Tuesday, April 20, 2010

classic: Zazou/ Bikaye/ Cy1 Noir Et Blanc Remixes

"Undefinable"


Drenched in synthetic polyrhtyhms, Zazou/ Bikaye/Cy 1's Noir Et Blanc set the tone for fusing African music with progressive electronic tones. According to Crammed Discs, who issued the record in 1983, the album resulted from "a torrid encounter between Congolese singer Bony Bikaye, Algerian-born French composer Hector Zazou and mad scientists CY1." The hypnonotic blend of future-forward analog synthesizers Cy1 brought to the mix ("wall-sized analog computers") provide the framework for Zazou to mix with Bona Bikaye's traditional Conoglese vocals. The result is a hyper-futuristic-African-maximalism that sound as outer-wordly as it does obvious... in retrospect. ("Of course weirdo synth geeks were teaming up with African legends from the Congo to produce ecstatic post-modern jungle club riddims in Belgium. Duh!") And while the album is steeped in the sort of progressive electro-experimentalism that makes kids wet their pants (Peep "Dju Ya Feza" above), the latest reissue of Noir Et Blanc contains two blasted remixes that'll turn even the most pessimistic of critics into dance floor fog machine freakers.