Manoo is an assuming DJ turned producer from Lyon, France who makes some of the best deep house and afro-fueled house music I have heard in my life.
He reminds me of DJ Rasoul from San Francisco in the early 2000 (whatever happened to him???). Manoo’s deep house production is the ultimate illustration of what deep house is. His beats are bouncey and his grooves are, well, groovy.
I was lucky enough to meet Manoo in Lyon when I did a 14-day visit of Lyon, London, Dubai, NYC in 2007. He was playing an early set at Ambassade in Lyon I was taken aback because he played his music the way I would play it. And I really liked the fact that he played his House really, really slow making the basslines more accentuated and his long smooth mixes gave the music a new life.
And a person, he is very low key and very humble. He just keeps to himself and unlike me who just jabbers to much, he is short on words but when he says something, it’s potent. I kept telling him how talented he was and how people loved his music and it was news to him!
That’s really someone who lets his talent do all the talking!
Good DJs seldom make good producers and vice versa. (I am a terrible producer 
)
Manoo excels at both.
One track is so very deep house that even Ron Trent would say “Correct!” while his afro-flavoured house takes me straight back to my continent of origin. And, let me not forget about the technoey stuff that make the minimal techno folks scratch their heads in über amazement.
You think that I am full of crap and sound like a used car salesman? How about, you listen to three of his 2009 productions that really blew my mind?
The man is so manoo-fique it’s mezmerizing!
The Deep House Side of Manoo:
Club Z by Manoo (5111 KB)
Listen on posterous
The Afro-Flava House Side of Manoo:
Da Na Ma (Manoo Remix) by Yacoub (6085 KB)
Listen on posterous
The Twisted-Techno side of Manoo:
Don’t Laugh (Manoo Remixes) (Manoo’s Laugh Remix) by Winx (5120 KB)
Listen on posterous
(You can buy all these tracks at Traxsource.com, where I got them from)
In July (2009), I was performing at an open-air party when I decided to play a Manoo Medley. What was supposed to last 5 tracks went into two hours. The crowd was going nuts and I was in heaven!
If I were ever to be a producer, I would wish to have Manoo’s Midas touch. Alas, I am not. So I am going to stick to playing his music.
Manoo is my producer of 2009 (alongside Boddhi Satva – read why in the next post). Something tells me that I should just remove him from my top list because he went straight to the hall of fame. I hope that when I embark on my Big Journey (I am the first DJ to attempt a Round-The-World Tour By Car to set a few Guinness World Records and raise awareness about and funds for the one billion worldwide who are going to bed hungry tonight. Find out more at http://www.facebook.com/JaBig or http://twitter.com/JaBig or view the announcement at: http://www.jabig.com/2009/12/16/at-last-jabigs-biggest-announcement-ever/)
About Manoo:
http://www.myspace.com/myspacecommanoo
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Manoo/162103407848
