One of the leading lights of the French touch movement—the world-famous strain of filter-friendly 1990s-originating French house—DJ and producer Alan Braxe (born Alain Quême on 9 July 1971 in Paris, France) has been lighting up the electronic music scene since first emerging in the late 1980s. He learned clarinet and cello at a young age before cutting his teeth as a DJ in Paris in the late 1980s, also trying his hand at production using a mixer, compressor, and an Emu SP1200. He scored his first big break thanks to Thomas Bangalter (of Daft Punk fame) who saw something in his work and decided to release his debut single "Vertigo" on his Roulé label in 1997. The following year, he formed a trio with Thomas Bangalter and singer Benjamin Diamond called Stardust, and their 1998 smash hit "Music Sounds Better with You" became one of the 1990s biggest dance tracks, accompanied by an iconic video by Michel Gondry. The success of the single enabled the launch of Alan Braxe's Vulture label in 1999, on which he released a string of collaborations with the DJ and producer Fred Falke, including 2000's Running – "Intro" / "Most Wanted," 2002's "Palladium" / "Penthouse Serenade" and 2003's "Love Lost." He asserted his solo production credentials on key 2005 compilation album The Upper Cuts, collecting some of his best material to date, with visual assistance from Justice's Xavier de Rosnay, who designed the artwork with graphic designer So Me. He spent the rest of the 2000s and 2010s notching up production credits as an in-demand remix artist, remixing Charlotte Gainsbourg's "Les Oxalis" in 2018 and Hot Chip's "Eleanor" in 2022, among numerous other artists. In 2019, he turned to the Buchla modular synth to create the minimal, analogue sound of The Ascent EP. He paired with French DJ and producer Falcon in 2022 for the Step By Step EP while a reissue of The Upper Cuts saw light in 2023, which featured remastered tracks and previously unreleased tracks.