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There’s still two months to go before the release of
Cassius’ new album ‘Au Reve’ but after
two years in the making, the dance duo of Boombass (Hubert
Blanc-Francard) and Philippe Zdar want to make sure
the album gets the attention it deserves.
It’s been three years since the critically acclaimed
‘1999’ was released, but don’t expect the same
again from a band that has been described as “the missing
link in French dance music”.
‘1999’ was recorded during a three-week period in the
summer of 1998 and was released the subsequent year.
A blend of bass, house and techno ‘1999’ was a seminal
album, encapsulating the continental mood of the dance
music scene at the time. But times change and so have
Cassius.
When challenged in their plush suite at The St Martins
Lane Hotel on whether they are the discussed ‘missing
link’, Boombass and Zdar are flattered yet unsure how
to take the plaudit that has been accredited to them.
“That’s very cool,” states Zdar. “If that’s a good thing
then I’m very happy.”
However, Zdar’s not so happy about the state of the
French charts at the moment. “The music’s shit. Everything’s
shit. It’s all Big Brother contestants. It’s all shit.
No one is doing an album anymore, like an LP that you
can sit down and listen to now and still love in years
to come. We’re not into getting into the Top 5 or any
of that shit, we want to make a classic album.
 “For
the new album we wanted to make strong songs that stood
up as part of an album as well as on their own as singles.”
This urge to make a timeless album has seen the band
take a different route, working with other musicians
as opposed to just samplers.
“We were looking for a new direction and we’ve already
had a lot of strong reactions to the album.” Having
heard the album I can say that my first response was
one of surprise, as it wasn’t what I was expecting from
the Cassius I knew of old. A complex, yet organic sounding
album ‘Au Reve’ works on many musical levels. From the
bass-driven soul of future single ‘Sound of Violence’
to the more recognisable techno sounding Cassius on
‘Telephone Love’, the album is as subtle as it is chaotic.
“It was a long process. We had to work using a new process
in the studio as we were used to just working with samples
and on ‘Au Reve’ we worked with samples and live musicians,”
confides an increasingly eager Zdar. “We wrote 35 tracks
and took that down to 14 for the album. It’s magic.”
Despite missing two flights and losing all of their
luggage (including 700 records) on the trip over from
Paris to London, they are still in a very upbeat mood
- a fact that can be attributed to the duo’s excitement
over the album they are here to promote.
“We are very proud of the album and all of the tracks
we’ve recorded for it. There’s no fillers on here. You’ve
either go to love them all or not put them on the album,”
states a defiant Zdar.
Asked whether they think the fans will like the new
direction Zdar has the last word. “When music is sincere,
it works and that’s very important.”
The new Cassius album ‘Au Reve’ is out in September,
2002, and the first single ‘Sound of Violence’ is out
on 16th September, 2002
Marc Sallis for Crud Magazine 2002©
Relevant sites:
http://www.astralwerks.com/cassius/
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January 2001
July - August 2001
September - October 2001
November - December 2001
January - March 2002
April - July 2002
August - December 2002 | |
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