Les Rythmes Digitales

More akin to French nu-disco compatriots like <a href="spotify:artist:4tZwfgrHOc3mvqYlEYSvVi">Daft Punk</a> than his Wall of Sound labelmates, <a href="spotify:artist:4SINYGzldpKMExpCjseS9o">Jacques Lu Cont</a>'s Les Rythmes Digitales project bridges the gap between the quintessentially early-'80s phenomenon of synth pop and more contemporary styles like acid house and trip-hop. <a href="spotify:artist:4SINYGzldpKMExpCjseS9o">Lu Cont</a> is actually of British origin, however; he was born <a href="spotify:artist:0xARq6mLw9o4lgFGVHYQQv">Stuart Price</a> to a Reading couple vacationing in Paris. Both were classical pianists, but <a href="spotify:artist:0xARq6mLw9o4lgFGVHYQQv">Stuart</a> was turned on to the twin towers of electro -- <a href="spotify:artist:0dmPX6ovclgOy8WWJaFEUU">Kraftwerk</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7cg61q8kK8jlFi8TKKw70p">Afrika Bambaataa</a> -- at an early age. He also became interested in noted French proto-electronica figures like <a href="spotify:artist:5ITPNl5P6R6cFbw4DAcMAY">Pierre Henry</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:09x9KmiHgFJgWySzkMRNGx">Jean-Jacques Perrey</a>, and began experimenting with synthesizers as a teenager. Mark Jones from Britain's Wall of Sound Recordings gained a demo tape from a third party, invited <a href="spotify:artist:3WKTiixhkaWRexRUs3GKBw">Price</a> to begin recording for the label, and even concocted his Gallic alias (years before <a href="spotify:artist:4tZwfgrHOc3mvqYlEYSvVi">Daft Punk</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1P6U1dCeHxPui5pIrGmndZ">Air</a> made French citizenship a hot property).

The first Les Rhythmes Digitales single was 1996's electro-shocked "Kontakte," followed closely by the debut album Liberation. <a href="spotify:artist:3WKTiixhkaWRexRUs3GKBw">Price</a> looked to another of his influences for his second Wall of Sound single; "Jacques Your Body (Make Me Sweat)" was a streamlined acid-disco epic, the title a clever pun on Chicago house kingpin <a href="spotify:artist:2TzZ6XTFG1p1PAfhl0crDP">Steve "Silk" Hurley</a>'s hit from ten years earlier. <a href="spotify:artist:3WKTiixhkaWRexRUs3GKBw">Price</a> began a DJ residency spinning '80s hits, and even provided a few remixes, for decade classics like <a href="spotify:artist:5PYuBRQMHh7nWmdV076sH9">Heaven 17</a>'s "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" and <a href="spotify:artist:530Sdm7eqqzWBdDmILMgnu">Robert Palmer</a>'s "Addicted to Love" as well as labelmates <a href="spotify:artist:55uMWlqdeoKGp0X2xHrRKs">Dirty Beatniks</a>. Les Rhythmes Digitales became a noted live act as well, playing 1998's Reading Festival (a hometown gig for <a href="spotify:artist:3WKTiixhkaWRexRUs3GKBw">Price</a>) and headlining a Wall of Sound label tour through Britain and Europe. A new single, "(Hey You) What's That Sound?," anticipated his second album, and featured none other than <a href="spotify:artist:2BWfZGPtsjRlRp7JTDqI45">Boy George</a> in its accompanying video. Forthcoming material didn't appear, however, thanks to a new gig serving as musical director for a <a href="spotify:artist:6tbjWDEIzxoDsBA1FuhfPW">Madonna</a> tour. He also helmed most of the tracks from her 2005 album Confessions on a Dance Floor, and became one of the more popular pop production names by the end of the decade thanks to work for <a href="spotify:artist:5GtMEZEeFFsuHY8ad4kOxv">Seal</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2ycnb8Er79LoH2AsR5ldjh">Pet Shop Boys</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4RVnAU35WRWra6OZ3CbbMA">Kylie Minogue</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1HY2Jd0NmPuamShAr6KMms">Lady Gaga</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3Y10boYzeuFCJ4Qgp53w6o">Scissor Sisters</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:53A0W3U0s8diEn9RhXQhVz">Keane</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0C0XlULifJtAgn6ZNCW2eu">the Killers</a>. ~ John Bush, Rovi