GARÇON is an artist of endless restraint. Why else would the pornographically named Jean Paul Pantaleon adopt a belittling byword for French waiters as his stage name? He knows how turn a little into a lot… or vice versa. The latter might explain why he’s able to remix vocals from an outfit as notoriously inflammatory as Injury Reserve into smooth avant garde electronica.
The paradox doesn’t stop there — ‘What A Year’ is equally melodic and discordant, groovy and arhythmic, soundscape and bop. Opening on a percussion-less vignette like a xylophone plinking out dial tones, it takes a detour into found footage, before finally dropping the beat proper, under lyrics from the late Stepa Groggs. Finding an inordinate amount of vibes in only 3 minutes, GARÇON’s in typically fine form here, rendering the highs and lows of hustle culture as clear as a video game in 60 fps.
Listen for production as byzantine and balanced as the present moment, per usual.
