Fela documentary on BBC2 today:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000pr2n
― Ward Fowler, Saturday, 21 November 2020 09:04 (three years ago) link
folks: vols. 9 & 10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7vZ5yzYboA&
― budo jeru, Monday, 23 November 2020 03:52 (three years ago) link
meant to post here the other day and forgot. haven't read the thread (will do so eventually) but wanted to chime in with my preference for the "african beats" records, vols. 7 and 9 & 10 (released i think as a 2xLP). those and the green spot band "master guitarist" series 1-6 are my favorite KSA. reverb-drenched guitars, hypnotic unison vocal lines, and dense percussion grooves that link multiple tunes over a side-long track: that to me is the essential king sunny. i do like the stuff on island / mango, of course
― budo jeru, Monday, 23 November 2020 03:57 (three years ago) link
these sides just seem to go on forever. and the chiming, cascading guitar lines ... just straight into my veins please, yes, don't care if the guitars are out of tune tbh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLDSHSjfTas
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 24 November 2020 02:12 (three years ago) link
I feel like the sunny ade thread should have a “NO FELA” sign like the “no stairway” sign in Wayne’s World.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Tuesday, 24 November 2020 03:49 (three years ago) link
I for one I’m happy I was alerted to this doc this way - in which KSA was namechecked btw, so full circle
― Running up that hill but fleeting (a deal with Gop) (breastcrawl), Tuesday, 24 November 2020 18:50 (three years ago) link
fwiw, I never heard the guitars as "out of tune," I just kinda assumed they were not in just temperament and probably tuned by ear closer to the way the instruments in the precursors of juju music were
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Tuesday, 24 November 2020 19:01 (three years ago) link
I'll forever praise the wonderful bout of enthusiast record collectors' Blogspot-site vinyl rips in '08 or so - I discovered Adé's African-made records that way. I was not bowled over by 'Juju Music' but these side-long jams I totally got down with it. 'Bobby' is my go-to album too, closely followed by this one: https://groovemonzter.blogspot.com/2009/01/king-sunny-ade-private-line-side-one.html
One of these days I'm finally going to check out 'Aura'. I've heard good things about that one.
― Max Florian, Wednesday, 25 November 2020 00:29 (three years ago) link
xp to man alive, i'm talking specifically about the guitars on vol. 7 and in a few other select spots. to my ears there's definitely something going on that isn't sitting right, but that's not something i hear in all of KSA by any means
otm re: blogspot era
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 25 November 2020 01:16 (three years ago) link
I was at the Musical Instruments Museum in Phoenix (highly recommended) a couple years ago with my parents and it has a display of one of KSA's outfits and a blurb about him. My mom is a total square and not into music more than the average person so I was pretty surprised she knew who he was. I guess then he did have a brief moment in the international spotlight before my time.
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Wednesday, 25 November 2020 01:39 (three years ago) link
another favorite that i first came across in the blogspot years:
Vol 4 Late General Ramat Muritala Mohammedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iON5zP-wnAY
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 25 November 2020 15:53 (three years ago) link
great fuzz @ 22:47 !
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 25 November 2020 16:01 (three years ago) link
whoa yeah! and the wah-wah before that likewise!
― Max Florian, Thursday, 26 November 2020 13:05 (three years ago) link
i'm here to ask ilxors if they would be interested in / post in a thread devoted to juju / yoruba music.
or whether there's already a suitable thread for the purpose of posting youtube rips of uncle toye ajagun, admiral dele abiodun, prince adekunle, choice KSA deep cuts, etc
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 15 December 2020 02:19 (three years ago) link
Um yeah, I totally would
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Tuesday, 15 December 2020 02:51 (three years ago) link
Chief Ebeneezer Obey, chief stephen osita osadebe etc.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Tuesday, 15 December 2020 02:59 (three years ago) link
One of the stupidest things among many stupid things I did in college was to take an Africa in WWII class, do badly in it, and then, for my final paper, try to write about juju roots and palmwine music in wwii, a subject for which there were almost no sources available whatsoever, even from ILL. I think I walked away with a D in that class. I was really not in my right mind at times.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Tuesday, 15 December 2020 03:01 (three years ago) link
Sorry about the grade, and you not thinking about how hard it would be, but I like the idea.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 15 December 2020 15:41 (three years ago) link
But yeah a juju thread would be ok
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 15 December 2020 16:30 (three years ago) link
Did the juju/yoruba thread ever get off the ground? No results from my searches. I'd be very happy to get some 'if you like KSA you'll like this' recommendations.
― giraffe, Tuesday, 13 December 2022 13:51 (one year ago) link
no idea. the highlife/igbo (but not just that) thread has seen a significant revival in the past 24 hours however!
― I did see Xhaka crotchgrab (breastcrawl), Tuesday, 13 December 2022 14:43 (one year ago) link
https://www.elderscornermovie.com/
I liked this Elders Corner film doc on old school Nigerian musicians (which I have touted on other threads)
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 13 December 2022 15:13 (one year ago) link
It has juju and afrobeat and highlife
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 13 December 2022 15:21 (one year ago) link
Thanks. Will dig in. How would you define Sunny Ade's sound (and Chief Ebeneezer...)?
― giraffe, Tuesday, 13 December 2022 15:32 (one year ago) link
Is it juju?
― giraffe, Tuesday, 13 December 2022 15:34 (one year ago) link
both juju, yes, though I find distinguishing between juju, highlife, and palm-wine fairly difficult, even more so once western/afrobeat influences start showing up. people with a better ear for rhythm & percussion patterns might be better at it than I am
― rob, Tuesday, 13 December 2022 15:41 (one year ago) link
Thanks. I feel the same - I don't really have the vocabulary, which is why I asked. I associate highlife with The Bhundu Boys. Back in the 80s I found much more to enjoy in the complex rhythms of Sunny Ade. I didn't know that palm-wine was a genre.
― giraffe, Tuesday, 13 December 2022 15:53 (one year ago) link
never started it, will think about doing that this week, or go ahead and make one yourself!
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 13 December 2022 18:16 (one year ago) link
The Bhundu Boys ? That's an interesting confusion. The rhythms are very different. I guess it shows how unknown the Zimbabwean body of music remains.Palm wine music is more traditional. Juju is more hypnotic and celebratory. Highlife is more funky and melancholic and has rumba-style guitar.
― Nabozo, Wednesday, 14 December 2022 10:01 (one year ago) link
I mentioned the Bhundu Boys only because we were talking about different threads on ILM and how some juju had somehow made it onto the highlife thread. I then noticed there was some discussion above about having a devoted thread, which I've since started.
― giraffe, Wednesday, 14 December 2022 10:05 (one year ago) link