Clubs

London is more cutting edge than a cutlass, but musically we are anything but ethnocentric. When it isn’t German techno, Swedish house or Dutch trance, a lot of what we’re drunkenly hoofing it to is coming out on French labels such as Freak n’Chic, Kitsuné, Brique Rouge and, of course, Ed Banger.

Pioneers of the latest wave of electronic bleeps and glitches, Ed Banger has risen up from the underground, crossed the Channel and, over the past two years, made us want to move much more.
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The Parisian label, kickstarted in 2002 by Daft Punk’s former manager and renowned party fiend Pedro Winter (aka Busy P), boasts an achingly hot roster including blinding producer SebastiAn, gum-popping teen with ’tude Uffie and her boyfriend DJ Feadz, the twisted electro hip hopper DJ Mehdi and, of course, remix warlocks Justice.

The latter’s sonic collision with Simian – yes, you all know the one, mes amis – was the perfect synergy of French and British music and drew fresh attention to the label, catapulting Ed Banger artists into the iPods of many a dance fan.

‘These artists have got a sound to them that no-one else quite gets right,’ says James ‘Jas’ Shaw of Simian Mobile Disco. ‘It’s really glitchy, choppy [electro], almost with a rock aesthetic, but without sounding like trance music.’

He suggests that Ed Banger ‘fell between the cracks’ in the beginning because its crop was too rock for the techno heads and too electronic for the rock kids, but now dance fans are more open and ‘get it’.

So what makes Ed Banger so, erm, banging? ‘Busy P’s a total legend in his own right so everyone wants to work with him,’ muses Bruce Carter, frontman of ace Mancunian electro rockers The Whip. ‘Ed Banger’s whole output is totally original, but a definitively French approach to electronic stuff.’

Stylish Riots head honcho, Andy Peyton, who put on another Ed Banger special at Chalk recently, attributes its crossover success to a particular new(ish) talent. ‘Uffie was big on MySpace with all the indie kids,’ he says, ‘so that and Justice vs. Simian’s track made everyone look at them.’

And it’s not just in the UK that the label is raising its profile, but on its home turf too. ‘Everyone thought they were big in Paris for ages, but they were bigger over here,’ Jas reveals. ‘It was pretty underground in France, the parties were for about 200 people, but I think it’s working there now too.’

The idea of French club domination may be hard for Little Englanders to take, but hey, we’re cosmopolitan Londoners – we can live with that.
In fact, if truth be told, we barely care about the source as long as it makes us want to throw shapes. ‘Anyone making waves is good,’ says Simian’s Jas.

‘It broadens people’s knowledge of electronic music, so success for them is success for the whole scene.’ We couldn’t agree more, parce que nous aimons Ed Banger absolument.

Bugged Out presents Ed Banger Warehouse Party is at Canvas on Sat.