Hot Heads Explained

Hot Heads
Type:studio
Artist:les Têtes Brulées
Cover:Hot Heads.jpg
Released:1990
Genre:Bikutsi
Label:Shanachie[1]
Producer:Andy Lyden, Jean-Marie Ahanda
Prev Title:Man No Run
Prev Year:1989
Next Title:Bikutsi Rock
Next Year:1991

Hot Heads is an album by the Cameroonian band les Têtes Brulées, released in 1990.[2] [3] The band supported the album with a North American tour.[4]

Production

Recorded in France, the album was produced by Andy Lyden and Jean-Marie Ahanda.[5] The band sang in a Cameroonian vernacular, French, and English.[6] [7] Guitar player Theodore "Zanzibar" Epeme committed suicide before the album was released.[6] Epeme was known for applying foam rubber to his guitar to imitate a balafon.[8] Some songs are about musicians leaving the countryside for city life.[7]

Critical reception

The Gazette deemed the band "Africa's answer to the Red Hot Chili Peppers," writing that "modern bikutsi is a stripped-down sound of chicken-feet guitars, drums that won't quit and the kind of yelping, whooping and singing that says we mean business."[9] The Philadelphia Daily News wrote that les Têtes Brulées "combine fast tribal rhythms, swirling guitars and abrasive, multi-lingual vocals."[10]

The Chicago Tribune stated: "The star of the show is guitarist Theodore 'Zanzibar' Epeme. His solos are light yet propulsive, building inexorably and seamlessly from skittering rhythm lines." The Houston Chronicle noted that "electric guitars and Western drums have replaced the 'balafon' and percussion, but the vocals are rough, in the ancient folk tradition."[11] The New York Times listed it among the best albums of 1990.[12]

AllMusic wrote: "Consistently inspired, Hot Heads underscores the band's resilient nature." MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide considered Hot Heads "perhaps the greatest African rock 'n' roll ever made."

Notes and References

  1. News: Harrison . Tom . Les Tetes Brulees: Hot Heads . The Province . 30 Apr 1991 . Entertainment . 47.
  2. News: Les Tetes Brulees. September 2, 1993. Chicago Reader.
  3. Gore . Joe . Audio — Hot Heads by les Tetes Brulees . Guitar Player . Mar 1991 . 25 . 3 . 118.
  4. News: Kot . Greg . Les Tetes Brulees... . Chicago Tribune . 29 Aug 1991 . 11A.
  5. News: King . Peter B. . 'Hot Heads', Les Tetes Brulees . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . February 3, 1991 . J3.
  6. News: Eichenberger . Bill . Polyrhythms Drive Melodies in Exotic, Delirious Journeys . The Columbus Dispatch . January 24, 1991 . Weekender . 8.
  7. News: Himes . Geoffrey . The Debut Sound of Tetes Brulees . The Washington Post . 20 September 1991 . N13.
  8. Book: Barlow . Sean . Eyre . Banning . Afropop! . 1995 . Chartwell Books, Inc. . 53.
  9. News: Feist . Daniel . Les Tetes Brulees – Hot Heads . The Gazette . 13 Dec 1990 . Montreal . D14.
  10. News: Pop Faces to Watch . Philadelphia Daily News . 3 Jan 1991 . Features . 31.
  11. News: Mitchell . Rick . Pop Recordings . Houston Chronicle . January 13, 1991 . Zest . 16.
  12. News: Pareles . Jon . The Best Show? In the Court, Not the Concert Hall . The New York Times . 30 Dec 1990 . A32.