A bit late to the scene: Justice – †

Sometimes there are just bands for some reason or another you miss, or maybe you don’t miss them but you don’t pay much attention to them when you first hear their name or the bar of one of their songs. Maybe its because you are immersed in a different genre at the time or maybe you are too busy with your summer romance; either way sometimes we are all a bit late to pick up on some artists. Justice is one of those which passed me by when my love of electronic music was in its slightly softer more house-leaning stages.

Justice is a two piece french electronica duo from Paris who have been around since 2003 and previously were most well-known for their song with Simian, Justice vs. Simian – “We Are Your Friends”, which won best video at the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2006. This album is almost pure French electronica, there is not alot of electro-house/rock whatever on this album (ok, except maybe D.A.N.C.E which is their biggest hit but my least favourite song by far, oh and the song with Uffie which also isn’t very good). Played on full-volume with the bass twisted round to high is the only way to truly appreciate this album. At first listen i found the album a bit harsh to listen to, and some of the electronic synths to be a bit high pitched for my ears. However after listening to this for a few weeks i have grown to love it, and have slowly turned the volume louder and louder each time. The Justice sound to me can be summed up by the two part track Phantom -> big bass, huge electonic beats, and a really fast bpm. Fans of artists like Etienne de Crécy and the harder Daft Punk should like Justice. I do recommend giving it a few listens before dismissing it; especially for those not used to harder electronica. By biggest gripe with this album is the use of singer Uffie – i know many French Electronic fans are big fans of hers also but her voice really gets to me and personally i think it is the weakest point of this otherwise brilliant album

Stand out track: DVNO (only because i can’t chose between Phantom and Phantom Pt 2)

Track listing

1. “Genesis” – 3:54
2. “Let There Be Light” – 4:55
3. “D.A.N.C.E.” – 4:02
4. “Newjack” – 3:36
5. “Phantom” – 4:22
6. “Phantom Pt. II” – 3:20
7. “Valentine” – 2:56
8. “Tthhee Ppaarrttyy” (featuring Uffie) – 3:46
9. “DVNO” (featuring Mehdi Pinson) – 3:56
10. “Stress” – 4:58
11. “Waters of Nazareth” – 4:25
12. “One Minute to Midnight” – 3:40
13. “D.A.N.C.E. (rehearsal version)” – 4:29 (Japan bonus track)

The two disc special edition version comes with several remixes of the track D.A.N.C.E

Release Date: June 11, 2007

Label:Ed Banger Records/Because Music

Genre: Electronica

Rating: 4/5 (take out D.A.N.C.E which i know many love but i dislike and Uffie and it’s near perfection)

Buy it: Beatport, Amazon.