Cajun spiced trip-hop

Louque - So Long
(Lava Records)
3 stars (out of 5 stars)
Reviewed: June 9, 2004

Review by Tony Bonyata

Try and imagine a musical gumbo spiced with electronic trip-hop, New Orleans funk, Jamaican dancehall rhythms, deep soul and backwoods Cajun music and you're getting close to the recipe for a new music style known as Faya - a unique hybrid created by Grand Point, Louisiana musician-turned-NYC transplant Dustan Louque (pronounced Luke).
Just as the Cajun people make use of every scrap of back fat and fabric, Louque has incorporated the many elements of music that he grew up with to create an interesting patchwork of sounds on his Lava debut album So Long. Although the musician listened to Ice-T and Depeche Mode while doing his homework as a youth, the soulful sounds of New Orleans R&B singers Irma Thomas and Fats Domino also made as much of an impact on the youngster as it spilled from the family turntable during dinner. And it's this juxtaposition of different influences and styles that makes So Long so appealing.
From the opening strains of a man speaking in his native Cajun-French tongue on the hypnotic "Perique," to the rap-injected rubbery Jamaican funk of "Kenny the Jet," as well as the intriguing lagniappe of Mazzy Star's "Cry Cry," the results are an album that should appeal to a broad audience well beyond the swamps of Louisiana and streets of Brooklyn.
Despite the fact that most of So Long is driven by cold computer-generated beats, samples and synthetic loops, it's, ultimately, the singer's sultry voice and soulful delivery that gives this album its undeniable human touch.