Though Mo’Wax and Metalheadz compilations were apparently the primary influence behind the new wave of French dance, these tracks have a spaciousness inherited from ’80s techno?basically, they reinvented French dance music in the ’90s. The first CD is by far the better: familiar tracks like Air’s “Modulor Mix” and Daft Punk’s “Musique” are joined by the ominous calm of Motorbass’ “Bad Vibes” and the distorted scrawls of guitars and film samples filling Alex Gopher’s “Mandrake”. The second CD is mostly an MOR morass, the standout being the multilayered Rubik’s Cube that is I:cube’s “Power Sandwich”.
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