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Gildas Loaëc - Foxy Music

Author: Marc de Carne
Monday, October 13, 2008

The ying to Ed Banger’s yang Kitsuné have been the go-to French label for the more band-orientated electro tunes of the past half decade. On the eve of the release of their sixth compilation, 3D’s Marc de Carne spoke with label founder Gildas Loaëc.

Kitsuné head honcho Gildas Loaëc has been at the forefront of dance music for decades. As a close friend and advisor to Daft Punk, Gildas was privy to early insights into the future of a scene.

“I am still working with the band Daft Punk, [I have been for] more than ten years,” he says. “I was part of the the management team, in a way – we were doing everything in-house, from video to remix, but Daft Punk obviously decided everything. It was just more assisting them, you know- I think I’m a good assistant.” 

Kitsuné (Japanese for ‘fox’) are, of course, responsible for the tastemaker Kitsuné Maison Compilations, and have released records by Digitalism, Crystal Castles and The Gossip, as well as the current albums from autoKratz and Cazals. More often than not championing future heavyweights (see Bloc Party and Simian Mobile Disco), Australian artists have often featured on the mixes, with the likes of Cut Copy, Midnight Juggernauts, Wolfmother and Architecture in Helsinki having appeared on a Maison or two.

Loaëc’s appreciation of the diversity of artistic process could be credited for much of Kitsuné’s success.

“Dance music for me is not really [about] how it is made. It is not a question of instruments – it can be guitar or proper drums or more like electronic keyboard… for me it is more [about] the result,” he says. “I think music like Franz Ferdinand is really dancey. I got a chance to listen to the new Franz Ferdinand single [Lucid Dreams], which is a really dance song, [and] I think what Klaxons did with their last album was really very great – that brings a lot of UK punk culture into the more ravey ‘summer of love’ music. Dance music can be a mix of so many things now – it is just the result which is important to me.”

While Loaëc now calls Paris home, he grew up in Brittany. His appreciation of dance culture started from listening to artists like New Order on British radio transmitted from across the English Channel. Loaëc believes music should become even more global. He says he can’t predict what’s to come – that’s the mystery of music, he says – although he’d like to see a continuing fresh mix of influences, like the Klaxons’ Mercury Prize-winning Myths of the Near Future. He also believes there’s a need to get back to writing and provide more substance.

“Daft Punk really have this will of giving substance and content to the music; really proper work [with] the writing and also around the visual environment,” he says. “The difficulty is giving back – I think – value to the music, because everything is free everywhere. The only way to give back value [is] having more substance to it.”

WHO: Gildas Loaëc for Kitsuné Music
WHAT: Kitsuné Maison Compilation 6 through etcetc / Universal
WHEN: Out 18 October
MORE: kitsune.fr

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