Once or twice in every generation a record label comes to define an entire genre of music. Funk and soul had Motown, jazz had Blue Note and hip hop had Def Jam.
Now the genre of electro-rock, a sound dominating dance floors from Hong Kong to Miami, has Ed Banger Records, a remarkable label that serves up a bouillabaisse of disco, rock, hip hop, techno, electro and metal filtered through a heavy dose of noise. The label hit the big time last year with signature act Justice, whose debut album, Cross, was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Electronica has put French music on the map in a way not seen since the glory days of Serge Gainsborough, with the likes of Air, Daft Punk and Cassius receiving commercial and critical acclaim. And now with Le French May festivities winding down in Hong Kong, the celebrations will be brought to a suitably noisy climax tomorrow night when almost the full roster of the Gallic nation's label du jour - unfortunately minus Justice - calls into town.
The Ed Records Far East Duty Free Tour will present label chief Busy P - real name Pedro Winter - alongside other label favourites Sebastian (right), Uffie and Feadz, DJ Mehdi and So-Me for a night of 'noise that makes the kids sweat and the girls cry', according to Winter.
The Parisian founded the label in 2002 while serving as the manager of Daft Punk, the robotic duo who have become France's greatest musical export and one of the most successful electronic acts in history. Winter credits Daft Punk with cementing the importance of the Gallic nation's position in electronic music, and says working with the duo changed his life.
Ed Banger was formed when a new generation of French producers were coming of age after growing up on a weird diet of electronica and thrash metal.
