[.ca] 1999

From Amazon.com:
Two of the most revered producers and remixers of the French Invasion, Phillipe Zdar and Hubert Blanc-Francard more than have the skills to toss off crates of jiggy dance product if they so desired. But on their debut as Cassius, they've created something very different, a seamlessly postironic piece of abstract hip-house that's so off-kilter and fun, it feels subversive. Subtle gospel samples and a bluesy '30s trumpet bring on the opener, "Cassius 1999," then flip it into a flashy Latin electro super-digitale, and it's a good clue to where this whole thing wants to go. Thus we find plus-sized freestyle bass lines blithely slung under the vit-vit of old-school acid or a hard-house shuffle invaded both by toony synth arpeggios and liquid cobalt washes à la Richard James. Somehow, Cassius make it all cook. 1999 more than lives up to its unreasonable advance hype--a gorgeous and surprisingly restrained showcase for two visionaires. --Steve Lafreniere

Not nearly as good as Air or Daft Punk:
When it comes to electronica music, France really has breathed new air into one of my favorite genres of music. I love Air, Dimitri From Paris, Rinocerose (well their first album anyways), and Daft Punk (of course). Unfortunately I could not get into Cassius. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get into Cassius's "1999". The songs lacked the funkiness of Daft Punk or the intricate melodies of Air. The group's choice of samples were interesting to say the very least. I don't see very often an artist who would sample from '70s blaxploitation flick "Foxy Brown" like Cassius did on "Foxxy". Unfortunately what didn't really groove with me was the fact that the beats in most of the songs sounded too repetitive. I liked "Feeling For You", "La Mouche", "Foxxy" and "Cassius Remix '99" but otherwise this album didn't leave much of an impression on me, neither bad nor good. And when an album doesn't leave much an impression on me you know that isn't a good sign.

All Hype, No Substance:
Since some french dance acts started appearing in the late nineties, a new dance scene began to emmerge as well, mixing disco beats with electronica and generating a retro-futuristic sound. Daft Punk were one of the more challenging and inventive bands, even if their albums are flawed and uneven. Air offered laid-back, dreamy and smooth atmospheres. Cassius, however, failed to engage, as one can prove with "1999". Yes, this record has a couple of interesting dance songs like "Crazy Legs" or "Interlude", still as a whole it`s a repetitive, uninspired, endless and at parts irritating album. Some of this material is ok for a nightclub, but as a record it doesn't really get off the ground. It brings nothing new, it`s basically a waste of time, and ends up being another flat, monotonous and overrated record. A collection of fillers.

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