The Best Deal in Town

Super Discount 3 marks the third record in the Super Discount series for Étienne de Crécy. It also marks the French DJ/Producer’s return from a ten-year hiatus from releasing both a full-length studio album and also an album under the Super Discount moniker.

The Super Discount series began with 1996’s inaugural Super Discount which included the well-received singles, “Tout doit” and “Prix Choc.” And it was the release of the first Super Discount record which caused one reviewer to declare that Étienne de Crécy had put the “French Touch” on electronic trance and house music; a label which at first Étienne de Crécy did not want to be associated with as he has said in interviews, because he wanted to be known as a DJ and producer in a worldly spectrum, and not simply as just a French DJ and producer.

Both the term and the style (the French Touch is defined by its use of filters and phasers) eventually worked in Étienne de Crécy’s favor as well as in the favor of two sets of electronic French DJs/producers, Air and Daft Punk, who are much more well-known outside of Europe than Étienne de Crécy.

There are noticeable echoes of both Air and Daft Punk all over Super Discount 3, especially on later on a tracks like “Follow,” which resounds with retro disco-era bouncing beats and analog synths that provide the base over which are layered the more jangly beats which act as the former’s accoutrements. The addition of Kilo Kish’s breathy, whispered vocals helps to distribute dense repetition, which expands the scope of the track beyond what it would have been without them. Another track which sounds even perhaps more Daft Punk than Daft Punk is “Family,” where Curtis Mayfield guitar funk and leapfrogging beats come together to create a relaxed and mellow groove that you can still dance to. When it comes to uber catchy and ultra-clubby hits though, Étienne de Crécy cannot be touched, as is evident on “Smile.”

There are still many fun surprises on Super Discount 3, like the analog video-game beats on “WTF” which gets vocals from De la Soul’s POS and Dave. There’s also the throwback 80’s Euro-trash beats on the hilariously titled “Hashtag My Ass.”

Étienne de Crécy has once again infused his intrinsic style into another solid record with Super Discount 3, and given de Crécy’s penchant for putting out remixes and singles you can bet that there will be more tunes which emerge through the cracks following the release of Super Discount 3.