Badaboom is the new electronic music album from Paris producer Sparte, and it sees bold basslines combined with a vibrant array of samples and a playful production sound. Created in the artist’s humble home studio, this ten-track release is sure to capture your imagination as well as your ears.
How Sparte Built Badaboom From Synths, Basslines and Samples
There’s an appealingly tactile quality to Badaboom, with Sparte building the sound of the album around thick electronic basslines, crisp drum patterns and squelching synthesizers. The title track immediately establishes that approach, combining a chunky groove with layers of electronic detail, while Être Vivant turns up the rhythmic energy with a more restless arrangement across its eight-minute runtime. Elsewhere, Child’s Play brings another side of the record into focus, using deep synth tones and a more propulsive dancefloor feel. Throughout, the production remains playful without becoming overly cluttered, allowing small details to emerge around the central grooves.
Françoise Hardy, Coluche, Benoît Poelvoorde and Nas Between the Beats
The samples used throughout Sparte – Badaboom are another source of the album’s character. Sparte has scattered vocal snippets throughout the tracks, with appearances from the likes of Françoise Hardy, Coluche, Benoît Poelvoorde and Nas tucked between the electronic textures. They’re used more like musical ingredients than traditional vocals, suddenly appearing alongside the bass and percussion before disappearing back into the mix. It makes tracks such as Message Personnel and Airstrike particularly rewarding on repeat listens, as there are plenty of smaller details to pick out.
House, Breakbeat and Techno Without Fixed Borders
While House, Breakbeat and Techno provide some of the foundations of this electronic album, Sparte doesn’t allow Badaboom to stay within their boundaries for long. L’enfer Des Villes, for instance, brings a more nocturnal feel, while closer Le Temps des Cerises takes a mellower tone. The result is a varied listen, but one that Paris producer Sparte keeps cohesive through its bass-heavy production, playful electronic sampling and instinct for movement. In this sense, ultimately Badaboom sounds like a producer having fun with electronic music, and seeing where it takes him.
