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>> Julien Barthe of Sweetlight revisits and revises the golden days of French synthpop

INSTANT REPLAY: Julien Barthe

Julien Barthe is 34, which would have made him about eight years old when French synthpop star Étienne Daho released his early single “Le grand sommeil” in 1982. It also would have made the Polaroid instant-camera boom a visible aspect of Barthe’s young life. Something of that period resonates in his work as both a producer of electronic music and a photographer, under the pseudonyms Sweetlight (along with Alex Desaegher) and Julien Plaisir De, swimming up through the digital sea to appear fresh and renewed two and a half decades later, rather than crackly, dated and yellow-tinged.

And renewal seems certainly to be the defining characteristic of his work, as his slick, dramatic remix of “Le grand sommeil” stands as a landmark in the re-launching of Tiga’s local label Turbo Recordings, perhaps saving both from the big sleep. And the electronic approximations of Polaroid photography that are attached to Barthe’s online identity provide a suitable element of mystery and nostalgia to the polished blend of modern techno and new wave on his releases.

As I spoke to Barthe, on the very weekend of Polaroid’s historic announcement that they would discontinue production of their legendary film, my roommate sat right behind me, feverishly working to revive a Polaroid camera he got at a flea market that day. The Twilight Zone vibe of the interview actually made for a pretty good approximation of the atmosphere of Barthe’s work.

Barthe says that though there is a connection between the two art forms, he’s constantly looking to experiment with new things. “I think [my musical and photographic styles] are linked. But I often change styles of music, as I do with photography. I don’t want to feel stuck on one thing.”

That reflex of change and revisionism also came up when we discussed www.beatport.com, many DJs’ go-to site for online purchase of new tracks. He has one of the influential track charts on the site.

“I think it’s alright, but I feel blocked into one style. They’ve got a lot of electronic stuff, but I love electro-rock, for instance, and they don’t have any of that. Or electropop, and that’s really a shame, because people would buy that.”

With Thomas Von Party at
Zoobizarre on Friday,
Feb. 15, 10 p.m., $6