MUSIC: World Music's Next Big Beat

In Deep Forest, Pygmy singing meets techno-pop

DEEP FOREST IS THE PRODUCT OF a global village in which the natives are getting funky. On the opening, title track, misty clouds of synthesizer swirl around a percolating hip-hop rhythm as a woman's soothing warble rises over the high-tech groove. Mesmerized, one can almost understand the lyrics. Almost but not quite, because the vocalist is an African Pygmy from Ghana and she is singing in her native tongue. Suddenly, cultural borders blur. What kind of music is this anyway? And would anyone actually dance to it?

The answer to the latter question is yes. Already a hit in Australia, France...

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