE
Bora
IF2009
InFiné 2008
05 Tracks. 33mins01secs
12″/Digital

FRACTION
Superposition
IF2011
InFiné 2008
05 Tracks. 23mins59secs
12″/Digital

French imprint Infiné has been around for just over a year, but is already starting to get noticed thanks to a series of EPs by artists as diverse as Luxembourg-born classical musician Francesco Tristano Schlimé, German techno artist Apparat or French afro electronic ensemble Donso.

The label’s recent outputs continue to showcase the ambitious scope of the label with two somewhat different electronic releases. The first one, Rone’s Bora is a lush collection of elegant Detroit-infused compositions. Rone is the project of young Parisian DJ Erwan Castex, who began as a filmmaker before turning his attention to music. Bora is Castex’s debut solo release and follows a collaboration with another French musician, Lucy, on one track released as part of a split EP on Curle Recordings last year. All the way through Bora, Castex crafts delicate pieces built upon vast ambient swathes propped up with watery bass lines and pulsating beats.

The title track, which is presented in two variations, one instrumental, which opens the EP, and a second featuring a spoken word contribution from French author Alain Damasio, is a beautiful piece of classic bleepy techno which rolls on over a vaporous backdrop and a steady 4/4 beat. The whole piece, especially in its instrumental guise, has a 5am sunrise feel to it which resonates throughout Flesh, which follows and beyond. On Flesh, Castex’s dreamy techno drifts into much warmer and uplifting territory, led once again by bleeps set over gentle soundwaves, and the process is once again repeated on Spanish Breakfast and Dry, which concludes this rather stunning EP.

Fraction’s Eric Raynaud adopts a more angular and abstract approach for the five tracks making up his debut EP. While his electronic credentials are still rather thin on the ground, Raynaud was, in a previous incarnation, guitarist and singer with French rock/noise formation Mary Lake for ten years. Having swapped his electric guitar for computers, Raynaud still articulates elements of distortion and grit into his work, as demonstrated on the rather formulaic, yet somewhat excellent title track. Here, Raynaud chop up a linear beat and groove and injects statics and glitches all over a feel-good melodic theme. Despite the amount of interferences, Superposition has everything to make it a radical floor-filler.

Things take a different path with the four remaining tracks as Raynaud leaves behind the bright lights of club land and descends into more fractured and dense grounds. The complex rhythmic formations deployed on Inside The Neighbour’s Cat’s Head or Wild, Blue And Dense for instance are vaguely reminiscent of Funkstörung in their post modern digital hip-hop days, while the peaceful Requiem For The Unique Illusion reveals a more pastoral approach, at least in its first half, as progressively, Raynaud deconstructs the main melody and impairs its progression.

With these two EPs, released in a matter of months, Infiné are placing themselves at the forefront of the new French and European electronic scene. Both Rone and Fraction deliver superb records which respectfully draw on a variety of influences and dare look at the future with eyes wide open.

RONE: 4.3/5
FRACTION: 4.6/5

Rone (MySpace) | Fraction (MySpace) | InFiné
Buy: Fraction: Superposition 12″ | iTunes