Disco de St. Germain: “From Detroit to St. Germain”

There are no doubts the influence which St. Germain (aka Ludovic Navarre) has had with his releases Tourist and Boulevard. From Detroit to St. Germain shows us a little about the beginnings of Navarre's musical background.

This album is primarily straight-up house music and not filled with the jazzy-french sounds which have come to personify St. Germain. There are certainly highlights to the ablum including "Walk So Lonely", "Prelusion", "Move", and "Deep In It". Soul Salsa Soul is probably the lynch pin of the album with it's fusion of Latin jazz-rhythms and house music; it is the song (along with "Deep In It") which most closely resembles Navarre's current work. [NOTE: no other tracks from this album made it to his latest releases besides "Deep In It"]. The songs on this album which I enjoyed the most were those where Navarre collaborated with the musicians who appeared on his later releases.

St. Germain fans will enjoy this album - primarily because of the straight-up house/dance music - as well as for the glimpse into the past which it provides. If you have not experienced St. Germain I recommend starting off with either Tourist or Boulevard. Bottom line: All St. Germain fans should seriously consider getting this album.

For those who recently tuned into the maestria of ST-GERMAIN,check out this album.It supposedly came out in 1991,is deffinitly more house then the acid jazz that was to follow with "boulevard"and the recent "tourist",but there is deffinitly a vision for things to come.Some of it can possibly remind the listener of CARL CRAIG's INNERZONE ORCHESTRA.Some of it could have escaped the NUYORICAN SOUL recording sessions.The sound is high and the groove is deep.Placed back in the context of it's original release date,it makes this album the legitimate predecessor for anything from deep house to acid jazz,and even when you get the occasional old school flavor,it never leaves an aftertaste.

If I did not know it there is no way I would believe this guy (St. Germain) did not grow up in Detroit. His original influences must have been based out of the detroit Techno house scene (MayDay & Innercity). The song "Prelusion" is by far the best track on this cd but the other tracks (maybe not as smooth or jazzy as what we would get from St. Germain's later releases) are certainly up to par. This is a mid to uptempo house album that is definitely worth purchasing.

If you are looking for the polished way the Traveler album appropriates retro groves and mingles them with updated beats and vocals, you're in the wrong place.

If you want to see where Mr. LN got his start, this will show you how far he has come.

This is a tough CD to rate, primarily because it's probably not a CD that fans of Mr. Navarre's more recent work will necessarily enjoy, nor will the people who would enjoy it necessarily look at him in the first place. The CD is very much a retrospective of where St. Germain started and where he has since moved on to. In the same way that techno legend Ron Trent moved on from creating one of the most legendary Detroit electronic tracks with "Altered States" to softer "deep house" that brings with it the jazz and more conventional music influences, St. Germain shows in this CD where he is and what he started from. Another analogy might be Moby's move from "conventional" electronic music to more mainstream (at least in the US) friendly tracks.

Fans of "Boulevard" and "Tourist" will likely find "Walk So Lonely", "Deep In It", "Soul Salsa Luol", "My Mama Said" "Dub Experience" enjoyable additions to their collection of his work. They are more consistent with his current work that blends jazz and blues samples with updated beats and fit in right alongside "Sure Thing" and "Montego Bay Spleen" in their sound. "Black Man", his well-known cut "Alabama Blues" still bear his indellible imprint as St. Germain to a degree with their traditional influences, but they have slightly more of an electronic overtone to them than his recent work. Of more interest to electronic purists will be the rest of the album. "Move" is an uncharacteristically typical electronic track considering the artist, but it is by no means a bad track. "Jack On a Groove" on the other hand feels like it could be at home on a Kevin Saunderson CD. Finally, my three favorite tracks on the CD: "Prelusion", "French", and "How Do You Plead?", which will definitely be worth a listen for electronic music fans. "Prelusion" is a well-developed trance track that is a refreshing change to the formulaic stuff being churned out today. "French", released under the psuedonym Deepside, is hard to define, but easily my favorite track on the album, and one of my favorite pieces from the Laurent Garnier X-Mix where I first heard it. It hard the simplistic synths of a Detroit track, with a house beat overlaid on it, but the sum of the parts makes for a unique track. Lastly,"How Do You Plead?", released under another pseudonym, Soofle, has a nice Acid bent to it that anyone who is a fan of the likes of A Guy Called Gerald, Todd Terry, or Josh Wink's work in the early 90's will appreciate this track.

Overall, there is a little bit for his current fans, a bit for early electronic music fans, and a few songs where they both can enjoy the same track. I think it is unfair to suggest that this album somehow shows that his abilities have improved - more accurately, I think, the album is merely a demonstration of how his stlye is has changed overtime. There is really not an unlistenable track on the album, unless you're diametrically opposed to electronic music, as I imagine some his current fans certainly are. If you're one of them, sample the album on Youtube or Amazon before buying, but otherwise, it's worth the money.