French House

French house (sometimes called “Filter house” and part of the “French touch” supergenre) is my favorite type of music by a wide margin. It could be because Daft Punk’s Discovery came out during the time my brain was forming in my preteen years. It could be because the “Blog house” subgenre was a movement I contributed to with a blog that taught me how to create websites, I’m very glad it did!

It could also just be because it’s really good. Here are some of my favorites:

Play Paul – Holy Ghostz (Crydamoure, 2000)

The tenth release of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo’s (one half of Daft Punk, the gold helmet) record label “Crydamoure.” Holy Ghostz is written by Guy-Man’s brother Paul and appears on their second compilation album – Waves II. Both Waves I and Waves II are must-listens, but I won’t take up all the space in this list with them. You should track them down on YouTube.

Kamaro – A Little Touch of Fat (Riviera, 1999)

Found on Riviera’s 1999 “Greetings from Riviera” compilation album. Kamaro now makes music under the name “Majipoor” but mostly posts photos of his beautiful family on Instagram. He also replies very nice things to my DMs.

The sample from A Little Touch of Fat is Zapp’s “A Touch of Jazz” from 1982: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztcfhm7hH0c&t=4s

Saint Piece – Miss Your Tape (The Phantom’s Revenge Remix)

I have no idea where the hell this guy came from but I haven’t stopped listening to him since I first heard this remix in high school.

He still makes music today, both under The Phantom’s Revenge but now also under the name DJ DVD RIP (Crystal Boy is among my favorite releases, give it a listen).

I’ll link a few other of my favorites because I have to. You can find some stuff on streaming services as well.

The Chemical Brothers – Life is Sweet (Daft Punk remix) (Virgin Records, 1995)

This is one of only 7 remixes Daft Punk released (not counting remixes of their own songs). It’s eclipsed by their discography but in my opinion is among their best sounds. I think I especially like it because it sounds almost nothing like the original, which can be found on The Chemical Brothers’ 1995 album Exit Planet Dust. The humming in the intro became an entire song – fantastic.

Bob Sinclair – Gym Tonic (EastWest, 1998)

This is the work of Thomas Banglater (half of a daft punk, silver helmet) and has a storied history. Thomas sampled the workout tape and some funk improv, producing this track in one night. He made Sinclair promise (1) never to release it as a single (2) keep Bangalter’s name away from it. When Gym Tonic became the smash hit on the album, it was released as a single… with Thomas Bangalter’s producer credit.

A legal battle ensued and that’s why there’s no Bob Sinclar remix of “Music Sounds Better with You.”

Really, really good song though.