French Electronic

The easiest way to understand French electronic music is to study the stars at its two extremes. On one end are the cloud-formation compositions of Air (the subtle feedback and bubble-machine synths of "Sexy Boy," the woodwind melodies and woozy vocals of "Cherry Blossom Girl," the precious pop of "5:55"), which drift on by slowly but surely. And on the other is the filtered disco-house of Daft Punk (the vocoder vocals and bumping basslines of "Around the World," the wobbly, unwavering pulse of "Da Funk") — sheer adrenaline shots that could incite a riot on the coldest of dance floors.

The influence of both acts is undeniable — especially the latter, which can be heard stampeding over our Next Steps.

The Year the Robots Took Over. That's how many will remember 2007, which featured the triumphant return of Daft Punk after a summer of stunning skeptics from atop a literal million-dollar pyramid. Aside from that sensory-overload spectacle, the duo's fresh spin on French Touch music — epitomized in the funky, sugar-rush single "One More Time" — has schooled an entire generation of dance producers, including Digitalism (the electro-shock therapy of "Idealistic"), Kavinsky (the space-invader score of "Wayfarer"), Sebastian (the brain-bashing breaks of "Smoking Kills"), and, of course, Justice (the wheezing, whirring "Waters of Nazareth").

All of this leaves you with two choices in our Deep Cuts: slow things down with glacial grooves, like "Jay's Vibes," or dance until dawn alongside mad-for-it music like "Cocotte."

If you think the laser-canon lashings of "Rainbow Man" sound a lot like Daft Punk, it may be because Pedro Winter (aka Busy P, the owner of Ed Banger Records) got his start as that duo's manager. But in no way does Winter's music sound like B-grade Punk; if anything, it sounds as if he's truly studied at the sides of two masterful producers. Taken in tandem with other oven-fresh cuts, like the robotic rap of "Pop the Glock," the secret-agent grooves of "Adore," the stuttering samples of "Bad Runner," and the glam-buffered pop of "Into the Galaxy," it shows just how diverse French electronic music is.

What's the first thing you think of when you hear the term "French music"? Probably the quirky, incomparable pop of Serge Gainsbourg or the raw chansonnier power of Edith Piaf, right? But one of France's most important musical contributions of the past decade has actually been wildly eccentric electronica. That includes the late-'90s French Touch uprising of filtered disco-house (Daft Punk, Mr. Oizo, Cassius, Bob Sinclar), down-tempo vignettes that unfold like waking dreams (Émilie Simon, Air, Sébastien Tellier, Telepopmusik), and a new breed of producers who've been setting nightclubs on fire lately (Para One, Joakim, Surkin, the entire Ed Banger stable) with few signs of slowing down in the near future. Simply put, whether you want to drift away or dance 'til 4 a.m., we've got all the music you'll need.