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Music Related to Deep Forest
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What
is Welenga? |
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Welenga
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Welenga
which means 'universal consciences', was the result of a three and
a half year project between Michel Sanchez and Wes Madiko (from
Cameroon), in which they tried to find the best combination of modern
and traditional African music. The music sounds like a lot of other
modern African pop albums except for a touch of electronica that
gives the listener the feel of the uniquely exotic Deep Forest.
(Released in 1996, refer to the Discography
for track listings and samples) |
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What
language is Wes singing in? |
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Wes
sings in Bafoun (spoken by small group of people in Cameroon), which
belongs to the Bantou family of languages. This group of several
hundred languages are spoken throughout parts of equatorial Africa,
extending down as far as South Africa and as far north as mid-Cameroon.
The most spoken Bantou language is Swahili. The languages are related
to one another by a set of grammatical features and have part of
their vocabulary in common. |
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What
is Sinami? |
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Sinami
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Sinami
is Wes Madiko's second album. Unlike the first album which had been
co-composed and produced by Michel Sanchez, Sinami didn't involve
anyone from Deep Forest. Instead the album was produced by Produced
Sinami
Brian Rawling, whose credits include Celine Dion, Enrique Iglesias,
Ricki Martin, Tina Turner, Cher & others. The result of the
collaboration produced a more pop oriented album than it's predecessor
Welenga.
(Released in 2000, refer to the Discography
for track listings and samples) |
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What
is Windows? |
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Windows
is a solo project done by Michel Sanchez. It was mixed by
Dan Lacksman and Cooky Cue (the engineers for Deep Forest's debut
album).
The CD has a strong influence from Deep Forest, using
traditional elements from Afirca, mixed with western beats and
melodies, along with Sanchez' accordion playing and Didier
Cresson's bass.
(Released in 1996, refer to the Discography
for track listings and samples)
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Windows
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What
is Pangea? |
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Pangea
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Pangea
is a solo project created by Dan Lacksman and Cooky Cue (both engineers
who worked on Deep Forest's debut album). Pangea was created because
Lacksman wanted to keep the music of Deep Forest studio-based as
opposed to a "live thing". Pangea expands on the first
Deep Forest album, crossing African samples with synthesizers. The
album is slower-paced and more ambient than the Deep Forest album.
Dan Lacksman: "Pangea
comes from the Greek word 'Pan' meaning 'one'. Gea comes from
the Greek 'Geos' meaning 'earth'. The whole idea of "one
earth," a sense of unity, that we are all unified, appeals
to me very much. Combine that concept with my respect for technology
- look at the Internet for example and how it is making us all
one continent again, in a way - and you can see where my ideas
come from."
(Released in 1996, refer to the Discography
for track listings and samples)
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What
is Aereda? |
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Aereda is the name of an international
studio projects with constantly alternating members under the
director, composer, and musician of the same name (Aereda). The
goal is to find the ideal group of people depending on the concept
that Aereda is working on. The debut album was 'The Arctic', released
in 1997 which featured Inuit chants fused with synthesizers.
For 'From a Long Forgotten Future' (second album), Aereda was
able to get Dan Lacksman to produce, engineer, and mix the album.
The result was much more layered music than the first album, with
large choral passages, emotive flutes, powerful ethnic vocals
and an overall epic feel.
Besides Dan, the album brought together several internationally
renowned musicians such as the Tunisian master flautist Nabil
Abdmouleh, the French violinist Grégoire Dune, the Belgian
rhythm section consisting of bassist Vincent Pierins and drummer
Walter Mets, and lastly saxophonist Branford Marsalis. The 'voice
of Aereda' is interpreted by Portuguese vocalist Ruth Da Costa,
and the classical choral parts are sung by the Dutch vocal ensemble
Barbers and Bishop. Even Dan Lacksman can be heard singing various
backing vocals.
The music of 'From a Long Forgotten Future is centered around
the mystery of the hidden treasures of Rennes-le-Château.
The mystery stems from the belief that Jesus may not have died
on the cross, but lived to marry Mary Magdalene and father children
whose bloodline continues today. Aereda, or Rhédae (in
southern France) is the name of the city that Mary Magdalene and
her children are believed to have fled, which is now Rennes-le-Château.
(Released in 2000, refer to the Discography
for track listings and samples)
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From a Long
Forgotten Future
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What
is Aral? |
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Aral
is an album produced/composed by Eric Mouquet with acclaimed French
violinist Catherine Lara. The majority of the songs on the album
are composed by Eric Mouquet, the rest are by Catherine Lara herself,
there is even a track which was composed by Michel Sanchez and Eric
on.
Largely instrumental, it is a layered
mix of acoustic instruments woven into some familiar Deep Forest
keyboard sounds all fronted by the crystal clear violin playing
of Catherine Lara.
(Released late 1999, refer to the Discography
for track listings and samples) |
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Aral (French
release)
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What
does Aral refer to? |
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Aral
refers to the dying Aral sea, (hence the song titled “Requiem for
a Dying Sea”)one of the world's worst ecological disasters, located
in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The Aral Sea, which was once the world's
fourth largest lake, could disappear in another 20 years. It has
lost 75 percent of its volume since 1960, when Soviet planners misused
its water by draining the two feeder rivers for cotton irrigation
and industry.
Nearly 75 miles of the shore has receded,
with the result that the now barren lake is yielding about 100 million
tons of toxic dust and salt annually. In the last three decades
the seawater has become four times as salty as it used to be.
Aral also happens to be Catherine Lara's
last name spelled backwards, giving the album title a double meaning. |
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What
is the “theme” of Aral? |
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Many
of the songs from Aral refer to the Central Asian region of the
world where the Aral sea can be found. This region is occupied by
several former states of the Soviet Union, which are the hosts to
the strong gypsy sound that accompanies the album. There are also
classical influences and even an Irish touch of very fine uileann
piping can be heard on 'In Between Nowhere'. |
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What
is Thorgal? |
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Thorgal
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Thorgal
is the name of the album produced by Eric Mouquet of Deep Forest
featuring Catherine Lara. The album is a soundtrack for the popular
French comic book Thorgal.
Synopsis: On the fringes of medieval
Scandinavia, one man struggles to survive. Who is he? No one knows.
So the Vikings call him Thorgal Aegirsson, son of Storms and the
Sea. To protect his people from the wrath brought upon him by the
gods, Thorgal flees his home. Alas, his choice will only hasten
him towards more deadly events!
(Released August 2000, refer to the Discography
for track listings and samples) |
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What
is Difang and “The Circle of Life”? |
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Difang
(age 78 in 1998) is the name of the main singer on the album “The
Circle of Life”. The album is a compilation of Taiwanese folk songs
by Difang and his family mixed with synthesizers. The album was
produced by Dan Lacksman (co-producer of “Deep Forest”). Dan Lacksman
also mixed and arranged all the instruments and songs on the album.
On 3/29/02, Difang died from
septicemia, a form or blood poisoning, at age 82.
(Released October 1, 1998, refer to the Discography
for track listings and samples)
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Circle
of Life
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What
does Difang think of “The Circle of Life”? |
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Difang
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The
album was a big success in east Asia. Difang himself had not heard
the album until it’s release, and was unhappy with the results.
He thought that original feeling was lost by the synthesizer and
sampling. Difang has become very skeptical of the synthesizer and
sampling technique. Dan Lacksman had nothing to do with Difang’s
next two album, which possessed a more traditional sound without
any synthesizers or sampling. |
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Where
have I heard Difang before? |
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Difang
can be heard in the hit song “Return to Innocence” by Enigma. The
male vocals and melody was sampled from Difang, in the 1994 release.
Two years after the release of the song, Difang was watching television
when he heard a commercial playing the song “Return to Innocence”.
He was shocked to hear that his voice had been sampled. Michel Cretu
had not credited or paid Difang for the song which lead to a court
battle, and eventually an out-of-court settlement.
Difang was very angry that Enigma used
a sampling of his voice in "Return to Innocence" without
his consent. This may be the cause of his distrustful sense towards
sampling and synthesizers. |
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What
is Dao Dezi? |
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Dao
Dezi
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Dao
Dezi was Mouquet's first side project away from Deep Forest. Mouquet
teamed up with Guilain Joncheray (executive producer of first Deep
Forest album) to co-produce an album that did for Breton music what
Deep Forest did for African chants, only this time no sampling of
voices was done (all vocals were performed for the album). The album
fused techno sounds with bagpipes, violins and Celtic vocals. Well
known traditional Breton artists such as Denez Prigent, Arnaud Maisonneuve
and Manu Lann Huel sang for the album, while artists such as Josik
Allot (bombarde), Tommy Keenan (uillean pipes), Jean-Pierre Van
Hees (bagpipe) and Rudy Velghe (fiddle) provided instrumentation.
An added bonus was the appearance of
the Breton group Tri Yann (performing 'La Jument de Michao') who
were one of the first groups to electrify Breton Music. And 'La
Jument de Michao' was one of the songs which used the electric guitar
back in 1976.
Also making appearance on the album
was Michel Sanchez who assisted in the arrangement of some of the
songs and played the keyboard
(Released in 1994, refer to the Discography
for track listings and samples) |
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What
does Dao Dezi mean? |
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Roughly
translated, it means "let's go". |
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What
famous musicians can be found on Dao Dezi? |
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Singers
Arnaud Maisonneuve (who sings on the traditional "Kokerikero"),
Manu Lann Huel (on the trad anthem from Brittany, "Tri Martelod,"
which has been re-recorded by Alain Stivell with Shane McGowan on
backing vocals), and, of course, Prigent on "Ti Eliz Iza."
Tri Yann, which performs one of its most popular hits on the album--"La
Jument de Mishao". |
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