Wuzz

Alex Gopher with Demon

08/05/2002 - 

Paris, may 8th 2002- These days it's become a fashionable past-time to shoot the French Touch down in flames. But the happening new album from electro duo Wuz proves French electronica is far from a dancefloor corpse! Double acts may still be in the minority on the electronic scene, but ironically it's twosomes such as Daft Punk and Air (in France) or the Chemical Brothers (in the UK) who have enjoyed the greatest chart success to date. Interestingly enough, these duos have often teamed up out of friendship rather than commercial interest. And Wuz, the latest double act to emerge on the French scene, is an interesting case in point, bringing together the twin talents of veteran electro producer Alex Gopher and rising young hopeful, Demon.

Following the success of his first album, Me, My Baby and I, Alex Gopher went on to set up his own record label, Solid, with an old schoolfriend, Etienne De Crécy. Solid made a huge impact on French electronica and launched a host of new electro talents onto the music scene. One of Solid's leading protégés was a young house mixmaster by the name of Demon who made his mark with an E.P. released on Poomtchak (an off-shoot of Solid specialising in 'funk house' productions). Gopher and De Crécy also helped young Demon produce his debut album, Midnight Funk. The latter was thoroughly under-acclaimed at the time of its release, but Demon got his revenge a few months later when he won international recognition with his hit single You’re My High. (A success which, it has to be said, was boosted by the accompanying 'soft erotic' video of a beautiful couple snogging in close-up!)

Meanwhile, back at the French electro ranch, Gopher was called in to see menswear designer Hedi Slimane and commissioned to record three original tracks for an Yves Saint Laurent show. The French mix wizard started out working on the commission solo, but soon turned to his young protégé Demon for help in whipping up more of a "club" groove. Having gradually dropped his work as a sound engineer, Gopher decided to officially team up with Demon and work on the project full-time under the joint pseudonym Wuz.

Both halves of the double act are passionate aficionados of 'black' music and they soon came up with a highly innovative way of co-operating in the studio. One of them would come up with a rough dance rhythm and hand it over to the other to build on or destroy while his partner worked on reconstructing or deconstructing his work. The result is a particularly dark-sounding house album which ranks alongside Motorbass's legendary Pansoul in terms of its murky depths and Romanthony's Romanworld in terms of musical coherence. One thing's for sure, Wuz is a million miles from Bob Sinclar's spangly 'happy house'!

Over the past few months French house productions have been spinning round on their own axis, boring us all stupid with the same little sound filters and funky guitar riffs. These days, it seems, genuine innovation is to be found in the domains of techno, dub and 80s-style electro. So it's refreshing to find Gopher and his young protégé bucking the trend with the truly excellent Wuz.

In our books there are very few electronic albums capable of standing the test of time, but Gopher and Demon's collective effort is certainly one of them. What's more, Wuz - the ideal soundtrack for modern urbanites – contains a whole stock of musical gems including the future house classic Without You and the irresistible Use Me (featuring the catchy piano sample already made famous by DJ Medhi). Looks like the combination of Gopher's famous placidity and Demon's edgy energy is a winning touch. Wuz certainly proves that with a little more hard work, imagination and creativity – and an effort to stop lounging round on its laurels! – the French Touch could continue its successful run on the export front.

Alex Gopher & Demon Wuz Solid/V2 2002

Willy  Richert