BIO COMPIL FIAT LUX 1999-2005
To celebrate their eighth anniversary, cosmopolitan Parisian records label Fiat Lux launches their second compilation in March 2005.
Scattered all around the world between Barcelona, Paris, London and New York, all of Fiat Lux’s artists are featured on this double CD summarizing the label’s last five years with the most confirmed artists such as Exotica and Jess & Crabbe and the newcomers such as Step Color, Plume, DJ Crabbe, 10LEC6, Pauline or Étant Donnés and the band Amp, close friends of the label.
Since their last compilation in 1999, Fiat Lux pursue their sound odyssey punctuated by their 36 vinyl 12’’.
This retrospective gives a wide panorama of the label’s sound now reaching beyond the frontiers of House Music and encompassing Electro, Techno, Electronica and Rock reflecting the team’s eclectic tastes.
The label was set up by Emmanuel Chollet in 1996 under the impulse of Lucas Tizon and Olivier Gauthier in order to release the latter’s first 12’’. It soon opened up to other artists and aimed at discovering new talents, often close to their circle of friends.
Genres mix without any preconceptions in Fiat Lux. The first raves often triggered a new musical approach focused on electronic music without excluding New Wave, Experimental music, Industrial and Indie Rock, or even classical music for some.
Far from compromises that have more to do with business than music, Fiat Lux are attached to their independence as much as to your listening pleasure. Concessions are not on the agenda.
The double CD isn’t a mere collage of tracks, but a whole project. The visuals created by Noki leave each artist on the compilation a space to express themselves. This musical and visual project will culminate with the artists’ tour.
An influential artist among the team, Olivier Gauthier has been exploring electronic music for over 10 years. His tracks under the monikers of Star Deluxe, Sexy Kool and Exotica in 2001, gave the label their first successes.
With his move from London to Barcelona at the end of 2001, the changes he’d been outlining for a few months became more radical. His music explored darker and darker moods and moved away from the Funky House scene that he felt was fast approaching a dead end.
Exotica evolves in his very own universe and doesn’t limitate himself to a particular trend of electronic music. Having integrated the whole electronic culture, he gives us sincere and personal compositions which reveal the wide range and the variety of the musical worlds he’s explored in the course of his labyrinthine journey. "Sentence", his last 12’’ released before his album “Eventide” is an uncompromising Electro/Techno track with a dancefloor killer remix by Southsoniks from Swiss label Scandium.
He said about "Computers": "With this track, I wanted to bring the idea of computer music to an extreme by letting the computer “improvise”. I programmed an elementary 4/4 beat and a bass line and processed those basic elements through random effects trying to let the computer improvise complex variations till it crashed. I left the studio to have a shower and when I came back, I had a 20-minute computer improvisation that I edited down to 2.14 minutes."
With "Solaris", he wanted to recreate the strange and ethereal atmosphere of Andrei Tarkovski’s film in a techno track. He then produced "Destruction" in the same apocalyptical techno vein as his remix for Etant Donnés.
Since the release of "Eventide" in 2003, he’s been working on a second album, an extreme project on the verge of white noise.
Plume is an Electropunk duo formed in London in 2001 by Catherine and Lucas Tizon. Plume released two vinyl 12’’ on Fiat Lux in 2003, "Guilty" and "Perfection EP" critically acclaimed and playlisted by many DJs. In 2004, they started recording their first album “At Last”. They relocated to New York and worked with guitarist Rob Solway and drummer Mark Challans (Fraud, ex Amp) while Exotica handled the production of the album.
"Guilty" is remixed by Exotica in a more dancefloor version of a track that is the perfect combination between heavy beats, psychotic synths and Kti’s enthralling voice.
"Perfection" and its Noisy Electroclash sound is in direct continuity with their first tracks.
"Wake Up" was created during the summer 2003 heat wave in London as an answer to the lethargic state of the city.
“Sioux Falls”, a noisy Rock’n Roll track was written when they returned from a month traveling through the United States, very much in the spirit of a road movie.
Jess & Crabbe both went through surprising musical meanderings. Jess experimented in Punk, Reggae sound systems and raves before diving into Chicago House and Ghetto Traxx while Crabbe was into Rap, Hip Hop, Jungle and Reggae sound systems too. They then formed "Hometown", a DJ collective that rocked Radio FG from 1996 and regular nights in clubs such as the infamous Rex Club in Paris.
Shortly after Crabbe’s irresistible featuring on "Oh Yeah" on Daft Punk’s "Homework", they bought some machines and started to write tracks.
Their first 12’’ "F9' Riot Squad" in 1999 is a House track with strong Hip Hop flavours that provoked riots on the dancefloors.
After their hit "Big Booya EP" (licensed and remixed by Fat Boy Slim), "Council" represent an unlikely mix between Electro and House with Crabbe’s dark and deep voice.
Chicago legend DJ Funk remixed "The Hell & Back" in his trademark Ghetto/Booty style.
They released ten 12’’ together. Released under the name of Dr Dred & Spliff Shady, "Spliff Party 1200" is an anti-commercial pamphlet with a crispy Chicago sound. They now go their separate ways.
DJ Crabbe lets his imagination wander in a very personal project beyond all styles.
With an apocalyptic mid tempo contrasting with his other productions, "Look Back in Anger" is a dark track mixing cold synths and cinematic strings with a funky beat.
Jess set up his new band 10LEC6, with singer Emy, bass player Simon and percussionist Gaëlle while he’s in charge of the drums.
Emy was writing texts at the Beaux-Arts school before devoting herself to the band and organizing gigs. She comes from the punk/hardcore scene and listens mostly anarchopunk, crust, grind, fastcore…
A graphic designer, Simon was already playing in a band with Gaëlle nine years ago.
The four of them embarked in this Punk Rock adventure and work on their first album.
"From virtual to reality, army recruiters look for new gunmen on video games tournaments like 'Counter Strike'. Seems that some think war is like a video game… For "Counterstroke", 10lec6 experiment in a digital punk style with melodic heavy bass and drum machine rock beats."
Step Color started a musical journey punctuated with heavy beats. After "Voodoo EP", a first 12’’ with a tumultuous sound, he displayed his Electro/Techno talents in a second 12’’ featuring “Bass Back” and "Money of the Devil" with its Cold Wave sounding voice.
Exotica’s younger brother started playing live in raves between 1996 and 1999 before immersing himself in production. This rave influence is tangible in “Boy in a gang”.
A hyperactive provider of sounds, he synthesizes all the influences of the Acid wave in "Acid Drop Beat". He plays on atmospheres to lead us to the frontiers of dreams and sometimes nightmares.
AMP (Kranky/Space Age) formed out from the musicals wanderings of Richard Walker. His meeting French singer Karine Charff determined their musical project in a territory of its own between Post Rock, Lo Fi, Noise, Folk or Ambient. For their 4th album, "L'amour invisible", the Franco-British pair teamed up with Exotica to reach a more electronica sound. "Crazyhead" came about from Richard coming off medicine for his on-going depression. The words and music describe a world in confusion and conflict, where to be crazy is often the sanest course of action.
Etant Donnés are a pair formed in 1980 by Eric and Marc Hurtado. Violently multidisciplinary, the two brothers devote themselves to music, cinema, poetry and apocalyptical performances with a rage that leaves you flabbergasted. After having released 12 CDs, worked with emblematic figures of industrial music such as Alan Vega (Suicide), Genesis.p. Orridge (Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV), Lydia Lunch, Michael Gira (Swans), Bachir Attar (Jajouka) and performed at major festivals (Sonar, Transmusicales, Atonal, Obliques...), they composed the soundtrack of “La Vie Nouvelle”, a film by Philippe Grandrieux in 2002. On this occasion, Marc started his more technoid solo project Sol Ixent.
Exotica offered a techno destroy remix of "Dog's Attack" from the film soundtrack.
Contrary to what their name suggests, Pauline is a male duo. Will & Noki met in 1999 around video projects before experimenting with Electro.
Guided by their solid Pop and Electronic culture, they have a furious need to play with machines. They explore a visual music without loosing their sense of fun with their first 12’’ "Crazy Flesh", a delirious electro track with New Wave and Funk influences.
Aimed at overheated dancefloors, "Absolute Disco" is a pure Bleep Techno track.
For "Goodnight Princess", Pauline worked in collaboration with Esther Le Roy whom they discovered through their other project "Hotel High Tech". Exploring the porn romantic vein, Esther lends her delicate voice to this Electro House track giving Pauline their first pop song.
Double CD + Vinyl 12’’ out in March
Distribution Discograph
To celebrate their eighth anniversary, cosmopolitan Parisian records label Fiat Lux launches their second compilation in March 2005.
Scattered all around the world between Barcelona, Paris, London and New York, all of Fiat Lux’s artists are featured on this double CD summarizing the label’s last five years with the most confirmed artists such as Exotica and Jess & Crabbe and the newcomers such as Step Color, Plume, DJ Crabbe, 10LEC6, Pauline or Étant Donnés and the band Amp, close friends of the label.
Since their last compilation in 1999, Fiat Lux pursue their sound odyssey punctuated by their 36 vinyl 12’’.
This retrospective gives a wide panorama of the label’s sound now reaching beyond the frontiers of House Music and encompassing Electro, Techno, Electronica and Rock reflecting the team’s eclectic tastes.
The label was set up by Emmanuel Chollet in 1996 under the impulse of Lucas Tizon and Olivier Gauthier in order to release the latter’s first 12’’. It soon opened up to other artists and aimed at discovering new talents, often close to their circle of friends.
Genres mix without any preconceptions in Fiat Lux. The first raves often triggered a new musical approach focused on electronic music without excluding New Wave, Experimental music, Industrial and Indie Rock, or even classical music for some.
Far from compromises that have more to do with business than music, Fiat Lux are attached to their independence as much as to your listening pleasure. Concessions are not on the agenda.
The double CD isn’t a mere collage of tracks, but a whole project. The visuals created by Noki leave each artist on the compilation a space to express themselves. This musical and visual project will culminate with the artists’ tour.
An influential artist among the team, Olivier Gauthier has been exploring electronic music for over 10 years. His tracks under the monikers of Star Deluxe, Sexy Kool and Exotica in 2001, gave the label their first successes.
With his move from London to Barcelona at the end of 2001, the changes he’d been outlining for a few months became more radical. His music explored darker and darker moods and moved away from the Funky House scene that he felt was fast approaching a dead end.
Exotica evolves in his very own universe and doesn’t limitate himself to a particular trend of electronic music. Having integrated the whole electronic culture, he gives us sincere and personal compositions which reveal the wide range and the variety of the musical worlds he’s explored in the course of his labyrinthine journey. "Sentence", his last 12’’ released before his album “Eventide” is an uncompromising Electro/Techno track with a dancefloor killer remix by Southsoniks from Swiss label Scandium.
He said about "Computers": "With this track, I wanted to bring the idea of computer music to an extreme by letting the computer “improvise”. I programmed an elementary 4/4 beat and a bass line and processed those basic elements through random effects trying to let the computer improvise complex variations till it crashed. I left the studio to have a shower and when I came back, I had a 20-minute computer improvisation that I edited down to 2.14 minutes."
With "Solaris", he wanted to recreate the strange and ethereal atmosphere of Andrei Tarkovski’s film in a techno track. He then produced "Destruction" in the same apocalyptical techno vein as his remix for Etant Donnés.
Since the release of "Eventide" in 2003, he’s been working on a second album, an extreme project on the verge of white noise.
Plume is an Electropunk duo formed in London in 2001 by Catherine and Lucas Tizon. Plume released two vinyl 12’’ on Fiat Lux in 2003, "Guilty" and "Perfection EP" critically acclaimed and playlisted by many DJs. In 2004, they started recording their first album “At Last”. They relocated to New York and worked with guitarist Rob Solway and drummer Mark Challans (Fraud, ex Amp) while Exotica handled the production of the album.
"Guilty" is remixed by Exotica in a more dancefloor version of a track that is the perfect combination between heavy beats, psychotic synths and Kti’s enthralling voice.
"Perfection" and its Noisy Electroclash sound is in direct continuity with their first tracks.
"Wake Up" was created during the summer 2003 heat wave in London as an answer to the lethargic state of the city.
“Sioux Falls”, a noisy Rock’n Roll track was written when they returned from a month traveling through the United States, very much in the spirit of a road movie.
Jess & Crabbe both went through surprising musical meanderings. Jess experimented in Punk, Reggae sound systems and raves before diving into Chicago House and Ghetto Traxx while Crabbe was into Rap, Hip Hop, Jungle and Reggae sound systems too. They then formed "Hometown", a DJ collective that rocked Radio FG from 1996 and regular nights in clubs such as the infamous Rex Club in Paris.
Shortly after Crabbe’s irresistible featuring on "Oh Yeah" on Daft Punk’s "Homework", they bought some machines and started to write tracks.
Their first 12’’ "F9' Riot Squad" in 1999 is a House track with strong Hip Hop flavours that provoked riots on the dancefloors.
After their hit "Big Booya EP" (licensed and remixed by Fat Boy Slim), "Council" represent an unlikely mix between Electro and House with Crabbe’s dark and deep voice.
Chicago legend DJ Funk remixed "The Hell & Back" in his trademark Ghetto/Booty style.
They released ten 12’’ together. Released under the name of Dr Dred & Spliff Shady, "Spliff Party 1200" is an anti-commercial pamphlet with a crispy Chicago sound. They now go their separate ways.
DJ Crabbe lets his imagination wander in a very personal project beyond all styles.
With an apocalyptic mid tempo contrasting with his other productions, "Look Back in Anger" is a dark track mixing cold synths and cinematic strings with a funky beat.
Jess set up his new band 10LEC6, with singer Emy, bass player Simon and percussionist Gaëlle while he’s in charge of the drums.
Emy was writing texts at the Beaux-Arts school before devoting herself to the band and organizing gigs. She comes from the punk/hardcore scene and listens mostly anarchopunk, crust, grind, fastcore…
A graphic designer, Simon was already playing in a band with Gaëlle nine years ago.
The four of them embarked in this Punk Rock adventure and work on their first album.
"From virtual to reality, army recruiters look for new gunmen on video games tournaments like 'Counter Strike'. Seems that some think war is like a video game… For "Counterstroke", 10lec6 experiment in a digital punk style with melodic heavy bass and drum machine rock beats."
Step Color started a musical journey punctuated with heavy beats. After "Voodoo EP", a first 12’’ with a tumultuous sound, he displayed his Electro/Techno talents in a second 12’’ featuring “Bass Back” and "Money of the Devil" with its Cold Wave sounding voice.
Exotica’s younger brother started playing live in raves between 1996 and 1999 before immersing himself in production. This rave influence is tangible in “Boy in a gang”.
A hyperactive provider of sounds, he synthesizes all the influences of the Acid wave in "Acid Drop Beat". He plays on atmospheres to lead us to the frontiers of dreams and sometimes nightmares.
AMP (Kranky/Space Age) formed out from the musicals wanderings of Richard Walker. His meeting French singer Karine Charff determined their musical project in a territory of its own between Post Rock, Lo Fi, Noise, Folk or Ambient. For their 4th album, "L'amour invisible", the Franco-British pair teamed up with Exotica to reach a more electronica sound. "Crazyhead" came about from Richard coming off medicine for his on-going depression. The words and music describe a world in confusion and conflict, where to be crazy is often the sanest course of action.
Etant Donnés are a pair formed in 1980 by Eric and Marc Hurtado. Violently multidisciplinary, the two brothers devote themselves to music, cinema, poetry and apocalyptical performances with a rage that leaves you flabbergasted. After having released 12 CDs, worked with emblematic figures of industrial music such as Alan Vega (Suicide), Genesis.p. Orridge (Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV), Lydia Lunch, Michael Gira (Swans), Bachir Attar (Jajouka) and performed at major festivals (Sonar, Transmusicales, Atonal, Obliques...), they composed the soundtrack of “La Vie Nouvelle”, a film by Philippe Grandrieux in 2002. On this occasion, Marc started his more technoid solo project Sol Ixent.
Exotica offered a techno destroy remix of "Dog's Attack" from the film soundtrack.
Contrary to what their name suggests, Pauline is a male duo. Will & Noki met in 1999 around video projects before experimenting with Electro.
Guided by their solid Pop and Electronic culture, they have a furious need to play with machines. They explore a visual music without loosing their sense of fun with their first 12’’ "Crazy Flesh", a delirious electro track with New Wave and Funk influences.
Aimed at overheated dancefloors, "Absolute Disco" is a pure Bleep Techno track.
For "Goodnight Princess", Pauline worked in collaboration with Esther Le Roy whom they discovered through their other project "Hotel High Tech". Exploring the porn romantic vein, Esther lends her delicate voice to this Electro House track giving Pauline their first pop song.
Double CD + Vinyl 12’’ out in March
Distribution Discograph