Nigeria Special / Nigeria Disco Funk Special

Asiko Rock Group is the one i'm talking about. worthy of the usual cliches about miles davis meets funkadelic.

really really crazy drum production too. it's got these cymbals that come out of nowhere louder than anything else in the mix and disappear just as fast.

there are no overlaps between nigeria 70 and either nigeria special or nigeria disco-funk special

out of ~25 artists there are a few that show up on other comps: don isaac ezekial, the funkees (who can forget "dancing time"!! they need their own comp ...) and tunji oyelana & the benders ("ifa" also featured on "world psychedelic classics 3) ...

but all of the TRACKS are "exclusive", at least in terms of early 2000s afrobeat compilations ....

ps we all know about this, right? but when will the original be repressed? it's going for 112 euros on german amazon!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61A78XMcemL._SS500_.jpg

doubt it will ever be

Chuck, the blue Soundway one is the strongest of the three. highly recommended. Sir Victor Uwaifo & his Melody Maestros appear on both Nigeria 70 and Nigeria Special, but different tunes.

http://likembe.blogspot.com/

Check out April 18 blog posting

http://matsuli.blogspot.com/

April 22

There's now a third Soundway comp, Nigeria Rock Special. I got it in the mail on Monday. It's fantastic. Psychedelic, acid-rock funk grooves, not wildly different from the other volumes but maybe a few extra ultra-distorted guitar solos. Highly recommended.

Whoops; didn't click those blog links before posting.

I should have provided more explanation. Those blogs consistently do a nice job.

o man disco funk special ruling me right now.

It's about to rule me! (Brought it into work.)

seriosuly. both comps are great but the disco-funk one is ... MAN.

so many great comps so little time!
Afro Baby is my current fave of the bunch. anyone heard African Scream Contest?

I haven't heard ASC yet, but I'm hoping to get one in the mail.

Just heard African Scream--awesome. As all three Nigeria Soundways comps. And Nigeria 70. Wow. All I'm listening to lately. It may have been mentioned upthread but how are Green Arrows and Hallelujah Chicken Run Band recordsas good as these other titles?

The Green Arrows record is just okay, but the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band are great. Killer guitar leads and solos.

Anyway, Disco Funk Special is indeed very good, but I think I do like Special itself more. Both excellent, though.

My favorite is Nigeria Rock Special, but yeah, they all kick ass. And I just downloaded the 2004 comp Afro Baby: The Evolution Of The Afro-Sound In Nigeria 1970-79, which also looks pretty awesome.

The Green Arrows record is just okay, but the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band are great. Killer guitar leads and solos.

2nded

the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band are great. Killer guitar leads and solos.

Is this disc a good introduction to them?

Was for me. (that's the only one I've heard. Are there others? I thought they disbanded shortly after recording that, and Mapfumo went off to do his own thing.)

That's the only disc out there by the Hallelujah band, as far as I know. It's the one I have.

FYI: Strut's Nigeria 70 -- Lagos Jump turned up on eMusic today.

I wasn't that impressed with what I heard of Nigeria Special, but Lagos Jump sounds great.

I wasn't that impressed with what I heard of Nigeria Special

u mad, etc.

just picked up the nigeria disco funk special....WOW.

ps we all know about this, right? but when will the original be repressed? it's going for 112 euros on german amazon!

-- moonship journey to baja, Tuesday, 15 April 2008 02:19 (1 month ago) Bookmark Link

Available on iTunes - £7.99

(thats Nigeria 70 - Lagos Jump)

nigeria disco funk special unfortunately doesn't seem to be on iTunes although vols 1 and 3 are. Volume 2 looks the best, i think (or most intersting for me)

the one in the itunes canada store is the new one with the different tracks.

this is the original:
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf000/f043/f04311ijwee.jpg

I see, I misread the original post. Just saw the cover vahid posted and recognised it.

i'm going to join in the chorus here and say that nigeria rock special *is* fantastic.

i'm least sold on the disco funk special. maybe because i feel like the territory's been more thoroughly treaded in the past?

once you hear one makossa you've sort of heard them all, i guess

nigeria disco funk special unfortunately doesn't seem to be on iTunes

FYI: Vol. 2 and 3 will appear on eMusic. Don't know when, tho.

R.I.P. Nigerian singer/guitarist Sonny Okosun

He's not on any of these comps (I don't think) but he is a Nigerian who added rock to his sound...

I bought the Disco Funk CD at Aquarius, among other things, as a host gift for a friend who let me stay at her condo in SF while she was out of the country. I hope she loves it cuz I really wanted to keep it, heh.

This stuff is always worth having, in my opinion, even when it doesn't make a particular impression right away. Hopefully s1sk won't let me down.

Slightly off topic: Can anyone recommend any good books about this stuff?

NIGERIA 70 reissued!!!

$13.99 at my local store ... comes out tomorrow. missing the 3rd disc with the interviews and inexplicably missing the koola lobitos "Ololufe Mi" track that started the original set ... perhaps we can look forward to a koola lobitos reissue? thought maybe from the same label that put out "lagos baby"?

http://www.strut-records.com/content/nigeria-70-vol-1

whoooooooooo !!!!

Totally want. I'm hoping it turns up on eMusic (at least some of Strut Records' titles are there).

Bought the Disco Funk CD solely because it was on one of the clerks' top 10 list at Strictly Discs here in Madison, and I liked the cover. Amazing. Had no idea there were other comps from the same label, will now buy.

the series website is pretty cool: http://nigeriaspecial.info/

Got Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Ghanaian Blues 1968-81, another two-disc set, in today's mail. So far, fewer berserk acid-funk rampages than on the earlier Ghana Soundz sets, but it's still plenty sweet.

Coming in February: Nigeria Special Vol. 2 and Nigeria Afrobeat Special. Got promos of both from Forced Exposure; they're as awesome as everything else Soundway's put out so far.

Soundway are offering FLAC's of their back catalogue for a fiver until the end of Feb. Wahoo!

http://www.soundwayrecords.com/catalogue

the 2010 guardian article above seems to take a disparaging view of this phenomenon:

The African music that does well on the world music circuit is usually that perceived by white audiences as more authentic, meaning free from the influence of contemporary western pop: Toumani Diabaté's multitextured kora playing. Oumou Sangaré's jittery wassoulou music with its kamelengoni hunters' harp. The desert blues of the guitar-toting Tuareg band Tinariwen, whose members come dressed in indigo-dyed robes and turbans. Music that feels slightly exotic but vaguely familiar.

but after sampling the "African music the actual African diaspora likes," i agree with what's in the text-box above.

maybe it's that i'm not connecting with that (very possibly non-representative sample of) mainstream pop that's popular among the expat community, much like i often don't connect with mainstream pop that's popular in the u.s.

You haven't listed which of the musicians (rappers, djs, whatever) that the diaspora likes that you do not like. The boxed quote in your post mentions traditional Malian musicians who use non-synth instruments mostly. I like them and the Nigerian reissues that are the subject of this thread more than some African "ghettotech" club sounds (that actually sound like the worst of European pop-trance stuff). But some of the Malian musicians that are mentioned and some Congolese musicians also make music that is danceable and appeals to both fans of old-school sounds and younger African disapora members. In the Rolling African thread and in previous year's Rolling "whirled" thread I have discussed this a bit.

http://bamalovesoul.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Nigeria70small_4.jpg

New Nigeria70 has just come out on Strut. I don't have any of these - presumably the 2cd Nigeria70 Vol.1 is the place to start?

It's a slippery slope, man - hard to know what's best since most of these comps are pretty awesome. Easy to get addicted to this stuff. As for authenticity, I dunno - I buy this stuff 'cause it sounds good to me. I mean I am studying ethnomusicology, so I guess it's vulgar of me to prefer the more Westernized pop stuff. With time that could change, as tastes often do. I just hope the money from these comps is going to the right people, or at least the families and the ones who are still alive - even though I know it probably isn't. Isn't that the more important point here - whether or not Nigerian musicians and their families and communities are actually reaping the benefits of releases like these? I realize that's a pretty farfetched thing to hope for with multi-artist compilations of music that's 30 or 40+ years old and was originally produced under who knows what kind of shady business arrangements, but if we want to get away from the very real possibility that there's some neo-colonialist exploitation going on here, shouldn't we be concerned about how labels like Strut and Soundway conduct their business - and what these releases are doing, if anything, for the communities and the culture in which they were produced?

Do you know or have you read anything specific about their business practices re paying musicians?

I don't, and I'm not trying to make accusations - for all I know these reissue labels could be socially conscious and may be doing a lot of good for the actual lives and welfare of Nigerian musicians. I have no idea either way. My point was that if we're going to talk about colonialism, qualms about taste and listening habits are small potatoes - the more important issue is whether, by purchasing these records, we're complicit in any kind of financial exploitation. If a record, even a compilation, sells tens of thousands of copies and the musicians or their families get nothing, that's exploitation (of course this happens all the time in America too). And if it's a UK or American label that's making money off of African music and not paying its creators, that's when we should really start getting worried about "neo-colonialism." Not that the issue of what we listen to and why isn't important, or even that it's not shaped one way or the other by colonialism and its legacy - I'm just saying there could be bigger issues at stake here.

Everything i've read from / about Soundway and Analog Africa indicate they are very fair and go through lots of trouble to pay the proper people.

I'm just saying there could be bigger issues at stake here.

We've had the discussion re exploitation of musicians on one of the Mississippi label threads and I think on a Sublime Frequencies one as well.

Will check those out. Thanks for the heads up. Posting this made me realize I should really be better informed myself before I make these kinds of purchases.

And I'm glad to hear that labels like Soundway are doing what they can to operate ethically.

these two strut comps are both great, especially as an introduction to some of the music that's been discussed up-thread.

http://www.parisdjs.com/images/strut/Various-Club_Africa_b.jpg

http://www.parisdjs.com/images/strut/Various-Club_Africa_2_b.jpg

the modern highlife comp, always a pleasure

approx how long does it take to tire of ol 'circular' guitar patterns anyway, or am i set from here on out

in my experience you're set

all music should have circular guitars