Etienne de Crecy announces strictly vinyl tour

French touch legend celebrates the black stuff

Etienne de Crecy, the French touch veteran, has announced a new tour and declared it will be vinyl only.

The Super Discount series maestro says he migrated to digital “with enthusiasm” around 2006, but has kept his vinyl colelction and now wants to share it with the world again.

A statement from de Crecy reads: “I am not a collector. I am a DJ. From 1996 to 2006 I bought house music vinyls because they were my work tools.

“I wasn’t interested in the rarity or originality of the release. I bought these records for the music that was on them. It was the only technical way to string songs together by adjusting their tempos. I used to go to the record shops every week and get special offers. From 2006 onwards, CDJs and Beatport made enough progress. I migrated to digital with enthusiasm, first by burning CDRs (yes yes!!) and then with USB sticks.

“I kept the vinyl. Now it’s a collection that I store in my studio and it improves the decor and acoustics. It is not nostalgia that pushed me to listen to them again, but curiosity. I have forgotten the sound of most of these records and the artworks remind me of bits of parties or clubs that I have trouble locating in time and in space!

“While digging in this collection I came across the hits of course, from the peak of the French Touch movement to the advent of the electroclash. I also rediscovered a lot of incredible tracks that reflect the abundant production of this period where the borders between styles were porous and tolerant. The rhythm imposed by the mix on the turntable is very different from what current technology allows. Time doesn’t have the same duration on vinyl.

“The pleasure I got from playing these tracks on my Technics SL1200s, I want to share in a club with an audience that is about the same age as my records.  Most of the tracks were recorded over 18 years ago! This musical trip through my vinyl collection has the color of a flash. It comes from the past!“

The full dates for the Flashback tour, which include one UK date at London’s Metropolis Club in Bethnal Greem on April 8, are listed below…