Biography
An unsurpassed milestone in European/African fusion, Zazou Bikaye created a head-on collision between traditional Central African vocals and uncompromising analog electronics.
Resulting from a torrid encounter between Congolese singer Bony Bikaye, Algerian-born French composer Hector Zazou and mad scientists CY1, the first Zazou Bikaye album was acclaimed by the international music press (who immediately compared it to Byrne & Eno’s ‘Bush Of Ghosts’, or to an imaginary meeting between Fela Kuti and Kraftwerk.), has influenced scores of artists, and remains astonishingly fresh to this day.
"Noir & Blanc” was followed by a 12” single (“M’Pasi Ya M’Pamba” - 1984 - included in the CD version of the first album), and a mini-album (“Mr Manager” - 1986 - as yet unreleased on CD), through which Zazou Bikaye started shifting towards a kind of electronic afro-funk. These two records reached cult hit status in the US clubs, and the band played across Europe and the States.
Their last album, entitled “Guilty , comes out in 89. Here’s a mix of its descriptions by the press :
”…a crossover between white funk, Zairean Rumba and robotic beats …techno-funk Voodoo… between Talking Heads and Front 242….Who came first: Zazou Bikaye or Prince ?… The perfect mix between the Tribal and the Digital…. Zazou Bikaye plead Guilty: we pray for a repeated offence !”.
Unfortunately, there will be no repeated offence: Zazou and Bikaye were forerunners, they were widely respected and acclaimed, but their views on the possible musical evolution of the band began to diverge. A last series of concerts took place around the release of “Guilty”. Bikaye went on to work alone, while Zazou made a pause by recording a new album of chamber music (“Géologies”, see under MTM), before launching into the series of big, ambitious projects for which he became widely known: “Nouvelles Polyphonies Corses”, “Sahara Blue”, and “Songs From The Cold Seas”.
Zazou Bikaye in the press
"One of the most innovative LPs of the year… in the same class as Byrne and Eno's "Bush Of Ghosts"… resembles the startling outcome of an imaginary collaboration between DAF and Fela Kuti" (Melody Maker, UK, '83)
"Fela Kuti-meets-Kraftwerk-on-the-dancefloor" (International Musician, USA, '86)
" A dream factory amalgam of African rhythms and European electronics" (Melody Maker, UK, '84)
"Computers meet Zairean tribal rhythms in the ultimate hi-tech ethnic programme" (Black Music, UK, '84)
"Between Brussels, Paris, Minneapolis & Kinshasa…music which borrows from robotik, from techno-funk voodoo… like a summery encounter between Prince, Talking Heads, New Order and Yello… here's at last the perfect mix of the tribal and the digital" (Télérama, France, '88).
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