Castles in the sky

>> Parisian pairing Château Flight land at the Jazz Fest

by KRISTA

When Gilb'r, a programmer at France's Radio Nova, first received a demo tape from I:Cube (Nicolas Chaix) at the station way back in 1995, he thought the tunes were so fresh that he decided to start a label just to put them out.

"All of Nicolas's tracks were so different," says Gilb'r from his Versatile label's Paris headquarters. "There was such a diversity and yet every track was really well done. I thought, 'This guy really has something,' and I called him up."

Today, the formidable bond the two have forged is evident in the music they make together as Château Flight. The duo released their debut collaborative album Puzzle to eager ears in October 2000, an instant hit with house purists, die-hard electronic lovers and jazz aficionados alike. The curious mix of I:Cube's dreamy, abstract electronic style of production and Gilb'r's penchant for all things dancefloor-funky and breakbeat oriented resulted in an album as diverse as the sky is wide, full of deep jazzy grooves and mooged-out chords, ambient washes and sexy beats. It was as if Gilb'r and I:Cube were holding each other's missing pieces.

"We have very different tastes, but we work together very well," says Gilb'r of his relationship with I:Cube. "All of our different influences come together to make something that really works."

The mismatched style that inspired the duo to name their album Puzzle also inspired their band name. Gilb'r plucked their Château Flight moniker from the James Bond flick Thunderball because he liked the way it sounded, and also because he thought it described the band quite nicely. "A château is a very big place. You can have up to and over 100 different rooms with very differently influenced decorations and accents. A flight is a voyage--it's exciting. Château Flight is at once obscure and festive, much like the music that we make."

With Beady Belle at the Spectrum tonight, Thursday, July 5, midnight, $15.50