French house
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(April 2007) |
| French house | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Early to mid-1990s, France |
| Derivative forms | |
| Fusion genres | |
| French electro | |
| Other topics | |
French house(also referred to asFrench touch,filter house,ortekfunk) is a style ofhouse musicdevised byFrenchmusicians in the 1990s.[1]It is a form ofEuro discoand a popular strand of the late 1990s and 2000s European dance music scene. The defining characteristics of the genre arefilterandphasereffects both on and alongsidesamplesfrom late 1970s and early 1980s Europeandiscotracks. Tracks sometimes contained originalhooksinspired by these samples, providing thicker harmonic foundations than the genre's forerunners.[2]Most tracks in this style are in4
4time and feature steadyfour-on-the-floorbeats in the tempo range of 110–130beats per minute.Purveyors of French house includeDaft Punk,[3]David Guetta,Bob Sinclar,Martin Solveig,Cassius,The Supermen Lovers,[4]Modjo,Justice,Air,andÉtienne de Crécy.
History and influences
[edit]French house was influenced by American dance music,Euro disco,and thespace discomusic styles.[5]Space disco was popular inFranceduring the late 1970s and early 1980s, especially with artists such asCerroneandSheila and B. Devotion.AmericanP-Funkalso influenced the genre's sound, especially the work ofGeorge ClintonandBootsy Collins.[6]P-Funk was played alongside disco in many Frenchdiscothèques,notably afterDisco Demolition Nighttook place in the United States.[6]TheJackingaspect ofChicago housewas also incorporated into the French house scene with "jack house" becoming a short-lived descriptive term for the sound in the UK. The influence of 1970s French pop music, championed by musicians such asFrançois de Roubaix,Jean-Michel Jarre,andSerge Gainsbourg,is also apparent within the genre.[6]
Thomas Bangalter's tracks for hisRoulélabel were some of the earliest examples of French house. His solo material, along with his work as a member ofDaft PunkandStardust,influenced the French house scene during the mid-to-late 1990s.[7]The French duoMotorbasswere among the first in France to produce house tracks largely based around samples and filtered loops and released their seminal album,Pansoulin 1996. Parisian producerSt. Germainalso producedjazz-inspired house tracks. Other known French producers during this time period, such asFrançois KevorkianandLaurent Garnier,remained distant from the emerging French house label.
UK dance music and European DJs first recognized French house experiments in the mid-1990s with commercial success occurring in 1997.[8]Daft Punk,Cassiusand laterStardustwere the first internationally successful artists of the genre, and along withAir,signed toVirgin Records.Initial releases by all three garnered music videos directed bySpike Jonze,Michel GondryandAlex & Martin.Thanks to a growing awareness of the clubbing scene, along with major label support, Daft Punk's debut albumHomeworkentered the top 10 of theUK album chartsupon its release. The duo would ultimately become the biggest-selling French act in the UK sinceJean-Michel Jarre.[9]The emergence of the French sound coincided with dance music's popularity in the UK market, which was also experiencing a surge of interest in generalelectronic music.[10]
Further international commercial success continued into the 2000s withBob Sinclar,Étienne de Crécy,Benjamin Diamond,andModjoachieving hit singles in Europe. In late 2005, pop superstarMadonnareleasedConfessions on a Dance Floor,an album with significant French house influences in several of its songs.[2]
Terms, origins and variations
[edit]The term "French Touch" was first used in Paris in July 1987.[11]Jean-Claude Lagrèze, a photographer of parisians' nights created a couple of "French Touch" parties at The Palace in an effort to help people discover house music. The parties were driven by DJLaurent Garnier,Guillaume la Tortue andDavid Guetta.The expression "We Give a French Touch to House" was printed on a bomber jacket by Éric Morand for Fnac Music Dance Division in 1991.[10]
Prior to 1996, "French house" had been referred to among Europeans as "nu-disco","disco house "and" new disco ".[12]The term "French touch" was popularised by music journalist Martin James in the weekly music paper known asMelody Maker.He referred to the term in 1996 as a review ofÉtienne de Crécy's first albumSuper Discount.This term became favoured among the French media and was then widely used in the UK press by 1998.[8]The French newspaper, Libertation and Radio NRJ acknowledged Martin James as the coiner of the "French Touch".[citation needed]The term was then used on an MTV News special, to describe a "French house explosion" phenomenon.Bob Sinclarwas interviewed, as well asAir(a non-house act) andCassius.This news special later aired on all MTV local variations worldwide, spreading the term and introducing the "French house" sound to the mainstream population.[2]
Between 1998 and 2001, local music shop Discobole Records imported the records directly from France and middle class clubs dedicated totally to the genre, such as City Groove. In Greece, this music style was promoted as "disco house".[13]During 1999, many events also took place on Spain'sIbizaisland, and has continued to be a very popular destination for British tourists.[14]
French house can be described as a combination of three production styles. One is what the French refer to as 'French house' or 'French Touch,' heavily influenced by the space disco sound. The second style is a continuation and update of Euro disco, drawing inspiration from the productions of Alec R. Costandinos. The third style embodies the deep American house influence, evident in the similar treatment of samples and repetitive 'funky' hooks. Further variations and mutations naturally followed.[citation needed]
French house initially maintained the established 'French Touch' sound, emphasizing Euro disco-like vocals and downplaying the 'space disco' themes. However, over time, most successful acts have evolved their sound. For instance, Bob Sinclar's later work, including the hit single 'World, Hold On (Children of the Sky),' exhibits only a distant connection to the original French house sound. Similarly, both Daft Punk and Étienne de Crécy developed a harder synthetic sound more directly inspired by techno, electro, and pop.
Record labels associated with the style
[edit]- 20000st
- Astralwerks(U.S. market)
- Barclay (record label)
- Bromance
- Crydamoure
- Diamond Traxx
- Disques Solid
- Dynamic Recordings
- Ed Banger Records
- F Communications
- Fiat Lux
- Kitsuné
- Moveltraxx
- Pont Neuf Records
- Record Makers
- Roche Musique
- Roulé
- Smugglers Way
- Versatile Records
- Vulture Music
- We Rock Music
- Work It Baby
References
[edit]- ^Hawkins, Stan."Feel the Beat Come Down: HouseMusic As Rhetoric"(PDF).Analyzing Popular Music:82–103. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 24 March 2022.Retrieved24 March2022– via Academia.
- ^abc"Guide to French House Music: 4 Notable French House Acts".24 February 2022.Archivedfrom the original on 7 March 2022.
- ^"Village Voice: Daft Punk by Scott Woods".Archived fromthe originalon 4 June 2008.Retrieved17 May2007.
- ^"Exposition" Electro "à La Philharmonie: 5 clips emblématiques de la French Touch".CNEWS(in French). 8 April 2019.Retrieved23 November2020.
- ^Le Menestrel, Sara (2007)."The Color of Music: Social Boundaries and Stereotypes in Southwest Louisiana French Music".Southern Cultures.13(3): 87–105.ISSN1068-8218.JSTOR26391066.
- ^abcMazierska, Ewa; Rigg, Tony; Gillon, Les (6 May 2021).The Evolution of Electronic Dance Music.Bloomsbury Publishing USA.ISBN978-1-5013-6638-3.
- ^Suzanne Ely, "Return of the Cybermen"Mixmag,July 2006, pp. 94–98.
- ^ab'French Connections: From Discotheque to Discovery' by Martin James, 2002, Sanctuary Publishing
- ^Meissner, Florian."DAFT PUNK – HOMEWORK".
- ^abMusicpublished, Future (20 September 2019)."Everything you need to know about: French touch".MusicRadar.Retrieved23 March2022.
- ^"French touch – 10 of the best".The Guardian.18 November 2015.Retrieved24 March2022.
- ^"Nu Disco Music Guide: A Brief History of Nu Disco".
- ^"What defines French house?".9 January 2021.
- ^Tolentino, Christian (5 November 2019)."UK delivers highest number of overseas visitors to Ibiza".Travel Daily.Retrieved9 August2020.