ST GERMAIN Vinilo y CD

Review: One of the greatest house albums of all time is 20 this year. To mark the occasion the legendary French producer behind it - Ludovic Navarre aka St Germain - has selected a sympathetic team of expert remixes to add their own spin to the still classic source material. Atjazz is the perfect man to open up thanks to his deep, lounge and of course jazzy house style. Osunlade then brings his shamanistic sounds to 'Sure Thing' and it glows as a result with Ron Trent later tackling the anthemic 'Rose Rouge' and slowing it down to a lush jazz dance. With DJ Deep, Nightmares On Wax and more also featuring, this is a must cop.

Review: While we waited 12 years for St Germain's fourth album, mercifully we haven't had to wait so long for these life-affirming remixes of "How Dare You" to land on vinyl. Released last year digitally, they're now ours on wax for a limited run. Each rendition tells a whole different story as Atjazz adds a rock solid kick but retains full African percussion, Terry Laird raises heaven with powerful evocative house feel while Boddhi Satva takes us right back to the roots. Romain Poncet & DJ Deep close the show with a Chicago slap down of Trax proportions.

Review: Ludovic Navarre aka St Germain requires no introduction, and the French house legend has literally seen and done it all ever since his first productions began to surface and influence other house artists back in the early 1990's golden era. The majority of his music has been released on F Communications, but his latest studio album drops on EMI's Parlophone sublabel. The self-titled St Germain is a proper LP, not a mere collection of house tracks put together helter-skelter. Inside, you'll hear many of Navarre's influences and inspirations, from Afro tribal melodies, to jazzy influences and even Middle-Eastern chimes. It's a house album in structure, but much more than that beneath the surface...as it always was from the legend of French dance music.