Etienne de Crecy Live (BEATS N Cubes Live TOUR)

Bastard Son of DD & Academy Events Present

ETIENNE DE CRECY LIVE (BEATS N CUBES LIVE TOUR)

PAUL WOOLFORD

MATT COOPER
ROBERT JAMES
ERROL BROWN

29/01/10
O2 Academy Leeds, 55 Cookridge Street, Leeds, LS1 5HU

On Friday January 29th 2010 the most exciting and anticipated dance act of the moment will be raising the roof at the o2 Academy Leeds, Etienne De Crecy Live!

Settled 2 meters high (6,5 feet), above huge crowds reacting immediately to the howling of machines. Playing powerful electronic music that captures the audience in an incredible, federative and new energy.

For over 2 years, Etienne de Crécy has rocked the biggest festivals in the world with his « Beats N Cubes ». A genuine electronic live, played only with machines (no laptop music) that sounds definitely 21st century electro-techno. After touring 3 years with Alex Gopher and Julien Delfaud with the live project « Super Discount 2 », Etienne de Crécy issued his first live solo concept at the « Transmusicales de Rennes » in December 2007. Since this first show, the « Beats N Cubes » experiment has been performed more than 40 times throughout the world, from Paris to Moscow, from Mexico to Turkey, through Coachella Festival in California or the Future Music Festival (5 venues in Australia).

The concept draws on the impressive discography of the producer with anthems from Super Discount or Tempovision as « Le Patron est devenu fou », « Prix Choc », « Am I Wrong », « Scratched », « Overnet », « Fast Track » or more recent tracks as « Fuck » et « Punk ». All these titles are reworked directly on stage according to the feelings of the moment, with his powerful and unique touch. Etienne de Crécy has also produced original tunes for this live show (« Welcome » and « Hope ») and according to the places, time and moods; he can compose an original live set each time.

Without any laptop and armed with vintage gear (Drum Machine / a MPC1000 sampler, 2 TB-303 sequencers, 2 Bass Station and A Station synthesizers, a multi-effects machine, a mixing console), Etienne de Crécy proposes a genuine electronic live, performed only with machines: loops, live sequences, effects filters and cuts. Every tune is rebuilt during each show, on the spur of the moment which gives a techno music that sounds definitely electro and crunchy, dirty, rough sounds full of distortions. Etienne de Crécy, as a worldwide famous DJ playing in the clubs all over the world, is always inspired by current sounds and the atmosphere of his live shows is strongly anchored in his era.

If this new live concept is retrospective because of the wide range of tracks performed, its also innovative because of the technology implemented (no laptop), the sound research and the performance.

It takes its entire dimension in the stage structure designed and conceived by François Wunschel and Pier Schneider of the Parisian collective called Exyzt . Both artists have conceived for Etienne de Crécy a mighty cubic structure made of metallic tubes and screens. This 6 meters wide and high geometric device (about 20 feet) stands as the canvas for original video projections, that the live music comes to activate and to vibrate. The visual aesthetic of the video projections reminds of the first 70s computers, with orange or green screens and 8 bit technology. This simplistic and evocative aesthetic matches perfectly with the machines poetry.

Interaction between architecture, image and sound is just impressive. With this sound and visual device, the boundaries between real space and virtual space suddenly become tenuous

Exyzt is a pluridisciplinary collective born in 2003 in Paris that gathers together architects, graphic designers, photographers, DJs, VJs, botanists and fireworks artists. Together they design and build temporary architectural set-ups, they live inside and transform them into a meeting device between people and the different media. Exyzt can perform during festivals (Roubaix ; Barcelona) and cultural events (Venice Architecture Biennale ; K@2, Karosta, Latvia).