Slightly biased as I'm involved with their London show. Three weeks ago no-one in the UK outside the turntablist scene seemed know who they were and now the most unlikely people are talking about them. Not a fan of the track above but they are great live, if a little cheesey for my tastes. Think Kid Koala's mixing crossed with Deadmau5's light show performed by four head bobbing Frenchmen. Point is they understand how to put on a show ... they sold out every single date on their last French tour (80 dates, no mean feat) plus their last EP went platinum. The Tetr4 LP coming out in March will push them into the big time. I predict a David Guetta collab before the year is out.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
staxwax said:
These guys are from France and starting to make waves in pop circles - someone brought them to my attention and my first reaction was - these kids are on some Fatboy Slim watered down Beat Junkies shit. Basically knee jerk hating. I'll come clean here and admit i hated them after three seconds of seeing their shit. Although technically they seem quite good. You can bet your bottom dollar they'll be seeing more $$ than the Beat Junkies ever did.
What sayeth the Strut?
Fair play for being honest about your first impressions, but I gotta say that declaring C2C to be Beat Junkies biters simply because they're a four-man DJ crew is a little like saying Bloc Party bit Hootie & the Blowfish because they're a four-piece guitar band with a black frontman. Or that Amy Winehouse bit Sharon Jones because they both do/did throwback r&b.
I get your broader point about their approach, and I agree with you to an extent. There's definitely been some major label cash thrown at them outside of France - their album's coming out on Mercury in the UK, and I reviewed their EP in last July's issue of Q. But nevertheless they haven't just appeared out of nowhere. They've won the DMC team prize a bunch of times, so I guess some proper work has been put in at some stage. In any event I can't imagine there are too many DJ crews out there that the Beat Junkies haven't influenced.
They're definitely not sticking to any kind of hip-hop purist aesthetic, though. When you attempt a move from an underground idiom like turntablism to something more mainstream, there's always the risk that you'll end up falling between two stools. But then again, the only people who are really bothered about distinctions like "underground" and "mainstream" as they apply here are the aforesaid hip-hop purists. Artists themselves are usually looking elsewhere, maybe at a broader picture. After all, who wants to be scared of trying to make a living for fear of upsetting a bunch of Dunk-wearing dweebs with chinstrap beards who are as likely as anyone else to illegally download your shit rather than actually buy it?
The thing about non-Anglo hip-hop is that the language barrier generally limits it to those territories where that particular language is spoken. In places like France or Germany, there's sufficient demand for rap music in the local tongue that artists can have significant success at home without ever needing to concern themselves with other territories. If your stock-in-trade is something other than lyrics, then your potential audience becomes a lot bigger. If they see an opportunity to perhaps become the hip-hop version of Swedish House Mafia, I wouldn't blame them at all for taking a shot at it. Not saying I'd necessarily like it, or that I think the world needs something like that. But if someone wanted to do it, now would be the ideal time. Because when that EDM bubble finally bursts, the fallout is going to make the end of the disco era seem about as tumultuous as Farrah Franklin leaving Destiny's Child.
If they see an opportunity to perhaps become the hip-hop version of Swedish House Mafia, I wouldn't blame them at all for taking a shot at it. Not saying I'd necessarily like it, or that I think the world needs something like that. But if someone wanted to do it, now would be the ideal time.
They're definitely not sticking to any kind of hip-hop purist aesthetic, though. When you attempt a move from an underground idiom like turntablism to something more mainstream, there's always the risk that you'll end up falling between two stools. But then again, the only people who are really bothered about distinctions like "underground" and "mainstream" as they apply here are the aforesaid hip-hop purists. Artists themselves are usually looking elsewhere, maybe at a broader picture. After all, who wants to be scared of trying to make a living for fear of upsetting a bunch of Dunk-wearing dweebs with chinstrap beards who are as likely as anyone else to illegally download your shit rather than actually buy it?
I don't see myself ever caring about their music - but they're obviously on to a good thing from a mainstream perspective.
the edm fallout will be fascinating to witness the disco era comparison viewpoint is solid
this shit is less bad than ben l'oncle soul in a pop/cool music crossover
but this shit will be what your friends who know you like records will talk to you about and you will undoubtedly roll your eyes
I admit that I'm anticipating some good schadenfreude, but aside from that, I am quite curious to see what happens when that bubble bursts. Will anything replace it? What's gonna happen to those non-EDM DJs who kinda got into the EDM lane? And so on.
[quote author="DocMcCoy date=But if someone wanted to do it, now would be the ideal time. Because when that EDM bubble finally bursts, the fallout is going to make the end of the disco era seem about as tumultuous as Farrah Franklin leaving Destiny's Child.
I kinda think this fallout is gonna be way bigger than the disco is dead, burning disco records at ballparks. And yeah what music is gonna rise up outta that?
And this...
" What's gonna happen to those non-EDM DJs who kinda got into the EDM lane? And so on."
They're just gonna follow the paper right?
As far as C2C they've been around for a min, payed their dues. IMO any dj band comparisons would have to be with the rock steady/pickles djs. They are the fathers to that style. Everyone else just took that idea and put their own little twist on it.
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
EDM in the US has never been anything but extreme fringe, thus there is hardly anything here to backlash against.
this shit will be what your friends who know you like records will talk to you about and you will undoubtedly roll your eyes
THIS
Its happened to me already. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
DOR said:
No opinion on C2C. But just a side question. Why biters of the Beat Junkies specifically? Just because the usage of soul?
Why not Rock Steady DJs/Invisibl Skratch Piklz or X-Men or even Scratch Perverts?
Or even Frances Crazy Fast Nefis/Alliance Etnik for that matter who were doing their thing in 92/93?
Actually I didn't really like their routine per say. But the whitewash argument seems a little ridiculous imo.
ehm no i mean it strikes me as a watered down, neutered, version of beat junkies x men etc. and possibly any of those other crews you mentioned too. i didnt mean whitewashed in a racial sense if that s what you thought
Wonder if the real reason for your antipathy is contained within the first five words of your OP: "These guys are from France".
Not on a racist tip, more like a misguided defensive reaction to outsiders appropriating "your" culture.
If so, it's lollable.
If not, apologies for drawing erroneous inference.
Pas du tout., "some of my best friends are french". The reason for my antipathy is their 'sound'. What do you think? You likey le c2c?
I have nothing but respect for the french representatives, CTK Chrome Angelz mode2 sens bando (founder of soul fire records) oclock trane etc the list goes on and on . Props for days. Paris is the shit.
i have heard the 'down the road' song several times on the radio and wondered what the story behind it was. i frankly find it rather annoying and the video didn't help matters. i can see how people enjoy it though.
staxwax
1,474 Posts
Comments
Fair play for being honest about your first impressions, but I gotta say that declaring C2C to be Beat Junkies biters simply because they're a four-man DJ crew is a little like saying Bloc Party bit Hootie & the Blowfish because they're a four-piece guitar band with a black frontman. Or that Amy Winehouse bit Sharon Jones because they both do/did throwback r&b.
I get your broader point about their approach, and I agree with you to an extent. There's definitely been some major label cash thrown at them outside of France - their album's coming out on Mercury in the UK, and I reviewed their EP in last July's issue of Q. But nevertheless they haven't just appeared out of nowhere. They've won the DMC team prize a bunch of times, so I guess some proper work has been put in at some stage. In any event I can't imagine there are too many DJ crews out there that the Beat Junkies haven't influenced.
They're definitely not sticking to any kind of hip-hop purist aesthetic, though. When you attempt a move from an underground idiom like turntablism to something more mainstream, there's always the risk that you'll end up falling between two stools. But then again, the only people who are really bothered about distinctions like "underground" and "mainstream" as they apply here are the aforesaid hip-hop purists. Artists themselves are usually looking elsewhere, maybe at a broader picture. After all, who wants to be scared of trying to make a living for fear of upsetting a bunch of Dunk-wearing dweebs with chinstrap beards who are as likely as anyone else to illegally download your shit rather than actually buy it?
The thing about non-Anglo hip-hop is that the language barrier generally limits it to those territories where that particular language is spoken. In places like France or Germany, there's sufficient demand for rap music in the local tongue that artists can have significant success at home without ever needing to concern themselves with other territories. If your stock-in-trade is something other than lyrics, then your potential audience becomes a lot bigger. If they see an opportunity to perhaps become the hip-hop version of Swedish House Mafia, I wouldn't blame them at all for taking a shot at it. Not saying I'd necessarily like it, or that I think the world needs something like that. But if someone wanted to do it, now would be the ideal time. Because when that EDM bubble finally bursts, the fallout is going to make the end of the disco era seem about as tumultuous as Farrah Franklin leaving Destiny's Child.
This.
I don't see myself ever caring about their music - but they're obviously on to a good thing from a mainstream perspective.
this shit is less bad than ben l'oncle soul in a pop/cool music crossover
but this shit will be what your friends who know you like records will talk to you about and you will undoubtedly roll your eyes
I admit that I'm anticipating some good schadenfreude, but aside from that, I am quite curious to see what happens when that bubble bursts. Will anything replace it? What's gonna happen to those non-EDM DJs who kinda got into the EDM lane? And so on.
Why not Rock Steady DJs/Invisibl Skratch Piklz or X-Men or even Scratch Perverts?
Or even Frances Crazy Fast Nefis/Alliance Etnik for that matter who were doing their thing in 92/93?
Actually I didn't really like their routine per say. But the whitewash argument seems a little ridiculous imo.
C2C has done some cool tablist stuff but I was never a huge fan.
I kinda think this fallout is gonna be way bigger than the disco is dead, burning disco records at ballparks. And yeah what music is gonna rise up outta that?
And this...
" What's gonna happen to those non-EDM DJs who kinda got into the EDM lane? And so on."
They're just gonna follow the paper right?
As far as C2C they've been around for a min, payed their dues. IMO any dj band comparisons would have to be with the rock steady/pickles djs. They are the fathers to that style. Everyone else just took that idea and put their own little twist on it.
Its happened to me already. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
ehm no i mean it strikes me as a watered down, neutered, version of beat junkies x men etc. and possibly any of those other crews you mentioned too. i didnt mean whitewashed in a racial sense if that s what you thought
Not on a racist tip, more like a misguided defensive reaction to outsiders appropriating "your" culture.
If so, it's lollable.
If not, apologies for drawing erroneous inference.
Pas du tout., "some of my best friends are french". The reason for my antipathy is their 'sound'. What do you think? You likey le c2c?
I have nothing but respect for the french representatives, CTK Chrome Angelz mode2 sens bando (founder of soul fire records) oclock trane etc the list goes on and on . Props for days. Paris is the shit.
Well, yeah. But where's that gonna be?
am i the only one to see and hear a major bite at this :
this
Not even close imo
They do have some skills though.
France. We come from France.