With the Parisian edition of the Red Bull Music Academy in full swing, the RBMA present the rise and fall of French Touch by Raphael Malkin.

Written by Malkin, who was the founder of the now-defunct monthly publication Snatch Magazine, the story was originally published last year and has now been translated into English.

Starting with Frédéric Agostini’s Xanadu parties, where the great and good of the early French house scene used to hang out, it charts the rise and fall of a new Parisian sound spearheaded by a ragtag group of friends including Pedro Winter, Etienne De Crecy, Philippe Cerboneschi, Hubert Blanc-Francard (Cassius), David Guetta, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-manuel de Homem Christo.

The extensively in-depth story shines a light on scene that, on the face of it, was largely overlooked in the Paris but would go on to takeover the world before fizzling out in 2002.

Head over the RBMA site now to read the entire story. It’s almost certainly the best piece of music journalism you’ll read this year.