Rinocerose know how to entertain a crowd. Just ask Scottish songstress KT Tunstall, who performed in front of a less than impressive number of people on the main Green Stage at Fuji Rock last summer while the French dance duo entertained the throngs on an adjacent stage at the same time. Rinocerose's afternoon set of "house music with guitars" roused the crowd from its collective hangover and back into the festival spirit.
Fronted by psychologists by day, producers at night Jean-Phillipe Freu and Patrice Carrie, Rinocerose play local promoters Gan-Ban's "Break on Through" event at Ageha in Shin-Kiba, Tokyo on Feb. 11. Admittedly, by the time of their FRF appearance, Rinocerose's profile had already received a boost when their song "Cubicle" appeared on an iTunes advertisement around the world in spring 2006. But consign Rinocerose to the one-hit wonder bin at your peril. The Montpellier band first came into the limelight with the likes of Daft Punk and Cassius when French house music temporarily troubled the pop charts in the mid-1990s, and while their album sales may be overshadowed by their counterparts, accomplished songwriting and polished live sets have set Rinocerose apart from the Paris house scene. With a full band and guest vocalists, Rinocerose are one of the few dance bands to offer a full-on live experience.sk
Rinocerose's will be supported by Coburn, the up-and-coming German duo behind "We Interrupt This Program," one of the freshest sounding dance tracks of last year. DJ sets come from Takkyu Ishino, one half of Japanese techno act Denki Groove, President Bongo of Iceland's Gus Gus, the most left-of-center band on Darren Emerson's Underwater Records, and German tech-house DJ Tomcraft.