Audio, Video, Disco. cover
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Club

Audio, Video, Disco.

by Justice · 2011

Sound Club Listening Guide

The Artist

Justice is the French electronic duo of Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, who emerged from Paris in the mid-2000s on the Ed Banger Records roster. They arrived alongside the "French touch 2.0" wave but distinguished themselves with a heavier, distortion-drenched approach that borrowed as much from stadium rock and disco as from house music. Their 2007 debut Cross (often stylized as †) became a defining electronic record of its era, powered by the crossover smash "D.A.N.C.E." and a much-loved live show captured on A Cross the Universe. Audio, Video, Disco. is their long-awaited sophomore studio album, arriving four years after their debut and marking a deliberate pivot in sound and identity.

The Album

Released in October 2011 on Ed Banger and Because Music, Audio, Video, Disco. was self-produced by Augé and de Rosnay at their own studio in Paris. The duo openly framed it as a "daytime" record to contrast with the nocturnal, club-focused feel of Cross, leaning hard into 70s progressive rock, AOR, and classic hard rock textures alongside their signature electronic palette. Live instrumentation, harpsichord-like keys, guitar solos, and airy vocal harmonies replace much of the sample-chop chaos of their debut. Thematically, the album meditates on flight, freedom, exploration, and the loose Latin translation of its title: "I hear, I see, I learn." It divided fans on release but has aged into a cult favorite in the duo's catalog.

Listen For

The prog-rock pivot. Listen to how "Civilization" and "New Lands" trade in French house chops for galloping drums, layered guitars, and arena-rock swagger.

A two-part suite. "Canon (Primo)" flows directly into "Canon" as a paired composition; notice how the first sets a theme the second detonates.

Choir-like vocal stacks. Across "Ohio" and the title track "Audio, Video, Disco.", the harmonized male vocals feel closer to a 70s rock chorale than a dance record.

Guitar solos front and center. "Brianvision" and "Helix" put shredding, melodic lead guitar in the spotlight where you might expect a synth lead.

The long goodbye. "Planisphere" closes the record as an extended, multi-movement piece that stretches and reshapes the album's motifs into something almost orchestral.

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