Soul Bag
Bernard Purdie on the drumps. What else do you want? This record will turn any frown upside down. Another hit from the hit maker. You know that Dave Chappelle skit where he pulls out all the stereotypes of what makes whites, blacks and latinos dance? Well this record makes everyone dance. Put it on in the office and see what happens.
No Discrimination
By 1980 Tony Allen had strayed far away from Fela and established a successful career as a solo artist. 1975’s Jealousy and 1977’s Progress proved that he was just as important as Fela in innovating their unique music. Two incredible Afro-beat records that live on to this day as classics. No Discrimination, tho, set Allen apart. Using a slew of Fela’s Africa 70 band, Allen created the Afro Messengers and re-evaluated Afro-beat to create something new. A stripped down version of the genre: more minimal in its approach and drawn out farther than it ever was before. Allen himself called it “Afro-funk”. This album is still heavily rooted in the West African traditions of Afro-beat but captures a brief moment when Allen aimed to re-define his music. Later Allen records would find him doing just that: incorporating R&B, Rap and Electronica to his music. In my opinion No Discrimination captures a beautiful period when Allen’s roots music reached a unique creative climax. The first of many and definately my personal favorite.
Rough Guide to African Blues
Alongside my parents’ Phil Collins, Bob Marley, Beatles and Paul Simon records were a helping of East and West African records. In particular I remember growing up listening to Ali Farke Toure and, to this day, he is my primary influence in making music. Toure has been dubbed by many as African’s John Lee Hooker. His guitar style has been recognized by many including Rolling Stone Magazine naming him the 76 best guitarist of all time. He is the godfather of African Blues music (or what people like to call “Desert Blues”). His style has been so influential that many have taken it and create their own music.
This is a compilation of African Blues music. Toure is not on this compilation but the music is still out of this world. Music so pure you can feel it deep in your bones.
Afro Rock
Taken from What’s in my iPod?
Every so often I come across a review that talks about an unjustly forgotten genius, and every time it turns out that his output is obscure for some very good reasons, and its place in the 50 cent bin is well-deserved. But if there is one exception to that rule, Vecchio must be the one.
What is known about them would probably fit on a matchbox. Vecchio is named after a keyboardist Luis Vecchio (who, I think, is italian); the rest of the band is unknown and I am not sure if it really was a band rather than studio musicians. Afro-Rock is on the De Wolfe “library music” label.
Apparently, in the 70s some TV producers figured they’d like to have a store of prerecorded music (“a sound library”) to pick from if need be. They would hire a bunch of anonymous hacks to bash out ten, twenty, fifty hours of faceless elevator muzak, and when someone shoots a show, they can just go pick out something from the shelf instead of recording a soundtrack specifically for the occasion. This policy generated hundreds and hundreds of hours of, yes you guessed it, faceless elevator muzak. For some reason it recently got popular with the DJ types who delight in obscurity; there are many compilations of the least-faceless tracks under the titles like “Music for dancefloors” or “Cream of [label name] library sessions”, and, IMHO, the whole thing is a damn travesty.
BUT NOT THIS! Afro-Rock is a massive fat ten-ton monstergroove of a record; it’s not faceless, it’s in-your-face. A barrage of afro percussion, tight fusion-brass section and pumping funk bass all melt into a seamless forty-minute groovefest to fry your brain. I first heard it on the excellent Africafunk compilations, where he easily outfunked such monsters as Tony Allen, Manu Dibango, and the mighty mighty Fela himself. This is the only record which stays on my iPod ever since I got it (the record, I mean). I truly cannot recommend it enough! If a casual visitor is to take one thing from this blog, let it be this one.I’ll conclude with the last shred of info on Vecchio himself: apparently, this record overloaded his fuses and he left for Canary Islands to join a religious cult. He recorded one other album as a keyboard trio. From what I hear, it’s about Solar Christ and aliens.
Now that I have posted three Afro-psych records up on here I think that I should officially give these posts a name. Along with my “Great Women in Music” series will be the “Afrodesiac” series. Any posts containing sickening African music will be under the “Afrodesiac” category.
Chrissy Zebby Tembo & Ngozi Family are yet another group of talented musicians from Zambia. As far as fuzzy rock from Africa goes this might be the daddy of em all. “My Ancestors” almost trudges the stoner rock territory. Tembo’s guitar work is incredible. He shreds over Heavy Deep Purple/Sabbath like riffs as signature funky afro-beats and melodic vocals move the music forward. This stuff is heavy!
Amanaz - Africa
Here’s another psyche band from Zambia: Amanaz. I was turned onto this record a while ago by my good friend Ryan. The foundation of Ryan and I’s friendship is swami, cosmic musics made on this very planet earth but takes the listener on some epic journey far beyond the scope of imagination. Amanaz is that. Beautiful African roots rhythms blended with psychedelic sounds. Subdued funky back beats and beautifully layered fuzz guitars. Members share vocal duties to help craft this universal record. Enjoy it any time of year, in any setting, with anyone.
The Witch - "Lazy Bones"
Incredible psychedelic rock music from Zambia, Africa. The Witch are Africa’s Can. Much more pop and funk sensibilities than the kraut rock gods but still a fair comparison. I keep on seeing the term “Lo-Fi” tagged onto a lot of the 1970s African music that is surfacing these days. Maybe it’s because of the revival of Lo-Fi music. I wouldn’t really classify much of The Witch as a Lo-Fi band. they’re just outstanding. The title “Lazy Bones!!” encapsulates the mood of this record perfectly: a laid back, fuzzed out, far out piece of work with a few surprises here and there.
Analog Africa Selection Vol. 1
This is a little backwards but whatever. Here is the download to the first Analog Africa Selection mix tape. I’m still having my mind blown by this stuff. Reminds me so much of home. Head over to the Analog Africa blog and keep up on their releases! They’re about to take over the spot!
Analog Africa Selection Vol. 12
if you haven’t been frequently visiting the analog africa blog, purchased the out standing african scream contest or just don’t know what the hell i’m talking about then let this be an introduction to one of the best record labels out there. Analog Africa is just amazing. They recently posted their Analog Africa Selection Vol. 2 on their blog and it slays. I’ve linked it here for all of you! Enjoy!
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