Bob Sinclair

CHAMPS ELYSÉES

(Subliminal)

In what's become sort of a tradition among French house DJs like Daft Punk and Stardust, the Parisian production duo Chris the French Kiss and DJ Yellow usually mask their identity behind a rotating cast of alter egos. The pair save their sexiest and sweatiest grooves for the Bob Sinclair releases, as their 1998 club smash, the Jane Fonda-sampling "Gym Tonic," attests. The second Bob Sinclair full-length, Champs Elysées, has already spawned a dance-floor favorite in the anthemic, diva-driven "I Feel for You," but this disc is more than just a collection of 12-inch singles -- it's a great house album. Embracing an unabashedly sensual and utterly romantic æsthetic, the pair soar through burning disco house, mid-tempo bump 'n' grind, and drifting ambiance with a sound that is pure pleasure -- lush strings, rubbery bass lines, and plenty of R&B hooks. Like true Casanovas, they alternate the fast with the slow, raising the heartbeat with an irresistible disco number ("I Feel For You"), then soothing the senses with a cosmopolitan trip-hop interlude ("You Are Beautiful"). Guest vocalists help to recall Prince-ish funk ("Got To Be Free") and New York garage ("Freedom"); meanwhile the stuttered samples and phased-out loops of "Ich Roche" align the pair with the fractured style of their countrymen.

-- Michael Endelman