[Column] French Touch / Nu Disco: Reappraisal of French house since the 2000s and counterattack of analog aesthetics
Column en French House Nu Disco![[Column] French Touch / Nu Disco: Reappraisal of French house since the 2000s and counterattack of analog aesthetics](/../assets/images/column-french-touch.webp)
1. Introduction: Why is “French Touch” being reevaluated now?
Text: mmr｜Theme: How the reappraisal of 2000s French house connected to Nu Disco—— About analog synths, record culture, and filter house techniques
In the late 2020s, French Touch (French house) is being reevaluated in both club and internet culture. In terms of DJ performances, songs like Stardust”s ““Music Sounds Better With You” and Cassius’ ““1999” are moving the younger crowd again, and Daft Punk”s early works are finding new audiences through vinyl reissues. Furthermore, as domestic and foreign producers actively incorporate analog synths, tape textures, the roughness of sampling, and the texture of vinyl lips, they are naturally connecting with the context of Nu Disco, which was established in the late 2000s.
This phenomenon is not just nostalgia. Rather, it is precisely because the digital environment has become completely pervasive that The ““temperature of analog”, ““the fluctuation of filters”, and the ““physicality of record culture’‘ are being reinterpreted.
The “feel” of French Touch is giving a new reality to electronic music in the 2020s.
2. Establishment of French Touch: Situation in Paris in the late 1990s
● Background: An encounter between house and disco
In the mid-1990s, the Parisian club scene absorbed American house music while forming a unique structure that brought disco/soul samples to the fore. While the influence of Chicago House was strong, house began to function as a new type of ““pop music” by mixing in the ““sophisticated melodic feel” unique to Europe.
● Existence of label/base
- Roulé (Thomas Bangalter)
- Crydamoure (Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo)
- Major support from Ed Banger, Virgin France and more
These labels pushed French Touch somewhere between DIY and pop.
3. Daft Punk: Sound Aesthetics and Analog Philosophy
Daft Punk’s early works (especially “Homework” and “Discovery”) symbolize the “boundary between analog and digital” in French Touch.
● ① Use of analog synth
Representative ones are: -Roland Juno-106 -Roland TB-303
- Sequential Circuits Pro-One
- ARP Odyssey
These filter modules have an analog structure, so the overtone fluctuations during sweep are rich. French Touch’s sonic image of ““closing and opening the filter’’ is created with a texture unique to hardware.
● ② Record sampling and EQ/filter work
Daft Punk actively employs vinyl noise and texture as part of their music by leaving the sample’s sound image “rough”. Especially during the “Discovery” period, instead of polishing the sample to high quality, The aesthetics of making pop music ““just as it was picked up from records’’ is a constant.
● ③ Tape/compression texture
Outboard compressors (especially the Alesis 3630) were often used in studio environments at the time. This compressor has a “coarse” sound quality, but On the contrary, it became a decisive element in creating French Touch’s punchy kick + crushed loop.
4. Stardust “Music Sounds Better With You”: An iconic moment
In 1998, the unit “Stardust” of Thomas Bangalter + Alan Braxe + Benjamin Diamond Recorded a worldwide hit with the release of only one song.
Features:
- Samples the riff from Chaka Khan’s “Fate”
- Roulé label-like filter processing
- Extremely sophisticated melody and disco feel
This success established French Touch’s culture of ““pop being an extension of play and experimentation’’. Although it was only one song, it became a myth because it encapsulated all the aesthetics of French Touch.
This song is a classic for fans of house music and electronic dance music.
Tracklist
A. Music Sounds Better With You
Youtube
5. Cassius: A sense of freedom and artistry in Paris
Cassius “1999” by Philippe Zdar and Boom Bass further expanded the popularity of French Touch.
- Heavy use of funk/soul sampling
- Deeply connected to Paris’ street culture and art scene
- High mix density and center of gravity that always makes it dance
Rather than focusing on synths like Daft Punk, Cassius is more “sampling-based”. They were the ones who specifically presented house grooves that were directly connected to the floor.
6. 2000s: The legacy of French house and the germination of Nu Disco
◆ Analog regression and disco re-evaluation
In the 2000s, French Touch temporarily waned. But at the same time, Analog synths, 70s-80s disco, AOR, Italo disco were being reevaluated, From this, a new trend called Nu Disco was born.
Features of Nu Disco:
- Slow (105–120 BPM)
- Thick and melodious synths
- See 1980s electronic funk
- Re-expansion of record digging culture
In this context, French Touch’s ““sampling aesthetics,” ““filterwork,” and ““analog temperature’’ provide an important foundation.
7. Nu Disco’s representative producer and the inheritance of French Touch
● Todd Terje (Norway)
- Worldwide recognition as “Inspector Norse” etc.
- Heavy use of Roland and Korg analog synths
- Modernize filter house-like long build
● Breakbot (France)
- AOR to disco route similar to Daft Punk “Discovery”
- Combination of light bass line and live instruments
- Inheriting the “cute and colorful sound image” of French Touch
● Lindstrøm
- Cosmic disco synth work
- Long track structure resonates with Daft Punk storytelling
These artists updated the French Touch gene in a Nu Disco context.
8. Detailed explanation of analog synths and “record culture”
◆ ① Reasons why analog synths were preferred
- Filter module is a physical circuit → Sound fluctuations are natural
- rich in saturation
- High frequency components are round and blend well with disco sounds
French Touch’s filter sweep relied on analog harmonic changes.
◆ ② Record culture: Music production based on sampling
Much of French Touch begins with vinyl samples. Here is the ““joy of discovering’’ music**. It was the atmosphere of the time when club culture and record culture were directly connected. Digging records itself was the gateway to creation.
Vinyl features:
- Noise = Texture
- The thickness of the sound changes depending on the stylus pressure.
- The sound image changes depending on the environment in which you rip the same record.
This “ambiguity” was very important to French Touch.
◆ ③ Tape/analog outboard
- light distortion of tape
- Crushed loops due to compressor
- Coarse sampling rate of MPC/SP-1200
These qualities have been passed down to the texture of Nu Disco.
9. French Touch → Nu Disco family tree
10. Chronology: Main trends of French Touch~Nu Disco
11. Analyzing the “trigger for reevaluation” in the 2000s
● 1) Saturation of distribution culture
The more digital distribution became mainstream, the more the desire for “music as a substance” grew. With the resurgence of records, the ““touch’’ of French Touch took on added value.
● 2) Influence on contemporary pop
Major artists such as The Weeknd and Dua Lipa By incorporating disco~80s revival, French house sounds are gaining renewed attention.
● 3) “Re-digging” among young people
on YouTube, SoundCloud, and TikTok French Touch classics were rediscovered and spread to a generation unfamiliar with club culture.
12. How French Touch techniques were inherited by Nu Disco
◆ Filter house inheritance
Nu Disco doesn’t do as much “extreme filtering” as French House, but The build-up method is the same.
- Close with low pass filter
- gradually open
- Control the groove by inserting and removing kicks
This has been a consistent legacy since Daft Punk’s “Da Funk.”
◆ From sampling to “replay”
Nu Disco is more than just sampling. There are many styles that ““reconstruct disco’’ with real synths. This can be said to be a realization of the French Touch aesthetic with a “modern, polished sound.”
13. Conclusion: French Touch is not a dead movement
French Touch is not a temporary movement in the late 1990s. As a production philosophy of analog sample filter It remains deeply rooted in today’s dance music.
The rise of Nu Disco, the return to pop music, and the return of analog media culture. These are all the legacies of French Touch. In fact, it is thought that this re-evaluation will accelerate further in the future.
**French Touch is music that redefines “analog magic” in the digital age. ** **And Nu Disco is its successor, keeping that spirit updated for the 21st century. **
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