St Germain - St. Germain (Primary Society)

It was one of those hard reviews for me. Hard review, because I have to write about an album from the artist that made a masterpiece few years ago. But there is always the problem. People often just lay down and live on their former glory and making awful albums. I was afraid, very afraid. 15 years has pass since masterpiece Tourist. I remember, and that is still the fact: everyone I know own albums like: Air - Moon Safari and St. German - Tourist. This albums have a certain role: if you don't know what your guests like, you just play that: everyone satisfied. Those albums are not elevator music, they are truly masterpiece, and that's why people bought them, and played out. It was sure shot. But let's get back to the 2015.

There was some kind of fear to hear new Ludovic Navarre's album. Fear that he will go and make another Tourist just to satisfied audience, or he will make some crazy jazzy electronica experimental that's not sound like St. Germain - it would be something else, ok?

But St. Germain did something  beyond my fears. He produced far more better album than Tourist. He  went to Mali, and incorporated their music and instruments like Djamba, Njarka, and  Ngoni, and included true masters of those instruments. And especially singer Fanta Bagayogo: I still have goose-bumps because of his voice. He created a truly world experience.

                              Guimba Quate and Mamdou Cherif Somoun, picture of Mr. Bagayago missing

So "Tourist" has really become tourist, and you could easily play this album next his 15 years old brother Tourist. What's more important this is really world music. African brought their own music to America, which lead to Jazz, and later funk - even hip-hop. Jazz went to Europe and mixed with electronic music, and then both went to Mali. Full Circle. Again I would say this is THE World Music.

Just one more thing, sometimes his album sounds like Tinariwen - the Tuareg Rock/Blues group- electric guitar with Tuareg's ethnic instruments, but that is good thing. Have no fear, this album is truly masterpiece and maybe one day it would become part of world culture heritage.