Pascal Arbez

For a while, it seemed certain that I would only be listening to Kings of Leon (my guilty pleasure, loved the first album and most of the second) but that was soon to change. Technology was catching up to some of the talent already out there in the electronic dance world, DFA the main culprits and the emerging French and Australian scene to follow.

What happened between my love for indie poseur music and my electro-nic slide can be largely attributed to Pascal Arbez aka Vitalic. I wasn't aware of his Poney EP, and it was one of those rare gems I came across randomly. His songs were intense arranged cacophonies, with its thumping bass, the crashing cymbals and hi-hats, it's intricate beeping Moroder melodies and of course those shearing, shrapnel-infused, roaring rock/metal synths, a staple sound for Arbez that surprisingly found a vacant melodic niche in the dance world. At the time, Vitalic was the best thing to happen to the people who secretly flirted with the idea of actually liking Ministry of Sound albums, but couldn't come out of their musical credibility closet. In my opinion, Vitalic played a major role in changing the perception of dance music to the general public. The Poney EP, consisting primarily of anthem La Rock 01, Poney Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 were to be successfully translated to his 2006 LP Ok Cowboy, an album that was met with both critical acclaim and popularity amongst the masses. The release of the album marked Arbez' rise to prominence, which came with with noteworthy remix work for artists such as Björk and Röyksopp.

French contemporaries have since pushed his sound away from a larger mass appeal, and besides playing many festivals, Arbez has been missing in action due largely to a lack of new original or remixed material. We hope that its because of a return to the studios rather than other circumstances, and we hope to hear more from one of the significant figures in dance music.

Vitalic - La Rock 01 (alt)
Vitalic - Poney Part 1 (alt)
Björk - Who Is It? (Vitalic Remix) (alt)
Röyksopp- What Else Is There? (Vitalic Remix) (alt)

Go to the Vitalic Myspace and give him some love.