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484 music CD releases for France ::
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Artist
Dimitri From Paris
Title
A Night At The Playboy Mansion
Label: Atral Werks
Genre: Electronica
click here for more info about A Night At The Playboy Mansion - Dimitri From Paris
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| Bouncy and airy, this soulful epic from Dimitri from Paris usurps the bubbly core of disco and imbues it with a propulsive, addictive energy. A talented DJ as well as a sharp-eared and fearless translator of faux-sophisticate, Martin Denny-style exotica-jazz, Dimitri has a natural affinity to latch onto the kitsch, which has always given an appealing breeziness to his mixes. This disc ups the ante, both on that level and also in terms of plain old danceability. Most impressive of all, this disc manages to avoid sounding like a predictable rehash or, worse, yet another nod to mindless retro culture. Bringing the funk in unabashed fashion on such tracks as the Originals' "Down to Love Town" or falling through the gauzy melodies of La Pregunta's "Shangri-La," Dimitri displays an affinity for the genre that is both focused and informed. While he gives the songs proper breathing room, his sampling technique produces an intensely modern spin when necessary. Mixing up Stetasonic's "Talking All That Jazz," Dimitri twiddles and dips the EQ with ruthless energy, giving the song a breakbeat-like, sample-laden momentum. As any DJ ripped straight from Studio 54 would know, Dimitri's ancient vinyl carries a time-tested vibe that even the most modern of present-day ravers can and should recognize as a kindred spirit. |
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Artist
F.K. Junior & Sindre
Title
Barfly II
Label: George V
Genre: Dance
click here for more info about Barfly II - F.K. Junior & Sindre
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| A disco-blend from Paris and the Buddha Bar label. Includes tracks from Dajae, Milk & Sugar, Tony Touch, Luis Radio feat. Sabrina Johnston, Loleatta Holloway, and the Soul Brothers feat. Joi Cardwell. |
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Artist
Ravin / Various
Title
Buddha-Bar III
Label: George
Genre: Dance Import
click here for more info about Buddha-Bar III - Ravin / Various
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| One of our best-sellers! A 2 disc set housed in a fold open box... features music from the club/resturant in Paris. Most of the music would be considered "chill out". Import from France. |
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Artist
Daft Punk
Title
Discovery
Label: Virgin US
Genre: Electronica
click here for more info about Discovery - Daft Punk
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| The French twosome behind Daft Punk, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo, get away with an awful lot. They go around impersonating aliens and robots in their interviews, they put records out only once every three years, and they make music that evokes a million other artists--while not really sounding like any of them. The keyboard noodlings of Jean-Michel Jarre are in there somewhere, along with the otherworldly imagery and giant hooks of '70s rock icons like Boston or even Electric Light Orchestra. There are dashes of 1999-era Prince and oodles of new wave and disco cheese, from Harold Faltermeyer and Gary Numan to the Bee Gees, all set off with efficient house beats. So how have they managed to position themselves as electronic music's next great crossover artists? On Discovery, the follow-up to the 1998 worldwide smash Homework, the answer is obvious: they have no shame, and they know how to make us dance.
Starting off with the irresistibly hummable "One More Time," the record blows through a head-spinning array of styles and samples, creating a pop-culture stew of funky loops and dance-floor anthems. "Aerodynamic" eschews breakbeats for an Yngwie Malmsteen-ish guitar interlude that somehow ends up meshing in a crazy blend of stomping bass lines and hyped-up harmonics. "Digital Love" starts off silly and gets sillier, but the monosyllabic lyrics lull the senses just right, allowing the song's summery groove to grab hold with authority. "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" is a resounding standout amidst the retro/Vocoder deluge that transpired after Cher's Believe turned the kitchy disco device into a worldwide pop music trend, spinning a clever groove around an ever-escalating string of computerized seduction. Everywhere on the record, gigantic beats are dropped with pinpoint precision, giving songs a momentum that transforms repetitive melodies into sudden revelations. The record's only misstep, the aptly named "Short Circuit" utilizes a keyboard riff that is nails-on-a-chalkboard awful, but it can't keep this from being one of the best records of 2001.
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Artist
Air
Title
Moon Safari
Label: Astralwerks
Genre: Electronica
click here for more info about Moon Safari - Air
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| French duo Air's debut album is a superlatively happy collection of experimental disco-mood sound nestled between ambient soundscape and breathy pop. It's jazzy and melodic, and mostly laid-back, but not excessively so. There are a few shake-it, shake-it numbers, too, like the absurdly daft hit "Sexy Boy." It's snap your fingers and hang out (while reading) music or dance around sexy-slow with your mate music. It's also the perfect music to do your ironing or some other chore to; it's hypnotizing wallpaper music. It slips in and out of your consciousness, forcing you to move around with a relaxed smile before you even realize it. Oh, and contrary to sampler fashion, Nicolas Godin and Jean Benoit Dunckel played the instruments themselves. Bravo. |
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Artist
Air
Title
Premiers Symptomes
Label: Astralwerks
Genre: Electronica
click here for more info about Premiers Symptomes - Air
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| Air's European-label five-song EP, Premiers Symptomes, may have been a collection of early singles, but when it first came out in 1997 it felt all of a piece. Deploying an array of vintage mid-century instruments (Fender Rhodes, Minimoog, Clavinet), as well as a tuba, Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel created a cloistered, lulling sound world that was entirely their own (although, think The Percy Faith Orchestra Covers Brian Eno's Music for Airports and you get the basic idea). By contrast, the recent rerelease of Premiers, with two bonus tracks, sounds like exactly what it is: a collection of early singles. It's not that newcomers "Californie" and "Brakes On" are unworthy, just that their overt funk shatters the tranquil atmosphere this French duo so painstakingly establish elsewhere. Most electronica fans are usually more than happy to bump 'n' grind, but when they're in the mood to play Premiers Symptomes, all they want--all they need--is the Air that they breathe. |
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Artist
St. Etienne
Title
Sound of Water
Label: Sound of Pop
Genre: Electronica
click here for more info about Sound of Water - St. Etienne
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| Saint Etienne's delicate, perfectly crafted blend of '60s pop and of-the-moment electronica has been replicated by so many other acts over the years that the band is threatened with losing its musical brand. The artistic achievement in Sound of Water has been diminished somewhat by competent musicians such as Broadcast and Mono having picked up the gauntlet Saint Etienne first threw down in 1988, and having taken the sounds to new places. Trends are fleeting by definition, and Saint Etienne, in the precarious position of being an inadvertent trendsetter, would have served their audience better with a little reinvention (the Cardigans made this transition magically with 1998's Gran Turismo). Rather, they stick to their overly precious formula, mixing cheap-sounding drum loops, Sarah Cracknell's snazzy-cool vocals, drawn-out melody, and subtle instrumentation (flute, harpsichord, bongos) with butterfly-fluttering techno. As lovely as it all is, by the end of the album, the ear is desperate to hear something more assertive--it's as unsatisfying as eating cotton candy all day when you long for lasagna. In all, the abundance of emotionless na na na's and la la la's result in no no no's |
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