Justice (French band)

Justice

Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay
Background information
Origin Paris, France
Genres Electro House
French House
Dance
Years active 2003–present
Labels Ed Banger, Elektra[1]
Website Justice on Myspace
Members
Gaspard Augé
Xavier de Rosnay

Justice is a Grammy Award winning, French electronic music duo consisting of Gaspard Augé (born 21 May 1979 in Besançon) and Xavier de Rosnay (born 2 July 1982).[2] The duo is one of the most successful groups on Ed Banger Records[3] and is managed by the label's head, Pedro Winter. Justice is known for incorporating a strong rock and indie influence into their music and image.[3][4]

Their debut album † was released in June 2007[5] to critical acclaim.[6][7] The album was later nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Electronic/Dance Album" and came in at number 15 on Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums of 2007[8] and number 18 on Blender's "25 Best Albums of 2007" list.[9] It was nominated for the 2007 Shortlist Prize, losing out to The Reminder by Feist. Their remix of the MGMT song "Electric Feel" won the Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical in 2009.[10]

In June 2009, it was announced that Justice would be moving to WMG/Atlantic's newly relaunched Elektra Records label. The band reportedly started work on their second album in mid-2010, with no release date yet announced.[11]

Contents

History

Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay 2007 in Paris

Justice first produced tracks together for Musclorvision's "Hits Up To You," a concept compilation where tracks were designed to sound like they were meant for the Eurovision song contest.[12] The compilation included two of their songs, and a track by Augé's alter-ego Microloisir.[13] 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.[4] The remix resulted in the group being signed to Ed Banger (who released it) and became a hit in clubs and on the Internet.[4] The song was re-released in 2004 on DJ Hell's International DeeJay Gigolo Records[14] 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 "We Are Your Friends" Justice worked on remixes[14] for a number of French groups (Vicarious Bliss, Scenario Rock, and Gambit) as well as for larger mainstream acts such as Britney Spears,[14] N*E*R*D,[14] Fatboy Slim,[14] and Daft Punk.[14] 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 Mr. Oizo.

Justice at Rock Werchter 2008

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.

Their debut album, titled †, was released on Ed Banger Records on 12 June 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 28 May 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 1 November, Justice received the "Video Star" award at the European Music Awards in Munich and was named the Best French Act of the Year. Justice was chosen to do a mix for the Fabriclive series in 2008, but Fabric rejected it. De Rosnay said that, "[T]hey weren't ready for something like this." Now titled "Justice Xmas Mix," the mix is available on the Internet.[15]

Justice appeared as a Live PA at the 2007 Parklife and festivals around Australia, the 2008 Coachella festival; the 2007 and 2008 Sónar festival in Barcelona, Fuji Rock Festival in Niigata, Japan; the Hultsfred Festival in Hultsfred, Sweden; the Oxegen festival in Kildare, Ireland; the T in the Park festival in Kinross, Scotland; the Reading Festival in Reading, England; the Vieilles Charrues Festival in Carhaix, France; the Roskilde Festival in Roskilde, Denmark; Pukkelpop in Belgium, at the "I LOVE TECHNO" festival in Ghent, Belgium; Dour Festival in Belgium; Rock Werchter in Belgium; the Lowlands festival and the Pinkpop festival in The Netherlands; at Tennents Vital in the Radio One Tent in Belfast; at the Phoenix Park Marquee in Dublin; and at the Festival Internacional de Benicàssim in Spain.

Justice was nominated for Best Dance Recording (for "D.A.N.C.E.") and Best Electronic/Dance Album (for †) at the 50th Grammy Awards.[16]

Justice uploaded their music video for "Stress" to YouTube on 1 May 2008, having had several TV stations boycott the video. The clip features a group of youths committing acts of vandalism and harassment, wearing jackets bearing the Justice cross on the back. Accused in some quarters of racism for its stereotypical depiction of youths of African descent (both black and North African) from Paris' socially deprived banlieues, others saw the video as a critique of their portrayal in the French media.[17] Speaking in an interview with The Quietus website, Augé said, “We were expecting some fuss obviously, but definitely not on those topics… If people see racism in the video, it's definitely because they might have a problem with racism; because they only see black people beating up white people, which is not what happens.”[18]

De Rosnay said, “Eighty percent of France is Christian." In an interview for Dummy in 2005, Justice said that they wanted a strong concept for each record they put out and with this one they wanted to keep people guessing.[19]

Justice at Fabric with the large lit cross they typically perform alongside

On 1 June 2008, The Sun announced that Justice was chosen by Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers to produce the band's follow up to Stadium Arcadium,[20] but this was quickly corrected by Ed Banger manager Pedro Winter, as Anthony Kiedis had only stated he was a fan of Justice, not preparing for a collaboration.[21]

In July 2008, Justice was revealed to have done a mix for the Dior Homme Summer 2009 Fashion Show, much like Daft Punk did for Louis Vuitton in 2007.[22] The track, now known as Planisphere, was released in four parts on the band's MySpace page, with an extra final cut that did not make it into the fashion show mix (known as "Planisphere IV", or "Planisphere Final").

On 25 August 2008, the band announced via MySpace that their next major release would be a DVD documentary/concert film titled A Cross the Universe. The announcement was also tied in with an invitation for fans to e-mail photos, images and artwork to an address so that the received photos could be compiled for use as artwork for the release.

An iconic scene in A Cross The Universe happens in Las Vegas, where, as an homage to Axl Rose, Gaspard marries a groupie whom he had met three hours previously.[23]

During a DJ tour for the release of A Cross the Universe in November 2008, controversy arose when a photograph of Augé DJing with an unplugged Akai MPD24 surfaced. The photograph sparked accusations that Justice's live sets were faked. Augé has since said that the equipment was unplugged very briefly before being re-attached and the band put a three-photo set of the incident on their MySpace page.[24][25]

Justice played 2009 New Year's Eve in Chicago at the Congress Theater to a crowd of well over 4,000. Augé was seen later that night at an after-party thrown in honor of the band featuring various local DJs, artists and photographers.[26]

In January 2009 French group Birdy Nam Nam released their album "Manual for Successful Rioting", Justice produced the last song on the album "The Parachute Ending".[27]

Their remix of MGMT's "Electric Feel" won a Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical in 2009.[10]

In the November 2009 issue of Mixmag, Justice stated that they would be working on the soundtrack for Mr. Oizo's upcoming film, Rubber, saying they had to "finish working on the soundtrack for Mr. Oizo's new film before we start recording for the new album."

In April 2009 the music website Stereogum hosted a remix by the duo of U2's song "Get On Your Boots", the lead single off of the band's most recent album No Line on the Horizon.[28] Their remix of Lenny Kravitz's song "Let Love Rule" was also featured on Kanye West's blog.[29] Also in April 2009 at the Coachella Valley Music Festival, Augé was seen at the "Dome" with Busy P, DJ Mehdi, and Daft Punk. They played at the 2009 Voodoo Experience in New Orleans, as well as at the HARD Haunted Mansion in LA over the Halloween weekend.[30]

Musical style and equipment

Justice in concert (2007).

Their style has been thought of as having some heavy metal influence[31] and combines cut-up bass lines with a compressed and distorted synth sound. Their music often includes bass slapping. Additionally, Justice uses samples of other songs to add to the effect, as with their song "TTHHEE PPAARRTTYY", featuring Uffie.

Equipment used by Justice in their productions include :

Their live setup includes :

On each side of "Valentine" (a non-functional modular synthesizer prop) are nine stacked Marshall cabinet fronts, adding up to a total of 18.[33] The cabinet stacks are another nonfunctional prop that serve as stage dressing.[34] Their DJ setup previously included two Pioneer CDJ-1000MK3s and a Pioneer DJM800.[35], but since the A Cross The Universe release tour, Justice have been using Ableton Live controlled by an AKAI MPD24 and a Pioneer DJM800 for their DJ sets.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Justice awards and nominations
Awards and nominations
Award Wins Nominations
Grammy Awards
 1 4
MTV Europe Music Awards
 3 3
MTV Video Music Awards
 0 1
NRJ Music Awards
 0 2
Shortlist Music Prizes
 0 1
Victoires de la Musique
 1 2
Totals
Awards won 5
Nominations 13

Justice's debut album, †, was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Electronic/Dance Album" and it was also nominated for the 2007 Shortlist Prize, but lost to The Reminder by Feist. The duo has been successful at the MTV Europe Music Awards, winning three awards: "Best Video" for "We Are Your Friends" in 2006 and "D.A.N.C.E." in 2007, and "Best French Act" for the band, also in 2007. Their remix of the MGMT song "Electric Feel" won the Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical in 2009. Overall, Justice has received five awards from thirteen nominations.

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States.[10][36]

Year Nominated work Award Result
2008 "D.A.N.C.E." Best Short Form Music Video Nominated
Best Dance Recording Nominated
† Best Electronic/Dance Album Nominated
2009 "Electric Feel (Justice Remix)" Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical Won

MTV Europe Music Awards

The MTV Europe Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony established in 1994 by MTV Europe.[37][38]

Year Nominated work Award Result
2006 "We Are Your Friends" Best Video Won
2007 "D.A.N.C.E." Best Video Won
Justice Best French Act Won

MTV Video Music Awards

The MTV Video Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony established in 1984 by MTV.[39]

Year Nominated work Award Result
2007 "D.A.N.C.E." Video of the Year Nominated

NRJ Music Awards

The NRJ Music Awards is an annual French awards ceremony created by the NRJ radio station and the TF1 television network.

Year Nominated work Award Result
2008 Justice Best New Artist Nominated
"D.A.N.C.E." Best Video Nominated

Shortlist Music Prize

The Shortlist Music Prize is a music award given annually to an album released in the United States within the last year.[40]

Year Nominated work Award Result
2007 † Shortlist Music Prize Nominated

Victoires de la Musique

The Victoires de la Musique is an annual French award ceremony.[41]

Year Nominated work Award Result
2008 Justice Best Electronic/Dance Act Won
"D.A.N.C.E." Best Video Nominated

References

  1. ↑ Harding, Cortney (1 June 2009). "Cee-Lo, Justice, Little Boots Signed To Reborn Elektra Label" Billboard.
  2. ↑ Eric Dahan: Que justice soit fête. In: Libération, 7 June 2007, and Julian Shovlin online
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "RA: Ed Banger: Teaching the rock kids to dance again - Feature / Interview". http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature-read.aspx?id=821. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Hermes, Will (1 July 2007). "French Electronic Dance Music - New York Times". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/arts/music/01herm.html?pagewanted=print. Retrieved 7 May 2010. 
  5. ↑ "Frequencies: Year in Review 2007", Exclaim!, December 2007.
  6. ↑ "Breaking Artist: French DJ Duo Justice Crosses the Atlantic With Body-Rocking Debut Album". RollingStone.com. http://www.rollingstone.com/blogs/breaking/2007/06/-who-french-electronica-duo.php. Retrieved 2008-06-23. 
  7. ↑ "Justice: Cross (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/justice/cross. Retrieved 2008-05-13. 
  8. ↑ "Pitchfork Feature: Top 50 Albums of 2007". http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/47446-staff-list-top-50-albums-of-2007/page_4. 
  9. ↑ "The 25 Best Albums of 2007 :: Blender.com". http://www.blender.com/articles/default.aspx?key=10512&pg=1. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "The 51st Annual Grammy Awards Winners List". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. 2009. http://www.grammy.com/grammy_awards/51st_show/list.aspx. Retrieved 2009-03-04. 
  11. ↑ daverh (19 July 2010). "ITM Exclusive: Justice Are Back In The Studio". inthemix. http://www.inthemix.com.au/news/intl/47410/ITM_Exclusive_Justice_are_back_in_the_studio. 
  12. ↑ "Musclorvision - Hits Up To You". Discogs. http://www.discogs.com/release/680532. Retrieved 21 December 2008. 
  13. ↑ "Microloisir". Discogs. http://www.discogs.com/artist/Microloisir. Retrieved 21 December 2008. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 "RA: DJ Justice Biography & Discography". http://www.residentadvisor.net/dj-profile.aspx?id=865. 
  15. ↑ Pitchfork article title unknown
  16. ↑ "50th Annual Grammy Awards Nominations List".
  17. ↑ "Uproar Over French Music Video". Time.com. 19 May 2008. http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1807724,00.html. Retrieved 21 December 2008. 
  18. ↑ "A Cross The Universe: Justice Interviewed". The Quietus. 28 October 2008. http://thequietus.com/articles/00584-a-cross-the-universe-justice-interviewed. Retrieved 21 December 2008. 
  19. ↑ "From the Dummy Magazine Archive: Justice Interview". Dummy Magazine Blog. 9 January 2008. http://dummymag.blogspot.com/2008/01/from-dummy-magazine-archive-justice.html. Retrieved 21 December 2008. 
  20. ↑ "Justice to produce Red Hot Chili Peppers album – Tabloid Hell". NME.com. http://www.nme.com/news/tabloid-hell/37771. Retrieved 2008-07-01. 
  21. ↑ "Justice not producing Red Hot Chili Peppers album". Mixmag.net. http://www.mixmag.net/content/justice-not-producing-red-hot-chili-peppers-album. Retrieved 01/07/2008. 
  22. ↑ "Asian Dan: Justice x Dior Homme: Spring-Summer 09 Mix". Asian Dan. http://asianmandan.blogspot.com/2008/07/jusice-x-dior-homme.html. Retrieved 2008-08-16. 
  23. ↑ "Eleanor Conway Presents: Justice". http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x85oqc_eleanor-conway-presents-a-little-ju_music?from=rss. 
  24. ↑ "Justice Unplugged". URB. 2008-11-18. http://www.urb.com/permalink/4148/Justice-Unplugged.html. Retrieved 2008-12-19. 
  25. ↑ "Justice (don't) fake DJ set - (false) panic in technoland".
  26. ↑ "Chicago Suicide Club presents Justice NYE After Hours". http://chicagosuicideclub.com/events/1582. 
  27. ↑ http://www.asianmandan.com/blog/2009/01/birdy-nam-nam-x-justice/
  28. ↑ http://stereogum.com/archives/justice-u2-remix-mp3_062471.html
  29. ↑ "Justice Remixes Lenny Kravitz". 27 April 2009.
  30. ↑ Graff, Gary (25 June 2009). "Eminem, Kiss, Flaming Lips To Headline Voodoo Experience". Billboard.
  31. ↑ Chinen, Nate (22 October 2007). "To Everything (Churn, Churn, Churn) There’s Techno". New York Times.
  32. ↑ Sterling, Scott T. (2007-08-01). "Cross Examinations". Remix. http://remixmag.com/artists/electronic/remix_justice/. Retrieved 2008-05-13. 
  33. ↑ "Behind the Scenes with Justice in Rio".
  34. ↑ "Electronica That Rocks, à la Française".
  35. ↑ "Justice - Electro Music With Punk Attitude". http://digitaldj.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/justice-electro-music-with-punk-attitude/. 
  36. ↑ "50th Grammy Awards - 2008". Rock on the Net. http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/2008/grammys.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-21. 
  37. ↑ "Kanye West a sore loser at MTV Europe awards". MSNBC. 2006-11-03. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15536834/. Retrieved 2008-09-21. 
  38. ↑ "2007 MTV Europe Music Awards – Winners". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/music/ema/2007/winners.jhtml. Retrieved 2008-09-21. 
  39. ↑ "2008 MTV Video Music Awards". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/2008/. Retrieved 2008-09-21. 
  40. ↑ "Feist wins 2007 Shortlist Music Prize". Forbes. 2008-02-05. http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/02/05/afx4617289.html. Retrieved 2008-09-26. 
  41. ↑ "Justice" (in French). Les Victoires. http://www.lesvictoires.com/varietes/laureats_artiste-202-justice.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-21. 

External links

Justice
Gaspard Augé · Xavier de Rosnay
Studio album
†
Live album
A Cross the Universe
Singles
"Waters of Nazareth" · "D.A.N.C.E." · "DVNO" · "Phantom" · "Tthhee Ppaarrttyy"
Related
Discography · Songs remixed by Justice · Awards
Wikipedia book Book:Justice  · Category Category:Justice  · Portal Portal:Music