Going to see Byrne & Co. perform this at the Warfield tomorrow night. Anyone here check out the NYC shows?
― octobeard, Tuesday, 6 May 2014 05:19 (ten years ago) link
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/05/arts/music/the-songs-of-william-onyeabor-at-the-brooklyn-academy-of-music.html
Ben Ratliff on the NYC tribute gig
Here's part of it:
It’s a big production, running on shaggy, sweet-hearted enthusiasm, and organized by the young Sudanese-American musician Ahmed Gallab, who records as Sinkane. The show included David Byrne; the keyboardist Money Mark, best known for his work with the Beastie Boys; Devonté Hynes of Blood Orange; Pat Mahoney, formerly the drummer in LCD Soundsystem; the saxophonist Joshua Redman; the indie-pop singers Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip and Luke Jenner, once of the Rapture; and the Lijadu Sisters, also from Nigeria, ....
The concert worked as music, not just as outsider-artist myth, for a couple of reasons. One was the rhythm section, with two trap-set drummers (Mr. Mahoney and Jay Tram), the percussionist Lekan Babalola, the talking-drum player Kofo the Wonderman and the bassist Ish Montgomery. (The audience immediately got the point: At least half the crowd stayed up and danced through the entire show.) And another was the energy of Money Mark and of the guitarist Jonny Lam, who burrowed into the music’s tight, needling lines, and Mr. Redman, who built fluid, expansive solos on top of them.But the concert also appeared to be an act of creative defiance, and maybe even a little antagonism, toward a musician who will not agree to be understood as record collectors want to understand him. It used his silence to construct what sometimes looked like a revue of eccentricity or marginality. It opened with a New York street preacher, Rufus Cannon, pulling a battery-operated amplifier down the central aisle and testifying on the glory of God — an action that would seem to be inspired by Mr. Onyeabor’s faith but might not have the intended effect at a convergence of Brooklyn music nerds — and closed with expert demonstrations in the ancient arts of disco roller-skating and break dancing. All of which was spirited and extravagant. But not uncomplicated.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 6 May 2014 18:13 (ten years ago) link
Luke Jenner, once of the Rapture;
lol at this
― stadow shevens (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 6 May 2014 18:16 (ten years ago) link
anyone else going to the show at the Greek tonight?
― a duiving caTCH, a stuolllen bayeeeess (jamescobo), Friday, 9 May 2014 01:35 (ten years ago) link
so those who have this collection? how does it _sound_ compared to the many downloads that brought this guy to american attention? it's all mastered from vinyl sources i would assume.
― espring (amateurist), Friday, 9 May 2014 01:39 (ten years ago) link
i mean i love this guy's stuff but i don't want to plunk down hard-earned dollars for stuff i already have unless it sounds notably better.
btw i don't think this warrants the term "outsider art" (a term i'm not terribly comfortable with to begin with)
― espring (amateurist), Friday, 9 May 2014 01:40 (ten years ago) link
it sounds pretty great to me
― a duiving caTCH, a stuolllen bayeeeess (jamescobo), Friday, 9 May 2014 01:59 (ten years ago) link
this remix album is pretty wack
― sitting on a claud all day gotta make your butt numb (forksclovetofu), Friday, 9 May 2014 04:31 (ten years ago) link
FUCKING HELL THAT WAS A GREAT SHOW. if I wasn't in the middle of the music-seeing-est run of my life right now it would be the best thing I've seen in 2014 by a comfortable clip. Kele Okereke was the big guest vocalist for this date and he was fucking GREAT; also holy shit I forgot how great Alexis Taylor is at singing. highlight was "When The Going Is Smooth And Good", although Byrne was stupefyingly awesome on "Fantastic Man."
speaking of "When The Going," if you're on the fence about buying a physical copy of the comp, that song's not on the Spotify version and it's arguably Onyeabor's best song so yeah.
― a duiving caTCH, a stuolllen bayeeeess (jamescobo), Friday, 9 May 2014 07:04 (ten years ago) link
well, unlicensed downloads of all his individual albums (save, i think, for one very rare one) were and probably are widely available. so i have all of the songs on the comp in MP3 format. of course, chances are that a professionally-mastered, physical-media copy will sound better, but with needle-drops like this one can never really know.
― espring (amateurist), Friday, 9 May 2014 18:32 (ten years ago) link
http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/21006/1/ever-wondered-why-william-onyeabor-wont-play-live
― groovypanda, Monday, 28 July 2014 11:39 (nine years ago) link
Weird. Previous articles said he wouldn't play his secular stuff anymore because he found religion. No mention of the man from Milan.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 28 July 2014 13:35 (nine years ago) link
could be onyeabor is fucking with people there.
― go ahead. make vid where u rap about this new TMNT movie. (forksclovetofu), Monday, 28 July 2014 14:39 (nine years ago) link
given em the ole Keyser Söze
― chikungunya manatee (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 28 July 2014 15:03 (nine years ago) link
uh
9 cds?
― the late great, Monday, 6 October 2014 04:39 (nine years ago) link
http://williamonyeabor.com/giftshop
― the late great, Monday, 6 October 2014 04:40 (nine years ago) link
Just met a guy who is a painter and a deejay, parent of my kids' friend, and Onyeabor was his brand new jam that he was playing at his kid's birthday party.
― You Better Go Ahn (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 6 October 2014 04:44 (nine years ago) link
― the other song about butts in the top 5 (forksclovetofu), Monday, 6 October 2014 04:51 (nine years ago) link
awesome news but i'm hoping they make the individual LPs available at some point because the box is like a million dollars
― Karl Malone, Monday, 6 October 2014 12:02 (nine years ago) link
(20 seconds later)
ok, there are LP boxes available, and they both include 4-5 full lengths, a 45 and other good stuff for $75-$85. so not that bad. xmas is around the corner...
― Karl Malone, Monday, 6 October 2014 12:03 (nine years ago) link
I've been needing a new denim hat, too.
― Trip Maker, Monday, 6 October 2014 14:01 (nine years ago) link
the CD box set is not terribly expensive.
will these be remastered i.e. did they actually locate the tapes or are these just going to be fancy needledrops?
― I dunno. (amateurist), Monday, 6 October 2014 20:55 (nine years ago) link
that comp must have sold pretty damn well, btw, if they're going all-out like this.
Xpost I hope they're sourced from the original tapes because the mp3s that I've been able to find are needledrops from really scratchy records
― Karl Malone, Monday, 6 October 2014 21:18 (nine years ago) link
xp i think the touring show is doing well
― the other song about butts in the top 5 (forksclovetofu), Monday, 6 October 2014 21:39 (nine years ago) link
my interest in onyeabor is well piqued thanks to the comp but i think 9 cds is a bit excessive as a next step
― the late great, Monday, 6 October 2014 21:44 (nine years ago) link
it's me, I'm the guy who pre-ordered both of the vinyl box sets. (Who Is William Onyeabor? was a transcendent record for me and the live show absolutely blew me away, so it was an easy buy.)
the comp sounded great, so I can't imagine that they're going to put out a bunch of scratchy-ass needledrops. at least I sure hope not.
― a duiving caTCH, a stuolllen bayeeeess (jamescobo), Monday, 6 October 2014 22:50 (nine years ago) link
but i think 9 cds is a bit excessive as a next step
I'm in the same position but 9 CDs seems like a GREAT next step because that comp rules.
― sink floyd (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Monday, 6 October 2014 23:21 (nine years ago) link
Yeeeeep
― Karl Malone, Tuesday, 7 October 2014 01:17 (nine years ago) link
I've got all of the "albums". Most of them have only 4 or 5 songs on them and come in around the half hour mark (apart from Atomic Bomb where nearly all the tracks are 7 or 8 minutes long (or longer) so 9 CDs is not that excessive.
There's also 2 versions of the same album (Crashes In Love) which he released a couple of years apart.
― groovypanda, Tuesday, 7 October 2014 08:25 (nine years ago) link
live show absolutely blew me away
Agreed that the BAM show was very special. Unabashedly joyful. I was on the fence about the lp boxsets but will probably take the plunge.
― kwhitehead, Tuesday, 7 October 2014 16:33 (nine years ago) link
i don't really see how it is "excessive" given that it's most of his discography and i assume people are interested in the whole discography... i also assume that the albums will be "unbundled" and released separately at some point, as these things always are.
still curious to know if these are going to be very professionally done needledrops or what. the versions out there in the blogosphere are pretty scratchy, but i've almost grown fond of that aspect of them.
― I dunno. (amateurist), Wednesday, 8 October 2014 17:29 (nine years ago) link
you don't get why i wouldn't want to spend $15 rather than $50?
― the late great, Wednesday, 8 October 2014 18:18 (nine years ago) link
huh?
― I dunno. (amateurist), Wednesday, 8 October 2014 19:36 (nine years ago) link
there's already a best-of comp. that came out last year.
?
ok. i bought the best of. i liked it. i would like to explore some more william onyeabor because i liked the best of. but i don't want to buy his entire discography for the princely sum of $50. guess i am just a big old weirdo!
― the late great, Thursday, 9 October 2014 04:56 (nine years ago) link
$chooled
― salthigh, Thursday, 9 October 2014 05:02 (nine years ago) link
#brokeboi
― the late great, Thursday, 9 October 2014 05:04 (nine years ago) link
there's only like two great songs on the Who Is comp, anyhow. if the albums have more stuff like "good name", i'm in. But if it's just more rote amateurish afrobeat ehhhh i'll pass.
― brimstead, Thursday, 9 October 2014 06:01 (nine years ago) link
sorry, i meant rote amateurish afrobeat with ~zany synths~
― brimstead, Thursday, 9 October 2014 06:07 (nine years ago) link
This is probably one of his best tracks that didn't make the comp (apart from the vinyl version):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-Yb7NAEft8
― groovypanda, Thursday, 9 October 2014 07:13 (nine years ago) link
what's the other great song (besides good name) in your opinion? i happen to love them all but i also don't think of him as someone who was trying to make afrobeat music
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 9 October 2014 15:04 (nine years ago) link
it's gotta be atomic bomb right? that's my fave.
― Mordy, Thursday, 9 October 2014 15:07 (nine years ago) link
"Body and soul" is the other one I like. Don't like "Atomic Bomb" at all.
― brimstead, Thursday, 9 October 2014 18:57 (nine years ago) link
Hot Chip's cover of atomic bomb is the best thing from this compilation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59aXNmdUIPw
Been a big fan of his music since listening to him on the Nigeria 70 compilation. If I were a producer I would keep sampling his music, has anyone famous done it? It shouldn't be long. 'Better change your mind' and "body and soul" are very sample-worthy.
― Moka, Friday, 10 October 2014 01:24 (nine years ago) link
I don't love the original 'atomic bomb' but Hot Chip's version changed my mind.
― Moka, Friday, 10 October 2014 01:26 (nine years ago) link
I'm vice versa: love the original and the hot chip version made me question what it was about the song that moved me in the first place. then i relistened to onyeabor's version and remembered.
― the other song about butts in the top 5 (forksclovetofu), Friday, 10 October 2014 03:03 (nine years ago) link
Weren't they going to do a "Deluxe" 2CD version of the comp with the vinyl only tracks included, or was that idea dropped? Also it is a slightly odd release strategy to go from just that to pushing out all his albums as large box sets.
Anyway - 'Something You Will Never Forget' is one of the more "afrobeat" of the tracks on the comp and it's bloody brilliant, amauterish or not.
― Noel Emits, Friday, 10 October 2014 12:06 (nine years ago) link
How can you not like 'Atomic Bomb'?!?! What?!
― emil.y, Friday, 10 October 2014 12:16 (nine years ago) link
(By which I mean the original. The very words "Hot Chip version" make me cringe.)
― emil.y, Friday, 10 October 2014 12:17 (nine years ago) link