Sunny Crypt is a new Italian label, run by Gabrielle Casiragihi and Paolo Fontana. Gabrielle was one of the folks who helped put together the excellent afro / cosmic Italian Dancefloor Outsiders comp for Berlin’s Thank You last year. Specialising in reissuing rarities, Sunny Crypt’s second release is Sur L’Eau, a 4-track E.P. by French duo, Les Dupont. The tunes dating back to 1994 / 95. One of them, Outremer, is banging, busy, bleep and breakbeat-driven trance / techno. Something that’s sure to shift the record, since this stuff seems to be back in vogue right now. Its energy is undeniable. The other 3 are altogether mellower. 

The title track is an 11-minute epic that marries bionic digi-dub bass with early `90s Italian “ambient” rave – the sound of sides such as Last Rhythm – but with any kind of kick removed. More a journey-like deconstruction of house than a dance floor-directed hit. Featuring bongo breakdowns and heavily treated vocals, it rises and falls, and rises again, eventually introducing rattling snares and Depth Charge-like sonar blips. Alpha 29-30 is named after its sampled dialogue, lifted from Jean-Luc Godard’s 1965 movie, Alphaville. Celebratory, (orange) sunshine-filled, and unashamedly psychedelic, with tumbling chimes and a gated synth hook, this shimmies at the more upbeat, loved-up, end of IDM, like say A Positive Life, or Ultramarine’s Stella. Mille Plateux is another sorta ambient number, which despite its totally electronic nature, including big bass synth stabs, is actually more like jazz. Laidback, quality, Cafe del Mar  / sunset suitable gear, full of flute and piano, and beatless for its first 6 minutes, its finale has flashes of funky rhythm guitar join the gentle groove. 

Les Dupont’s Sur L’Eau is out now on Sunny Crypt.