ClekClekBoom is fast becoming the premier exponent of finely-crafted Parisien techno, a sound that replaces the somewhat erstwhile French House’s playful bravado for a more rugged, subterranean feel in 2015. Adrien Creuse aka. The Boo has been co-running ClekClekBoom since 2011 with Ministre X and French Fries, and has always maintained the label as his ‘second family’. In this respect their latest VA EP Various Cuts #1 is very much a family affair, all four tracks a true representation of the deep-yet-club-ready CCB sound with offerings from fellow Parisiens NSDOS, Aleqs Notal, and Jean Nipon, and Amsterdam-based Barbara Ford. With the wax having already hit stores and digital copies about to land we thought it apt to get in touch with the label and get The Boo on board for the next instalment of our Five Essentials series. Theo Parrish, Metalheadz, Paris Is Burning, The Wire’s Omar all featuring……. Do tell.

 

1/5 NSDOS – ‘Meridien S-Dos’ (Live)

This video right here has a special place in my heart, as it’s the first music video we produced with ClekClekBoom for an artist. An entire day with the crew in this amazing space, fixing all the gears and making sure everything was ready to roll. The track is actually recorded live straight from the one-shot sequence. Of course we had to shoot many sequences to make sure that we would have the right take we needed at the end of the day. Eventually we did and were all proud of this achievement. Big up Romain Cieutat and Ndaye on directing the project. We have a beautiful thing going on with French Fries, NSDOS, Aleqs Notal, Coni, Jean Nipon, Manaré, Aethority and myself… always pushing one another to go further and get the best out of each other. Just looking after the fact that we have our own thing and that we keep it alive and rolling! S/o to Bambounou, Chaos in the CBD, Barbara Ford, Caslau and everyone who’ll join the family next. By the way, we have a new NSDOS EP coming soon…

 

2/5 Yuji Ohno “Captain Future” OST / B1 – Kirameku Inner Space

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE-Phctfda0

Soundtrack written for this cult 1979 anime series. It seems incredible to me that this kind of high-end musical piece has been produced for a kid’s TV show. You just have to acknowledge – Japanese do it better! A jazz-fusion album (although the “fusion” term has always makes me nauseous) that you could totally expect to be sampled by Alchemist or Madlib. Of course through the record you’ll find your fair share of tacky space disco references and some abusive saxophone parts, but man, it’s all in that late 70’s game and you gotta look at the big picture to appreciate. By the time I was watching that show, I was maybe around 6 years old, too young of course to comprehend what was going through my ears, it was only later that it struck me… this is pure bliss and honestly we shouldn’t be allowed to feed children with any lower effort than what those people did. The LP got bootlegged last year, better believe I was happy to finally get my hands on it.

 

3/5 Theo Parrish – ‘Walking Thru The Sky’ 

You could say that almost nine minutes is long enough. Well I couldn’t care less if the track went on for thirty-five minutes. That piano loop just gets under my skin every time, and that soft yet raw groove does the rest. I always try to fit that track into my sets, no matter what time it is. It took me some time to get into Theo Parrish’s work to be honest, but man once you’ve got yourself in there, there’s no going back. Just like his fellow motor-town house producers like Rick Wilhite, Marcellus Pittman, Omar S or Moodymann… that soulful mechanical sound, signature of Detroit’s heritage will just carry you on ’til the end of the night.

 

4/5 Talkin’ Headz – The Metalheadz Documentary

One day I think I watched this video four times in a row, you’ve got everything in there… always brings loads of memories. From around 1994 and for more than a decade I was both feet in the Drum & Bass scene, writing reviews and interviews for fanzines, doing flyers for parties, having my own radio show on the most underground / dodgiest associative radio the FM could provide. The actors of that scene in Paris and France in general formed a solid core, like in a members club everybody knew each other. We were all hanging at the same record store (s/o to the late Black Label) but everybody had their own style. Me, I couldn’t bare ragga-jungle or the jump-up stuff, it had to be more mental, either in a smooth or a dark way. I was all about Metalheadz and its extended family. Those days man, going back and forth to London to get those promos, witnessing the Sunday sessions at Blue Note, cutting dubplates at Music House… the real deal! Today my musical choices are still very influenced by that bass and rhythm combination, but in a more complete way I would say… well thank God I can say that, cause we’re only 20 years later! Fun fact tho, D&B also influenced my choice of mastering studio for ClekClekBoom. We wanted that bass to be proper, that’s why we went to Stuart Hawkes at Metropolis… a man who’s been cutting the sounds of Dillinja cannot deceive you on the low frequency subject!

 

5/5 Paris is Burning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWuzfIeTFAQ

The definitive Ballroom/Voguing scene documentary, filmed in the mid-80s following some of the icons of those days. If you wanna get to know about it… this is as underground, as urban, as gritty, as real as it gets. As a white straight male, I’m humble and proud to have been accepted in that movement and asked to be a DJ for the House of Ninja in Paris. The Ballroom scene has to be the only one I know of that has been living on the same ground rules for 30 years but at the same time has been totally embracing the evolution of music… how do you go from Diana Ross to DJ MikeQ without totally changing the face or the nature of a community, well just by being truthful to the culture you’ve chosen I guess. An open mind is required to check that film out, but if you’re into music you should already have that.

 

6/5 Bonus… The Wire – Omar Vs. Brother Mouzone

Watch.

This is Urban Essence right? So, urban we go. Whatever you’re into, a man must have a code! Some movies and TV shows are timeless, because they were properly written with the right balance of imagination and humanism. Same goes for music.

CCB018 – Various Cuts #1 is out now on ClekClekBoom. Cop yours via Beatport / Phonica.

Comments