Homework

Two French kids built the blueprint for filtered French house here, sampling old funk and disco into something that felt handmade and machine-cold at once.

The proof is in "Da Funk," a track that rides one grimy, wobbling synth line over a beat stiff enough to march to, refusing to resolve or prettify itself for four minutes. "Around the World" turns a single robotic phrase into a hypnosis session, repeating it until the words stop being language and become pure rhythm. What's striking across the whole thing is how little it hides its seams "Rollin' & Scratchin'" is abrasive on purpose, closer to acid techno than pop. That refusal to smooth the edges is exactly what made everyone who followed treat dance music as something you could sign your name to.