Justice (band)
Justice |
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Justice is a Grammy Award-nominated French electronic music duo consisting of Gaspard Augé (b. May 21 1979) and Xavier de Rosnay (b. July 2 1982).[1] They are the most successful group on Ed Banger Records,[2] and are managed by the label's head, Pedro Winter. Their main trademark is a large light-up cross that shines throughout their shows. Their debut album † was Mixmag's Album of the Month in June 2007, number 15 on Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums of 2007 [3], and number 18 on Blender Magazine's "25 Best Albums of 2007" list[4]. Justice is known for incorporating a strong rock influence into their music and image.[5][2]
History
Justice first came to prominence through their 2003 remix of Simian's track "Never Be Alone," created for a Paris college radio station's remix contest.[5] The remix resulted in the group being signed to Ed Banger (who released it) and became a hit in clubs and on the internet.[5] The song was re-released in 2004 on DJ Hell's International DeeJay Gigolo Records[6] and eventually given a commercial release in the UK in the summer of 2006, under the title "We Are Your Friends," on Ten Records, a sub-label of Virgin Records.
After the original release of "Never Be Alone", Justice worked on remixes[6] for a number of French groups (Vicarious Bliss, Scenario Rock, Gambit) as well as for larger mainstream acts such as Britney Spears,[6] N*E*R*D,[6] Fatboy Slim[6] and Daft Punk.[6] Justice's first solo single, "Waters of Nazareth", was released on Ed Banger Records in September 2005 and was championed by DJs such as Erol Alkan, Tiga, 2 Many DJ's and Ivan Smagghe. The track was re-released in 2006 with additional remixes. The duo's prolific remix work continued, as they turned in mixes for Franz Ferdinand, Mystery Jets, Soulwax and, most recently, Mr. Oizo.
Justice won the award for Best Video at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2006, for Justice vs. Simian - "We Are Your Friends". Augé and de Rosnay were not present at the ceremony, and the award was accepted by label art director "So Me" and video director Jérémie Rozan. So Me was famously interrupted mid-speech by rapper Kanye West, who went onto the stage arguing that he should have won the award instead.[7]
Their debut album, titled †, was released on Ed Banger Records on June 11, 2007. The album was released in the United States on Downtown/Ed Banger. The album was preceded by the D.A.N.C.E. EP, released on May 28 2007, which featured the tracks "Phantom" and their own remix of "D.A.N.C.E." titled "B.E.A.T". "D.A.N.C.E." was nominated for "Video of the Year at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. On the first of November Justice received the "Video Star" award at the European Music Awards in Munich and also picked up the best French act of the year. Justice was chosen to do a mix for the Fabriclive series in 2008, but Fabric rejected it. Xavier de Rosnay said that, "[t]hey weren't ready for something like this." Now titled "Justice Xmas Mix," the mix is available on the web.[8] Justice's second submission to Fabric will be released as Fabriclive 40 in June 2008.
Justice appeared as a Live PA at the 2007 Coachella festival, the Fuji Rock Festival in Niigata, Japan, the Hultsfred Festival in Hultsfred, Sweden, the Oxegen festival in Kildare, Ireland, the Vieilles Charrues Festival in Carhaix, France, the Roskilde Festival in Roskilde, Denmark, Pukkelpop, in the "I LOVE TECHNO" festival in Ghent - Belgium. Dour Festival in Belgium and the Lowlands festival in The Netherlands, also at Tennents Vital in the Radio One TentBelfast and at the Phoenix Park Marquee in Dublin. Justice's performance at Coachella in 2007 was their first ever live music performance per se. The band's performances before Coachella had seen them DJ using either turntables or CD mixers.
Justice was nominated for Best Dance Recording (for D.A.N.C.E.) and Best Electronic/Dance Album (for †) at the 50th Grammy Awards.[9]
Equipment used by Justice in their productions include an Apogee Ensemble Recording Interface,[10] the Power Mac G5,[11] GarageBand software,[12] and Cubase SX.[13] Their Live setup includes a JazzMutant Lemur Input Device as their main instrument, plugged to Ableton Live. They have also been seen using Pioneer's CDJ-1000MK2 turntable live.
Scandal
The official video clip for "Stress" was causing lots of mayhem in the French media[14]. The band portrays in the video a gang of young immigrants from the Paris suburbs who destroy and harass everything and everyone they get to meet on their 'trips'. Expect to see a bunch of "French" hoodlums (adorned with "†" jackets) walking around the streets of Paris smashing cars, beating up anyone who gets in their way, stealing old ladies' purses, and causing a general commotion before finally turning on the cameraman himself.
The video clip was boycotted by several TV-stations for being so-called racist, so the band dumped the video on YouTube where it was seen by 14.000 people within 24 hours after having been posted on 1st of May, 2008.
Discography
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Albums
| Title | Release date | Chart positions | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| † | June 11, 2007 | UK #49, Australia #61, CMJ Radio 200 #5, CMJ RPM Chart #1,FR #11 | Downtown/Ed Banger |
EPs
| Year | Title | B-sides | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | "Never Be Alone" (Vs Simian) / "Steamulation" (Vs Gambit) | Espion - "Anything Is Possible" (Château Flight Remix), "Anything Is Possible" (Château Flight Bonus Beats) | 12" | Ed Banger Records |
| 2004 | "Never Be Alone" | Remix by DJ Hell | 12" | International DeeJay Gigolo Records |
| 2005 | "Waters of Nazareth" FR# 88 | "Let There Be Light", "Carpates" | 12" | Ed Banger Records |
| 2006 | "Waters of Nazareth" (Part 2) | Remixes by Erol Alkan, DJ Funk and Justice feat. Feadz | 12", CD | Ed Banger Records / Because Music / Vice Recordings |
| 2006 | "We Are Your Friends"
UK #20 |
Remixes by Lee Cabrera, Radio Slave & Spencer Parker, Milke and Edison | 12", CD | Ten Records |
| 2007 | "Phantom" | Limited edition promo, backed with 27-second preview of "D.A.N.C.E." | 12" | Ed Banger Records |
| 2007 | "D.A.N.C.E."
UK #48 -ITA #41, FR # 11 |
"B.E.A.T, D.A.N.C.E." (Extended), "Phantom" | 12" | Ed Banger Records / Because Music |
| 2007 | "D.A.N.C.E." Remixes
- |
Remixes by Jackson & His Computer Band, MSTRKRFT and Alan Braxe & Fred Falke as well as a live version | 12" | Ed Banger Records / Because Music |
| 2008 | "DVNO" | Remixes by Justice, Surkin, Sunshine Brothers, LA Riots, & Petits Pilous" | 12", CD | Ed Banger Records |
| 2008 | "Stress" | Remixes by Justice" | 12", CD | Ed Banger Records |
Remixes
| Year | Artist | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Vicarious Bliss | "Theme from Vicarious Bliss" |
| 2003 | Gambit | "Steamulation" |
| 2004 | N*E*R*D | "She Wants to Move" |
| 2004 | Scenario Rock | "Skitzo Dancer" |
| 2005 | Britney Spears | "Me Against the Music" |
| 2005 | Death from Above 1979 | "Blood On Our Hands" |
| 2005 | Fatboy Slim | "Don't Let the Man Get You Down" |
| 2005 | Daft Punk | "Human After All" |
| 2005 | Soulwax | "NY Excuse" |
| 2005 | Mystery Jets | "You Can't Fool Me Dennis" |
| 2006 | Franz Ferdinand | "The Fallen" |
| 2006 | Mr. Oizo | "Nazis" |
| 2006 | Justice | "Waters of Nazareth" |
| 2007 | Justin Timberlake | "LoveStoned" |
| 2007 | Justice | "D.A.N.C.E." |
| 2007 | ZZT | "Lower State of Consciousness" |
| 2007 | Klaxons | "As Above, So Below" |
| 2007 | Metallica | "Master Of Puppets" |
| 2008 | Justice | "DVNO" |
| 2008 | Justice | "Stress (Auto Remix)" |
| 2008 | Stevie Wonder | "Superstition" |
Other work
The Justice track "D.A.N.C.E. (MSTRKRFT Remix)" was used in the motion picture Meet the Spartans.
The Justice track "DVNO" was featured in the motion picture Hitman.
The Justice track "One Minute to Midnight" was featured on the 2005 French compilation Toxic.
Xavier de Rosnay worked with label-mate SebastiAn on the Ed Banger's All Stars Remix of "La La Land" by Play Paul, which was released in July 2006 and has also produced for friends/label connectees Poney Poney.
The Justice track "Phantom Pt. 2" was used in the Telus television advertisement titled "Meet Awesome" from their fall 2007 advertisement campaign. This track is also used as the theme music for Football Italiano on Five (UK).
The track Genesis was featured on UK TV Channel ITV1's advertising of the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix in 2007. It has also been featured in commercials for the Cadillac Escalade in January 2008.
The Track "Waters of Nazareth" was used in a commercial for the online music service, Rhapsody.
They appeared on The Album Chart Show on February the 11th 2008 at KOKO.
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly recently covered D.A.N.C.E. on an NME CD free with the magazine.
The Track "Genesis" was also used in a Cadillac commercial.
The track "Waters Of Nazareth" is featured in the video game GTA IV on the "Electro-Choc" radio station.
Music videos
- Justice vs. Simian - "We are Your Friends" (dir. Rozan & Schmeltz)
- Justice - "D.A.N.C.E."(dir. Jonas & François) [15]
- Justice - "DVNO" (dir. So-Me)
- Justice - "Stress" (dir. Romain-Gavras)
Awards and nominations
Nominations
Grammy Award 2008
- Best Short Form Music Video - "D.A.N.C.E."
- Best Dance Recording (for D.A.N.C.E.)
- Best Electronic/Dance Album (for †)
References
- ^ Eric Dahan: Que justice soit fête. In: Libération, 7 June 2007, online
- ^ a b http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature-read.aspx?id=821
- ^ Pitchfork Feature: Top 50 Albums of 2007
- ^ The 25 Best Albums of 2007 :: Blender.com
- ^ a b c French Electronic Dance Music - New York Times
- ^ a b c d e f http://www.residentadvisor.net/dj-profile.aspx?id=865
- ^ EMAs Shocker: Kanye Stage Invasion! | MTV UK
- ^ Pitchfork article http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/news/47956-update-rejected-justice-fabric-mix-turned-xmas-gift
- ^ 50th Annual Grammy Awards Nominations List http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/50th_Show/list.aspx
- ^ http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:loQpj3yHj7cJ:remixmag.com/artists/electronic/remix_justice/+Justice+band+gear&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&client=safari
- ^ http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:loQpj3yHj7cJ:remixmag.com/artists/electronic/remix_justice/+Justice+band+gear&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&client=safari
- ^ http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:loQpj3yHj7cJ:remixmag.com/artists/electronic/remix_justice/+Justice+band+gear&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&client=safari
- ^ http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:loQpj3yHj7cJ:remixmag.com/artists/electronic/remix_justice/+Justice+band+gear&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&client=safari
- ^ French electro band Justice boycotted because of 'Stress' video
- ^ Music video and interview with directors Jonas & François and art director So_Me