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SMUGGLERS WAY

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Braxe + Falcon

Step By Step Remixes

Smugglers Way

Following the release of Braxe + Falcon’s widely acclaimed ‘Step By Step’ EP, the French house pioneers have announced ‘Step By Step Remixes’, a collection of mixes by A-Trak, ABSOLUTE., Amtrac, Shakedown, Didi Han and more, that breathe new life into the duo’s four original tracks.

The collection also features a new version of their sublime single, ‘Step By Step’ - Axel Boman’s In The Air Version - which features a fresh vocal performance by Panda Bear, and the Junior Sanchez Remix, a swinging companion to Boman’s melodic dance.

The collaboration between Braxe and Falcon, née Alain and Stéphane Quême, serves to create a modern duo both in scope and talent; Braxe is known for making some of the most important and iconic house and pop music records of the late 1990s and early 2000s, including ‘Music Sounds Better With You’ as Stardust with Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter, and official remixes for Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Kelis, Kylie Minogue and more.

DJ Falcon also teamed with Bangalter as Together in the early days, releasing the French Touch anthem, ‘So Much Love To Give’, and created quintessential remixes for Phoenix, Cassius and Justice.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: An all star cast of dance music celebrity (plus some B-listers thrown in for good measure - joke! - Ed) get to grips with Roulé superstars Alan Braxe and DJ Falcon's well received "Step By Step" EP from last year.

TRACK LISTING

Step By Step (Axel Boman’s In The Air Version Extended Mix)
Creative Source (A-Trak Remix)
Step By Step (Junior Sanchez Remix)
Step By Step (Amtrac Remix)
Elevation (Paul Woolford Remix 12" Edit)
Elevation (Shakedown Remix)
Elevation (Didi Han Remix)
Creative Source (ABSOLUTE. Neon Energy Remix Edit)
Love Me (Max In The World Extended Edit)

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Alan Braxe, Fred Falke & Friends

The Upper Cuts - 2023 Reissue

Smugglers Way

2xColoured LP

£26.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days

Rose pink and baby blue... [ + ]

Cat Number

SMGLR004LPX

Release date

31 Mar '23

Format Info

Rose pink and baby blue vinyl.
Includes MP3 Download Code.

2xLP

£25.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days

Black vinyl edition.

Cat Number

SMGLR004LP

Release date

31 Mar '23

Format Info

Black vinyl edition.

If you want to understand how French producer Alan Braxe ended up making some of the most important house music records of the late 1990s and early 2000s, you need to understand his modus operandi. Everything must be simple, and everything must be sincere. You hear this repeatedly in Braxe’s music, from the golden emotional minimalism of Stardust’s “Music Sounds Better With You” to the perfectly uncluttered house music strut of “Intro.”

The Upper Cuts, originally released in 2005, rounds up several of Braxe’s greatest hits, including “Music Sounds Better With You,” his classic remix of “At Night” by Shakedown and - most prominently - his work with Fred Falke, a bass player Braxe met on military service. Braxe and Falke’s union created some of the best house music records of the 2000s, with Falke’s slinky, melodious and very funky bass lines fitting like a glove around Braxe’s production know-how and ear for a melody.

The revival of interest in the first wave of French Touch producers makes 2023 the perfect time to re-release The Upper Cuts, which has long been out of print. This newly reissued version adds seven bonus tracks. These include the classic Braxe / Falke production “Chrystal City,” which originally appeared on the “Rubicon” single; Braxe’s iconic remix of Britney Spears’ “Anticipating”; “You’ll Stay In My Heart,” a tear-jerking Braxe / Falke work that was never properly released; and two completely new tracks that show Braxe at his best.

The Upper Cuts is a classic work of house music history that can still light up a dance floor; a work of sadness and joy; darkness and light; profundity and release. If you want to know how Braxe helped to create a new template for the French house sound in the early 2000s, right when French house needed it most; or how Braxe’s gorgeously clean productions and evocative synth melody provided a bridge between the first wave of French house and the Ed Banger / Justice / Kitsuné axis that followed; then your answer starts here.

TRACK LISTING

1. Alan Braxe & Fred Falke - Most Wanted
2. The Paradise - In Love With You
3. Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You
4. Alan Braxe & Fred Falke - Intro
5. Shakedown - At Night (Alan Braxe Remix)
6. Alan Braxe & Fred Falke - Love Lost
7. Alan Braxe & Fred Falke - Palladium
8. Alan Braxe & Fred Falke - Arena
9. Alan Braxe- & Fred Falke - Rubicon
10. Alan Braxe & Fred Falke - Penthouse Serenade
11. Alan Braxe & Fred Falke - Chrystal City
12. Alan Braxe - Voices
13. Britney Spears - Anticipating
14. Alan Braxe - One More Chance (Feat. The Spimes) [Redux]
15. Alan Braxe - True Love
16. Alan Braxe - Never Coming Back (Feat. Annie) [12 “ Dub Version]
17. Alan Braxe & Fred Falke - You'll Stay In My Heart (Instrumental)

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Braxe + Falcon

Step By Step EP

Smugglers Way

We know now that Smugglers Way is a new project by Alain and Stéphane Quême, or Alan Braxe and DJFalcon - the indisputable architects of the French Touch - the emotive house music conjured from looped samples with an inimitable Gallic flare that emerged from Paris in the mid-90s. Behind those two names you'll find the legendary acts of Stardust and Together - responsible for tracks like "Music Sounds Better With You", "So Much Love To Give" & "Together".

Now, as the pair mature into middle age, they've slowed down the tempo on their inimitable formular. The release represents a sublime distillation of their shared musical essence, a revelatory realization and a compelling expansion only conceivable for them at this point in time.

It opens with ‘Step By Step’, featuring Animal Collective's Panda Bear, an ecstatic celebration of Balearic joy, met with a French Touch production aesthetic; as if Braxe’s "In Love With You" had been baking on the playa for a quarter of a century. The track transcends anything in the catalogues of all three artists to something completely majestic, resplendent in its glowing, lush simplicity.

"Love Me" gallops to a satisfactory mid-session pace; loopy vox and fat synths filtered to perfection keeping us in that French state of mind. "Creative Source" deploys a tasty soul hook across the sampler pads for an almost Andres-esque beatdown jam before we settle into the cosy and intimate Balearic-pop of "Elevation", featuring modern R&B star Sunni Colon. What a trip!

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Brought to you by the same French Touch innovators behind Stardust and Together; it sees the formula applied to more downbeat and Balearic moods that are simply divine. Perfect for the hammock or the beach!