French Touch

Chicago house, filtered through disco samples and a Parisian sense of humour.

What you're really asking

You're asking about a wave of French producers who took Chicago house, ran it through disco and funk samples and a heavy filter, and gave it a bright, maximalist sense of fun. It runs from deep and dusty to pop-chart euphoric, and its best records still sound like someone grinning behind the mixing desk.

Where it sits

It took shape in mid-nineties Paris around a small set of producers and labels. Daft Punk's Homework in 1996 and Stardust's 1998 single carried the sound worldwide, while labels like Roulé, Crydamoure, Versatile and Source fed the scene.

Thomas Bangalter, Philippe Zdar, Étienne de Crécy and Alan Braxe passed through each other's records constantly. Deeper voices such as St Germain and Pépé Bradock kept the Chicago and jazz roots audible under the filter.

The scene

Who: Daft Punk, Thomas Bangalter, Cassius, Motorbass, Étienne de Crécy, Alan Braxe, Pépé Bradock, Dimitri From Paris and St Germain. Labels: Roulé, Crydamoure, Versatile, Source.

What: looped disco and funk samples, heavy filtering, a love of the big euphoric moment and the sly joke. How a record gets in: it belongs to this Paris network of producers and labels, not any house record with a filter on it.