French house, also known as French touch, filter house and tekfunk, is a style of

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

originally produced by French musicians in the 1990s. It is a form of

Euro disco Eurodisco (also spelled as Euro disco) is the variety of European forms of electronic dance music that evolved from disco in the late 1970s, incorporating elements of pop and rock into a disco-like continuous dance atmosphere. Many Eurodisco ...

and a popular strand of the late 1990s and 2000s European dance music scene. The defining characteristics of the sound are reliant on

filter Filter, filtering or filters may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming * Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream * Filter (video), a software component tha ...

and phaser effects both on and alongside samples from late 1970s and early 1980s American or European

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

tracks (or original hooks strongly inspired by such samples), causing thicker harmonic foundations than the genre's forerunners. Most tracks in this genre are in time and feature steady

four on the floor ''Four on the Floor'' is a 1999 compilation album consisting of songs by bands on Panic Button Records. It features four tracks by four of the labels bands, Screeching Weasel, Moral Crux A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is c ...

beats in the tempo range of 110–130

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ...

. French house is similar to

future funk Vaporwave is a microgenre of electronic music, visual art style, and Internet meme that emerged in the early 2010s. It is defined partly by its slowed-down, chopped and screwed samples of smooth jazz, elevator, R&B, and lounge music from ...

, although there are some key differences. Purveyors of French house include

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...

, Stardust, Cassius, The Supermen Lovers,

Modjo Modjo were a French house musical duo formed in Paris in 1999. The duo was made up of producer Romain Tranchart (born 9 June 1976) and vocalist Yann Destagnol (Yann Destal; born 14 July 1978). They had major success in 2000 with their hit single ...

and

Étienne de Crécy Étienne Bernard Marie de Crécy (, born 25 February 1969, Lyon, France), also known as Superdiscount, EDC, Minos Pour Main Basse and Mooloodjee, is a French DJ and producer who composes electronic music, primarily house. Biography Crécy wa ...

History and influences

French house is greatly influenced by the lineage of American dance music from the emergence of disco onwards, maintaining a distinct connection to

and the short lived

space disco Italo disco (variously capitalized, and sometimes hyphenated as Italo-disco) is a music genre which originated in Italy in the late 1970s and was mainly produced in the early 1980s. Italo disco evolved from the then-current underground dance, p ...

music style. Space disco was very popular in France, during the late 1970s and early 1980s, alongside artists such as

Cerrone Marc Cerrone Daryl Easlea, "Supernature Boy", ''Record Collector'', #502, February 2020, pp.60-63 (, ; born 24 May 1952) is a French disco drummer, composer, record producer and creator of concert shows. Cerrone is a producer of 1970s and 198 ...

, Sheila and B. Devotion, the latter with their 1979 hit ''Spacer''. Additional influences came from P-Funk, especially the George Clinton and Bootsy Collins hits of that era. P-Funk was played alongside disco in many French discothèques, especially after the

Disco Demolition Night Disco Demolition Night was a Major League Baseball (MLB) promotion on Thursday, July 12, 1979, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois, that ended in a riot. At the climax of the event, a crate filled with disco records was blown up on the field ...

took place in the United States. The

Jacking Jacking, Jackin’, or the jack is a freestyle dance move in which the dancer ripples their torso back and forth in an undulating motion. It emerged within the context of Chicago house music in the 1980s. Origins and interpretations The style i ...

aspect of

Chicago house Chicago house refers to house music produced during the mid to late 1980s within Chicago. The term is generally used to refer to the first ever house music productions, which were by Chicago-based artists in the 1980s. History and origins Disco ...

was also incorporated (with "jack house" becoming a short-lived descriptive term for the sound in the UK). It also included influence of musical French figures of the seventies such as

François de Roubaix François de Roubaix (3 April 1939, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine – 22 November 1975, Tenerife, Canary Islands) was a French film score composer. In a decade, he created a musical style with new sounds, until his death in 1975. Biograp ...

Jean-Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompani ...

or Serge Gainsbourg.

Thomas Bangalter Thomas Bangalter (; born 3 January 1975) is a French musician, record producer, singer, songwriter, DJ and composer. Son of French music composer and artist Daniel Vangarde. He is best known as one half of the former French house music duo Daft ...

's tracks for his

Roulé Roulé () was a French record label founded in 1995 by former Daft Punk member Thomas Bangalter. Roulé had a side label entitled ''Scratché'' () which released only one record, produced by the Buffalo Bunch (Paul de Homem-Christo and Romain S ...

label is considered by some to be the earliest examples of an attempt to establish a distinctive style of French house. His solo material, along with his work as a member of

and Stardust, had a significant impact upon the French house scene during the mid-to-late 1990s.Suzanne Ely, "Return of the Cybermen" ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was prin ...

'', July 2006, pp. 94–98. The French duo

Motorbass Motorbass was a French house duo originating from Paris and consisting of Philippe Zdar (later of Cassius) and Étienne de Crécy. According to AllMusic, their "romping '70s updates released on the Cassius and Source labels have been instrumental i ...

(

Philippe Zdar Cassius was a French musical duo consisting of producers Philippe Cerboneschi and Hubert Blanc-Francard, better known as Zdar and Boombass (or sometimes Philippe Zdar and Hubert Boombass). Under its different incarnations the duo is likened to ...

, later of Cassius, and

) were also among the first in France to produce house tracks largely based around samples and filtered loops. These tracks inspired emerging American house producers such as

DJ Sneak Carlos Sosa (born November 5, 1969), known as DJ Sneak, is a Puerto Rican-born American DJ and record producer raised in Chicago, Illinois, United States. He is noted as being one of the second wave of Chicago house producers, (alongside Derrick ...

Green Velvet Curtis Alan Jones (born April 26, 1968), better known by his stage name Green Velvet, is an American singer, record producer and DJ. He is also known as Cajmere, Geo Vogt, Half Pint, Curan Stone, and Gino Vittori. Early life Curtis Alan Jones wa ...

and

Roger Sanchez Roger Sanchez (born June 1, 1967) is a Dominican-American house music DJ, remixer and producer. He won a Grammy Award for his remix of " Hella Good" by No Doubt in 2003, and is best known for his song " Another Chance", which was an internati ...

to produce sample-led house tracks with deep funky grooves, and ultimately resulted in the release of a sole full-length album, ''

Pansoul ''Pansoul'' is the only album by French house duo Motorbass, released in July 1996 under the record label Motorbass. It was reissued in 2003 and then again on October 21, 2021 by the record label Ed Banger to mark the 25th anniversary of the albu ...

''. Parisian producer St. Germain produced house tracks with a similar style at the time however these were more directly influenced by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

as opposed to the brasher vocal disco records appropriated. Other known French DJ-turned-producers at the time such as

François Kevorkian François Kevorkian (born 10 January 1954), also known by the stage name François K, is a French-born, U.S.-based DJ, producer, remixer and label owner of Armenian descent, who started his career DJing in clubs such as the Paradise Garage an ...

and

Laurent Garnier Laurent Garnier (born 1 February 1966), also known as Choice, is a French electronic music producer and DJ. Garnier began DJing in Manchester during the late 1980s. He became a producer in the early 1990s and recorded several albums. Early influ ...

remained distant from the emerging French house label. UK dance music and European DJs first recognised French house experiments in the mid-1990s, however commercial success occurred a few years later in 1997.

, Cassius and later, Stardust were the first internationally successful artists of the genre. Along with

Air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

, these acts were signed to

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

and benefited from distinctive music videos directed by the likes of Spike Jonze,

Michel Gondry Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one of the writers ...

and Alex & Martin. Due to awareness generated from the huge clubbing scene and major record company support, Daft Punk's debut album ''

Homework Homework is a set of tasks assigned to students by their teachers to be completed outside the classroom. Common homework assignments may include required reading, a writing or typing project, mathematical exercises to be completed, informatio ...

'' entered the top 10 of the

UK album charts The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

on release and became the biggest-selling French act in the UK since

. The emergence of the French sound coincided with dance music's popularity in the influential UK market which was peaking commercially with general

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

. Further international commercial success continued into 2000 with

Bob Sinclar Christophe Le Friant (; born 10 May 1969), better known by his stage name Bob Sinclar (), is a French record producer, DJ and remixer. He is the owner of the record label Yellow Productions. Musical career A native of Paris, Le Friant began DJ ...

Benjamin Diamond "Music Sounds Better with You" is the only song by the French house French house, also known as French touch, filter house and tekfunk, is a style of house music originally produced by French musicians in the 1990s. It is a form of Eur ...

and

achieving hit singles around Europe. In late 2005, pop superstar Madonna released ''

Confessions on a Dance Floor ''Confessions on a Dance Floor'' is the tenth studio album by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It was released on November 9, 2005, by Warner Bros. Records. A complete departure from her previous studio album '' American Life'' (2003), ...

;'' an album with significant French house influences in several of its songs.

Terms, origins and variations

The term "French Touch" was first used in Paris in July 1987. Jean-Claude Lagrèze, a photographer of parisians' nights created a couple of "French Touch" parties at The Palace to make people discover house music. The parties were driven by DJ

, Guillaume la Tortue and

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...

. The expression "We Give a French Touch to House" was printed on a bomber jacket by Éric Morand for Fnac Music Dance Division in 1991. Prior to 1996, "French house" had been referred to among Europeans as " nu-disco", "disco house" and "new disco". The term "French touch" was popularised by music journalist Martin James in the weekly music paper known as ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

''. He referred to the term in 1996 as a review of

's first album

Super Discount ''Super Discount'' is the debut album by French DJ and producer Étienne de Crécy. Although the track listing lists several artists, the majority of the credited artists are aliases for de Crécy alone or in collaboration. The album was followed ...

. This term became favoured among the French media and was then widely used in the UK press by 1998.'French Connections: From Discotheque to Discovery' by Martin James, 2002, Sanctuary Publishing The French newspaper, Libertation and Radio NRJ acknowledged Martin James as the coiner of the "French Touch". The term was then used on an MTV News special, to describe a "French house explosion" phenomenon.

was interviewed, as well as

(a non-house act) and Cassius. This news special later aired on all MTV local variations worldwide, spreading the term and introducing the "French house" sound to the mainstream population. Between 1998 and 2001, local music shop Discobole Records imported the records directly from France and middle class clubs dedicated totally to the genre, such as City Groove. In Greece, this music style was promoted as "disco house". During 1999, many events also took place on Spain's

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

island, and has continued to be a very popular destination for British tourists. French house can be described as a combination of three production styles. One is what the French refer to as "the French touch" and it is the style that greatly influenced by the

sound. The second is a continuation and update of

and greatly influenced by the productions of Alec R. Costandinos. The third would be the deep American house style, evident in the similar treatment of samples and repetitive 'funky' hooks. Naturally, further variations and mutations followed. French house maintains the established "French Touch" sound, focused more on Euro disco-like vocals and less emphasis on the "space disco" themes. However, most of the music's most successful acts have altered their sound since. Bob Sinclar's later work, including the hit single " World, Hold On (Children of the Sky)" maintains only a distant connection to the original French house sound. Both Daft Punk and Étienne de Crécy subsequently developed a harder synthetic sound more directly inspired by

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

, electro and pop.

Record labels associated with the style

* 20000st * Astralwerks (U.S. market) *

Barclay (record label) Barclay is a French record company and label founded by Eddie Barclay in 1953. Eddie Barclay was a bandleader, pianist, producer, and nightclub owner. With his wife, Nicole, who was the vocalist in his band, he started Barclay. The catalogue in ...

* Bromance *

Crydamoure Crydamoure (a variation of the French phrase ''cri d'amour'' or "cry of love" in English) was a French house record label owned by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, one former half of the duo Daft Punk, and Eric Chedeville. Background The label wa ...

* Diamond Traxx * Disques Solid * Dynamic Recordings *

Ed Banger Records Ed Banger Records (sometimes referred to as Ed Rec) is a French electronic music record label founded by Pedro Winter in 2003 as a division of Headbangers Entertainment. It focuses on house music, particularly French house, as well as alterna ...

* F Communications * Fiat Lux * Kitsuné * Moveltraxx * Pont Neuf Records * Record Makers * Roche Musique *

* Versatile Records * Vulture Music * We Rock Music * Work It Baby

References

{{house music 20th-century music genres House music genres French styles of music Music scenes