(Peacefrog Records / Creative Vibes)

Chilean-based Lucien Nicolet (aka Lucien-N-Luciano) first started operating as a DJ and promoter in the early nineties, promoting Santiago de Chile events Sense Club and Encuentros con la Technocultura whilst also rubbing shoulders with the likes of Uwe Schmidt (aka Atom Heart / Senor Coconut) and Ricardo Villalobos.

Nicolet began producing his own tracks as Lucien-N-Luciano in 1997, and has since then released a string of 12”s on labels including Transmat, Klang Elektronik and Bruchstuecke that have showcased his deep fusion of haunting electro elements and complex polyrhythmic beat patterns drawing equally from his mixed Swiss and Chilean heritage. To this day, Nicolet also continues to collaborate with Villalobos as Sense Club and also with Pier Bucci and Argenix Brito as Monne Automne.

Although Nicolet has been a highly-touted figure on the deep techno scene for some years now, ‘Blind Behaviour’ actually represents his debut artist album, and collects together eight new tracks as well previously released tracks ‘Madre, Mother & Mere’ and ‘Future Senses’ (released on Bruchstuecke and Klang respectively). Opening track ‘Alain Brito’ introduces the signature Lucien-N-Luciano sound that permeates right throughout ‘Blind Behaviour’, with lush deep electro pads carrying Nicolet’s vocoded soul vocals over a backdrop of complicated timestretched polyrhythms and dubbed-out washes that call to mind Skam producer Bola or perhaps early Autechre – the whole track itself infused with an overriding sense of glacial calm somehow at odds with the rhythmic complexity within. ‘La Dance Des Enfants’ crackles with popping glitchy processed sounds and places a skeletal clicking beat under symphonic-sounding synth chords, creating a gliding sense of oceanic calm, before ‘Madre, Mother & Mere’ ups the bpms back towards the dancefloor with a skipping broken beat surrounded by funky Moogs, Carribean steel drum synth textures and and a ragga-infused sense of two-step swagger that’s anchored by guest vocalist Andrew Bean’s smooth croon.

‘Ice’ brings back the shuddering glitchy elements, and blends Nicolet’s detached-sounding French spoken vocal with what almost sounds like a Brian Eno-inspired ambient wash of synthetic background texture and gliding motorik beats, buzzing skeletal snares and bursts of distorted sound sitting at the foreground of the mix. ‘La Ondita’ sees Nicolet collaborating with Pier Paolo Bucci to place graceful fluttering beats around Cassy Britton’s soulful guest vocal in one of this album’s most immediately accessible moments, while the curiously titled ‘Yoghurt Pressure’ swings with a distinct ragga pulse, fat dubby bass patterns topped by buzzing and whirring DSP-stretched beats and ringing synthetic steel-drum tones. ‘Future Senses’ almost calls to mind echoes of Miss Kittin, with Francisca Leon’s detached icy tones riding atop clicking electro beats and clinking metallic sounds, compressed bursts of noise sounding alongside icy keyboard notes, leading into ‘Coquillage’ which builds a deep electro-inspired groove, layers of clicking Autechre / Gescom-esque rhythms propelling a slow relentless wash of ambient pads and clicking beats. Finally, ‘Blind Behaviour’ closes this album, ticking metronomic beats gliding along in a manner that almost calls to mind early electronic experimentalist Manuel Gottsching’s seminal ‘E2-E4’, its motorik pulse fused to cycling icy synthetic tones, rolling tribal echoes and melancholy ambient pads.

‘Blind Behaviour’ is a stunning debut artist album from Lucien-N-Luciano that shows Nicolet creating a intriguing fusion of deep techno and electro influences coloured by his Chilean surroundings as well as unmistakeable traces of dub and Carribean music. What’s also immediately apparent upon listening to ‘Blind Behaviour’ is the exquisite sense of space within each of these productions – while there’s often a million things going on inside each one, they never seem cluttered, each element being perfectly balanced in its right place. Coming in somewhere between a fusion of Balearic dub, techno, electro and lush ambience, ‘Blind Behaviour’ represents an exciting step forward for Nicolet that’s sure to appeal to fans of the likes of such latin-tinged techno producers as Ricardo Villalobos, Atom Heart / Lisa Carbon and Carl Craig / Paperclip People.Highly recommended.Check out: www.peacefrog.com