SebastiAn
Total

In the last 5-6 years, Ed Banger, the label led by the ingenious Pedro Winter (formerly the manager of Daft Punk), has assertively established itself as the "new wave" of the so-called French touch. Pedro's roster includes artists of the caliber of Justice, Mr. Oizo, Cassius... It also includes a certain Sebastian Akchoté, better known as SebastiAn.
Thanks to his remixing skills, SebastiAn has been identified as the artist with the most potential within Ed Banger, so his first LP was eagerly anticipated by aficionados of French electronic music.

So then, how is this "Total"? Is it truly the revolutionary album that was expected? No. There are 22(!) tracks. 4 are old productions that have been restyled (Ross Ross Ross, Kindercut, Motor and Doggg). Out of the new songs, "Yes," "Prime" and "Tetra" stand out, then there are anonymous tracks and numerous meaningless 30-second interludes, much like in Boards Of Canada albums.

Unfortunately, as I suspected, unlike others, SebastiAn has an incredible sense of rhythm that allows him to excel in remixes, but as far as "de novo" production is concerned, he still has a long way to go.

Track-by-track review:

1. Hudson River - n/a
Intro of 51 seconds.

2. Love In Motion (feat. Mayer Hawthorne) - 5
SebastiAn + Prince = catchy, but not the genre I expected.

3. Tough Games - n/a
41 seconds of nothing.

4. Embody - 4
A little song based on a loop repeated ad infinitum.

5. Ross Ross Ross - 8
Beautiful... too bad it's from 2006, now a classic.

6. Fried - 3
A heap of samples thrown together haphazardly.

7. Kindercut - 6
One of his remixes from 2007.

8. Water Games - n/a
38 seconds of emptiness.

9. Total - 4
See track 4. But the loop changes.

10. Jack Wire (Instrumental Version) - 7
Listenable.

11. C.T.F.O. (feat. M.I.A) - 2
Musical manure.

12. Cartoon - n/a
More interludes???

13. Arabest - 6.5
According to some, the best of the album. Listenable but not thrilling.

14. Prime - 8
The best of the album along with "Yes".

15. Mean Games - n/a
Interlude

16. Tetra - 7
Done in collaboration with Gaspard Augé of Justice. Passable.

17. Motor - 1
I challenge you to listen to it all.

18. Night - n/a
Still with these interludes...

19. Yes - 8
Best track of the album.

20. Bird Games - n/a
Zzzzzzzzzzzz

21. Doggg - 4
Old and awful.

22. Frustra - n/a
Anonymous outro