Of course, Monsieur Galliano has already impressed us with his albums Espaces baroques and Live infinis. These albums, which featured electro beats mixed with live jazz, were technically far more ambitious than anything fellow French electro stars like St Germain ever dreamt up. And now Galliano - former sculpture-student turned wizard mixer - is back in the music news with a brand new album, Frikyiwa. This time round there's no jazz (although, having said that, both volumes of Frikyiwa are haunted by jazz influences). No, this time round, Galliano has got his hands on Cobalt's back catalogue and masterminded a series of electro remixes of African classics. What's more, rather than opting for big-name electro stars, he's invited a group of lesser-known DJs on board instead.

"What's the point of getting Lobi Traoré or Neba Solo remixed by Master at Work?" (a legendary New York house outfit), asks Galliano, "To be honest, I felt like giving people who weren't that well-known a chance to have a go instead. I'm a singular kind of person and I believe in producing singular music with other singular people. My goal was to bring together two different musical universes - the electronic and the traditional. These actually work perfectly well together without you having to betray the original in any way. Before the DJs went away to start work on the remixes, I stipulated they had to keep all the original vocals and instruments, otherwise I'd consider they hadn't respected our contract."

And what hits you listening to the first volume of Frikyiwa is that the remix crew have totally respected the African originals. Far from being an example of musical 'colonisation', Frikyiwa brings new meaning to the term fusion - even if this is a term Galliano himself dislikes using. "The term 'fusion' was invented by journalists," he says, "Personally, I'd describe this as more of a musical 'encounter'. What's more, I'd say these two worlds are not as far removed from each other as they might at first appear. African music is very close to house, in fact. The only difference is that in the West we added this really heavy dance beat!"

Galliano has assembled an impressive line-up on Frikyiwa, even if many of the names are only known to aficionados on the electro circuit. There's Jeff Sharel, the hippest French producer on the current scene, Scottish remix wizard Aqua Bassino (renowned for his deep house mixes) and Assassin's former sound engineer, Doctor L. Two of Mali's best-known divas - Nahawa Doumbia and Abdoulayé Diabaté - also guest on Volume I, their superb vocals fusing perfectly with the DJs' techno soundtrack. (In many ways, Frikyiwa recalls the work of French rap collective Bisso Na Bisso who recently launched their own bid to modernise African music).

The second volume of Frikyiwa takes Galliano's fusion concept even further, proving that there is a solid bond between African music and the new electro wizards. On this second volume Africa is represented by Galliano favourites such as Djigui, Nahawa Doumbia and Neba Solo. But this time round, the remix crew features a host of brand new talents. Galliano certainly had his work cut out bringing the two worlds together at times. "It was particularly difficult getting hold of Catalyst, aka Alex Attias," Galliano explains, Alex is one of the key figures on the Swiss electro scene but he recently exiled himself in London. I remember some producers asking me whether I was sure I had the right phone number for him! I remember Pole asking me that in any case."
One of the leading figures on the German electro scene, Pole is renowned for reinventing dub with his 'minimalist house' remixes. And it comes as no surprise to find that he has also contributed one of the most outstanding tracks on Frikyiwa Volume II. Pole's Ennio Morricone-style western themes slip beneath Lobi Traoré's vocals, fusing perfectly on a tragic ballad about the death of Lobi's mother. Bringing together re-mixers from countries as far apart as France, Switzerland, the UK and Japan, Galliano certainly proves the universal appeal of African rhythms and electro beats.

The mix proved particularly poignant this summer when Galliano took the Frikyiwa crew on a tour of North America. "We had a really crazy time on tour in Quebec and New York," he says, "To give you an idea of just how crazy it was, one night halfway through a concert in Central Park, my kora-player leapt up, grabbed the mike and started asking if anyone in the audience knew the whereabouts of his brother, who'd left Senegal a few years back and settled in the States. Unfortunately, it didn't work - no-one knew anything about him!"

Delighted at the way audiences reacted to Frikyiwa on tour, Galliano remains sceptical about the fly-by-night producers who are currently cashing in on the vogue for Afro-house. "The difference between them and me is simple - I spend half my time in Africa! Now who would you say was more authentic?"

Willy Richert

Compilation Frikyiwa / vol.2 Cobalt 2000