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$17.99 CD
$21.99 CD
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VARIOUS ARTISTS
Nigeria Rock Special
(Soundway)
"More Bread to the People" Action 13
"Kenimania" Mono Mono
VARIOUS ARTISTS
African Scream Contest
(Analog Africa)
"It's a Vanity" Gabo Brown & Orchestre Poly-Rythmo
"Gbeti Madjro" Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou
Is it just me or are African compilations a dime a dozen recently? It seems just yesterday when general knowledge of that continent's music was limited to Fela Kuti, King Sunny Ade and a few Strut compilations, but over the last few years, we've been showered with hit or miss reissues, seemingly every other week. That hardly matters if they're as consistent as the two in question here, though. Both Soundway and Analog Africa have established themselves as two of the major players, most notably for the Special-series of collections (Soundway) and great retrospectives of the Green Arrows and Thomas Mapfumo's Hallelujah Chicken Run Band (Analog Africa).
The latest from Soundway, Nigeria Rock Special, focuses on Afro-rock and funk. There's a definite Western influence on some of these tracks, with the influence of Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Santana, and the Chambers Brothers looming large. Perhaps more influential than any of the aforementioned was Cream, in particular drummer Ginger Baker who traveled to Nigeria in the '70s, and recruited a gang of musicians to tour the US and Europe with him. They returned back home with heads full of inspiration, having been exposed to psychedelic and progressive rock for the first time, and this clearly shows on Nigeria Rock Special. The fifteen tracks are fuzzed-out and rocking, with heavy African rhythms as the backbone, and it's easy to imagine this as the soundtrack for the nightclubs in Swinging Lagos. Some of the names will be familiar to casual fans (BLO, Ofege, Mono Mono, Funkees), but most are unheard of to Western ears. However, your life will be forever enriched if you embrace Tabukah X, Question Mark, and the Hygrades as household names. Comes with a nice little booklet with interesting notes and droolworthy scans of the original records.
And if the tracklisting on Nigeria Rock Special reads pretty obscurely, African Scream Contest is a treasure trove of all unknowns. Little mined until now, the countries of Benin and Togo, located between Ghana and Nigeria (shout out to my fellow geography buffs), are ripe for discovery, as proved by this amazing set of tunes. These fourteen songs are even more wild and unhinged, with a decided Western rock and funk influence. The guitar work is choppy and psychedelic and the drumming is airtight, with aspiring young vocalists who appear completely absorbed by the idea of out-belting James Brown. And as far as packaging goes, few releases will surpass African Scream Contest this year, with its extensive 44-page booklet of interviews and photographs. If I have to choose between the two...sorry, I'm of no help. Both essential. [AK] |
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