The esteemed French independent distributor Wagram followed their Hotel Costes series with an album celebrating the chic electronic movement that has elegantly rocked Paris for over a decade. Oliver Delachanel and Geraldine Ancri's selection encompasses both established artists and production newcomers, mixing up cuts from Laurent Garnier and Shazz with material from the superb, albeit lesser-known, Shinju Gumi and Doctor L. Though there are plenty of deep and dirty club cuts -- Ark's filthy, freaking "Sucubz" and the barking basslines of "Peppermint Candy" among them -- jazzy house is the dominating force, with Cassiopee's soulful "The Promise" typical in its washes of Rhodes playing among a luscious vocal and drawling blues piano. As musical city guides go, it doesn't get any better than this. ~ Kingsley Marshall
Rovi