Screw "freedom" fries, I want mine French
Returning to Paris for a moment, I'd like to showcase another young producer that a friend turned me onto and one of the labels he works closely with.
Yuksek, aka Pierre-Alexandre Busson, has been releasing dance music for a few years now - his sound is heavy on the synths, electro-techno beats, stop and start breakdowns, and seems to be just as influenced by hip-hop as he is by Detroit techno. It is heady stuff, made for packed, sweat-drenched dance floors, and definitely fits with some of the other new-Paris artists. He is also an adept remixer, applying the same techniques - ie: mind bending, wall of sound synths - to other's work with aplomb.
So, what we have here is another piece of the Parisian electro-house pie. Mmm... pie. This song comes from The Wax EP, which was actually released last year, by the amazing Rise Recordings label - they've only got a handful of records out, but each of them is great, particularly this record and the one by ALB (that features a Yuksek remix). Yuksek also has releases on Hypnotek, I'm A Cliché and Relish Records - all of which are run by amazing producers.
Oh, also on Rise, there's a couple of records by Yuksek's other project (man this guy is busy!): the group called Klanguage - their myspace page says "a girl, two guys, some old-fashioned keyboards, few drum-machines, 2 guitars, a bass." Think electro-pop and rock songs, still danceable, but shorter, more traditional single-length, rather than big long dance song workouts. Their album will see release this fall, also via Rise Recordings, and right now there is a single for "All this time/Priceless" that features some killer remixes by Yuksek himself, and Institubes'-associated producer Tacteel (who is also killing it lately!).
You can buy loads of Rise records online (Nuloop seems one of the easier places to do so) - since they're still fairly small, it is kind of difficult to find them in stores here in the US. However, that being said, our buddies at the Turntable Lab have been stocking Rise stuff lately, so get on them and they'll probably keep getting more (you hear me guys? Get that Klanguage record!).
Oh, and I can't forget to mention the killer (and possibly headache-inducing) Rise artwork, most of which is done by graphic designer Akroe. [ed: I was just informed that the Klanguage records are designed by a girl & a guy design-team called SEXEE - check out their crazy website or myspace page - merci for the info Marc] Solid.
Happy Wednesday!