French minimal electro duo Masomenos are more than a musical endeavour, they are a small empire. Besides music production, they dabble in DJing and graphic design, run their own label and even own a tiny boutique shop in Paris which opens by appointment only. Adrien de Maublanc and Joan Costes must be a busy pair, which might explain why their latest album Balloons frequently sounds as thought it was swiftly knocked out in as little time as it takes to listen to.

There’s nothing at all wrong with minimalist electronic music per se; it’s when the music is so repetitious and lacking in dynamism and ideas that the minimalism actually grates. By and large, Balloons is a barely-there record, its frail and skittering beats stretched out over seven, eight, nine even ten interminable minutes, punctuated only by parachuted-in vocal snippets which serve only to mark time rather than to genuinely add anything to the tracks. Something like “8 Ball / Amor Amores” – although many of the tracks are near-indistinguishable – is like Daft Punk’s “Around the World” bereft of all energy and charm, its empty refrain unbearable long before it is repeated 144 times.

Naturally Balloons is, like the rest of Masomenos’ output, primarily designed for a club environment. No doubt these tracks will receive a fair amount of play there, but one wonders how many clubgoers would find the juxtaposition of the audio from an instructional tape on the ultimate pool break with these unimaginitive beats as euphoric as Masomenos hope, or indeed anything other than stupefying. There is too much genuinely invigorating music in the world – within and without the electronic sphere – for Balloons to be recommended with even the faintest conviction. Of probable interest only to the established subjects of the Masomenos empire, this album is a boutique release perhaps best sold by appointment in the duo’s shop.