Hip to be square

The wheels may have come off the French dance invasion after Daft Punk’s Discovery, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing of note going on in the Parisian underground. Electronic post-rockers M83, house don David Duriez and his Brique Rouge stable and The Hacker have all heralded a new – and more diverse – strand to all things Gallic and electronic. But there’s one man who has been steadily releasing quality music since the days when the two Punks were an up-and-coming duo on the continental dance scene.

Nicolas Chaix – aka I:Cube – released his first single, the superbly off-kilter house of ‘Disco Cubizm’ in 1996, backed up by a blinding remix by Daft Punk. It was the first release of his (now well-established) Versatile label, and, as he puts it, helped “put him on the map”.
“It was obviously a big help for me and the label,” he acknowledges. “I still think it’s one of the greatest remixes they did.”
How does their last LP sound to him? Nicolas is quite diplomatic.
“I wasn’t really enthusiastic about it. They wanted to do this album for a long time because of all their influences – but it’s not really my kind of sound.”
After two excellent LPs– Picnic Attack in 1997 and Adore in 2000 – Nicolas has just released his third album, the imaginatively titled 3, on Versatile. It is – like its predecessors – a wide-ranging romp through a variety of styles. But it’s also a step up from the others, the sound of a genuinely innovative producer coming into his own. It’s measured, intelligent and a damn fine listen. And it’s got the Wu-Tang’s RZA on it, which is always a bonus.
“I was looking for a female pop singer – and I ended up with RZA!” says Nicolas. “Gilbert (the boss of Versatile) knew someone who was working on RZA’s European tour and he suggested we should meet.I went to his hotel in Paris, and he listened to a few demos I made. He liked it and invited me to come to his show in Berlin, so that we could record the track after the gig.
How does 3 vary from previous offerings?
“I think my sound has gained in maturity but perhaps has lost a bit of its spontaneous aspect. The main difference is that this album was conceived with a global vision, working on different tracks at the same time so that at the end, it makes sense. It’s also less sample-based than before. There’s a bit more live playing on it.”
Dub plays a major part on the record – both in terms of space and structure and in more direct terms, like on the excellent ‘Inspector Cube’.
“It’s a big influence – especially King Tubby. I think his music is revolutionary because so many of the dance sounds and approach to music come directly from this genre.”
Mainstream electronic music is in something approaching a permanent state of panic these days – which makes an artist like I:Cube and his in-depth knowledge of the genre all the more important. Try 3 for size – it’s a magic number.

3 is out now on Versatile