Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Nigeria Disco Funk Special

I have been playing this to death since I picked it up after hearing a track on the Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show.

Massive funk from the Nigerian scene of the 70s -- and miles away from US disco of the time! These cuts represent a tighter, more uptempo side of African funk -- but they're never as polished or professional as American club or disco -- no soaring strings, female chorus vocals, or other sweetening touches that played big at Studio 54. Instead, these grooves are all still gritty -- the kind of upbeat jamming funk performed in Lagos clubs and bars at the time -- kind of a distillation of the longer grooves of Fela, pushed a bit towards an American funk sound too. Drums and guitars dominate most of the tracks -- making for a well-played, edgey sound throughout -- and although there's a fair bit of vocals on the set, the instrumental jamming is the main focus of most of these tunes. Another essential collection from Soundway Records -- with tracks that include "Take Your Soul" by Sahara All Stars, "Will Of The People" by T-Fire, "Some More" by Jay-U Experience, "Love Affair" by S-Job Movement, "Ijere" by Dr Adolf Ahanotu, "Greetings" by Johnny Haastrup, "Lagos City" by Asiko Rock Group, and "Mota Giny" by Voices Of Darkness. Dusty Groove


1 comment:

  1. Anonymous8:24 AM

    Do you know about this?

    http://nigeriaspecial.info

    Loads of stuff on all 3 volumes in the series.

    Best wishes

    Timjim

    ReplyDelete