Why JUSTICE is one of the best (electronic) bands right now and could help dance music cross-over.

The French Blues Brothers?

I mentioned in another article on the state of hip-hop that there was incident at the 2006 MTV Europe Awards in which Kanye usurped the attention away from the Video of the Year, Justice vs. Simian “We Are Your Friends,” by storming the stage with immense bravado. That brought my attention, ironically for him, to the song he complained should have lost. This made me curious about the song, which I found online and saw the video on YouTube. (You can check out the clever video, with a lot of pranks played on blokes passed out after a party). It was my first introduction to the group Justice, an electronic duo out of France, who had remixed the song by Simian, a now defunct English rock band.

Needless to say, I found out Justice was EPIC. A clear extension of Daft Punk with electro-robotic and funky disco influences, I sought out some videos of their singles and performances. They belonged to a record label/dance music posse called “Ed Banger” headed by a French DJ named Busy P. These guys really, really know how to party. Check out this video here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrLxDZeqiw0, for the release of Justice’s single “Waters of Nazareth.” The whole crew is shown having a good time and spinning some real wild, rough-edged electronic music. They’re with DJ Funk (who looks like a lost member of NWA) out of Chicago throwing in some “Ghettotech” which shows these French dudes have some broad influences. I’ve never seen a group of DJs having so much fun, so I had to explore further.

The differences from Daft Punk make them very unique and allow them to be very popular at a time when electro house is getting a lot of buzz. First thing to notice, as you listen to Justice full-length album CROSS is their really epic, monumental sound – the first track “Genesis” starts off with deep, symphonic strings as though something HUGE is about to happen. I could see hip-hop heads digging this as a lot of mostly East Coast hip-hop has big strings as well. But their sound also melds in RAUCOUS guitar riffs and distorted synthesizers, getting them respect from metal-heads punk rock fans as well. Justice has even remixed Metallica’s “Master of Puppets.” The grandiosity continues with “Let There Be Light,” – tremendous hi-hats and bass kicks with electronic squelches all blend in with a big bass riff. “Phantom Part 2” maybe my favorite track on that album, has guitar riff synths being balanced out by strings and a funky bass line.

Very distinct about Justice, as signified by the name of their first album, is all their mysterious Christian imagery. Their logo is a gigantic cross from their album cover to a grand lit up one is featured in their shows. And yet what’s intriguing is there is that it seems to be mostly just imagery as there are no lyrics of a religious nature. The song titles above, though, clearly are Biblical.

To bring in the indie rock crowd, Justice’s remix of “Electric Feel” by the Brooklyn band MGMT is so goddamned infectious that for me personally, I’ve kept it as my ringtone for about four months (the original is quite good as well). You HAVE to listen to it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DdDKtKw9B8. They REALLY bring the funk on this one.
So basically, when you have an electronic duo with influences from funk, punk, metal, electro house, and hip-hop, you have a band that’s no less than fucking brilliant – not to mention something that anyone should be able to get into a bit at least. People for the most part, I think, like danceable aggressive music these days, and I’d think this is a far supreme alternative to CRUNK.

The other musicians in Ed Banger and associated acts are just as HOT…

Uffie – a real young American-French chick who has really simple but catchy rhymes with cut-up, fresh beats by French DJ Feadz. You might have, somewhere, heard her track “Pop the Glock.”

DJ Mehdi – Another smooth DJ who has this great track remixed by Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter with a funny video featuring a car audio competition here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO-YCiGuWX4

SebastiAn – Saw a video of this guy throwing down his own dance remix of Rage Against the Machine “Killing in the Name Of” at the LA Viper Room and was blown the fuck away.

MSTRKRFT – A Canadian electronic duo featuring one of the guys from defunct band Death From Above 1979, these guys remixed Justice’s song “D.A.N.C.E.” (with a Jackson 5 like sound) with great success. The music video (remember those?) is probably the COOLEST I’ve seen in the last year. They've also worked with rappers Nore and E40.

Other artists of the electronic/electro/guitar riff/hard synth ilk...
Boys Noize
Digitalism
Simian Mobile Disco (what used to be the band Simian)
Kavinsky (if you really like 80s synths and Ferraris)

Et Justice Pour Tous…
Vinod