French house
Encyclopedia
French house is a catch-all term for house music
by many French artists, a popular strand of the late 1990s and 2000s Europe
an dance music scene and a form of Euro disco
. The genre has also been referred to as "neu-disco" (new disco, distinct from the non-house "nu-disco
" revival), "French touch", "filter house" and "tekfunk" over the years. The defining characteristics of the sound are heavy reliance on cut-off
and phaser
effects both on and alongside samples of late 1970s and early 1980s American or European disco
tracks. Celebrated and successful purveyors of this music include Daft Punk
, Cassius
and Etienne de Crécy
. Most tracks in this vein feature steady 4/4 beats with a tempo range of 110-130 beats per minute.
onwards, maintaining a distinct connection to Euro disco
and the short lived space disco
music style. Space disco was very popular in France, with artists like Cerrone
, Space and Sheila B. Devotion
during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Additional influences came from P-Funk
, especially the George Clinton
and Bootsy Collins
hits of that era. Due to originating from the same foreign market, P-Funk was played alongside disco
in many French discothèques, especially after the Disco Demolition Night
took place in the United States. The Jacking
aspect of Chicago house was also picked up on as a theme to incorporate (with "jack house" becoming a short-lived descriptive term for the sound in the UK).
Thomas Bangalter
's tracks for his Roulé
label may be considered the earliest examples of an attempt to establish a distinctive style of house music produced in France. His solo material, along with his work as a member of Daft Punk
and Stardust
, had a significant impact upon the French house scene during the mid-to-late nineties. Duo Motorbass (aka Philippe Zdar, later of Cassius
, and Étienne de Crécy
) were also among the first in France to produce house tracks which were largely based around samples and filtered loops - in turn inspired by emerging American house producers such as DJ Sneak
, Green Velvet and Roger Sanchez
and their penchant for producing sample-led monotonous house tracks with deep funky grooves. Parisian producer St. Germain produced house tracks with a similarly monotonous style at the time but these were more directly influenced by Jazz as opposed to the brasher vocal disco records appropriated, while other known French DJ-turned-producers at the time such as François Kevorkian
and Laurent Garnier
remained relatively distant from the emerging French house label.
The first French house experiments were warmly received by the UK dance music press and European DJ's in the mid-'90s but major commercial success did not occur until 1997. Daft Punk, Cassius and later Stardust
were the first internationally successful artists of the genre. Along with Air these acts were signed to Virgin Records
and benefited from distinctive music videos directed by the likes of Spike Jonze
, Michel Gondry
and Alex & Martin. Due to a reasonable amount of buzz generated from the huge clubbing scene and major record company support, Daft Punk's debut album Homework entered the top ten of the UK album charts on release and they effectively became the biggest-selling French act in the UK since Jean-Michel Jarre. The emergence of the French sound was well-timed as dance music's popularity in the influential UK market was peaking commercially with electronica
.
Further international commercial success continued into 2000 with Bob Sinclar
, Etienne de Crécy
, Benjamin Diamond
and Modjo
achieving hit singles around Europe.
was interviewed, as well as Air and Cassius
. That news special later aired on all the MTV local variations worldwide, spreading the term and introducing the "French house" sound to the mainstream.
Prior to that (1996–2000), "French house" had been referred to among Europeans as "neu disco", "disco house" and "new disco". However, the term "French Touch" was first used by music journalist Martin James in his 1996 review of the first Super Discount EP in the now defunct weekly music paper Melody Maker. This term became favoured among the French media and was then widely used in the UK press by 1998. []. Martin James was later recognised by French newspaper Liberation and Radio NRJ as the journalist responsible for naming the French house phenomenon French Touch.
One of the biggest markets for neu disco at the time, was Greece
and especially Athens
. A local music shop called Discobole Records imported the records direct from France and middle class clubs like City Groove dedicated totally to the genre between 1998 and 2001. In Greece this music style was promoted as "disco house".
At the same time, disco house began to gain success in Canada
. During 1999 many events also took place on Spain's Ibiza
, a very popular destination for British tourists. However "happy house" is nowadays mainly kept alive by a number of Ministry of Sound
DJs in London. (see Ministry of Sound annual dance collections etc.)
French house is essentially a combination of three production styles. One is what the French still refer as "the French touch" and it is the style that greatly influenced by the space disco sound. The second is a continuation and update of Euro disco
and greatly influenced by the productions of Alec R. Costandinos
. The third would be the deep American house style as evident in the similar treatment of samples and repetitive 'funky' hooks. Naturally further variations and mutations followed. French house maintains the established "French touch" sound, focused more on Euro disco-like vocals and less emphasis on the "space disco" themes. However, most of the music's most successful acts have altered their sound since. Bob Sinclar
's later work including the big hit "World, Hold On (Children of the Sky)
", which had a video based on a science fiction theme, maintains only a distant connection to the original French house sound. Both Daft Punk and Etienne De Crecy developed a harder synthetic sound more directly inspired by techno and electro for their most recent albums.
In Ibiza, disco house took later another direction: It combined vocals and some elements from the UK's speed garage
(a mid '90s music style) with a local Latin flavor. On 2007, many underground disco house productions belonged to this Ibiza school.
French house influenced Benny Benassi
for the creation of his "tek-house" music style (also known as "pumping house"). That short lived music style became very popular during 2002–2004 in continental Europe, with artists such Benassi Bros.
, Royal Gigolos
and Shana Vanguarde. During 2007, a crossover of tek house and French house appeared in the French market, with limited success (promoted mostly through the M6Music music channel, W9 and NRJ Music). Most of those hits were remixed in a 2000s electro house style to reach mainstream audiences, mostly of the new established dance music style called Tecktonik.
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
by many French artists, a popular strand of the late 1990s and 2000s Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an dance music scene and a form of Euro disco
Euro disco
Euro disco is an all encompassing colloquial term used to describe a variety of European electronic dance music that first originated from disco in the 1970s; incorporating elements of pop, New Wave and rock into disco-like continuous dance atmosphere...
. The genre has also been referred to as "neu-disco" (new disco, distinct from the non-house "nu-disco
Nu-disco
Nu-disco is a 21st century dance music genre associated with a renewed interest in 1970s and early 1980s disco, mid-1980s Italo disco, and the synthesizer-heavy Eurodisco aesthetics. The moniker appeared in print as early as 2002, and by mid-2008 was used by record shops such as the online...
" revival), "French touch", "filter house" and "tekfunk" over the years. The defining characteristics of the sound are heavy reliance on cut-off
Cutoff frequency
In physics and electrical engineering, a cutoff frequency, corner frequency, or break frequency is a boundary in a system's frequency response at which energy flowing through the system begins to be reduced rather than passing through.Typically in electronic systems such as filters and...
and phaser
Phaser (effect)
A phaser is an audio signal processing technique used to filter a signal by creating a series of peaks and troughs in the frequency spectrum. The position of the peaks and troughs is typically modulated so that they vary over time, creating a sweeping effect...
effects both on and alongside samples of late 1970s and early 1980s American or European disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
tracks. Celebrated and successful purveyors of this music include Daft Punk
Daft Punk
Daft Punk are an electronic music duo consisting of French musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter . Daft Punk reached significant popularity in the late 1990s house movement in France and met with continued success in the years following, combining elements of house with synthpop...
, Cassius
Cassius (band)
Cassius is a French house music duo, consisting of producers Philippe Cerboneschi and Hubert Blanc-Francart, better known as Philippe Zdar and Boom Bass.-History:...
and Etienne de Crécy
Etienne de Crecy
Étienne Bernard Marie de Crécy is a French DJ and producer who composes house and electronic music.-Biography:...
. Most tracks in this vein feature steady 4/4 beats with a tempo range of 110-130 beats per minute.
History and influences
French house is greatly influenced by the lineage of American dance music from the emergence of discoDisco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
onwards, maintaining a distinct connection to Euro disco
Euro disco
Euro disco is an all encompassing colloquial term used to describe a variety of European electronic dance music that first originated from disco in the 1970s; incorporating elements of pop, New Wave and rock into disco-like continuous dance atmosphere...
and the short lived space disco
Space disco
Space disco is a term used to describe the fusion of disco music with futuristic themes, sounds and visuals, which was popular in the late 1970s...
music style. Space disco was very popular in France, with artists like Cerrone
Cerrone
Marc Cerrone is a French disco drummer, singer-songwriter and record producer.Marc Cerrone has sold over thirty million albums and has often performed in front of hundreds of thousands of people at huge concerts and events such as The 2005 Dance Party Live in Versailles and The 2000 Los Angeles...
, Space and Sheila B. Devotion
Sheila (singer)
Sheila is a French pop singer, who became successful as a solo artist in the 1960s and 1970s and later fronted a disco act called Sheila and B. Devotion. Sheila has sold over 24,000,000 copies of records in France and was the top selling artist in France in the 1960s and 1970s...
during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Additional influences came from P-Funk
P-Funk
P-Funk is a shorthand term for the repertoire and performers associated with George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic collective and the distinctive style of funk music they performed...
, especially the George Clinton
George Clinton (funk musician)
George Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost...
and Bootsy Collins
Bootsy Collins
William Earl "Bootsy" Collins is an American funk bassist, singer, and songwriter.Rising to prominence with James Brown in the late 1960s, and with Parliament-Funkadelic in the '70s, Collins's driving bass guitar and humorous vocals established him as one of the leading names in funk...
hits of that era. Due to originating from the same foreign market, P-Funk was played alongside disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
in many French discothèques, especially after the Disco Demolition Night
Disco Demolition Night
Disco Demolition Night was a promotional event that took place on Thursday, July 12, 1979, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois, during which a crate filled with disco records was blown up on the field. It was held during the twi-night doubleheader baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and...
took place in the United States. The Jacking
Jacking
Jacking or Jackin', the term by which the form is more commonly known, is a dance technique and music form that first became popular in the late 1980s as one of the myriad music forms which arose from the last days of disco...
aspect of Chicago house was also picked up on as a theme to incorporate (with "jack house" becoming a short-lived descriptive term for the sound in the UK).
Thomas Bangalter
Thomas Bangalter
Thomas Bangalter is a French electronic musician best known as a member of the French house music duo Daft Punk. He has also recorded and released music as a member of the trio Stardust, the duo Together, and as a solo artist including compositions for the film Irréversible.Thomas Bangalter owns a...
's tracks for his Roulé
Roulé
Roulé is a French record label that was founded in 1995 by Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk fame. There exists a sister label called Scratché, which has had only one release to date by the Buffalo Bunch who now release on the Crydamoure and We Rock Music labels.-Label history:The use of the name...
label may be considered the earliest examples of an attempt to establish a distinctive style of house music produced in France. His solo material, along with his work as a member of Daft Punk
Daft Punk
Daft Punk are an electronic music duo consisting of French musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter . Daft Punk reached significant popularity in the late 1990s house movement in France and met with continued success in the years following, combining elements of house with synthpop...
and Stardust
Stardust (band)
Stardust was a one-time musical collaborative effort consisting of producers Thomas Bangalter, Alan Braxe, and vocalist Benjamin Diamond.-History:The project released the popular club track titled "Music Sounds Better with You" in 1998...
, had a significant impact upon the French house scene during the mid-to-late nineties. Duo Motorbass (aka Philippe Zdar, later of Cassius
Cassius (band)
Cassius is a French house music duo, consisting of producers Philippe Cerboneschi and Hubert Blanc-Francart, better known as Philippe Zdar and Boom Bass.-History:...
, and Étienne de Crécy
Etienne de Crecy
Étienne Bernard Marie de Crécy is a French DJ and producer who composes house and electronic music.-Biography:...
) were also among the first in France to produce house tracks which were largely based around samples and filtered loops - in turn inspired by emerging American house producers such as DJ Sneak
DJ Sneak
DJ Sneak is a Puerto Rican house music DJ and producer raised in Chicago, Illinois. He is noted as being one of the second wave of Chicago house producers, as well as a member of the vanguard of late-1990s United States house producers.-Biography:In 1983, Sneak moved to the city...
, Green Velvet and Roger Sanchez
Roger Sanchez
Roger Sanchez, also known as Roger S. and The S Man, is a Grammy award-winning American House music DJ who has scored many hits in the European and World Charts...
and their penchant for producing sample-led monotonous house tracks with deep funky grooves. Parisian producer St. Germain produced house tracks with a similarly monotonous style at the time but these were more directly influenced by Jazz as opposed to the brasher vocal disco records appropriated, while other known French DJ-turned-producers at the time such as François Kevorkian
François Kevorkian
François Kevorkian, alias François K, is a French DJ of Armenian origin, remixer, producer and record label owner. Having started his career in renowned clubs such as the Paradise Garage and Studio 54, the New York City resident is widely considered as one of the forefathers of house...
and Laurent Garnier
Laurent Garnier
Laurent Garnier , is a French techno music producer and DJ. Garnier began DJ-ing in Manchester during the late 1980s. By the following decade, he had a broad stylistic range, able to span deep house, Detroit techno, trance and jazz...
remained relatively distant from the emerging French house label.
The first French house experiments were warmly received by the UK dance music press and European DJ's in the mid-'90s but major commercial success did not occur until 1997. Daft Punk, Cassius and later Stardust
Stardust (band)
Stardust was a one-time musical collaborative effort consisting of producers Thomas Bangalter, Alan Braxe, and vocalist Benjamin Diamond.-History:The project released the popular club track titled "Music Sounds Better with You" in 1998...
were the first internationally successful artists of the genre. Along with Air these acts were signed to Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
and benefited from distinctive music videos directed by the likes of Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze is an American director, producer and actor, whose work includes music videos, commercials, film and television...
, Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry is an Academy Award winning filmmaker, whose works include being a commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène. - Life and career :...
and Alex & Martin. Due to a reasonable amount of buzz generated from the huge clubbing scene and major record company support, Daft Punk's debut album Homework entered the top ten of the UK album charts on release and they effectively became the biggest-selling French act in the UK since Jean-Michel Jarre. The emergence of the French sound was well-timed as dance music's popularity in the influential UK market was peaking commercially with electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
.
Further international commercial success continued into 2000 with Bob Sinclar
Bob Sinclar
Bob Sinclar, originally spelled "Sinclair" - , is a French record producer, House music DJ, remixer and owner of the label Yellow Productions.- Career history :...
, Etienne de Crécy
Etienne de Crecy
Étienne Bernard Marie de Crécy is a French DJ and producer who composes house and electronic music.-Biography:...
, Benjamin Diamond
Benjamin Diamond
Benjamin Diamond is a French singer.He started life as a punk rocker in the band Chicken Pox, but taking inspiration from artists such as New Order, Michael Jackson, and Roxy Music, he veered towards electro and joined The Party...
and Modjo
Modjo
Modjo was a French house/pop musical duo made up of producer Romain Tranchart and vocalist Yann Destagnol . It had major success with its hit single "Lady ".-Biography:...
achieving hit singles around Europe.
Terms, origins and variations
The term "French house" first used on MTV UK & Ireland during the Christmas holiday period of 1999. It used on an MTV News special, to describe a so called "French house explosion" phenomenon. Bob SinclarBob Sinclar
Bob Sinclar, originally spelled "Sinclair" - , is a French record producer, House music DJ, remixer and owner of the label Yellow Productions.- Career history :...
was interviewed, as well as Air and Cassius
Cassius (band)
Cassius is a French house music duo, consisting of producers Philippe Cerboneschi and Hubert Blanc-Francart, better known as Philippe Zdar and Boom Bass.-History:...
. That news special later aired on all the MTV local variations worldwide, spreading the term and introducing the "French house" sound to the mainstream.
Prior to that (1996–2000), "French house" had been referred to among Europeans as "neu disco", "disco house" and "new disco". However, the term "French Touch" was first used by music journalist Martin James in his 1996 review of the first Super Discount EP in the now defunct weekly music paper Melody Maker. This term became favoured among the French media and was then widely used in the UK press by 1998. []. Martin James was later recognised by French newspaper Liberation and Radio NRJ as the journalist responsible for naming the French house phenomenon French Touch.
One of the biggest markets for neu disco at the time, was Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and especially Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
. A local music shop called Discobole Records imported the records direct from France and middle class clubs like City Groove dedicated totally to the genre between 1998 and 2001. In Greece this music style was promoted as "disco house".
At the same time, disco house began to gain success in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. During 1999 many events also took place on Spain's Ibiza
Ibiza
Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...
, a very popular destination for British tourists. However "happy house" is nowadays mainly kept alive by a number of Ministry of Sound
Ministry of Sound
Ministry of Sound London, commonly referred to as simply Ministry of Sound or MoS, is a nightclub based in London, United Kingdom and an associated record label. It was ranked fourth in the 2010 DJ Magazine top 100 clubs poll 2010. As well as the nightclub in London, there is another in Egypt and...
DJs in London. (see Ministry of Sound annual dance collections etc.)
French house is essentially a combination of three production styles. One is what the French still refer as "the French touch" and it is the style that greatly influenced by the space disco sound. The second is a continuation and update of Euro disco
Euro disco
Euro disco is an all encompassing colloquial term used to describe a variety of European electronic dance music that first originated from disco in the 1970s; incorporating elements of pop, New Wave and rock into disco-like continuous dance atmosphere...
and greatly influenced by the productions of Alec R. Costandinos
Alec R. Costandinos
Alec R. Costandinos, is a French singer and artist of the 70's. He was also intimately involved as a writer, publisher and musician in the development of Aphrodite's Child with Vangelis and Greek-born pop singer, Demis Roussos...
. The third would be the deep American house style as evident in the similar treatment of samples and repetitive 'funky' hooks. Naturally further variations and mutations followed. French house maintains the established "French touch" sound, focused more on Euro disco-like vocals and less emphasis on the "space disco" themes. However, most of the music's most successful acts have altered their sound since. Bob Sinclar
Bob Sinclar
Bob Sinclar, originally spelled "Sinclair" - , is a French record producer, House music DJ, remixer and owner of the label Yellow Productions.- Career history :...
's later work including the big hit "World, Hold On (Children of the Sky)
World, Hold On (Children of the Sky)
"World, Hold On " is a song by Bob Sinclar, featuring Steve Edwards. It was released as the second major single from the Western Dream album, on June 6, 2006. An E-Smoove-produced remix of the song was nominated for a 2007 Grammy Award for "Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical".The track ended...
", which had a video based on a science fiction theme, maintains only a distant connection to the original French house sound. Both Daft Punk and Etienne De Crecy developed a harder synthetic sound more directly inspired by techno and electro for their most recent albums.
In Ibiza, disco house took later another direction: It combined vocals and some elements from the UK's speed garage
UK garage
UK garage is a genre of electronic dance music originating from the United Kingdom in the early-1990s. UK garage is a descendant of house music which originated in Chicago and New York, United States. UK garage usually features a distinctive syncopated 4/4 percussive rhythm with 'shuffling'...
(a mid '90s music style) with a local Latin flavor. On 2007, many underground disco house productions belonged to this Ibiza school.
French house influenced Benny Benassi
Benny Benassi
Marco Benassi , better known as Benny Benassi, is a Grammy Award winning Italian disc jockey and record producer of electro house music. He is best known for his 2002 summer club hit "Satisfaction"...
for the creation of his "tek-house" music style (also known as "pumping house"). That short lived music style became very popular during 2002–2004 in continental Europe, with artists such Benassi Bros.
Benassi Bros.
Benassi Bros. is an Italian dance group. The members of the group, Benny Benassi and Alle Benassi, started DJing in the late '80s in their hometown, before moving to Larry Pignagnoli's Off Limits production studio in the mid-'90s, creating music for various acts, including Whigfield, J.K. and Ally...
, Royal Gigolos
Royal Gigolos
Royal Gigolos were a German tech house duo, founded in 2003 by the DJ producer DJ Tyson and DJ Kosmonova. Before disbanding in 2008, the group released successful dance cover versions of songs including "California Dreamin'" and "No Milk Today".-Singles:...
and Shana Vanguarde. During 2007, a crossover of tek house and French house appeared in the French market, with limited success (promoted mostly through the M6Music music channel, W9 and NRJ Music). Most of those hits were remixed in a 2000s electro house style to reach mainstream audiences, mostly of the new established dance music style called Tecktonik.