Although Daft Punk, Air, and Cassius get the most limelight for French funk, their contemporary Bob Sinclar is the hardest working French funkateer. With dozens of albums over the past 15 years–each with a different sound–there is no definitive Sinclar sound except, perhaps, funk.

"After James Brown became popular, there were bands in every part of the world making funk–in Africa, South America–and I’ve collected as many of these records as I can," says Sinclar. "Everybody had just a little different sound because of their surroundings."

Sinclar’s surroundings were initially minimal. Getting into the sampling groove with the aforementioned records for his jazzy projects, Sinclar evolved his hip-hop and downtempo into house projects like Africanism to the newer Brazilian project Salome De Bahia.

"I really didn’t get into house until I went to New York for the first time in the early ’90s. You’d see Kenny Dope [of Masters At Work] and Todd Terry mixing hip-hop and house together in sets. I wasn’t into Chicago stuff or anything before that."

His popularity really exploded once he brought in vintage instruments and live singers and musicians.

"I don’t surf at all." Sinclar laughs when asked about his equipment sources. "There is a great store in Paris called "Funk Junk" where I buy old microphones and old compressors to blend in with new technology."

He also loves vintage disco and electro and pop. One of Sinclar’s most popular discs is a mix of originals and re-edits of ’70s French disco pioneer Cerrone, and there’s not much that escapes Sinclar’s mind. What does he think of disco and electro’s rise in popularity?

"I try not to intellectualize things too much," he admits. "I think everything is a cycle. Sometimes things run dry. Then you go listen to old records and get new ideas with the old records. I think everybody did this. You can tell with Prince, Stevie Wonder... I just feel a good vibe about something and then I just do it."

Having just started a North American tour, Sinclar his bringing his soul to Edmonton for the first time on Friday, Sept 15, at the Starlite Room. And while he’s excited and enjoys touring, more than anything he really loves to just be in the studio.

"I do maybe 100 dates a year–two days a week on average so I can spend most of my time in the studio." He proceeds with caution though. "When I made ‘Love Generation’ that was a full day. About 12 hours. But a lot of times if nothing is really coming, I’ll just work on drum loops or something for a bit and leave. It’s not good to stay too long unless the vibe is really good."

BEATS AND PIECES

n One of the UK’s best labels on the "nu-breaks" scene is Finger Lickin’, and Export 01 (hhhhk), mixed by the Drummatic Twins, is aimed directly at the North American market. With plenty of their tracks coupled with others from labelmates Plump DJs and Soul of Man, this comp is perfect for those who still have their fingerless gloves and their sheets of linoleum and cardboard at home.

n Munich-based label International DJ Gigolos has held up the synth-pop revival for 10 years and label owner DJ Hell has released the label’s 9th compilation (hhhhk). On another entertaining double-disc set, Freaks and Felix Da Housecat remake classic house, there’s slamming sounds from Huntemann and Motor, while Hell himself tops them all with a jaw-dropping rework of Grace Jones’ "I’ve Seen That Face Before."

n An underground party legend, Felix co-collaborator Tommie Sunshine finally has a commercially available mix CD on one half of Systematic Sessions Vol.2 (Systematic, hhhhk). The track list spans 20 years, and then Sunshine jacks things up Chicago-style with new tunes. Label boss Marc Romboy mixes the other disc with an uninspired set in comparison.