ODEN & FATZO are a French electronic trio who have fast become reknowned for their dynamic live performances which defy genre boundaries with their eclectic sound. Seamlessly blending uptempo house beats, minimal solar vibes, electro, breakbeat and elements of UK garage, their music captivates audiences with its rich and diverse palette.
Drawing inspiration from funk, jazz, and hip-hop, Oden & Fatzo’s music is a testament to their varied influences. Their breakout anthem, Lauren, became a summer sensation in 2o12, propelling them into the spotlight and solidifying their place in the electronic music scene.
As they gear up for their highly anticipated appearance at Hideout Festival in Croatia this summer, we caught up with them last week and asked them to talk us through some of their favourite music.
Brett Johnson – Sigh Of Relief
The positive atmosphere of this track always hits the right place in my heart. The texture and the harmonics of the main chords works very well by awakening your sensitivity. It feels like a sunny morning under the trees.
Sweely – Probably one of my favorites
Can you hear the moaning of the bass? It’s like a wild animal hiding in the bushes, ready to jump on you and let the groove take possession of yourself. I can sing this bassline pattern all day long. When the breaks come in with minor harmonics, it really changes the mood of the song but it succeeds to work overall anyway, driving you into a cinematographic, polar movie atmosphere. Masterpiece.
Himalaya Juice – Dr Q.Tip
I love the way the mix sounds really clear and not deep, and the track still manages to be so original. It seems like the vocoder is used as an instrument and not a voice, which works very well with the answer of the leads and the bass.
Gene On Earth – Turbo Island
This is a real journey. The storytelling in this track is totally mad for a minimal/tech track. The drum rack is calibrated and always brings what you need in the next loop, the musical phases fit together perfectly. This is what we want on the dancefloor, energy, positivity and mind travel.
Kalya Scintilla – Yatram
I remember I met Kalya Scintilla (aka Merkaba) at the Buena Onda festival when I was younger and I used to play Psytrance. We were playing in the south of France and he was recording cicadas in nature with a microphone while he was meditating. We were really impressed with my friend at the time, because he was a great musician and engineer coming from Australia. So he gave us his album as a present, and this is where I discovered this amazing track.
Nujabes – Feather
It’s hard to summarize the impact of Nujabes on the lo-fi hip hop scene in a few sentences. Owner of a record shop in Shibuya, he tragically died in a car crash at the very young age of 36 years old. He left us with really personal sampling choices in between cool jazz (like Miles Davis or Yusef Lateef) and Japanese piano that inspired and changed the hip-hop scene forever. “Feather” here, is the perfect example of that, where he located a perfect loop in Yusef Lateefs’s “Love theme from The Robe” and simply repeated it over and over. Pure class.
Akufen – Deck The House.
Akufen is the creator of the micro-house music genre. His brilliant idea was to transpose photo collage into electronic music. That’s how micro-sampling was born: using very short sound clips and samples to create music. It’s a technique we’ve used in a lot of our songs, so he’s a major influence on our work. Deck The House is a work of art combining groove and creativity.
Hermeth – Ghetto West Coast
When my best friend sent me a bandcamp link to this spanish artist’s page, I didn’t know my musical journey would never be the same. Ghetto West Coast is a perfect balance between breakbeat electro, classic house and ghetto-tech, has a clever use of “Lord Infamous” samples and is above all an instant party starter. His other productions can be more aggressive with a huge hip-hop influence, and I must admit I love all of them.
Crystal Waters – Gypsy Woman (Rave Yard Mix)
Gypsy Woman is maybe my favorite house music track. The chord progression is unique and the vocal performance makes a perfect link between the jazz mood and the classic 909 house beat. This Rave Yard Mix takes another direction while mixing this classic with breakbeat and piano-house, for an infectious drop that will give energy to any club on planet earth.
NY Stomp – The NY House Trak
The title of this gem is self explanatory. This is a perfect example of “Less is more”. This track has all the ingredients of house : Big Kick, Swingy Drums, Soulful Vocal, Deep Bass and transposed chord melody. You need nothing else to make people dance and I get a childish smile everytime I hear it in a club. It has inspired many of our productions, the latest being “Raw EP” on Defected Records.
For more information and for tickets to Hideout Festival head HERE.
