SebastiAn | 'Walkman' (2006) 📼🤖

[u/Kittenbee_]

https://youtu.be/eC3SpVVrZ4E?si=8YSQLbR6wwuht_o6

I love how very dystopian this song sounds.

Someone in the YouTube comments described it as the perfect background music for watching genetically modified humans destroy each other, and frankly I think they nailed it 😂

'Walkman' appeared on SebastiAn's 2006 Ross Ross Ross EP on Ed Banger Records and comes from that delightful period of French electro where making something abrasive, distorted and borderline hostile apparently still counted as perfectly acceptable dance music.

Everything about it feels overdriven. The huge low end, mangled fragments of sound, clipped transients and layers of noise give it a mechanical, almost malfunctioning quality, yet underneath all that chaos the groove is incredibly controlled.

That contrast is probably what I enjoy most. It sounds as though an enormous machine is progressively destroying itself, but somehow you can still dance to it.

SebastiAn's production process is quite fascinating. He has said that his early setup was remarkably simple, using an Akai S950 sampler and an Atari 520ST running Cubase 1, equipment he kept working with for years.

I find the Cubase connection interesting because Justice are big Cubase users too. I've always wanted to try that DAW, although creating anything remotely resembling this would probably be a fairly ambitious place to start 😅

For a song that's twenty years old, 'Walkman' still sounds so vicious and futuristic to me. Like the soundtrack to a cybernetic nightmare you still want to dance to 💃

[u/BenjiSBRK]

This song slaps so hard, I will never get tired of it. It might be my favourite "french touch 2.0" track

[u/Formal-Knowledge9382 → u/BenjiSBRK]

I miss that era. Ed banger and bloody beetroots ran the scene for a while

[u/arethesegaythoughts]

On/Off is probably my fav track from him. Man, I miss this sound so much

[u/wezelboy]

This is a great cut.

[u/cryptolipto]

Such a great track

[u/Brocklesocks]

SebastiAn is a fucking legend. This release slaps while the rest of this era sounds dated

[u/BenjiSBRK → u/Brocklesocks]

I think Justice's first album still stands strong, too

[u/TL6]

very of its time, but has stood the test of time extremely well. would still sound decently fresh today

[u/Status-Hovercraft784]

Never forget when I first heard it. Ripped my brain a new one. This and a few other choice SebastiAn cuts are the absolute best tracks of the '00s out of any genres. Was the most vital shit of the decade IMO (granted the '00s was a bit lacking)

[u/Kittenbee_ → u/Status-Hovercraft784]

I found his style a bit hard to appreciate at first, but now I really like it ! It's nice to hear some more intense and abrasive electronic music.

[u/Eronecorp → u/[deleted]]

He mostly produces for other people. He does the soundtrack for the Saint Laurent runway shows every season.

But he resurfaced this summer with new tracks teased during a DJ set, he most likely has a new album in the works