Who can school me on William Onyeabor?

Oh weird, randomly I just started getting into this. this month. "Fantastic Man" is my favorite tho

The B-side to Good Name is like the best song I've heard all year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp_eps4BlTQ

someone reissue this fucker on vinyl!

yeah just waiting for whatever it is that'll presumably soon come out to represent this guy. you would think only a matter of time

Um: http://flashstrap.blogspot.com/2011/10/fantastic-man-william-onyeabor-atomic.html

2CD compilation out in October on Luaka Bop

http://luakabop.com/bloggo/trust-the-situation/

oh awesome! 3xlp! & a (llliimmmiiittteedddd) good name reish!

ty

Pre-orders now up... http://luakabop.com/onyeabor/

The new comp is fantastic. Shame he retired when he did because When the Going is Smooth and Good from his last album (the one that Daphni sampled) is blowing my mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOf8YJLgpew

This is fantastic

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/oct/17/five-year-quest-reissue-william-onyeabor

"atomic bomb" blows my mind. i'm kinda obsessed

Now you have me fixated on that number too. The catchy vocal melody, the groove, the almost dub regggae like feel...It's slightly more traditional than some of the other cuts

Fucking awesome.

So good.

I wonder if Rickey did have a chance to hear any more. He would have loved this.

The only bad part about this comp is when the groove ends after ~10 minutes.

So great to have When the Going… on vinyl finally, but some other fantastic stuff on there. This one sounds even better at about -5 http://ex.fm/song/k2bry

"good name" is a banger

yeah "good name" is probably my fave, the whole cd is amazing though

almost certain to be a top ten of the year disc for me

um yeah, this is pretty amazing. kind of got overwhelmed with the seemingly neverending stream of african reissues from the past few years, but this one, holy smokes.

weird...this didn't hit me on first listen like it is for everyone else

but i dunno, i p much like all african stuff i hear so hopefully it'll grow on me

i bought a copy of this one http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/48179113/William+Onyeabor.jpg in a dollar bin and gave it to a friend for christmas 2 years ago D:

could it be worth mad cash now?

signs point to yes

fhuuuuuck

dogg yeah...

http://www.discogs.com/William-Onyeabor-Good-Name/master/605907

none for sale on discogs, one of his others has a few, but most don't have any for sale which is rare, the one that has some is a luaka bop reissue and that starts at $100

nah it was this one http://www.discogs.com/sell/list?q=william+onyeabor+anything+you+sow

seems weird that the bootleg version would end up in a dollar bin, in that only heads/collectors would be likely to buy it? things slip through the net tho

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/17/arts/music/an-elusive-mystery-man-of-music.html

Over the phone from Nigeria, responding to prepared questions, he stressed that all he wanted people to know about him was that “I was a sinner who repented and gave himself 100 percent to Christ.” Describing himself as a born-again Christian, Mr. Onyeabor refused to discuss his education (he reportedly studied film production in the Soviet Union and has a law degree) or his musical career.

“I am only proud of my music because of the creative aspect of it,” he said. “I didn’t use it strictly to praise God. That is why I have decided now that henceforth all my revealings will be to praise God and preach the word of God.”

"When the Going is Smooth and Good" is one of the best things I've heard in a long time. This is definitely one of my year-end favorites.

This whole comp pretty much blows my mind. Where should I go from here? (w/r/t other artists I mean)

didja hear the comp of francis bebey's synth stuff

This comp is absolutely wonderful. Any idea where I might have heard "Good Name" before? It sounded instantly familiar, but I can't imagine where I might have heard it. I see it was kinda a promo push for the comp, but it would've been a few years ago when I first heard it. Was it on some previous comp or covered somewhere else?

i bought my dad this for christmas.

great. let the "dad rock" backlash begin! ;)

I'm not sure there is anywhere to go from here. Onyeabor was such an oddball and he didn't have any traction outside his hometown - Luaka Bop said that even the music buffs they spoke to in Lagos hadn't heard of him - so he seems to exist in a world of his own.

not got the heavy groove of onyeabor but i will second francis bebey as being well worth your time if you aren't already familiar

thx folks I will check him out

kept hearing 'good name' enough to take a plunge on the comp - serious business.

The documentary on him is available free online. He is far far from Sugar Man.

pretty hard panning here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R11ZAWY5A9VA3A/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00E3FMHOU

His only review!

lol maybe it's the writer of the transcribed songlines review

Okay I just listened to this last weekend. It's FANTASTIC!

It's classic outsider art. Part of the appeal is the strangeness of the whole thing. I think that brutal reviewer was expecting Fela Kuti or something. There's plenty of room for both.

His only review!

He's got dozens of reviews, mostly raves.

don't think I've ever read Songlines but is that srsly a review they printed in a newsstand publication? reads like something the work experience kid wrote

mind numbing!

i guess his children or his church is getting that Feist 1,2,3,4 iTunes ad placement money.

I can't school you on William Onyeabor, but I can advise you to listen to Itadi - Watch Your Life (Togo, 1977)

Why late at night does ILM get all William Onyeabored
Or mooged out

The production is all 2D and flat but precise and perfect, and more than that it feels intentional and does not feel like a limitation, it gives all the feeling, and like a man doing all the instruments, it's genius really. Mammane Sani and Francis Bebey probably, both of which have a connection with Ghana, and mixing it with afro-funk / dance.

From the doc:
He's a nice guy... but
A boy sang for him and the boy claimed he wasn't paying him royalties when due, and accordingly.
He went to William and claimed that William drove him off with a pistol
So he went to the police. When he came back, the police sought for the pistol. They didn't find the pistol and the guy was charged with giving false information to the police. And sentenced.

Tough !