Biography
More aligned with French nu-disco peers such as Daft Punk than with fellow artists on the Wall of Sound roster, Jacques Lu Cont’s Les Rythmes Digitales venture connected the classic synth-pop sound of the early 1980s to later developments including acid house and trip-hop. Although the project carried a French identity, its creator Stuart Price was born in Britain to a couple from Reading who happened to be visiting Paris at the time. His parents both played classical piano, yet Price discovered Kraftwerk and Afrika Bambaataa while still young and later developed an affinity for French pioneers Pierre Henry and Jean-Jacques Perrey, teaching himself synthesizers during adolescence. Mark Jones of Wall of Sound Recordings received a demo through an intermediary, signed Price to the label, and devised the French-sounding alias well before Daft Punk and Air popularized the notion of French artistic citizenship.
Les Rythmes Digitales debuted with the 1996 single “Kontakte,” whose electro textures preceded the first album, Liberation. For the follow-up release on Wall of Sound, Price referenced another hero by titling the track “Jacques Your Body (Make Me Sweat),” a pointed nod to Steve “Silk” Hurley’s Chicago house anthem from a decade earlier. He also took up a DJ residency devoted to 1980s records and supplied remixes for Heaven 17’s “(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang,” Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love,” and Wall of Sound act Dirty Beatniks. Live performances followed, among them a 1998 appearance at Reading Festival—Price’s hometown event—and a headline slot on a Wall of Sound package tour across Britain and Europe. The subsequent single “(Hey You) What’s That Sound?” previewed a planned second album and included Boy George in its promotional video. Those studio plans were postponed when Price accepted the role of musical director for a Madonna tour; he went on to produce the bulk of her 2005 album Confessions on a Dance Floor. By the close of the decade his production credits for Seal, Pet Shop Boys, Kylie Minogue, Lady Gaga, Scissor Sisters, Keane, and the Killers had established him among the leading names in pop.
Les Rythmes Digitales debuted with the 1996 single “Kontakte,” whose electro textures preceded the first album, Liberation. For the follow-up release on Wall of Sound, Price referenced another hero by titling the track “Jacques Your Body (Make Me Sweat),” a pointed nod to Steve “Silk” Hurley’s Chicago house anthem from a decade earlier. He also took up a DJ residency devoted to 1980s records and supplied remixes for Heaven 17’s “(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang,” Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love,” and Wall of Sound act Dirty Beatniks. Live performances followed, among them a 1998 appearance at Reading Festival—Price’s hometown event—and a headline slot on a Wall of Sound package tour across Britain and Europe. The subsequent single “(Hey You) What’s That Sound?” previewed a planned second album and included Boy George in its promotional video. Those studio plans were postponed when Price accepted the role of musical director for a Madonna tour; he went on to produce the bulk of her 2005 album Confessions on a Dance Floor. By the close of the decade his production credits for Seal, Pet Shop Boys, Kylie Minogue, Lady Gaga, Scissor Sisters, Keane, and the Killers had established him among the leading names in pop.
Albums
Singles
