FRANCIS RIMBERT

Friendly yet wary. A joker but a bit sad. Reserved yet ready for fun. No wonder his favorite expression fits him so well - oui mais non. Anyone who has spent time with Francis Rimbert quickly notices and appreciates the compelling and complimentary sides of this man. Never happier than when he is in the studio with his true love, the keyboard, Francis is also a great guy to have out on the town with you. He has a keen yet gentle eye for the absurdities of life and the masquerades that are part of the human animal. Give him a pastis and a cigarette and a comfortable chair - in the bar of the Whitney, for example - and he is in another element of his. Hours pass, the air is full of smoke and laughter, the night is young.

His music reflects his personality. He knows what he wants to say and how to say it. The tools of the studio are his willing servants. If you've ever had the pleasure of watching Francis improvise on a simple piano, you would know what I mean. But this directness of intent and gift is tempered by an almost feminine sensitivity to the universal emotions, those which the best music aspires to call forth in the listener. For many years Francis has worked diligently and faithfully in the shadow of another artist. Yet when you hear Francis' own compositions on his debut disc, Double Face, you quickly realize that the shade speaks in a richer voice than the sun!

Although he spends plenty of time in the studio, he nonetheless gives generously to the millions of fans who see him live on the stage with Jean Michel Jarre. Visit his website to see what they see in this immensely talented artist.

Imagine working long and hard at something, something for which you have an undeniable talent yet you receive little recognition. Or worse, considerable derision. For years, Kenneth Thomas has been spinning the music that some people in Detroit love to hate - progressive house and trance. Why? Who knows? Perhaps it is because so much is at stake in the worship of techno. The emperor has very few clothes and needs all the help he can get. His courtiers know where the money is.

Someone with less talent or faith in himself might have given up long ago. Undaunted, Thomas has cultivated his loyal audiences throughout the Midwest in spite of the hometown naysayers. What's not to like? Here is a DJ who cares about the people in the room, the heaving mob on the floor riding the wave that he builds. He loves the music he plays and he loves the way it plugs him into the crowd, even when he is in the booth.

Now is the time for Kenneth Thomas. Not satisfied just to spin the records of other artists, he is producing his own in his home studio. And they're fanastic, full of energetic hooks and galloping rhythms. You can hear the fruits of his labour on a growing number of Europe's premier dance music labels like Armada. Or buy his debut mix collection, Obsessions, which features no less than five Thomas originals. Visit Kenneth's website to learn more about his singular way with the anthem and the mix.