Hector Zazou has died
September 9, 2008 4:03 AM Subscribe
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I'm sorry to hear that. I've been following Zazou off and on since the days of ZNR.
posted by klausness at 4:30 AM on September 9, 2008
I'm sorry to hear that. I've been following Zazou off and on since the days of ZNR.
posted by klausness at 4:30 AM on September 9, 2008
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Damnit. Harold Budd "retiring" was bad enough.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 4:32 AM on September 9, 2008
Damnit. Harold Budd "retiring" was bad enough.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 4:32 AM on September 9, 2008
I like some of the Zazou I've heard, so...
Allmusic bio
And from a 1995 Sound on Sound article:
Hector Zazou, virtually unknown in this country, but well-known in France, has long been a champion of what's usually called 'World Music' these days. During the early '80s, he was one of the first to fuse African music with Western music styles such as rock, techno and ambient, and by the late '80s he was delving into the polyphonic vocal music of Corsica, making an award-winning album, Les Nouvelles Polyphonies Corses, that achieved cult status across the Continent. And now there's his excursion to the North, musically an undiscovered country -- though this, explains Zazou, was exactly the point: "I had some propositions to work again on Mediterranean music, or on Rai, or other things, and I wasn't excited about any of them. So I decided to find something completely unknown, to work with music that hadn't been heard before in the West. The music of the South -- the Caribbean, Brazil, Africa -- has been done to death, so the only place to go was North."
His pioneering spirit was rewarded. Songs From The Cold Seas contains sounds so unusual that the dropped-jaw effect is inevitable, even with our overloaded Western ears.
This brief bio ends with a quote: "In England they have Peter Gabriel, in America they have David Byrne, in France we have Hector Zazou"
thrakintosh, you care just enough about Hector Zazou to link to a 4-sentence article and make that your entire obit post? And then favorite it yourself? Why rush to post this without any effort to help folks understand who he was?
posted by mediareport at 4:39 AM on September 9, 2008 [2 favorites]
Allmusic bio
And from a 1995 Sound on Sound article:
Hector Zazou, virtually unknown in this country, but well-known in France, has long been a champion of what's usually called 'World Music' these days. During the early '80s, he was one of the first to fuse African music with Western music styles such as rock, techno and ambient, and by the late '80s he was delving into the polyphonic vocal music of Corsica, making an award-winning album, Les Nouvelles Polyphonies Corses, that achieved cult status across the Continent. And now there's his excursion to the North, musically an undiscovered country -- though this, explains Zazou, was exactly the point: "I had some propositions to work again on Mediterranean music, or on Rai, or other things, and I wasn't excited about any of them. So I decided to find something completely unknown, to work with music that hadn't been heard before in the West. The music of the South -- the Caribbean, Brazil, Africa -- has been done to death, so the only place to go was North."
His pioneering spirit was rewarded. Songs From The Cold Seas contains sounds so unusual that the dropped-jaw effect is inevitable, even with our overloaded Western ears.
This brief bio ends with a quote: "In England they have Peter Gabriel, in America they have David Byrne, in France we have Hector Zazou"
thrakintosh, you care just enough about Hector Zazou to link to a 4-sentence article and make that your entire obit post? And then favorite it yourself? Why rush to post this without any effort to help folks understand who he was?
posted by mediareport at 4:39 AM on September 9, 2008 [2 favorites]
Very sorry to hear of his untimely passing.
There was one Hector Zazou record that was, for me, really influential. He teamed up with an African vocalist named Bony Bikaye, who sang in a very low register. Actually, rather than "sang", intoned might be a better descriptor. Anyway, Bikaye's voice was very powerful in its own curious way: it had a timeless quality to it. Around Bikaye's chants and melodies Zazou created an icy-cool, understated tapestry of synth rhythms that sound as fresh today as they did when I first heard the album in 1983, the year of its release. For me it still stands as one of the most perfect cross-cultural music meetings ever.
The record was billed Zazou/Bikaye, and it's called Blanc et Noir. A fantastic effort, I can't recommend it highly enough.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:04 AM on September 9, 2008
There was one Hector Zazou record that was, for me, really influential. He teamed up with an African vocalist named Bony Bikaye, who sang in a very low register. Actually, rather than "sang", intoned might be a better descriptor. Anyway, Bikaye's voice was very powerful in its own curious way: it had a timeless quality to it. Around Bikaye's chants and melodies Zazou created an icy-cool, understated tapestry of synth rhythms that sound as fresh today as they did when I first heard the album in 1983, the year of its release. For me it still stands as one of the most perfect cross-cultural music meetings ever.
The record was billed Zazou/Bikaye, and it's called Blanc et Noir. A fantastic effort, I can't recommend it highly enough.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:04 AM on September 9, 2008
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I met him recently, when he was performing with Lanterna. He was a very inspirational presence, and my distinct impression was that I need to be like THIS guy when I'm 60 - screw retiring, the thing to do is to keep pushing forward and creating.
posted by naju at 5:10 AM on September 9, 2008
I met him recently, when he was performing with Lanterna. He was a very inspirational presence, and my distinct impression was that I need to be like THIS guy when I'm 60 - screw retiring, the thing to do is to keep pushing forward and creating.
posted by naju at 5:10 AM on September 9, 2008
And I have to say, thrakintosh, I'd agree with mediareport's comment regarding the thinness of this post. MetaFilter and Zazou both deserve better.
Here's Zazou's MySpace page, where you can hear a few pieces he's produced.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:11 AM on September 9, 2008
Here's Zazou's MySpace page, where you can hear a few pieces he's produced.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:11 AM on September 9, 2008
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i'm with you, flapjax, on zazou/bikaye. the only other tune of his that ever stuck with me so was "the long voyage". going up, up, up... going down, down, down...
posted by progosk at 5:56 AM on September 9, 2008
i'm with you, flapjax, on zazou/bikaye. the only other tune of his that ever stuck with me so was "the long voyage". going up, up, up... going down, down, down...
posted by progosk at 5:56 AM on September 9, 2008
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The only album of his I own is Sahara Blue. I've not listened to it in years and my tastes might have strayed from where I once appreciated it, but I can't bear to part with it.
posted by grabbingsand at 6:01 AM on September 9, 2008
The only album of his I own is Sahara Blue. I've not listened to it in years and my tastes might have strayed from where I once appreciated it, but I can't bear to part with it.
posted by grabbingsand at 6:01 AM on September 9, 2008
couple of zazou/bikaye/cy1 tracks (as .rm streams) on this crammed global soundclash page; more on the album here.
posted by progosk at 6:20 AM on September 9, 2008
posted by progosk at 6:20 AM on September 9, 2008
I only know of him because one of my long time favorite singer/songwriters, Jane Siberry, appeared on one of his albums. Although I don't think I've ever managed to hear more than a snippet of the actual song she was on.
posted by dnash at 6:54 AM on September 9, 2008
posted by dnash at 6:54 AM on September 9, 2008
!!!!!!!!!
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.
Zazou's oddball early electro work was a huge influence on me as a teenager and helped to define the mid-'80s Crammed Discs sound: otherworldly, idiosyncratic, twisted, strangely funky, decidedly European, and utterly trailblazing.
I agree with others that he was better in theory than in practice much of the time, like John Cage, but he was one of rock's most important "idea men," and oversaw some really striking collaborations and collisions in his three decades of work. Even when I didn't necessarily jibe with the results, I was always glad that someone thought to do whatever he was working on.
As a public service to neophytes, here's his masterpiece with Zazou/Bikaye/CY1, Noir et Blanc (YSI).
posted by mykescipark at 7:19 AM on September 9, 2008
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.
Zazou's oddball early electro work was a huge influence on me as a teenager and helped to define the mid-'80s Crammed Discs sound: otherworldly, idiosyncratic, twisted, strangely funky, decidedly European, and utterly trailblazing.
I agree with others that he was better in theory than in practice much of the time, like John Cage, but he was one of rock's most important "idea men," and oversaw some really striking collaborations and collisions in his three decades of work. Even when I didn't necessarily jibe with the results, I was always glad that someone thought to do whatever he was working on.
As a public service to neophytes, here's his masterpiece with Zazou/Bikaye/CY1, Noir et Blanc (YSI).
posted by mykescipark at 7:19 AM on September 9, 2008
Oh, alas.
posted by crush-onastick at 7:25 AM on September 9, 2008
posted by crush-onastick at 7:25 AM on September 9, 2008
Dang. Just put on Visur Vatnsenda-Rosr from the album Songs from the Cold Seas.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 8:39 AM on September 9, 2008
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 8:39 AM on September 9, 2008
@ mediareport & flapjax:
Guilty as charged... Mea culpa. I was planning on posting more, really. The favorite move was a mistake as well.
posted by thrakintosh at 6:05 PM on September 9, 2008
Guilty as charged... Mea culpa. I was planning on posting more, really. The favorite move was a mistake as well.
posted by thrakintosh at 6:05 PM on September 9, 2008
So sad...I had always assumed he was much older. I also had no idea of the variety of other artists he collaborated with. I used to volunteer in the 1990's at KDVS, my local community radio station, and I discovered the album Geographies - one of my favorite songs is 'Au Bout du Monde'..
posted by foonly at 1:24 AM on September 10, 2008
posted by foonly at 1:24 AM on September 10, 2008
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posted by Grangousier at 1:40 AM on September 10, 2008
posted by Grangousier at 1:40 AM on September 10, 2008
Flapjax is right about the LP Zazou did with Bikaye. I wore that one out on my old Radio show. I'm spilling a bit of my brandy on the ground for M'sieur Zazou this evening... a musical life well filled.
posted by zaelic at 9:43 AM on September 10, 2008
posted by zaelic at 9:43 AM on September 10, 2008
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Well, a few of us might know Zazou. Seems rather sudden. Care to offer any other framing? I enjoyed Sahara Blue, but that seems a long time ago.
posted by beelzbubba at 4:21 AM on September 9, 2008