Deep Africa

Back in the 90s, Eric Mouquet and his French ‘ethnic electronica collective’ Deep Forest did more than anyone else to give global dance fusion a bad name. Deep Forest's bombastic brand of four-to-the-floor house tunes, featuring exploitative vocal samples from sources such as the Baka pygmies, plumbed the depths – and sold millions and won Grammy awards. The formula was repeated with samples lifted from the Pacific islands, the Gypsy communities of Eastern Europe and anywhere else Mouquet could find some cheap exotica to spice up his otherwise dull and predictable productions. One hoped that he had made enough money to retire – but unfortunately not. On Deep Africa he rounds up a very creditable bunch of collaborators, including the Congolese singer Lokua Kanza, Cameroon's Blick Bassy and Wasis Diop from Senegal. One hopes they were well paid for prostituting their talents. Global dance fusion can be life-enhancing if it is crafted with love and respect (think Afro-Celts or Transglobal Underground). On Deep Africa all one hears is cynicism and cultural bankruptcy. Perhaps an even more cardinal sin is that the music is boring, for there is nothing that would not have sounded out of place on Deep Forest's self-titled debut 20 years ago.