"I'm a black man and I don't know how to sing and I don't know how to dance (...) I'm to small to be a football hero and I'm to ugly to be elected male." Crackles, a rumbling bass, a lamenting flute over a backdrop of violins. You are listening to the new production by the three tinkering funk-electro craftsmen from Marseilles: Fred Berthet, Arnaud Taillefer and Lionel Corsini. The introductory words are spoken by someone you may remember: Antonio Fargas, aka Huggy Bear, legendary groovy informer of Starsky & Hutch fame. The extract is from the film Foxy Brown, giving you a taste of what's to come.

The setting is Harlem, or any other American ghetto for that matter, at the turn of the 1960s-70s. Segregation may have been officially abolished, but old habits die hard. Black Americans were still excluded from the first immigrants' all-white American dream. They were restricted to second roles in Hollywood films of the "Yessam, Miss Scarlett" type until thirty or so Blaxploitation films erupted on the scene: not exactly what you'd call masterpieces but they certainly shook things up a bit.

Heros or anti-heros, "Blacks" were finally in the limelight and a reference group of tough guys with wide collars, loud shirts and attitude was born. They were definitely not examples of wholesome family values, but then again neither were John Wayne and his fellow cowboys. "Plunging ourselves in that atmosphere was a continuation of our work from both a political and artistic point of view." Arnaud Taillefer has always been fascinated by the period.

Interestingly, the trio, who got together in 1999, were originally going to call themselves Troublemen, after an early 1970s Blaxploitation film soundtrack written by Marvin Gaye. But someone had beaten them to it and the "men" became "makers". Their passion for those troublesome times and its music has never diminished. It was the golden age of a certain kind of American soul with Bobby Womack, Curtis Mayfield and so many others. A time of creativity and resistance. "Its the music of slavery, of revolution. It has a certain heat, commitment and poetry I want to hold on to." Tracking out... and... flashback!

In 2001, Nathanäel Karmitz, founder of the MK2 Music label, launched a new collection. Up until then his company only distributed soundtracks of films promoted by MK2, the French cinema group of which it is part. In association with Jean-Yves Leloup, he came up with the idea of Stéréo Pictures, a DJ mix of music, voices, dialogue, sound and atmosphere. A cinematographic soundtrack where the idea was to "create a mix which was intentionally focused on the narrative rather than rhythms". An interesting idea... on paper at least. The first volume was compiled by the two members of Radiomentale, a creative sound radio show, broadcast on FG in France, Couleur 3 in Switzerland and even as far as Japan, on Radio Shibuya Fm. The album had very little promotion and a limited circulation.

Around this time, our three troublemakers had just released a little gem of sound construction: their first album Doubts & Convictions, on the American label Guidance. A flourish of film excerpts, funky loops and synthetic layers where music and cinema feed off one another. Already their sights were focused more on stimulating the imagination rather than getting feet moving on the dance floor.

Nathanaël met DJ Oil at a party and over drinks a partnership formed. "He knew our work, and we fit into the editorial line." The project was soon underway and a theme emerged for the second volume: segregation. But not as a political statement, as Arnaud explains: "In politics, talking about certain issues becomes worn-out after a while. To stand up and say that you're against racism is pointless. We've always been drawn towards the whole poetic side of the Black struggle. And all the music which came from that: blues, soul, hip-hop..." And now, ladies and gentlemen, come and witness this amazing feat: even if you understand nothing of the film dialogues or the concept, the Troublemakers will succeed in immersing you in their universe.

A well thought out atmosphere. From soul to electro, the transition between tracks is imperceptible: voices, sounds, effects, the sequences link up fluidly. Eddie Kendricks' My people... hold on, heartrending in its simplicity, is followed by a chase scene with piano in full swing. Nina Simone's sensuous warmth in See-line woman; a last relaxing detour, then you're flying in the face of destiny with Jonzun Crew's twisted loops. The strength of this compilation is that it is not a compilation. The story is fixed but the scenario is free. Whether buried under your quilt or out on the town, each time you listen its a new adventure, escape or battle.

But Stereo Pictures Vol2, however captivating, is only a taster while waiting for the next "real" Troublemakers album. "We didn't want any confusion, so our name is hidden away on the back of the album in small print!" points out Arnaud. "This experiment was an outlet for our strongest influences. A good draft for our next compositions." And the Marseilles trio's future is slightly sketchy: "We are working on a fair amount of pieces, but we're waiting for our new record label deal to come through, for the moment we haven't got a contract."

Guidance, their former label was good for their image, but little else. And despite the magic of the Internet, communicating with the other side of the Atlantic was not always easy. But there's no call for panic: the Troublemakers have more than one trick up their sleeve. They are currently negotiating with Blue Note, the legendary New York jazz label started up in 1939. Admittedly the label has lost some of its former glory, but it has been regaining ground since the end of the 90s. In any case, they've come a long way from the time when Fred Berthet was giving sampling lessons to two anonymous Marseilles musicians before they joined up to become a six handed composing team.

The trio have now mastered their instruments and their ambitions are growing. "We're gravitating towards jazz, but very humbly so. We're looking for a more musical quality with less sampling, we're working on melodies on the piano. I've written lyrics in English for real songs. We're going to be working with an arranger or maybe with Andy Bey, an old jazz singer." If everything goes according to plan (negotiations, collaborations, recordings, etc.), their next album release should be in January 2004.

Stereo Pictures Vol2. (MK2/Warner music france)