Music that's Blasting Off—Micronauts - music group consisting of Christophe Monier - Brief Article

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There's a new term being used in music magazines: "The French Touch." It refers to the success of a new wave of French artists but is embodied most perfectly by Micronauts. Despite the plural name, today Micronauts is only one person--Christophe Monier--who ended his musical partnership with George Issakidis more than a year ago. In the early 1990s French house music was still gestating when Monier began recording for a small label called Rave Age 10 years ago. From the moment he founded Micronauts in 1995, fans included electronica peers like the Chemical Brothers, and it's easy to hear why. Micronauts' explosive first single "The Jazz/The Jam" was released on a British indie label called Loaded, and soon led to an offer from Science/Virgin UK, who released Bleep to Bleep in 1999.

Micronauts' music is instrumental, but Monier chooses to use his voice in the public arena for social commentary, with a provocative stance on legalizing drugs. "The French house and hip-hop pioneers put France on the musical map as a major player," he says. "The music scene benefited from their early success, because it got rid of any insecurity complexes we might have had, and put French music on the same level as the rest of the world. At the same time, the French scene became more open to international influences, including from our own immigrant communities. A lot still remains to be done, because people from non-French backgrounds still encounter economic, social, ethnic and political obstacles. There's still an elite group of people who feel entitled by birthright, and they still control everything and reserve entrance to their own inner circle. As a result, the house music scene can sometimes look very bourgeois and become ossified."

In lyrics and interviews, Monier tends to rebel. Like the Sex Pistols were to punk, Micronauts are to electronica. Ironically, Micronauts have actually had more success in European countries outside of their homeland: but as the enfants terribles of the Paris electronic music scene, their provocativeness is typically French.

Patrick Thevenin is a writer based in Paris.

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COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group