Deep Forest Deep Forest

Deep Forest Deep Forest

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A close (and superior) musical cousin of equally popular 90's ambient dance act Enigma, Deep Forest pairs French dance producers Michel Sanchez and Eric Mouquet. While Enigma never did manage to make a consistently great album in its 90's heyday, Deep Forest managed this feat twice during that period. Commercial radio was all over the first album and this overexposure killed any credibility in the eyes of many dance music fans. But, as with Delerium's two classic excursions in slick beats and global exotica, the pop-friendly melodies and exotic ambience are built on rock-solid musical foundations and both albums have aged quite gracefully. The duo's debut album Deep Forest was a massive hit, emerging during the first wave of chillout dance music in the early 90's and the mainstream's first, brief flirtation with it. Sanchez had travelled the world collecting ethnic records and came up with the simple but effective idea of sampling some tribal singing and blending it with electronic beats. The hit single “Sweet Lullaby” is masterful, with its shy pygmy vocals carried on a slow, hypnotic drum loop and a gorgeous progression of floating synth chords. It's genuinely touching and quite unforgettable. Elsewhere, tracks like “Deep Forest” and “Hunting” up the tempo with funkier, faster beats and some of the processed vocal samples take on an almost comic quality.