Zazou / Bikaye – Na Kenda – 12″

Ensemble is happy to announce a second collaboration with Crammed Discs. After the vinyl release of Krikor’s Aksak Maboul interpretations back in 2016, the Belgian labels shake hands again for the reissue of the mighty “Na Kenda“.

It’s not often a track still sounds forward thinking three decades after its original release. Enter “Na Kenda“.
The alliance between Congolese musician / vocalist Bony Bikaye and French composer Hector Zazou starts in 1983 with the acclaimed “Noir et Blanc” album recorded with experimentalists CY1. Zazou Bikaye becomes a touring band, their music shifts towards a unique brand of electronic afro-funk. In `85, mini-album “Mr Manager” follows. Three years later their last joint effort “Guilty” sees the light of day, an LP joining the dots between white funk, Zairean rumba and robotic beats. When Crammed’s Marc Hollander picks the title track for single release, the magic happens on the B-side. Looking for something special, Hollander and partner in crime Vincent Kenis dig out the multitrack of unreleased, 1986 recorded “Le Menteur”. The Mr. Big Mouse duo twist the track and add futuristic drums until it sounds like nothing out there. “Na Kenda” is born. During mixdown, the pair generate a second version, the more minimal, dubby and gritty “Techno Dub”. Both incarnations grace the flipside of the (now sought after) “Guilty” 12 inch. The “Afro-Acid Mix” is added as a bonus track to the cd album.

We felt these unique works deserved the reissue you’re holding in your hands. This time we’ve added a bonus track, giving album cut “Ba Wela” its proper 12 inch premiere.
To another thirty years.

Ensemble/Crammed Discs

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