Fuze 12 - French Kissed

Why is it that whenever the French get involved with something, they make it ooze with a kind of cool that the rest of the world could never emulate.

They dress cool without being cool. Their film offerings are beyond world comparison and the literature comprises alternative methods to tell a story. It's no surprise to learn that the French are fucking good at making stuff work. Usually, to the rest of the world, it looks as though it's done without the hard yards.

Just like the UK music explosion of the '60s and '70s, where just about every band that mattered had a British twang, the French have become the standard when it comes to electronic music.

More than any other year, 2007 has seen the rise and rise of music from the country renowned for being smug - if we were that good, we'd be smug, too.

Daft Punk is on the road and they'll be here in December for their first-ever live show on Australian shores. The famous duo is perhaps at the forefront of the modern era - it can be argued that, if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have the likes of Justice getting their shit across to the masses at the recent Parklife festival.

Then there's the likes of Laurent Garnier, a name synonymous with the birth of dance music, not to mention the brilliant live shows that leave people coming down for months afterwards. In the same breath, you'd have Dimitri From Paris on support with a legendary set only he could put together (his Live At The Playboy Mansion still gets rotation on my MP3 player).

While there are the stains that obviously ride the coattails of such esteemed company, it's never more than a quick one-hit wonder, then things return to normal. Bob Sinclar used to be about the cool, but then realised he couldn't make money off it (something that is akin to listening to Electro).

It's okay, though, because providing the balance is just about everybody else, including Miss Kittin, The Hacker, Oxia - the cool names of dark-as-fuck techno.

Don't forget Air and St Germain, either.

Mon dieu! I could sit here and just roll off all of the names that mean something to our scene, so I will.

The following French kids have educated you at some stage of your life:

Laurent Garnier
Daft Punk
Air
Justice
Busy P
Llorca
Alan Braxe
Alexkid
Agoria
The Hacker
Miss Kittin
Kid Loco
Gotan Project
Mr Oizo
Dimitri From Paris
Etienne De Crecy
Cassius
David Guetta
Alex Gopher Tags

• laurent garnier
• daft punk
• air
• justice
• busy p
• parklife07
• llorca
• alan braxe
• alexkid
• agoria
• the hacker
• miss kittin
• kid loco
• gotan project
• mr oizo
• dimitri from paris
• etienne de crecy
• cassius
• david guetta
• alex gopher