[T]ékël

Julien Briffaz worked as the founder of BRIF Records and was the first to put his money behind the brilliantly twisted electro funk of ARK. Julien linked up with Loic Le Guilou and began producing music as [T]ékël with a sound that amalgamated rock, hip-hop, house, electro and techno. After releasing a number of twelve-inch records and doing remixes for the likes of Crosstown Rebels, Set, Lasergun and Boxer Recordings, the duo have put together their first full-length album. While many producers will cite such diverse influences as hip-hop, rock and techno, [T]ékël actually manage to blend these different forms of pop music into something unique, interesting and genuinely listenable. The strongest cuts, however, are the tech-house tracks like "Flambi,” "Creteil Connexion” and "Smet,” which take just a taste of electro and mix it into stomping dance tracks. The hip-hop inspired, down-tempo songs are also quite strong, but the beautiful electronic sound palates and compositions far outshine the vocal cuts. This is a great album but it’s the dance singles that are going to make the biggest impact and the vocal pop, although interesting, will probably get swallowed up by the monster that is popular culture.