Pamplemousse Productions

Chicago-Versailles

BY Prasad BidayePublished Apr 1, 2000

Chicago-Versailles is a joint-project between two house DJs  American Johnny Fiasco and the other Jo Zas from France. Despite their geographical distances, the pair share common production styles: heavy kick drums and hyper bass. The elements are often combined to create a feel that is experimental, futuristic and funky. However, for a fan of that particular sound, this 17-track disc comes off as a disappointment. It’s puzzling why Fiasco and Zas chose to fill this disc up with selections of their solo work without any of their own collaborations; who knows if they even considered collaborating? Thus, their funky, tech-house sound quickly becomes very repetitive. They've brought French beat-junkie Monsieur X to alleviate this problem with a bunch of minute-long hip-hop instrumentals, but these interludes only makes things more aggravating. X's beats are of the standard trip-hop fare, and next to these disco-fied tracks, they sound too organic and slow in the album's flow. If there was some more dialogue between these sounds, perhaps this compilation would hold more appeal.
(EFA)

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