ERIC MOUQUET - Arrangement, Keyboards, Programming, Producer, Mixing
MICHEL SANCHEZ - Idea, Arrangement, Keyboards, Programming, Producer, Mixing
MÁRTA SEBESTYÉN - Vocals
KATALIN SZVORÁK - Vocals
DAVID BOTTRILL - Mixing
JOE GIBB - Mixing
DAN GELLERT - Mixing
BOB LUDWIG - Mastering
JACKO VASSILEV - Photography
PIERRE TERRASSON - Photography
MARC HARROLD - Photomontage
1995 CD 550 Music 67115
1995 CD Columbia 478623-2
1995 CD Sony 67115
1995 CS Sony 67115
1995 LP Sony 67115
Much like Deep Forest's debut album, Boheme is a combination of club
music and worldbeat. While the album is certainly danceable, it works
better as trance-inducing mood music, although it isn't quite as
consistent as the debut.
Nach dem Kunstprodukt Enigma, das auf kommerziell einträgliche
Weise gregorianische Gesänge mit "weltlichen" Dance-Beats
koppelte, schielen nun die zwei Belgier von Deep Forest mit einer
ähnlich gelagerten Idee nach den Charts. Gesampelte
Eingeborenengesänge aus Afrika verschmelzen mit synthetischen
Rhythmen zu einer zeitgemäßen Ambient-Tanzmusik, die auf der
Single "Sweet Lullaby" gefällt, auf Dauer aber langweilig. **
Interpret.: 04-07
A beautiful, radical fusion can be found on Deep Forest 's latest
release, Boheme (550/Sony). Their previous record also concentrated on
the indigenous pygmies of central Africa. This one takes a great deal
of inspiration from Eastern Europe as well. It heavily samples Marta
Sebestyen (late of Muzsikas ) and they actually have her sing one track
to order. These guys have taken the art of the remix to a new plateau.
As the acid jazz group United Future Organization does in its milieu,
Deep Forest takes elements from non-Western music. Through studio
alchemy, they create something original enough that they can get away
with calling it their own.
e.Bop - World Music Revis by Hank Bordowitz
Imagine this for a minute: you're in front of a campfire in a Slavic
state. The fire is warm, and the company is, too. Someone with an
accordion begins to play, another begins to drum, and over it all, a
man begins to sing an age-old song that his grandfathers before him
have sung, wistfully recalling the memories of childhood and strife,
knowing even as they sing that the words are being heard and remembered
by the sleepy children who warm their hands before the same fires. This
is Deep Forest, drawing from some of the traditional folk songs of
Transylvania and the Slavic states for the album Boheme. They have
taken the traditional words, traditional singers and traditional
instruments, and have remastered them, adding a low dance beat and
additional sound textures to create a tapestry of music that can't help
but be complex and engaging. The entire CD is a dream of eastern
Europe, set to music and made tangible by these musicians who truly
deserve to be called "artists." Track two, for example, "Bohemian
Ballet," derives its complicated rhythm from the sounds of women's
hands clapping, and its lilting melody from the exaulted voices of
ancient singers. Track three, "Marta's Song," is much the same, but
with an altogether different feel -- reposing, joyful satisfaction and
love after a day long in the hours and completed work. Listening to
this collection, it seems chameleon-like. It is a perfect backdrop if
there is other work to be done, soft and unchallenging on the surface,
allowing your mind to drift to the task at hand, and keeping the
pleasant banter over your internal dialogue. Alternately, when listened
to specifically, in the car or before bed, it takes on a different
flavor, with enough layers of complexity to keep the active mind busy
without additional input. It transports you, taking you to a place
buried deep in your psyche, where the primal white-noise ceases. More
than just a distraction, this work is a masterpiece, able to feed the
soul as well as the imagination. It truly is a piece of audio magic,
preserved for ears ready to listen. Don't miss out.
by Elizabeth Badurina
Deep Forest, Boheme (550 Music/Epic 1995) - The French duo of Michael
Sanchez and Eric Mouquet - the creative entity known as Deep Forest -
extend their musical adventure into a mysterious and alluring territory
on Boheme. With melodies and rhythms that range from Middle Eastern to
Middle European to the Far East, Boheme is a treasure of ethnic music
dressed in a dancebeat package. Deep Forest's self-titled debut album
(which boasts of strong Japanese and Eastern influences) was released
in the U.S. in April 1993, and is a worldwide hit: gold-plus in both
the U.S. and Britain, double platinum in Australia, a best-seller
throughout Europe and Japan, and a Grammy award nominee. In the
follow-up, Sanchez and Mouquet traveled to Translyvania (no kidding!),
where they found the quicksilver voice of Marta Sebestyen, who is best
known in the West as the lead singer for the Hungarian traditional
group, Muzsikas, with whom she has released three U.S. albums. After
experimenting with samples of her voice, Sanchez and Mouquet brought
Marta from her home in Budapest to Lille, France to record new
renditions of traditional melodies. Marta's lovely vocals were then
submitted to Deep Forest's splicing, editing and sequencing techniques.
Boheme is a "Bohemian Rhapsody" in a wide sense, including gypsy songs,
echoes of Inuit (Eskimo), Mongolian, and Balinese voices to produce
post-techno, post-ambient dance music. There's no easy way to describe
this music, as it blends a huge variety of ethnic and world beat music.
Highlights include the lovely "Marta's Song" (which was heard on the
soundtrack to Robert Altman's Pret a Porter), which features Marta's
haunting voice and an invigorating string section, and "Freedom Cry,"
which opens with an African-style vocal introduction before proceeding
to a jaunty, accordion-driven melody. Boheme is different and unique.
Fans of world beat and tribal music (including last year's great
Moroccan release from Khaled) will love this disc. Willie Nelson, Just
One Love (Justice Records 1995) - The amazing renaissance of Willie
Nelson continues in full flower. Since his rebirth on 1992's Across the
Borderline (a wonderful album), Willie's found a new vitality and
strength. That sense of freedom and creativity continues on Just One
Love. Backed by a well-honed working band, the 12 cuts on this disc
(all covers) show Willie at his best: rich-voiced, calm, and with a
perfect sense of delivery. Just One Love was produced by Grady Martin,
and recorded at Pedernales Studios in Spicewood, Texas. Willie's band
includes Mike Leach on bass, Buddy Emmons on steel guitar, Lisa Jones
on hammered dulcimer, and Grandpa Jones on banjo. Willie strikes a
perfect balance between country and pop on Just One Love: just enough
acoustic guitar and pedal steel to sound country, but not too much
twang to be pop. Willie's voice is the most amazing part of the album.
Despite all of his trials and tribulations, Willie sounds as good as
ever. Highlights include the uptempo "It's a Sin," the slow-down
ballad, "Four Walls," and Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold, Heart." In
addition, a new find, Kimmie Rhodes, joins Willie on two duets: the
title track, and "I Just Drove By." This pair could go far, as Kimmie's
gentle country voice matches perfectly against Willie's gravely tenor.
Willie's main problem has always been selection of material: With the
right songs, he's great. With the wrong songs, he's boring.
Fortunately, Just One Love finds Willie with 35 minutes of
perfectly-matched material. Like a comfortable pair of shoes, Willie
Nelson never lets you down. Welcome home this wayward son. Cake --
Sacramento's Cake will be at Club Fred on Thursday, August 17th. Cake
has one of the strongest debut albums this year; with their muted
delivery, quirky songs (especially the great, "I Bombed Korea"), and
horn section, they're reminiscent of Love's seminal work. This could be
one of the best local shows of the year. For something truly
alternative, catch Cake at Fred's.
Randy Krbechek - August 9, 1995 Metronews Music Reviews
What a change from the ordinary! The music on this disc is full of
life, rhythem, emotion, depth, and has a special quality that I can
relate to. Because it is the first time I have listened to music of
this sort, I admit that at first I found it odd and bizare. BUT in
under an hour it became the most wonderful music have ever listened to!
It has a way of drawing you in and, in some way, becoming a part of you
to the point where you can't immagine being without it. My absolute
favorite songs are "Bohemian ballet", "Gathering", "Twosome" and "Cafe
europa". Their mood and power is beyond what I've experienced through
music before, and I know I will never tire of them! I like to daydream
and imagine as much as possible, and the music on this disc has added
new depth and dimention to my imaginary escipades. Surely you, the
reader of this will benefit the same way I have!
Imagine this for a minute: you're in front of a campfire in a Slavic
state. The fire is warm, the company is also just as warm. Someone with
an accordian begins to play, another begins to drum, and over it all, a
man begins to sing an age-old song that his grandfathers before him
have sung, wistfully recalling the memories of childhood and strife,
knowing even as they sing that the words are being heard and remembered
by the sleepy children who warm their hands before the same fires. This
is Deep Forest, drawing from some of the traditional folk songs of
Transylvania and the Slavic states for the album "Boheme". They have
taken these traditional words, traditional singers and traditional
instruments, and have remastered them, adding a low dance beat and
additional sound textures to create a tapestry of music that can't help
but be complex and engaging. The entire CD is a dream of eastern
Europe, set to music and made tangible by these musicians who truly
deserve to be called "artists". Track two, for example, "Bohemian
Ballet", derives it's complicated rhythm from the sounds of women's
hands clapping, and it's lilting melody from the exaulted voices of
ancient singers. Track three, "Marta's Song", is much the same, but
with an altogether different "feel" -- reposing, joyful satisfaction
and love after a day long in the hours and completed work. Listening to
this collection, it seems chameleon-like. It is a perfect backdrop if
there is other work to be done, soft and unchallenging on the surface,
allowing your mind to drift to the task at hand, and keeping the
pleasant banter over your internal dialogue. Alternately, when listened
to specifically, in the car or before bed, it takes on a different
flavor, with enough layers of complexity to keep the active mind busy
without additional input. It transports you, taking you to a place
buried deep in your psyche, where the primal white-noise ceases. More
than just a distraction, this work is a masterpiece, able to feed the
soul as well as the imagination. It truly is a piece of audio magic,
preserved for ears ready to listen. Don't miss out. Great Music to Play
While: Waking up