An Analysis of Justice"s Cross
Justice is an electronic music group consisting of French musicians Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosnay, who are a part of Ed Banger Records.
In July 2007, Justice released its debut, critically-acclaimed album titled Cross with breakout electronic hits including "Genesis," which has been featured in several Cadillac car commercials.
For my analysis, I will focus on three songs off of the album that I find intriguing, which are "Genesis," "Phantom," and "Phantom II," and how each of these songs were uniquely composed and how they tie with the early history of electronic music.
The opening seconds of "Genesis" features horn instrumentation and a timpani part, as if it were music used for a battle scene in an epic 1960's war movie.
This makes any listener wonder if the song could possibly be electronic.
Then of course, the booming slap bass lines and beats enter with electronic synthesizers and sampled pieces layered on top.
I have speculated how Justice composed this song together and what samples they used since Justice has a similar style to Daft Punk.
After some research, I discovered that both Auge and Rosnay had an interview with MTV several years ago and stated that the samples used for "Genesis" included parts from Slipknot, Queen, and 50 Cent.
Certainly this is an odd choice of samples to compose for an electronic song, but it also shows how creative Justice can be in this type of genre.
Cross also features two songs named "Phantom" and "Phantom Part II" that also feature heavy use of bass lines and synthesizers.
These songs in particular are essentially a remake of a theme song written by the music group Goblin for a 1982 movie called Tenebre, a movie about an American writer who is stalked out by a serial killer while writing a book in Rome.
It is fascinating to listen to the differences between these two songs, given that Justice made its remake of the song with more use of staccato notation, whereas the original theme song is more legato and melodic since it is a theme song to an eerie movie.
I enjoy how Justice made "Phantom" and "Phantom Part II" more upbeat, but it is also interesting to listen how Justice sampled pieces from this random theme song.
These three songs off of Cross can be tied to the techniques of musicians in early electronic music, particularly the 20th century.
The idea of using sample sounds to compose original electronic music was developed by French radio engineer Pierre Schaffer and French composer Pierre Henry in the 1940's.
James Tenney, a composer of computer music in Bell Labs in the 1960's, also used sampling as a part of his original music by using an array of samples such as parts of Elvis Presley songs to compile his own compositions.
These techniques are certainly demonstrated by Justice who use a variety of samples from different artists and genres to write songs that are barely recognized in the final recordings.
Justice's Cross has been a favorite album in my music library since I bought it in 2008.
Along with other electronic artists such as Daft Punk and Crystal Castles, I am amazed of how ingenious Justice can be when composing such original material and how their techniques can be tied to early musical artists.
I certainly hope that one day I will attend a Justice concert and experience a true electronic musical experience.
In July 2007, Justice released its debut, critically-acclaimed album titled Cross with breakout electronic hits including "Genesis," which has been featured in several Cadillac car commercials.
For my analysis, I will focus on three songs off of the album that I find intriguing, which are "Genesis," "Phantom," and "Phantom II," and how each of these songs were uniquely composed and how they tie with the early history of electronic music.
The opening seconds of "Genesis" features horn instrumentation and a timpani part, as if it were music used for a battle scene in an epic 1960's war movie.
This makes any listener wonder if the song could possibly be electronic.
Then of course, the booming slap bass lines and beats enter with electronic synthesizers and sampled pieces layered on top.
I have speculated how Justice composed this song together and what samples they used since Justice has a similar style to Daft Punk.
After some research, I discovered that both Auge and Rosnay had an interview with MTV several years ago and stated that the samples used for "Genesis" included parts from Slipknot, Queen, and 50 Cent.
Certainly this is an odd choice of samples to compose for an electronic song, but it also shows how creative Justice can be in this type of genre.
Cross also features two songs named "Phantom" and "Phantom Part II" that also feature heavy use of bass lines and synthesizers.
These songs in particular are essentially a remake of a theme song written by the music group Goblin for a 1982 movie called Tenebre, a movie about an American writer who is stalked out by a serial killer while writing a book in Rome.
It is fascinating to listen to the differences between these two songs, given that Justice made its remake of the song with more use of staccato notation, whereas the original theme song is more legato and melodic since it is a theme song to an eerie movie.
I enjoy how Justice made "Phantom" and "Phantom Part II" more upbeat, but it is also interesting to listen how Justice sampled pieces from this random theme song.
These three songs off of Cross can be tied to the techniques of musicians in early electronic music, particularly the 20th century.
The idea of using sample sounds to compose original electronic music was developed by French radio engineer Pierre Schaffer and French composer Pierre Henry in the 1940's.
James Tenney, a composer of computer music in Bell Labs in the 1960's, also used sampling as a part of his original music by using an array of samples such as parts of Elvis Presley songs to compile his own compositions.
These techniques are certainly demonstrated by Justice who use a variety of samples from different artists and genres to write songs that are barely recognized in the final recordings.
Justice's Cross has been a favorite album in my music library since I bought it in 2008.
Along with other electronic artists such as Daft Punk and Crystal Castles, I am amazed of how ingenious Justice can be when composing such original material and how their techniques can be tied to early musical artists.
I certainly hope that one day I will attend a Justice concert and experience a true electronic musical experience.
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