Where to start with French Touch House

French Touch House is a music scene from Paris, France, 1987–2005. Its principal artists include Daft Punk, Cassius, Motorbass and Étienne de Crécy. This issue covers 10 essential albums and 18 dated events.

Start here

1
Pansoul
Motorbass · 1996
Original release: Different Recordings · DIF 001 CD · CD · France 1996
It set the template for French house production, fusing hip-hop and house in a way that shaped electronic music for decades.
2
Super Discount
Étienne de Crécy · 1996
This album gave French house its name and effectively launched the movement as a recognized force.
3
Homework
Daft Punk · 1997
Original release: Virgin · TCV 2821 · Cassette · France 1997
It revived house music for a wide audience and carried French Touch out of Paris onto the international stage.

Go deeper

4
1999
Cassius · 1999
Cassius's debut arrived with "Cassius 1999," a hit that climbed to UK number seven and made the duo mainstream ambassadors for French house.
5
Discovery
Daft Punk · 2001
Discovery became the centerpiece of Daft Punk's catalog, home to "One More Time" and "Digital Love." The robot helmets that would define the duo's public identity debuted during this era…
6
Au Rêve
Cassius · 2002
Original release: Virgin · CDVIR182 · CD · France 2002
Cassius's second album pushed past the disco-funk of their debut, adding collaborators including Ghostface Killah and stretching French house's palette toward hip-hop.
7
Human After All
Daft Punk · 2005
Recorded in just six weeks, Human After All leaned into minimalism—heavy use of a single DigiTech Whammy pedal, tones darker and harsher than anything on Discovery.

For the obsessed

8
Alive 2007
Daft Punk · 2007
Alive 2007 documented the pyramid tour that changed what a dance music concert could look like, and it won the Grammy for Best Electronic/Dance Album.
9
†
Justice · 2007
Justice's debut for Ed Banger Records pulled French electronic music into harder, more distorted territory, arriving in 2007—the same year as Daft Punk's Alive 2007—and signaling that the movement had…
10
Random Access Memories
Daft Punk · 2013
Original release: Columbia · Digital Media · Worldwide 2013
Daft Punk's fourth and final studio album turned away from sampling entirely, built instead with live musicians including Nile Rodgers and Giorgio Moroder.

The stories behind every record are in French Touch House, a members' issue.