Frank Bolaers & Brice Berard from Paris, as Electroslide, following the recent trends of Parisian fusion like the Gotan Projects’ Argentinean / French electro dub, have produced a modern album of incredible jazz dubs and funk fusions. From the initial piano lines of ‘Pick Me Up’ to the street tough bass lines of ‘I’m A Cadillac’ the album has a certain ‘savoir-faire’ typified by French artists such as St. Germain with his jazzy ‘Blue Note’ blends and Kid Loco with his dubby trip hop. ‘Near Life Experience’, is the second release for Twisted Records sub-label Backroom Beats Recordings and the album, with its selection of smoked beats, smouldering in a Parisian café is a perfect follow up to the initial compilation, ‘Backroom Beats’ with it’s tendency towards modern dubs, trip hop, and other beats & pieces for the chill out room. Frank and Brice come from very different angles; Frank a rare guitar maker and guitarist originally played for rock bands in the Reims area of France, while Brice with the influence of friends like Florian Seriot (Toires) and Loic Vanpoucke (Total Eclipse), came from a techno background in Bordeaux and is in charge of programming, sampling, and synthesisers. They joined together to form Electroslide and make their first album of, “minimalist music with lots of guitar”, this they pressed themselves and sold worldwide via their website and through contacts in New York, Ibiza, and the French chain store ‘Fnac’. This, their second album, Frank describes as being a departure from this original ‘minimal’ style with the aid of the sampler, it has broadened the spectrum of grooves available adding a new style and colour to their sound. For this second album instead of laying guitar grooves over a funky techno base, Frank & Brice have tried a different sort of composition, with both members making tracks separately and then joining together. The way these funk fusions came together is down to this strange combination of styles, Frank playing guitar along with Ninja Tune’s classic, DJ Food series, and Brice Djing at techno parties. Both say they were looking for a “groove tempo” when they met, with which they could blend rock & dance into one unified rhythm. They seem to have achieved this enviable fusion, blending not only rock and dance elements but also adding in host of wider influences such as ambient, jazz, hip hop, break beat, with the real musicians, producing an album of infinite beauty coupled with a selection of detailed and complete grooves. Get down to the sound of…Electroslide. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.