effervescent refractions

I’ve been so entranced by bossa nova in the past few months that I’ve nearly forgotten my cyclic return to the bone-stirring basses of electro. As I periodically revisit Daft Punk’s classics, the mood sometimes strikes to follow with a bit of Cassius, Modjo, or their followers. Inevitably, I spend an afternoon catching up with the recent dance floor grooves of home (in lieu of doing what most people would: go to a club – but that’s another topic).

In the past few years the results have been disappointing, with the last significant release being, in my mind, Mylo’s debut in 2004. Sure, we’ve since seen some things from Daft Punk, Cassius and the prolific Bob Sinclar – respectively delivering their albums Human After All, 15 Again and Western Dream – but new artists have been shy to enter the game and I’ve found that even these veterans were losing a certain depth in their LPs.

My current revisiting of the house scene has completely changed that perspective. By chance, my sister plugged Justice just at the right time and I am absolutely hooked. Their freshly released album † (referred to as ‘Cross‘) is undoubtedly the most important release since Homework opened electro to the public. With a bit more of my own homework, I’ve found that the Ed Banger and Institubes labels are glowing hot, and their DJs are spinning new hits every week. MSTRKRFT have also caught my attention, but I’m not impressed with Digitalism or Simian Mobile Disco. I still can’t make up my mind about Uffie (though I love her collab’ with Justice).

Everyone seems to praise the revival of the “French Touch”, and I have to say I’m excited but I think the best is yet to come. What I’ve listened to over the past few days is much more in tune with Daft Punk’s first album. The gritty, distorted quality of the sounds seem almost an ode to Rollin’ & Scratchin’ which, in all honesty, was never one of my favorites. The smoother new-disco tracks seem far more euphonious to me, as Gaspard Augé of Justice suggests in this interview. Results such as D.A.N.C.E. are what keep my playlist busy, and I am waiting for more. Hopefully there will be a Discovery era to this renaissance.