Darkdancer

The book says that this album is "[f]aux French electronica at its best," which leads me to several questions. Why does faux French electronica exist, and why are we keeping tabs on it? Is this really the exemplar of the genre, and if so, what does bad faux French electronica sound like? Who is the target audience for this? If life is truly meaningless, and the human condition is to ascribe meaning to it, why is the conclusion "Eat, drink, and be merry" also something that an animal can do with no self-reflection? Are animals simply beings who have achieved enlightenment? If nihilism is constructed on paradoxes, is it any less true? What compels an artist to take a decent-sounding track and add a bunch of nonsensical sound effects on top of it? Best track: Damaged People

A rant on death, friendship, and the power of music A big motivator for starting this project with my you my friends was inspired by living through the illness and death of my best friend Keith. During the final days of Keith's life, we spent a lot of time laughing just like we always did. Big belly laughs that led to coughing fits. When he first learned of his cancer, he turned to me one late night in the dark fall of Connecticut and in such earnestness said the biggest thing to process is "when is the last. like when is the last time I'm going to hear Dancing Queen." I think he would have loved this project. As Keith's final days got darker and slower in all earnestness I said "if anyone can come back as a ghost, it's you. If anyone can cross the veil for me, it's you. Let's seriously talk about how I will know. I'm thinking a slight breeze on the lower lobe of my right ear. How's that sound?" We laughed. His response was simply, "you'll know." I was struggling this morning. I drove to the ocean before work. I wanted to swim in the Atlantic and do a bit of a mental cleanse. I put on Les Rythmes Digitales who I never heard of before. This was Keith music. Hard, fierce, funky. We so loved that repetitive beat on the dance floor. Music Makes You Lose Control came on and all I could think of was Keith. I didn't feel the breeze on my ear but boy oh boy did I feel his essence. I laughed, I cried, I walked into the ocean. I was thinking about the song, and I know some people don't like repetitive music but for Keith and I this vibe was hypnotic and thrilling and just joyful. I kept thinking "hypnotic" what a word...what a feeling when music can get a groove going for you. Then the song Hypnotic came on and it all felt a bit otherworldly and connected. I don't really believe the dead physically touch the living but if this intense mental experience spawned through dance music made me feel connected to my friend, I'll take it. It's the only way we have to connect now. Music (good music) always made us lose control. This album was indeed one I had to listen to before I died. I'll be spinning it a lot until that day comes.

This was unlistenable. Naff, artless, annoying, repetitive trash

The scene : cleaning my car in my garage, pretending to be in a Fast & the Furious montage

repetition Repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is repetition is... ... not songwriting. At the risk of sounding all "get off my lawn," come talk to me when you can write a damn song. Until then, get off my lawn.

The album really took a turn for the worse once it started. The production is good, however, that’s mainly where my praise stops. The lyrics are nonsensical and the beats and vocals are annoyingly repetitive. I can’t believe they made an hour of this. If I just had one song, I could see it being a fun song to dance to and in that sense it’s fine, just not for me. 2/5

The editor of this book thought this album was more essential than anything by Yo La Tengo or The Cranberries

Nice - funky, danceable album - about a decade ahead of it's time - Ed Banger records peak of the mid-noughties seem to have either drawn from this album or it's one hell of a coincidence. Has the same groovy playfulness and thicc-ness of Justice, but with the earnest-ness and innocence of the 90 - the darkness hadn't set in on the dance floor yet I guess back then, although there are hints throughout.

I... actually LOVE this?!?!

Score: 90 Album art: 70 This album is so incredibly cheesy and dumb, but it's also a lot of fun. Almost every track is a banger. I laughed out loud when the singers voice was paulstretched during the chorus of the first song and it set the tone for the rest of the album. The final track is different, being a more serious dark wave track. There's not a lot of lyrics but damn if they aren't true. Favorite tracks: pretty much every song Least favorite: disco II disco

This was my second favourite album of 1999 at the time (yes, I have a Google doc with 20+ years of end-of-year lists) (number 1 was Blumfeld's Old Nobody). It really takes me back to that time, which is a bit strange because this is quite retro music. Electroclash. Daft Punk. Nik Kershaw. I liked Les Rythmes Digitales because it did both the dancefloor-y stuff and the beautiful pop songs. My relationship with the album is too personal to be able to say if it 'holds up'. Listening to it gives me a nice jolt of nostalgic feelings and Sometimes is still a banger. 8/10

A pulsating, giddy and infectious album from beginning to end, Darkdancer from Les Rythmes Digitales sees him approach the end of the century with the ethos of a prior decade's dance evolution, with tantalizing collaborations honoring the aesthetics whilst not plundering too much. Overall, Darkdancer is a breeze that will surprisingly reel you back in.

Awesome sample heavy breakbeat techno dance album. Hadn't heard of them before and appreciated every moment.

Listened to it twice!

I can't believe I haven't heard this one! And the Jacque track made me realize that he and Missy Eliot both sampled the same track. Good stuff!

Eh, not for me.

blah

Ugh

This is less terrible than the plethora of other electronic albums on this list...or at I thought... Nope it went right into repetitive boring bullshit once again. I've had enough honestly. How many more do I have to listen to?

Seriously a funk/disco/pop album?

Not my thing

Not my style

Awesome. Funktastic. Several stand out tracks.

I didn’t think I knew anything about this artist until I learned that it is Jacques Lu Cont (Stuart Price) - the man who created the incredible remix of The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside.” Then I read about a pile of other work he did with The Killers and a bunch of other artists. As I was listening I noticed a Nik Kershaw song! I was a big Nik Kershaw fan in high school so that was another pleasant surprise. I enjoy some good dance-pop... this is bright, fun, energetic... makes you want to move! A nice addition to this list.

Good old electronicy-house music

Straight booty shaking French electrofunk, disco-y, beat filled fun.

This really scratched an itch I didn't know I had

Listened to The Chemical Brothers yesterday so I’m apparently on a 90s tech bender but this ablum is also awesome—missing several songs on Spotify but none the less still great

Really enjoyed this, daft punk but more 90s

This is just fucking great.

Really digging these digital beats. It's got a cartoonish vibe, but it still feels mature and articulated.

Darkdancer It’s been a long time since Les Rhythmes Digitales happened to drift across my transom. I remember liking the song Jacques Your Body back at Uni, as it was on that Citroen advert. I think I also had it on a free CD from Q or Select or something. Aside from that song I don’t know a great deal about LRD, and didn’t realise until today that he’s not French and that his real name is Stuart Price. And I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. It has some of that Chicago House influence as on Jacques Your Body, but also has lots of great 80s synth, funk and disco influences too. It may not have quite the naked pop ambition of say Fatboy Slim, or be as interesting or as consistent as the Chemical Brothers, but it probably sits at the Venn diagram of those two - a great, fun, danceable and catchy electronica record. It made me think of the Basement Jaxx record we had last month too, with some similar disco and funk touches, but this I think is much better - the grooves are catchier and the energetic and infectious charm keeps it driving it forward. Dreamin’ kicks things off with a burst of squelchy synth and a soulful vocal/sample hinting at Chicago House but with added 80s-ness. I love that little riff on Music Makes You Lose Control, reminds me of Barbarism Begins at Home a bit, but it’s great, it’s circularity feeding the groove, bit of a banger Soft Machine feels like a slight misstep, the vocal doesn’t quite suit it, but it does feel a bit like something from the Contino Sessions by Death in Vegas, which came out later the same year. Hypnotise is a great return to form though - Dr Who by way of the Eurythmics with a great repetitive insistent groove, excellent track. I vaguely remember (Hey You) What’s that Sound?, taking Skee-lo’s interpolation of For What it’s Worth and turning it into a synth laden electro dance bop. Great track. Take a Little Time is a banging early 80s throwback, feeling like something the Pointer Sisters or Chaka Khan might have done. ‘Wahahahahahahah’ - love that keyboard sound on From: Disco to: Disco, another hypnotic banger. Brothers goes back to the Chicago House/techno well, may not be as strong as some of the other tracks but the bass is great and it still gets your head nodding. Jacques Your Body is still great, that slap/funk bassline is very catchy and very air ‘thumbable’. About Funk is interesting, the synth hook that appears halfway through takes it into a different world, more ethereal and spacey, making it more interesting than the first minute or so might indicate Sometimes is unexpectedly great. He’s obviously a very skilled arranger writer to make very listenable tracks out of repeating motifs and phrases, but this shows a degree of songwriting craft and is an excellent track, with the perfect throwback vocalist. Damaged People, with the same vocalist as Soft Machine, is slightly better than that track, although still not quite sure it works that well. Overall though, this feels like a bit of an energetic, infectious, overlooked gem from the late 90s - other bands ploughing a similar furrow might have been more successful, but this is a great listen. It also feels ahead of its time, pre-saging a lot of the mid to late 00s electroclash and house stuff like Simian Mobile Disco, Mylo, Justice and all those Kitsune Maison compilations, taking influences from the history of electronic and synth driven music and making a great dance album. Easily a 4. 🕺🕺🕺🕺 Playlist submission: Jacques Your Body

Very quirky. A fun dance album with that classic repetitive style of the 90’s that we’ve seen on a few other dance albums in this list. Music Make You Lose Control was fun to see as a sample from Missy Elliot. Also Hypnotize sounds like a similar beat to sweet dreams. This album felt like a stepping stone for the jet set radio future soundtrack too which was really fun.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.

An interesting electronic / dance record. Standout Tracks: From: Disco To: Disco, Brothers, Damaged People

Really catchy, gem I never would've found.

Techno. That hive of scum and villainy that was a bastard child of disco and 80's electronica. I liked it!

Not a bad dance album, but it’s pretty forgettable not sure about it’s place on this list.

Eh.

Friendship ended with “I Should Coco” by Supergrass Now Les Rhythmes Digitales “Darkdancer” is the worst album cover on the list.

So... we're just letting everyone in now?

This music did not interest me.

Is that Andy Samberg? Anyway, pretty meh album. I've never been that big of a fan of this style of electronic music - overly clean production with a thin, wiffly soundscape. None of the rhythms are interesting or compelling, none of the textures are evocative of anything at all to me. This is dance music with all the personality of the paint on the walls of hospital hallway.

Holy Hell, this is my nightmare soundtrack. I think there's a circle of hell devoted to music like Les Rythmes Digitales'.

This was hard to get through. Some tracks start promissing enough but don't ever develop into something enjoyable for me. Guess I know why most electronic music was so repellent to me when I was younger, if this is what was available at the time.

So my scale is 1=hate, 2=dislike, 3=like,4=really like and 5=love. Had a hard choice on this one - do I dislike it or do I hate it. Finally decided hate was the best choice for this one.

This album sucks

Fantastic electro funk pop

Really nice electronic dance album with strong tracks and cool sounds!

Þessi plata er bara algjörlega frábær! Ég tók double take á ártalið þegar ég hlustaði á fyrsta lagið, hélt hún hlyti að vera ca 10 árum eldri. En svo fékk ég svaka mikið Disclosure vibe í mörgum lögum. Hef grun um að þeir hafi samplað talsvert frá þessu bandi! Og nú verð ég bara að hlusta á Disclosure!

Is it possible that my memory of this album was blurred by my having it on in the background while I took a Covid-induced nap? Perhaps. But damn if it wasn't an amazing nap.

Electronic dance from the end of the 20th century. Had forgotten how good this album is.

What a fantastic, novel electronica sound!!!

Absolutely loved this. The energy, the beat, the sound. Cannot fault it. Made me want to go clubbing all over again and hit the dance floor. Uplifting feelgood stuff. Good mixture of acid house hip hop and electronica. Brilliant

cool

Would have been super cool if it had all the songs on it, only had like 6 songs the rest were banned by spotify I guess who knows

If you’re a girly who really leaned into 💚Brat Summer™️💚 like me, you’ll probably adore Darkdancer, an album of front-to-back ironic/iconic club classics. Otherwise? I mean, sorry you’re lame, I guess…😬😬😬

Rating: 10/10

Groovy dance music from top to bottom. A British guy, not a French guy. Works under many nom de plumes including the Thin White Duke (not David Bowie)

Very cool, very dancable

When they finally release GTA 6 this will be the music I'll drive around town to.

So underrated. This was Daft Punk, except it loved 80s pop instead of 70s disco. Even men with hearts of stone will bop to these tracks.

Extraño el internet de antes.

Great for a run

Like other electronic albums, I have a difficulty putting this one into context. However, every track is good pop music, if perhaps a little generic (though they may not have been for the time). It seems like sort of a weird choice for this list because I don't see it as being a groundbreaking album, but it's also hard to argue with because it's well-produced 4/5

Beaucoup plus accroché que j'aurais pensé (ne pas toujours se fier à la pochette). Ça fait très 90s comme style mais ça a tout de même bien vieilli. Beaucoup de chansons font penser à du Daft Punk (surtout dans la 2e moitié). Quelques moments par ci par là qui étaient un peu moins excitant mais overall très content d'avoir découvert cela. 9/10

Really reminds me of being 18 and monkeyed. Absolute nostalgia

Really liked it despite limited experience with electronic stuff. Also cool to hear the missy/Ciara sample

Yesss so many samples

Solid

Pop con sintetizadores y post-disco. Me ha gustado. Un 4.

a few great songs on here. flight facilities have used a lot of it in there mixes

I don’t know that these were particularly special dance tracks, but the album was fun enough…except that one track that I couldn’t make it through.

Toffe dansmuziek met duidelijke de invloed van een pop-producer

This is like an 80's-90's masterclass. It's just great and I can see why a lot of artists that want to get that vibe for their songs are still turning to Price. The cover art is plainly hideous though, but I guess that's just the 00's kickin in. Liked: About Funk

overall fun dance album with some different, interesting electronic songs at the end. fun to run to

Electro pop goodness, what's not to like? Would have perhaps been super into it when came out, if I had been aware of it. That said, wouldn't say it's stand out above other electro of the era like Daft Punk or Timo Maas

Wow, never heard of this album or the creator and it's pretty tight. Some great songs and the sound is pretty ahead of it's time for the 90s still sounds modern today.

Fun to have a straight-up dance album. Not sure why this one but I enjoyed it.

Feels like a lifetime since I listened to this. Great album that blended French disco with 80s synth pop. I forgot how much I loved this. I have vague memories of seeing him DJ but I may have hallucinationed it. Fun times

Funky remixed beats

Yeah this is some groovy af dance music. Impossible to sit still to. Bass riff in "Music Makes You Lose Control" is amazing (and ah that's where that Missy Elliott sample is from!).

Liked this quite a lot. The thing stopping this from being a 5/5 is just that the vocals are over-repeated without enough other variation to keep it from being grating. Some songs are better than others in this regard. It doesn't bother me much over a single listen, but I know it'd stop me from playing the album on repeat, and thus 4/5 instead of 5/5

Really nice album for playing in the background while other stuff is going on (like attempting to work). Full of electronic synth stuff, but not so overpowering that you HAVE to pay attention to it. I'm tempted to give it 4 stars, given how scarce my actually enjoying the selections has been lately. Relatively speaking, I like it better than yesterday's 3-star offering, so 4 it is!

Holy shit, this is really good. "Music makes you lose control", that bass hook is rad! Never heard of this before, but I kind of love it, makes you want to shake your ass.

4.5 stars. This is close, but the last two songs aren't my favorite. Very nu-disco, synth pop, Daft Punk style electronica. Super danceable. THIS THING IS STRAIGHT BANGERZ. I just wanna dance. Almost every song has at least one part I just love. Last two songs tail off maybe a little but I liked this a lot

Wasn’t looking forward to this as I really don’t like “electronica” - but this was pretty good. I’m still not a fan of the genre, but this was less repetitive and annoying than almost all the rest of it. And, given the time frame it came out in and the list of artist I see he’s worked with, it’s clear that this was influential in the industry. It’s a 3 for me, but I’ll give it a bump to check my own bias and give it the credit it probably deserves.

Fun funky housey big beat. will for sure be listening again.

Nothing special, but a pretty fun electronic album.

Slightly surprised to see this come up. Jacques du Cont was doing the whole 80s throwback thing before Calvin Harris made it cool. That said, quite a few tracks on "Darkdancer" seem to be crowd-pleasing late-90s house that don't quite live up to the perfectly executed pastiche of "Hey You" and "Sometimes."

interesting dance album. Sounds almost 80' in places. Will need another listen i think

Rad

Good to see some Electronic coming up in the list every now and then. This was a really decent album with one or two songs I've previously heard (Namely the club mix of "Jacques Your Body"). Some of these tracks are bangers, others fall a bit flat to me. Overall though I really liked this. Favourite: Soft Machine

I like this album. Not every song goes super hard, but there are a bunch that are a real bop. The songs are great for getting you in a groove, and I was jamming along to the songs. Definitely the best electronica album I've listened to so far. Favorite song: music makes you lose control Worst song: Disco II disco

Had this in college, but not listened to it in god knows how long. Still love it, dance in your seat stuff. Great beats, disco sound, remembered most of the tunes. Deffo has a 90s/00s kinda sound, a little bit of big-beat. Sampled widely in other stuff too (2manyDjs). Hadn't realised it was a British bloke riding the coattails of french house. Need more dance music in this list, but I guess the album is not as common a format in electronic music.

Great mix of 80's electro and house, sounds retro but also modern and current. It's got that European style of dance

A fun, throwback French house jam. A few tracks felt too repetitive for my taste, but I enjoyed the album for the most part.

Not bad, as someone with extremely eclectic taste I deffo enjoyed this Saved tracks: Dreamin', Soft Machine, Hypnotise, From: Disco To: Disco, Sometimes, Music Makes You Lose Control - Lrd Remix

8/10 there were some pretty good moments here but nothing amazing feels like france had a surplus of electronic artists in the 80s lol while a lot of them were actually super talented, (mainly Daft Punk, who were geniuses at sampling/production) a lot of them are just kinda… fun, and not much else I’m not saying it’s bad, it’s fun but that’s all this album has it doesn’t sound very creative, like it’s reinventing anything still pretty cool

I really dig this album!