Various Artists – Cosmic Machine

A 20-track oddyssey through ten years of experimental, avant garde synth music by French producers from 1970 to 1980, the operative word here is 'cosmic' – aesthetically, these tracks are influenced by then newly-released Moog synthesisers, space exploration, and the cosmic funk of George Clinton's Parliament and Funkadelic. From the minimalist spaceship soundtracks of Patrick Juvet, to the Jean Michel Jarre-like electronic neoclassical stylings of Didier Marouani, it's a diverse and fascinating listen, especially in the light of the recent popularity of retro-futuristic synth music.

Jarre himself puts in an appearance with the louche, 60s-esque Black Bird. Elsewhere, we get prescient proto-electro from Francois de Roubaix, space age disco from Universal Energy, and pitch-bent smokers' funk from The Atomic Crocus. A fascinating journey, this compilation proves that French electronic musicians were dreaming of robots and space travel long before Daft Punk put on their helmets and reached for the synths. [Bram E. Gieben]