St Germain ‎– Tourist

What is it with this album? 8 years later and I'm still playing these tracks and they still sound as fresh as they did when they came out. The 2nd half of the disc is not as strong as the first 5 tracks but overall it's still a tight album. I will say one thing negative is that some of the tracks are just a bit to long, like most techno out there. It still would have been an effective listen if say, Rose Rouge and So Flute, were 2 minutes shorter. Again though, this album still gets heavy rotation in my stereo after all these years, which is much more than I can say about most Future Jazz out there. I still smile when I hear this playing when walking in a cafe too, never gets old.

It's steady, rhythmic canvas is painted over with brush strokes of colourful sounds - melodies and vocals from an eccletic paintbox of old, modern and postmodern musical styles - you have them all - the blues, jazz, techno, Latin, African, funk, rock, hip-hop…

It’s soothing. It’s invigorating. It’s conversational. It’s like waking up knowing you can have the day anyway you want it. It’s like going to bed knowing you did!

I love it!

There was genuinely a period in 2000 where you couldn't walk into a cafe without hearing St. Germain's 'Tourist'. It single-handedly put the cafe / lounge / nu-jazz movement on the map.

Whilst it's not an album that's going to blow your mind apart, there's a good chance I'd listen to it more frequently today if it hadn't been so hideously over-exposed at the time of its release.. And I suspect the fact that Ludovic Navarre hasn't released any further albums under this moniker is a solemn nod in that direction.

More jazz-infused downtempo brilliance from St Germain. For house DJs we have the sultry tones of Rouse Rouge, remixed repeatedly since its release, or the instrumental brilliance of So Flute and Pont Des Arts. For the chill out party Montego Bay Spleen provides downtempo trip hop beats, Land Of... Mr Scruff tinted riffs, and you can finally pass out twiddling your toes to What You Think About...

from promo flyer:

After a five-year layoff from recording, Ludovic Navarre, alias St Germain, is back with a new album, Tourist, on the prestigious jazz label Blue Note.

About this project, released on 05.05.00, St Germain offers only a few details: "There will only be four purely house tracks. The whole record will be a continuation of my work, with machines and musicians, live and sampled sounds." Guest artist include guitarist Ernest Ranglin and percussionist Idrissa Diop.

Blending jazz with deep house grooves and acid jazz breaks, you only have to listen to this album once to realise that St Germain's music transcends fashions and trends. This is the summer chill-out album of 2000.