The Juan Maclean

• Genre: Alt Dance
• The Juan Maclean Website

About

You might not have expected that incendiary '90s indie rockers Six Finger Satellite would spawn a dance-music revivalist. But that's the transformation that 6FS guitarist John MacLean went through after the band folded in the wake of its singer's death and he eventually hooked up with former 6FS sound engineer James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem. MacLean debuted his articulated, Latin-leaning alias on Murphy's DFA label with 2002's "By the Time I Get to Venus," a rollicking anthem that splits the difference between Detroit techno and dance-punk. Three years later, Less Than Human proved even more ambitious, pulling together elements of Italo disco and Chicago house in a combined love letter to classic dance music and vintage synthesizers. He really hit his stride with 2008's "Happy House," its euphoric piano loops jibing precisely with a classic-house revival. Nancy Whang, the song's vocalist, assumed a starring role on 2009's The Future Will Come, a retro-obsessed effort that also finds MacLean stepping out of his comfort zone as a singer.

- Philip Sherburne