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Section: International

PARIS--Having put pygmy chants at the top of the world's charts with the success of "Deep Forest," the album's co-composer, Eric Mouquet, is hoping to do the same with one of the most popular forms of traditional music originating from France.

"Dao Dezi"--which, roughly translated, means "let's go"--is a fusion of Celtic music and techno dance rhythms and has all the ingredients and originality of Mouquet's original hit.

This time, EMI will have the international license to the production while Mouquet works on another Deep Forest project for Sony Music.

Mouquet and his partner, Guilain Joncheray, have teamed with "real" singers and musicians, recording them as opposed to sampling them.

"Deep Forest," co-composed and arranged by Mouquet and Michel Sanchez, produced by Dan Laxman and executive-produced by Guilain Joncheray, sold more than 1.5 million units around the world.

Mouquet says that after "Deep Forest" he wanted "to look for something different. I started to listen to a lot of French traditional music. I bought a lot of records, especially those from a French label, Silex, which specializes in traditional music. I heard fantastic things, mainly folk music from Brittany. From then, the concept of a new album grew on me."

Inspired by this music, he started by recording a couple of demos of the folk music in May and June, to which he added techno beats. Says the 34-year-old Mouquet, "I have always been interested in techno and by the energy this music can offer. I felt the two styles could be mixed, and I took some samples of songs to which I added these techno beats."

The next step was the discovery of Denez Prigent, who is part of the new generation of singers from Brittany who perpetuate the tradition of old songs known as "gwerz" (a cappella poetry dating back to the middle ages) and the ancient dance chants known as "kan ha diskan."

Prigent recently opened for French rock icon Stephan Eicher, performing before audiences that had never heard of him before.

Mouquet says he listened to Prigent's first album on Silex while in Now York, visiting the French Music Office. "I heard his music, and Christian Dalbavie (MD of the FMO) told me I should work with this guy. I was absolutely astounded when I heard his music, especially. the a cappella song 'Ti Eliz Iza.' I sampled his voice, made a demo, and tried to meet with Denez. I was thrilled when he told me he was seduced by the concept."

He adds, "This is when I dropped completely the idea of samples. I was lucky to deal with a music which is pretty alive today, with many impressive performers. Through Denez, I got in contact with many musicians, and step by step it took off. I was told that the musical community in Brittany is very closed and conservative, which turned out to be untrue. In fact, I never saw such enthusiasm."

Mouqet says that even established Breton acts agreed to play on the album, including the band Tri Yann, which performs one of its most popular hits on the album--"La Jument de Mishao," which is the first single.

Quickly, Mouquet lined up some top musicians and vocalists. Among them were singers Arnaud Maisonneuve (who sings on the traditional "Kokerikero"), Manu Lann Huel (on the trad anthem from Brittany, "Tri Martelod," which has recently been rerecorded by Alain Stivell with Shane McGowan on backing vocals), and, of course, Prigent on "Ti Eliz Iza."

In January and February, Mouquet moved to the ICP studio in Brussells to record the musicians live.

To produce the album, Mouquet created his own production company, Erie Mouquet Music, and Joncheray did the same with Guilain Joncheray Music (Deep Forest was produced by the indie Celine Music). Mouquet says, "After the Deep Forest experience, I really wanted to get more involved into both artistic and financial production on my own. I wanted to be able to work on projects from start to end, including the process of negotiating and signing to a record company."

Once the final product was completed, Mouquet and Joncheray went to visit French major record companies.

In the end, they picked EMI because "when [EMI] heard the demos last winter, not only were they enthusiastic, but they had an interesting view of the project. We didn't want to release this record as a 'coup,' as a kind of seasonal sound, only this time with techno-folk from Brittany. EMI understood that, and we were won over by their decision to start releasing the album first in Brittany, then to France and the rest of the world."

Jean-Jacques Souplet, A&R director of EMI France--himself from the Brittany city of Rennes--says one of the reasons he signed this project was "because it made an intelligent use of our musical heritage." He adds, "It is original, has lots of ideas, but it has kept the authenticity of the music without distorting it. Otherwise, Breton musicians wouldn't have accepted to play on it. Besides, this is something neither the Americans nor the Brits have at home, and we do believe it has a huge international potential."

The album was released in Brittany at the end of May, and EMI plans its release in France and Europe, including the U.K., in September.

Sophie Cayre, in charge of international exploitation at EMI France, says Parlophone will release the album in the U.K. She adds that she has firm release commitments from Germany, Holland, Italy, and Canada. "There is a genuine interest in the concept, which has been very well received in all the territories. It all built up very quickly." She says that in the U.S., three EMI-owned labels are competing for the project: Capitol, SBK, and Blue Note.

To create interest and confirm a commitment to the Brittany aspect of the project, EMI arranged in May to launch the album only for local purposes near Lorient in Brittany. EMI also flew in representatives from Holland and Germany, as well as international marketing coordinator from London Peter Holden. There, the album was unveiled to the local press in the presence of Mouquet and Joncheray, who were joined by most of the musicians playing on the album, including Tri Yann, Prigent, Maisonneuve, and Manu Lann Huel.

Mouquet admits that there will certainly be some purists who will not accept that kind of treatment, but what counts in his eyes is that musicians from Brittany have endorsed his project. "Music in Brittany has always been subject to different mixes. We brought a different color. It is basically music to dance to."

PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): GUILAIN JONCHERAY AND ERIC MOUQUET

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By EMMANUEL LEGRAND