Cassius (band)

Cassius
Also known as	La Funk Mob
Origin	Paris, France
Genres	Electronica, house, nu-disco, indie pop, synthpop, breakbeat
Years active	1988–present
Labels	Virgin, Ed Banger
Associated acts	MC Solaar, Motorbass, Phoenix
Website	cassius.fm
Members	Philippe Zdar Boom Bass

Cassius is a French musical duo that records and releases music in the house music, alternative dance and synthpop genres. The group consists of producers Philippe Cerboneschi and Hubert Blanc-Francard, better known as Philippe Zdar and Boom Bass.^[1][2]

History

Zdar and Boom Bass started working together in 1988, producing albums for the French hip-hop artist MC Solaar. In 1991, they created their first project, called La Funk Mob, and the following year, they started to increasingly experiment with electronic sounds. Zdar's experience with electronic music was influential in his involvement with Étienne de Crécy in the project Motorbass, who released a sole full-length album, Pansoul.

In 1996, Zdar and Boom Bass then created "Foxxy", their first self-published house music track, under the name Cassius, and the moderate success that followed lead to them remixing tracks for acts such as Air and Daft Punk. In January 1999, they released their first single to become a mainstream hit, "Cassius 1999". It was published by Virgin Records, and entered the UK Singles Chart at #7.^[1] This was soon followed by their debut album, 1999, which had two more singles released from it, "Feeling For You" and "La Mouche". The music videos for "Cassius 1999" and "Feeling for You" portrayed the character Deadman, from DC Comics, as a DJ superhero.

2002 saw their second album release, Au Rêve. This featured the "empowered female disco" track "I'm a Woman", with Jocelyn Brown on vocals, as well as the hit single "The Sound of Violence", featuring Steve Edwards on vocals. This album also had collaborations with Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah and Leroy Burgess.

Cassius returned to the studio in 2006, for the more experimental single "Toop Toop", but the next album, titled 15 Again, featured more vocal collaborations than the duo had done with Au Rêve.

While rehearsing their 15 Again album tour, Cassius provided the community with the a cappella track of their single "Toop Toop" and encouraged fans and friends to start remixing the song. It became an immediate success: the band started the Cassius Workshop project and released more a cappellas for remixing purposes. They claim to have received more than 400 remixes.^[3]

Cassius's song "I Love You So" was sampled on the track "Why I Love You" on Jay-Z and Kanye West's 2011 collaboration album Watch the Throne.

They're currently working on a new album.^[4]

Discography

Albums

• The Mighty Bop Meets DJ Cam Et La Funk Mob (1995; as The La Funk Mob, with Bob Sinclar and DJ Cam)
• 1999 (1999) – UK No. 28^[1]
• Au Rêve (2002)
• The Bad Seeds 1993–1997 (2004) (as La Funk Mob)
• 15 Again (2006)
• CASSIUSPLAY: Nike+ Original Run (2008)

EPs

• The Rawkers E.P. (2010)

DJ mixes

• I Love Techno (2011)

Singles

Cassius

Year	Single	Peak chart positions									Certifications (sales thresholds)	Album
		BEL [5]	FRA [6]	GER [7]	IRE [8]	NED [9]	SUI [10]	SWE [11]	UK [1]	U.S. Dance [12]
1996	"Foxxy"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		1999
1999	"Cassius 1999"	25	17	—	14	35	—	52	7	8
	"Feeling for You"	52	72	76	—	57	—	57	16	6
"La Mouche"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	53	27
2002	"I'm a Woman" (with Jocelyn Brown)	55	—	—	—	—	63	—	—	7		Au Rêve
	"The Sound of Violence" (with Steve Edwards)	58	—	—	—	29	79	—	49	1
2003	"Thrilla" (with Ghostface Killah)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2006	"Toop Toop"	52	39	—	—	—	76	—	—	—		15 Again
2007	"Rock Number One"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2009	"Youth, Speed, Trouble, Cigarettes"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		non-album single
2010	"I Love You So" (I <3 U So)"	15	47	—	—	—	—	—	52	—		The Rawkers EP
2016	"ACTION"[13]	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		Incoming Album
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

La Funk Mob

• "Tribulations Extra Sensorielles" (1994)
• "Casse Les Frontières, Fou Les Têtes En L'Air" (1994)
• "Casse Les Frontières, Fou Les Têtes En L'Air" (1996; re-release)
• "357 Magnum Force" (2004)

Production for other artists

• MC Solaar – "Nouveau Western", with Jimmy Jay (1993)
• MC Solaar – "Obsolète", with Jimmy Jay (1994)
• Sinclair – "Tranquille" (1994)
• Melaaz – "Je Marche En Solitaire" (1995)
• MC Solaar – "La Concubine De L'Hémoglobine", with Jimmy Jay (1995)
• MC Solaar – Paradisiaque (1997)
• Phoenix – United (2000)
• Cut Copy – Bright Like Neon Love (2004)
• Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009)
• Chromeo – Business Casual (2010)
• Two Door Cinema Club – Tourist History (2010)
• The Rapture – In the Grace of Your Love (2011)
• Kindness – "World, You Need a Change of Mind" (2012)
• OneRepublic – "Burning Bridges" (2013)
• OneRepublic – "Something's Gotta Give" (2013)
• Drake – "Nothing Was the Same" (2013)

References

1. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 97. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
2. IMO Records. "Cassius Biography", IMO Records, London, 25 January 2012. Retrieved on 25 January 2012.
3. Cassius (30 November 2010). "CASSIUS". myspace. Myspace LLC. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
4. "Cassius - Mobile Uploads - Facebook". facebook.com.
5. "Zoeken naar: cassius". ultratop (in Belgian and English). ULTRATOP & Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
6. "Recherche pour: cassius". lescharts.com (in French and English). Hung Medien. 2003–2012. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
7. "Home - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". officialcharts.de.
8. "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". irishcharts.ie.
9. Dutch peaks
10. Swiss peaks
11. Swedish peaks
12. John Bush. "Cassius". AllMusic.
13. https://soundcloud.com/cassiusofficial/action

External links

• Philippe Zdar RBMA video lecture session
• Pi-Pole - Cassius DJ booking
• Cassius (band) discography at Discogs