Sputnikmusic - Justice – Canon, Helix, Newlands

Justice – Canon, Helix, Newlands

By staff Sunday October 9, 2011

As part of the second wave of French House, Justice were pretty big in 2007 with their debut album † (Cross). The reception to early releases from upcoming album Audio, Video, Disco (due for release October 25th) has been mixed. Clear though is the change in direction signaled with the upcoming album, with rock elements present on Cross being drawn out and put centre stage. Out now are three more tunes in which this new direction can be seen clearly.

The new direction taken by Justice is reminiscent of drum and bass act Pendulum’s transition in sound from Hold Your Colour to In Silico. For Pendulum the move proved to work out commercially, but saw a lukewarm reception critically, so how will the turn in sound fare for Justice? Well here are three tracks for you to be the judge of.

Justice – Canon

Justice – Helix

Justice – Newlands

75 Comments

natey
10.09.11

ewww

FelixCulpa
10.09.11

Can't say I've listened to much Justice besides "Dance" but these track were pretty good. Will check out the album later in the month I guess.

klap
10.09.11

OH YEAH

klap
10.09.11

i think i could make a legitimate argument that Cross did more for electronic music for the average person than Daft Punk/Discovery ever did. As in got them to listen to it

Dogget
10.09.11

I think I preferred the rock elements where they were.

aok
10.09.11

'could make' as in don't actually remotely believe?

Justice is mad cool though and those tracks were fun stuff

klap
10.09.11

no i could believe it. i think the average person (i.e., those not familiar with electronic music) know more about it now because of justice's popularity rather than daft punk's.

aok
10.09.11

'one more time' and 'around the world' were more anthemic and well-known than 'dance' or anything else justice's put forward from what i've seen. their next album could end up being better than the tron soundtrack though

klap
10.09.11

probably, i'm just saying the argument could be made. justice is what got everyone i know (in college) into electro and house

FelixCulpa
10.09.11

I'm sure the argument could be made but I feel as though Daft Punk might be bigger here in Europe. Most my age know and knew of daft punk because of their hits. I doubt as many know of Justice. But ofc this has to do with place and time and age to a certain extent.

klap
10.09.11

yeah daft punk is definitely bigger in europe

elephantREVOLUTION
10.09.11

i'm excited for the new album. these songs don't sound quite as good as anything off of cross, but they are still awesome.

astrel
10.10.11

The first track is bangin'. At least these songs sound waaay better than the first single they released.

Liberi Fatali
10.10.11

@klap perhaps for your generation, but Daft Punk were huge in terms of appeal to the masses of pop and rock faithful

Deviant.
10.10.11

Justice wouldn't have been that commercially successful if it hadn't been for Daft Punk either

telebyrd
10.10.11

C'mon guyz, I'm pretty sure that Justice's existence proves Daft Punk wasn't real.

telebyrd
10.10.11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJEoASUMZbI

StreetlightRock
10.10.11

These songs are dead boring.

klap
10.10.11

agreed w all your points, especially silveri

clercqie
10.10.11

God this record is gonna suck...

And yeah, without Daft Punk, no Justice.

Also Justice's live sets were never as wicked as this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xec55UOHtxw

aok
10.10.11

holy crap. daft punk pre mask? sweet

Liberi Fatali
10.11.11

God bless Thomas Bangalter.

SCREAM!
10.13.11

First 2 were decent and third was kinda meh

I was really looking forward to new Justice too )=

Deviant.
10.13.11

Wow, the album is actually really bad

clercqie
10.13.11

No surprises there...

Liberi Fatali
10.13.11

I have come to expect a mild sense of disapointment from Ed Banger Records, but not outright crappiness.

Deviant.
10.13.11

The record label as a whole, no. The majority of the artists on the label, yes

klap
10.13.11

concurred, my fervor for reviewing this has diminished

clercqie
10.13.11

Still awaiting Oizo's new stuff...

Liberi Fatali
10.13.11

Looking forward to seeing Mr. Oizo in early december at stereosonic.

clercqie
10.13.11

Is it live or a dj set?

Because, frankly, his dj sets are average at best (in terms of mixing skills)

Deviant.
10.14.11

"concurred, my fervor for reviewing this has diminished"

I really don't know what everyone here saw in them in the first place

defjaw83
10.14.11

Cross was banging, that's what people saw in them

Deviant.
10.14.11

Album was slightly above average

klap
10.14.11

hey deviant i'm not sure but i don't think you like justice

Deviant.
10.14.11

I'd donate to your detecting agency

defjaw83
10.14.11

It was my pre-going out album for a good while. There's something about it that just makes me want to go out and get hammered

conradtao
10.14.11

I used to like Cross more than I do now, but I think it's appeal is best summarized as such: it's "dance music" for people who think "dance music" can't be exciting. I think Cross did help make the unsubtle stylings of Skrillex, Boys Noize, and Deadmau5 more popular thanks to the ubiquity of singles like D.A.N.C.E. and DVNO. Also, I think for a lot of people, Cross was the only dance album, aside from maybe Discovery, that didn't strike as being attached to gay culture in any way – mind you, this is a superficial reason to enjoy anything, but perhaps that's why Cross has a fanbase here on Sputnik.

klap
10.14.11

what conrad said

conradtao
10.14.11

That was a remarkably garbled comment with too many comments and a horrific instance of "it's" being used improperly. Oh, well. I still stand by what I said!

Puzzles
10.15.11

A more appropriate list title would surely be Justice - This track is currently not available,This track is currently not available, This track is currently not available

Deviant.
10.15.11

I definitely don't think that Justice had a hand in making other acts more acceptable. I just think that they ended up becoming so popular because despite all the grit and the distortion that they hid behind, they were just another electro band who relied on really cheap and cheesy hooks

klap
10.15.11

i dk deviant, if you had went to college in the states you might be more inclined to agree with conrad

Deviant.
10.15.11

Why? I'd still be exposed to it in the same way, regardless of where I was. And if you're proposing that it got played EVERYWHERE, well then I'd probably like it even less

conradtao
10.15.11

"Why? I'd still be exposed to it in the same way, regardless of where I was. And if you're proposing that it got played EVERYWHERE, well then I'd probably like it even less"

No, I think this is more about the "culture" Justice ended up representing. This was considered dance music to get your (straight) fuck on – guys were listening to dance music to get into girls' pants, just like frat boys listen to Deadmau5 today. The music itself became secondary.

conradtao
10.15.11

So you wouldn't be exposed to it in the same way. There would be a different cultural context. If you chose to simply pay attention to the music, then yes, you'd have the same opinion. But from a broader point of view involving sexual politics and social norms, I think Justice were significant in their broadcasting of superficial machismo.

Deviant.
10.15.11

"This was considered dance music to get your (straight) fuck on – guys were listening to dance music to get into girls' pants, just like frat boys listen to Deadmau5 today."

This is why I hate America

Deviant.
10.15.11

I also think you're reading far too much into their music Conrad

conradtao
10.15.11

"I also think you're reading far too much into their music Conrad"

Oh yeah, this is very true. I didn't really think about this aspect of their presentation until we started talking about why they had huge popularity on Sputnik..

Deviant.
10.15.11

Well you and Klap are trying to make the claim that they are hugely popular. I'm merely stating that I think they're overrated.

"The music itself became secondary."

Especially when you make a claim like this. I just think that a lot of people approach "club music" in entirely the wrong way

conradtao
10.15.11

I realize that we're having two separate conversations here. You're talking about personal taste, which is completely valid. I'm talking about its impact, which I believe stands independently of my opinion on their music.

Deviant.
10.15.11

I'm just surprised that the impact was that great, or memorable. I mean sure, it was popular and for a time was "big" even, but I certainly didn't see it being the game changer it was out your way down here. It was just another commercial electro album, that really did nothing more but bring the french sound to the public eye

clercqie
10.15.11

So basically without Justice, Americans wouldn't have noticed David Guetta and now we wouldn't have all those horrible electro-RnB crossover radio tunes? :p

conradtao
10.15.11

I wouldn't go that far. As execrable as he is, David Guetta made his name himself by creating an awful simplistic blueprint that, by virtue of forced catchiness (those hooks aren't good so much as repetitive), had mass appeal. Comparing Justice and Deadmau5 is also a huge stretch, since they don't occupy much of the same territory. But Justice brought electro to the American public and helped make it cool, and not only to the indie crowd. Now look at us now, where producers easily fill venues with their live performances.

klap
10.16.11

what conrad is saying is basically why i was willing to say that cross could be considered more influential than daft punk, for my generation at least

aok
10.16.11

daft punk has nearly 5 times the number of 'likes' (4 million more) on facebook that justice. if that's not a testament purely to their overall popularity i'm not sure what is

aok
10.16.11

also, i just saw justice play 4 songs and they were getting the party moving even better than wolfgang did last night.

Deviant.
10.16.11

"what conrad is saying is basically why i was willing to say that cross could be considered more influential than daft punk, for my generation at least"

I still disagree simply because Daft Punk influenced and opened the doors for Justice

Aids
10.16.11

'i think i could make a legitimate argument that Cross did more for electronic music for the average person than Daft Punk/Discovery ever did. As in got them to listen to it"

I agree

klap
10.16.11

right obviously without daft punk there would be no justice, but you can make that same argument for hundreds of other similar bands. measuring facebook likes for a band means nothing lol but i understand what you're saying andy

aok
10.16.11

wachu talkin bout? facebook likes has told me that david guetta is better than the beatles. duhh

klap
10.16.11

which leads to my next point, that david guetta has been more influential for european music than the beatles!

aok
10.16.11

i do find it strange that we come from pretty similar backgrounds (ie age, area, general tastes), but daft punk was just much more likely to be playing wherever i was going than justice. i still stand by the fact that justice's influence had more to do with your private school frat scene than the usa as a whole though rudy. facebook likes clearly don't mean much, but it's interesting to note sometimes when there's incredible disparity between two bands i thought were about as popular as one another.

klap
10.17.11

that is probably entirely true...although the frat scene here just got into electronic music starting really last year and when i was listening to justice, it was listening to like fucking shwayze. i think my school's knowledge of daft punk extended only as far as "one more time" and kanye sampling them in stronger

Deviant.
10.17.11

That's truly sad

Trebor.
10.17.11

I usually hear "Isn't that the band from daft hands?"

klap
10.17.11

deviant I dk how it is in new zealand but the average americans knowledge of popular electronic is sorely lacking

clercqie
10.17.11

"which leads to my next point, that david guetta has been more influential for european music than the beatles!"

Fucking lol!

Also, wrong

defjaw83
10.17.11

I honestly didn't realise that Justice were that big. Not too many people I know here in the UK know about them tbh. They might have heard D.A.N.C.E on the radio once but that's about it

clercqie
10.17.11

That's probably because they are French

Deviant.
10.17.11

Guetta is French, heard of him?

clercqie
10.17.11

Who?

clercqie
10.17.11

But seriously Dev, I thought you would get the joke about English people not liking French people...

klap
10.17.11

clerq "sexy bitch" is our generation's "i wanna hold your hand"

clercqie
10.17.11

No way man, that's The Time of My Life (Dirty Bit)

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Justice – Canon, Helix, Newlands

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