> (...as snatched from http://www.wallofsound.net ) > > > B I O G R A P H Y > 'D A R K D A N C E R ' > > Meet Jacques Lu Cont - the blue-eyed, scarlet coiffured 21 year old genius > behind modern pop music phenomenon, Les Rythmes Digitales. > > Firstly, despite the parodic french moniker, Jacques did not spend his > formitive years in Paris � be-swathed by strings of onions, as he has been > widely (semi) believed. True enough; he was born there, in 1977. However, > those currently going ga-ga for all things Gaellic, take note: his > classical pianist parents actually whisked him to live in Europe's largest > housing estate in Reading, at the tender age of six months. Here, among > Brookside-ian architecture, slyly-twitching curtains and proud car washing > on Sunday, he advanced slowly towards his own unique take on the biz known > as show. > > Sadly, the hit parade was frowned upon by his parents. "I was denied the > opportunity to listen to much pop music", rues Jacques, "although I do > remember having 'Pipes Of Peace' by Paul McCartney...' Instead, Jacques was > encouraged by his elders to listen to Mozart, to tinkle the ivories (he > passed his Grade 8 before he'd even started shaving) and gain a thorough > understanding of tune making. > > It was Christmas, and Jacques was eleven years old when Santa dropped a �50 > second hand ARP sythesiser down the artifcial chimney. Now he could play > along with those furtively purchased Pet Shop Boys' records. Alas, too much > spent in his boudoir, with only the poignant warblings of fey West End > Girls to keep him company eventually prompted a minor mental breakdown. > Luckily, they were nice at the local Special Clinic.... Why, they even had > group music therapy classes! And clever Jacques - no tambourine for him ; > he blagged the long -since discarded keyboard, and soon cheered everyone up > with a few bars of Human League -ery. "They're my all time favourite band," > he now states - he is NOT, repeat NOT being ironic. > > Inspired by these melodic excursions, and by his school music teacher > (hello Mr Soper) Jacques "began to spend any money I got on Keyboards or > effects boxes and stuff until I'd built myself a studio at home. I began > writing stuff and making loads of tapes..." He would freely give said > casettes to mates and cohorts, and somehow one winged it's way to the desk > of Mark Jones, founder of the Wall Of Sound label. It was 1994 and Jacques > was aged 17. "He called me and asked me to go and see him, "recalls > Jacques, "I was a bit sceptical at first 'cause of my love of pop and > 'cause Wall Of Sound was this sort of underground music label, but Mark > really talked the talk and understood exactly what I was doing..." > > Promptly signed up, Jacques immersed himself in the studio, and in, 1995 > gave us Liberation - an 8 track album, which included his debut single > 'Kontakte'. In hindsight, Jacques believes this period " was more of a > techno-hybrid, I hadn't really found my feet or condensed my love of pop > into what I was doing. I've got more confidence now to celebrate all my > influences." The subsequent singles 'Jacques Your Body', ' Music Makes You > Lose Control', and '(Hey You) What's That Sound' (Boy George lent his > macquillage in the accompanying video ) really hit the mark and began to > spread the intimitable Les Rythmes Digitales sound across the globe. As did > Jacques DJ-ing skills, now requested in clubs as far flung as Nottingham to > Paris. (incidentally, he does play his own records, though unlike George > Michael, he doesn't dance to them). Not only that, Jacques prowess as a > knob twiddler par excellence has resulted in his sterling remix work for > Cassius' 'Feeling For You', Cornershop's 'Sleep On The Left Side', > Pavement's first ever remix, 'Passat Dreams', Placebo's 'Pure Morning' and > most recently, Laptop's 'Nothing To Declare' - all of whom have been > enhanced by the unique Les Rythmes Digitales' treatment. > > No less attention grabbing was/is Jacques distinctive (there's an > understatement) dress sense: warm-leatherette suits, slip on shoes - little > seen since the days os Sheffield's Crazy Daisy Discotheque, and a > fright-wig hair do of the Sigue Sigue Sputnik persuasion. No one was more > suprised than Jacques when the style press beagn salivating over his > anti-fashion fashion. "it's just stuff I like...I thought they'd think it > was naff," he laughs, "but I do think it's important for music and fashion > to be strongly linked - it's part of the whole pop thing." > > Indeed, this "whole pop thing" is fully in evidence in Les Rythmes > Digitales' live performances. Putting on a proper show, as opposed to > making do with a flimsy PA, is of paramount importance to Jacques. To that > end he has recently enlisted the help of Jo Reynolds on bass and keyboards > and Jim Carmichael on drums to join him on stage. An extravaganza of > carefully chosen projected visuals further enhances the proceedings. No > less discerning is the sleeve artwork for the new album, 'Darkdancer', > rendered by the fair hand of legendary airbrush artist Phillip Castle, the > man responsible for that iconic Clockwork Orange logo among others. Having > been lured back from the brink of self inflicted obscurity, he has produced > an airbrushed cityscape starring Jacques, his glamorous ladyfriend and a > gargantuan Wall Of Sound HQ. No mealy-mouthed minimalist graphics here, > thanks. > > 'Darkdancer' the album is a labour of love and devotion, brilliantly > combining all Jacques' sonic obsessions, in a plethora of tracks > irresistibly seductive to pop kiddies and club folk, young and old alike. > Each of the twelve songs within mines a synth-etic seam through the past > two decades of musical electronica, and the trio of aforementioned skill > singles are, thankfully, present and correct. > > The action kicks off with 'Dreamin' in which we are instructed: "Don't just > sit there dreamin'... Dance!", backed by a soundtrack evoking poignant > nightclub scenes... in episodes of Miami Vice, that is. Downright spooky > are 'Soft Machine' and 'Damaged People', both recorded between London and > New York and drenched with the emotion-racked vocals of former, Island > Records rock god, Thomas Ribeiro. "It's such a nightmare coming down in > London town," he intones on the former, and you believe him. "Thomas is a > very very cool dude" confides Jacques. > > Succomb to the sleazy disco-crama of 'Hypnotise', with is repetitive, > eponymous refrain: "I originally sampled the word Hypnotise from a Scritti > Polliti song" he explains, "but then I decide to sing it myself." > Presumably, he inhaled a helium-filled ballon before doing so? > > 'Take A Little Time' was a dream come true for Jacques, as he woo-ed New > York's diva-esque Shannon (of '80's Let The Music Play-fame) to lend her > formidable tonsils to the tune. "She was a little apprehensive at first, > but once she realised I wasn't treating her as a novelty she got really > into it," he reveals. The result can be filed alongside any of her previous > (now oft-hailed as 'classic') dancefloor-friendly ventures. > > 'Disco To Disco' caputures perfectly the uplifting, head-on hedonism of a > non-stop crawl from one manic nighterie to another... and boasts a wobbly > synth refrain, on a par with anything Dr Who ever encountered from the BBC > Radiophonic Workshop. Then there's the pulsing, bass-heavy 'Brothers' - > with chunky funk stomped all over it, and just a smudge of Chicago house. > > Jacques approached his long-time pop idol (and former mullet sporter) Nik > Kershaw to work with him on 'Sometimes'. "Someone like Nik Kershaw wanting > to work with me was the highest kind of compliment," he reckons, > ridiculously modestly. "I intitially sent him some tapes and he called me > up the next day going 'I really like them, but I don't know what you want > me to do...'. I said I want to do a song with you and he was like > 'brilliant!'" An obviously awe-struck Jacques continues: "I went to his > house - he's got a big recording studio there. It was weird being there and > just hearing Nik Kershaw singing right next to me because, to me, he is of > the highest calibre of artists." The finshed collaboration is as instantly > mindbending a track, as anything you will hear all year. > > As for 'About Funk'... just imagine a keyboard with bowel problems, linked > to a deliciously catchy hook and performed by a kissy-huggy Kraftwerk on E, > and you get the picture... > > "I'm 100% happy with how the album's turned out," concludes Jacques, and > there's a determined Top Of The Pops-type glint in his eyes, when he adds: > "I don't just want this to be a cool record that doesn't sell. I want it to > be a cool record that sells. I want to see this go through as a complete > pop item. I want people to look back in 10 years time and see Les Rythmes > Digitales as something they either loved or hated". > >
