Onbeat contributor Thomas Cesa put his feelers out on a global scale to come-up with the next wave of the dance music underground. Enter the new French Revolution!

Story by: Thomas Cesa

The French have always had a great ear for new and innovative music. They were one of the first countries to embrace Jazz with open arms, which served as a source of inspiration for French artists like Serge Gainsbourg. They also embraced Techno and Acid House. Many French artists have taken a wide variety of sounds to create something fresh and unique. From their enthusiasm for the new electronic movement sprang artists like Daft Punk, Dimitri from Paris, Superdiscount, Air and Laurent Garnier. Rather than biting off established scenes and making copycat tracks, they developed their own distinctive sounds, and as result, became innovative, global leaders.
 
The release of Daft Punk’s Homework in 1996 was a watershed moment for the burgeoning scene. While many French artists had released innovative tracks prior to its release, Homework’s massive crossover appeal brought international media attention to Paris. With spotlights and flashbulbs on the Eiffel Tower, many artists seized this opportunity to showcase their own sounds. Bob Sinclar’s deep vocal house, Mr. Oizo’s quirky techno, and Alan Braxe & Fred Faulk’s disco funk all achieved chart-topping success.

After a meteoric rise and mainstream accolades, artists often return to the underground to rediscover their passion for music, and while expanding their creative boundaries, revive the scene. And right now, for the French, it’s 1996 all over again. The French underground is on the cusp of once again becoming the capital of all things “électronique magnifique.” And just like last time, they are taking the best of what house, electro, techno, rock and leftfield electronics have to offer—and making it their own.

The results are as varied as the artists. This new movement already has major-league fans—Dave Clarke, Mylo, James Holden and Andrew Weatherall to name a few. There’s the jerky, experimental beats of Jackson & His Computer Band; the electro hip-pop of Uffie and TTC; the digital house of Para-One; the thumping electro-club sounds of Surkin and the dark, sexy pop of Play Paul.

And just like in ’96, independent labels are leading the way and uniting the scene, like Arcade Mode with its ultra cool and ultra-limited blue 7” vinyl. Or Institubes, which has dedicated itself to pushing “serious pop music”; or Colette – which, when it’s not releasing genre-shattering compilations and mixes, promotes fashion, design and pop culture oddities.

While there are many talented French producers and label-heads making their mark, two labels indisputably rule the French scene, with a stable of artists who are redefining dance music all over the world. One pulls its talent almost exclusively from the underground scene in Paris. The other is comprised of an international conglomerate of cool. One looks to merge pop, electro and hip-hop into banging disjointed disco; the other unites indie rock kings with big club anthems. Both use unmistakable artwork that announces, “you don’t have to buy anything else, the big guns are here.” When the b-side of a single is as strong as its a-side, you know a label has staying power. Thus is the case for these two labels. Here’s a look at Ed Banger Records and Kitsunè, and their artists who are the undisputed leaders of the new French Revolution.

ED BANGER RECORDS

As if managing France’s greatest dance music exports Daft Punk and Cassius wasn’t enough, Pedro Winter (aka Busy P) launched Ed Banger Records in 2003. Bringing together dance, rock, hip-hop, skateboarding, and graffiti, Pedro uses Ed Banger to champion new blood from the French underground. One of Ed Banger’s first releases was a remix of English group Simian’s “Never Be Alone” by then newcomers Justice. Their remix became the definitive version of the track and helped put Ed Banger and Justice on the map.

Three years later, the track is still rocking dancefloors, so much so that it was bought by Virgin and re-released in 2006—a testament to its staying power.  With the newfound buzz surrounding his label, Pedro signed other French talent, like young upstart Sebastian and foulmouthed electro-pop MC Uffie. With beats provided by French techno producer Feadz and Mr. Oizo, Uffie released her “Pop the Glock / Ready to Uff” single in 2006.

In order to spread the Ed Banger gospel, Pedro spent early 2006 touring with Justice and Uffie, bringing them to this year’s Winter Music Conference in Miami and doing scattered dates throughout the US and Europe. In addition to releases from Justice and Sebastian this year, there will be a flurry of releases from Ed Banger crew. French hip-hop DJ Mehdi will be releasing his new album “Lucky Boy,” which includes the single “I Am Somebody” and feature vocals from Canadian retro-duo Chromeo. The label’s first signing, Mr. Flash, recently released his single “Champions / Disco Dynamite” which features French rap act TTC. 

Justice

Justice (aka Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosnay) has proven to be Ed Banger’s golden calf. They met at a party in 2003 and began recording together soon thereafter. With the success of “Never Be Alone,” remix offers came pouring in, allowing the duo to massage their style into tracks by Fatboy Slim, Soulwax and Britney Spears. Their productions are slabs of raw energy that toy with sonic extremes, crunching the highs ‘till your ears bleed and driving the lows into your chest at full throttle. They soon became favorites of DJ’s like Erol Alkan, Touche and Tiga, and had the opportunity to re-rub artists like Franz Ferdinand, Mr. Oizo and Daft Punk.

A focus on original productions brought forth their first EP “Waters of Nazareth” on Ed Banger in 2005. The much-deserved hype around “Waters of Nazareth” prompted the US to take notice of Justice, which led to indie label Vice Records to sign the group. Vice Co-Founder Suroosh Alvi says “Justice’s visceral and brutal assault tore us apart and left us on the floor wanting more. Seriously, they killed us. They’re the first French electronic artists in years to make music so hard, innovative and interesting. We had to have them on our label.” Vice released the “Waters of Nazareth” EP digitally and will be releasing Justice’s forthcoming debut album in North America in 2007. 

Sebastian

While Justice has been the focus of much of Ed Bangers’ media attention, it is a mysterious twenty-something producer who will deliver dance music’s next death blow. With his “Smoking Kills (?)” single released in 2005, Sebastian arrived with deafening authority. Artists like Annie, Cut Copy and Revl9n quickly lined up for the Sebastian touch.

But rather than remixing, Sebastian pulverizes their vocals into disco glitter and sprinkles it on top of jarring edits and jolting basslines. His first remix of fellow Ed Banger Uffie’s “Pop the Glock” (he did two) is one of the roughest moments of the year. His next single “Ross Ross Ross” is due out in August. Also, expect more on the remix front with the likes of Kelis, Mylo and fellow Frenchmen Kavinsky as his next victims. Also check out a remix of Play Paul’s cover of Green Velevet’s “La La Land” that Sebastian did with Justice member Xavier.

KITSUNÈ

While Kitsunè is based in Paris, calling it a “French” label might not be 100% accurate. Calling it exclusively a label, for that matter, isn’t exactly accurate either. Kitsunè is run by a group of artists from Sweden, Japan and France, brought together by shared taste in music, fashion and visual art. Together, they design clothes, create innovative album art and, well, A&R Kitsunè Music.

Each member brings their own experiences to the table, allowing for a diverse creative exchange that is very beneficial to the group. Enter Gildas Loaec, a Frenchman who is no stranger to the world of dance music. In the late ‘90s he started Roule, the massively successful French house label that he co-ran with Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter. He started signing tracks to Kitsunè in 2002. Kitsunè releases one-off singles from artists as varied as Archigram, VHS or Beta and Black Strobe.

What makes a Kitsunè artist? Gildas says “dance and good writing. We aren’t putting out a track just to put a track out…for sure it has to work on the dancefloor,” Gildas tests a lot of the Kitsunè (and possible future Kitsunè) artists when DJing with Kitsunè member Masaya Kuroki. However, the requirements for their successful compilation series, Kitsunè Maison, are a bit different. “For the Maison CD series it has to be very eclectic with melody and love and good producers,” says Loaec. They have recently released the Kitsunè Maison Compilation 2, which features tracks and production by Azzido Da Bass, Christopher & Raphael Just and newcomer Boys Noize, who deliver a blinding remix of Bloc Party anthem “Banquet.” Also look out for the just released Klaxons single “Gravity’s Rainbow,” complete with the much sought after Nightmoves mix.

Digitalism

Ok, so they are German, but they are quintessential Kitsunè artists: international, creatively challenging and with a love for big dancefloor sounds. Ismail Tuefekci and Jens Moelle are hotly touted. Gildas describes them as “young and talented—they can go from underground to mainstream…the future Chemical Brothers.” The exception to the rule, they have released four artist singles on Kitsunè, the biggest of them being “Zdarlight,” which appeared on many top DJ’s end-of-year playlists in 2005.

They cite Daft Punk as one of their greatest inspirations, clearly heard in their funkdafied electro-disco productions. They even had the thrill of remixing their idols’ “Technologic” single. Along the way, they have remixed others like Tom Vek, The Test Icicles and Cajuan. Apparently, they have developed (by all accounts) a killer live show. Keep an eye out for their latest single “Jupiter Room” and their unreleased edit of The Cure’s “Fire in Cairo” (Jens from Digitalism has even found time to release an Italo inspired 12”, “I Ragazzi Dell 1982,” under the pseudonym Palermo Disko Machine—also on Kitsunè).

Simian Mobile Disco

Continuing the creative partnership they forged as members of the UK band Simian, James Ford and James Shaw created Simian Mobile Disco to develop their passion for dancefloor friendly sounds. After doing remix work for acts like The Departure and Air, SMD released their first official single “The Count” for Kitsunè in 2005. Since then, they have been the “remixers du jour” for the likes of Peaches and The Go! Team. Gildas considers them “future disco, really great producers.” They have been pushing their dancey punk-meets-dirty-electro sound via DJ sets all over the world. Recently they released the double a-side single “Hustler / Click.” “Hustler” may be one of the more indescribable singles of the year. Is it proggy? Electro? House? Any way you look at it, it’s dancefloor carnage.