Zazou Bikaye [extended]

• Mr. Manager [Pow Wow, 1986] A-
• In the House of Mirrors [Crammed Discs, 2008] *

See Also:

• Hector Zazou

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Mr. Manager [Pow Wow, 1986]
Zairean Bony Bikaye's Felaesque chants (sans agitprop, avec Afrobeat girls) provide the identity, but the substructure is all French-Algerian Hector Zazou, whose synth arrangements are praised for their orchestral density and distinguished by their propulsive linearity. Most of the Afrogallic music I've heard makes too much (Toure Kunda) or too little (Manu Dibango) of its Africanness. This strikes me as an original balance: minimalist Eurodisco that trades pseudosophistication for pseudoprimitivism. A-

Hector Zazou: In the House of Mirrors [Crammed Discs, 2008]
Middle East meets Far East for trance sans dance ("Hool Ki Seva," "Twice as Good as We Are"). *