Amidst the plethora of Spanish, German and British DJs, artists and dance acts on Friday afternoon, one DJ stood out, particularly for his Deep Space collaboration with legendary reggae poet Mutabaruka: Francois Kevorkian. After touring London and New York last year, the pair brought their not-too-bizarre but very distinctive fusion of reggae and French house to the main Sonar By Day arena, Sonar Village. Monsieur K started his two and a half hour set with his usual selection of thumping house and electro samples before introducing Mutabaruka. The crowd initially seemed bemused and confused by the swift transition from house to reggae but soon warmed to the silver-tongued Jamaican after a few acappellas and some obligatory Bush-bashing and anti-war declarations. After a recital of his ever-political poetry, including The Monkey, Mutabaruka then continued to wow the Sonar masses with more lyricisms over funked up house beats.
Unfortunately, Mutabaruka's stint on the Sonar Village stage seemed all too short but Francois K quickly lifted the spirits of those mourning his passing (to backstage) with the full force of his electro-house beats before polishing his disco plate with some chunky old school classics. That'll do nicely.
