THE CONGO SOUND.(soukous music from Congo)

Herve Halfon, a French person who hates French people, owns a record store on the Rue des Plantes, in Montparnasse, just a few Metro stops from the Eiffel Tower but spiritually closer to Avenue Gambela, in Congo, or to the Mokolo district, in Yaounde, Cameroon. The store is called Afric' Music. It has a small sign and an unremarkable window display, and it's about the size and shape of a Parisian parking space. Inside, Herve has spared all expense on the decor. Besides the floor and ceiling and one long counter, the store is nothing but rows and rows of CDs in racks and on shelves and in piles, all of them devoted to African music, except for a section reserved for the ...