Nigeria Special / Nigeria Disco Funk Special

I mean I get what can be insulting about the hipster reissue approach, c.f. the Omar Souleyman craze. There's a good comment on the post you linked -- a quote from a woman who complained that the white audience was looking for the primitive while the African audience preferred the music to be civilized, in response to a complaint of overproduction on a recording. But I also think there's a strain of primitivism in American culture itself that probably doesn't exist in a lot of countries, where Americans themselves actually want to be seen as having an element of the primitive.

And yes I know that certain modern African club styles get some American/UK/European attention and that Congolese music did in the '80s (but no more).

I'll fess up to being totally lost when it comes to modern African (and South American, especially Brazillian) club styles and music. the proliferation of stuff is so overwhelming I don't even know where to begin. when it comes to modern stuff I pick up a smattering of things I see referenced or written about, but it's kind of hit or miss. For example, I like Cibelle and Seu Jorge okay but they seem like big crossover Brazillian artists, and their stuff is fairly easy to grasp - on the other hand I d/led some random baile funk comps and hated all of them (mostly for the abysmal drum/synth sounds)

with reissues it's like someone's already done some of the research and contextualization and it's a bit easier/more straightforward to sort through...? I dunno.

I guess what I'm getting at with all these jumbled posts is that there's a lot of what seems like empty posturing and narcissism of small differences in the various strains of African music fetishism, but it's all basically the same idea -- collect more hip shit to listen to, cultural context be damned. And it's all probably at least a little bit colored by racist and colonialist ideas, but at the same time it seems relatively harmless.

similarly, with something like African rap it seems to me that the only way to bridge a gap like that - between the African rapper and the American audience - is for their to be some real, skilled go-between who understands both. And I don't know who that would be (presumably someone from an immigrant community, either an American in Africa or an African in America, but also one with particularly attuned ears and communication skills who could serve as a conduit between the two. these kinds of people are rare).

xp

And it's all probably at least a little bit colored by racist and colonialist ideas,

this seems kind of unfair, but I dunno maybe not. is it not possible to have an honest and benign curiosity about the cultural expressions of other people? after all, they're just people - they're probably singing and playing about all the same kinds of shit Americans do - love, money, religion, politics.

I don't doubt that there's listeners for whom part or even most of the appeal is exoticness/primitiveness/otherness/etc, but I do think it can simply be a case of being pulled in solely by SOUNDS. New sounds. Funky sounds. Sexy sounds. Tranquilizing sounds. And the cultural context doesn't figure into the equation one iota.

and I think that's why certain African styles/genres are latched onto by Westerners and some aren't. They're music listeners, not socioligists or activists. All this hand wringing and finger pointing is such b.s., but it's been happening for years and will continue to. Well, until that day when magically everyone is enlightened and appreciates all cultures in the proper and good way that the Lord intended.

I know what you all mean. And maybe there are cultural or musical explanations for why certain genres and not others seem to enlist more benign curiosity and get reissued and sold and get mainstream attention. But when I have been at certain Congolese shows over the past decade I have thought-- I love these sounds and I bet, if they heard them--folks who buy some of these reissues would to, but why aren't they here and why isn't someone acting as a gatekeeper and pushing these sounds to them.

I don't recall the url or if it even exists, but I used to read (and only post a few times) a music chatboard made up largely of 30-something and older Congolese expats who lived in Europe/UK and the US. They ocassionally acknowledged reissues of other African styles or American rap and r'n'b, but never with much enthusiasm. They, as a commenter did on the blog post above, complained frequently regarding shady Congolese promoters and record label types the world over. All I'm trying to say is that while no one is obligated to seek out every Congolese rumba release new and old, blogs and newspapers and such (I won't impose on listeners) should at least acknowledge that there is still music coming out in every corner of the continent (and old Nigerian funk stuff is just one small part of that).

even if it still exists

I like to be surprised by things. hearing the culturally familiar (disco rhythms, rock guitars, hip hop, whatever) refracted through an unfamiliar cultural lens is often an experience full of surprises, it gives me something to puzzle over and wrestle with and enjoy without being totally inscrutable. but this goes for Western music too, it's not just something that applies to non-Western music, it's just how I approach a lot of music in general.

xp

I won't impose on listeners

please do!

Congolese rumba sounds interesting!

Do some of you only listen to American rock and rap from 30 years ago? That's your choice if you do, but I hope you wouldn't try to argue that those are the only US sounds worth listening to.

imho American rock peaked in the 70s and rap peaked in the late 80s/early 90s so yeah the bulk of what I listen to from those genres is from over 30 years ago.

but I listen to a lot of stuff

actually lol I take that back most of the rock stuff I like from the 70s is British, America peaked a little earlier

There's something doubly exotic about distant geographic + temporal spaces and yes, sometimes I listen to music from the US in the 1970s (like recently a bunch of like female singer-songwriter acid folk music) and love it at least in part because of its historical distance from me. It sounds like it's coming from somewhere far away and long ago and that's a cool auratic quality. Tho one thing that I think makes these NIgeria Special comps stand out for listeners above + beyond individual contemporary acts is how a) greatly curated they are, you don't have to sift through a lot of trash to get to good stuff. imho it's just good track - good track - good track straight through and b) it's easily available! even in globalized world it's hard to get into music from other countries (and other countries have the same problem with the US -- whenever I travel I notice the lag time between US pop music and what they're playing in other countries). If someone released a really well curated, solid compilation of, idk, Congolese contemporary music, I'd definitely be interested in checking it out. It's not like I was "fetishizing" modern highlife music and then I was like, "omg, this comp is ALL modern highlife -- score!" I had no idea about it and then I got the comp and then I was like, "wow, this is pretty great."

I get where curmudgeon is coming from in that this is something I've wondered about wrt my own music habits. and I think it's probably good to occasionally ask yourself why you like certain things, though being obsessive about it is a bad idea imo. I would hope that people who are into those amazing Nigerian comps at least also check out other 70s African sounds. I think that can evolve into catching up with more recent stuff (that's what happened with me and Jamaican music anyway).

OTOH sometimes you can't win against this argument. Curmudgeon, do you remember the comments to that wayneandwax post about the Ayobaness and Shangaan Electro comps? there are definitely people (you know, strawmen) who will see any western interest in African music as colonizing no matter what, and it's dispiriting to have to defend your own interests like that all the time. As much as I like to stay aware of these issues, my buying a few CDs in Chicago isn't colonizing anyone.

I would hope that people who are into those amazing Nigerian comps at least also check out other 70s African sounds

these "other 70s African sounds" presumably being available on... other well-curated comps! Mordy is totally OTM about the massive obstacles to finding this kind of thing via non-domestically released compilations. Basically if it isn't reissued or compiled on a readily available imprint, it's near impossible to get or even find out about! Between Ethiopiques, World Psychedelic Classics, Nigeria 70, the Fela reissues, Guitar Paradise of East Africa, and maybe a handful of other mega-stars who's stuff has been made available here (King Sunny Ade, for ex) I feel like I have at least a passing knowledge of African pop music from the late 60s through the 80s - is it wrong that I came to this via the only real route available, ie, shady promoters and compilers. I'm not David Byrne, it's not like I can spend my free time shaking down local collectors in Lagos or whatever.

it's not like I can spend my free time shaking down local collectors in Lagos or whatever.

Taking their cultural produce off them for a pittance and ferrying it back to the first world is even MORE colonialist iirc

I think this is something that should be talked about and conceivably does need someone to construct extreme positions and strawmen to facilitate that but... the guy who wrote the blog comes off like a total dick and Frank Gossner schooled him there imo

these "other 70s African sounds" presumably being available on... other well-curated comps

yes! I completely support the curating of comps of basically any and all music from anywhere, from any time for my enjoyment--arguing against that pushes you into an authenticity trap imo. I guess there are two arguments here, one about economic exploitation and one about cultural exploitation. The latter is hard to make, and I don't know what to do about the first one. FWIW the Soundway and Analog Africa dudes seem to be pretty conscientious in their liner notes--or at least they are good at looking like they are--about crediting (and compensating?) this stuff.

My way in to this music is basically "I love soul and funk and I love hearing different takes on this music" so I don't think I latch on to African otherness as a specific selling point. If Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo were a bunch of guys from Canada I'd still love them. This isn't the same thing as listening blind to context - the detailed notes you get from e.g. Analog Africa definitely add to my enjoyment of the music, but in the same way that Numero Group liner notes help me understand just what I'm hearing on their comps.

There are of course political issues that underlie any interaction whatsoever that an affluent white man like me (or the mostly-Western reissue labels) has with non-affluent African musicians, but I think the situation with Analog Africa or Soundway is about as non-nefarious as it can get.

I would hope that people who are into those amazing Nigerian comps at least also check out other 70s African sounds

http://globalgroovers.blogspot.com/

article about what the African diaspora in the UK is listening to--

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/sep/09/african-diaspora-music
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, October 5, 2010 1:34 AM (0 seconds ago) Bookmark

Has anyone been to one of these parties?
http://voodoofunk.blogspot.com/2010/10/friday-november-5th-at-southpaw.html

I guess not. Looks like fun. I wonder if it is advertised at all to the local African emigree population or just to folks who see indie-rock at that club.

think it's the latter. that said, love this quote from that Guardian piece:
"African music should have call-and-response vocals and polyrhythms aplenty," wrote Howard Male at theartsdesk.com. "And at least one vegetable-based percussion instrument."

The next Analog Africa is going to be on Angola: http://analogafrica.blogspot.com/2010/10/blog-post.html. I'm way way behind on their stuff but the Buda Musique comps he mentioned might be my favorite 70s African stuff over all (if I don't think about it for very long), so I am super excited about this.

I just got a 2CD set on Now-Again in today's mail: Dark Sunrise, by Rikki Ililonga and Music-O-Tunya. One album and some singles credited to him and two albums credited to the band, which he led, all from Zambia circa 1973-76. Liner notes include a long-ass interview with him.

i so wish analog africa's full catalog was available digitally, and specifically on emusic.

i imagine the spotty digital catalog has to do with difficult royalty and copyright issues. bummer.

Soundway are offering FLAC's of their back catalogue for a fiver until the end of Feb. Wahoo!

http://www.soundwayrecords.com/catalogue

the 2010 guardian article above seems to take a disparaging view of this phenomenon:

The African music that does well on the world music circuit is usually that perceived by white audiences as more authentic, meaning free from the influence of contemporary western pop: Toumani Diabaté's multitextured kora playing. Oumou Sangaré's jittery wassoulou music with its kamelengoni hunters' harp. The desert blues of the guitar-toting Tuareg band Tinariwen, whose members come dressed in indigo-dyed robes and turbans. Music that feels slightly exotic but vaguely familiar.

but after sampling the "African music the actual African diaspora likes," i agree with what's in the text-box above.

maybe it's that i'm not connecting with that (very possibly non-representative sample of) mainstream pop that's popular among the expat community, much like i often don't connect with mainstream pop that's popular in the u.s.

You haven't listed which of the musicians (rappers, djs, whatever) that the diaspora likes that you do not like. The boxed quote in your post mentions traditional Malian musicians who use non-synth instruments mostly. I like them and the Nigerian reissues that are the subject of this thread more than some African "ghettotech" club sounds (that actually sound like the worst of European pop-trance stuff). But some of the Malian musicians that are mentioned and some Congolese musicians also make music that is danceable and appeals to both fans of old-school sounds and younger African disapora members. In the Rolling African thread and in previous year's Rolling "whirled" thread I have discussed this a bit.

http://bamalovesoul.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Nigeria70small_4.jpg

New Nigeria70 has just come out on Strut. I don't have any of these - presumably the 2cd Nigeria70 Vol.1 is the place to start?

It's a slippery slope, man - hard to know what's best since most of these comps are pretty awesome. Easy to get addicted to this stuff. As for authenticity, I dunno - I buy this stuff 'cause it sounds good to me. I mean I am studying ethnomusicology, so I guess it's vulgar of me to prefer the more Westernized pop stuff. With time that could change, as tastes often do. I just hope the money from these comps is going to the right people, or at least the families and the ones who are still alive - even though I know it probably isn't. Isn't that the more important point here - whether or not Nigerian musicians and their families and communities are actually reaping the benefits of releases like these? I realize that's a pretty farfetched thing to hope for with multi-artist compilations of music that's 30 or 40+ years old and was originally produced under who knows what kind of shady business arrangements, but if we want to get away from the very real possibility that there's some neo-colonialist exploitation going on here, shouldn't we be concerned about how labels like Strut and Soundway conduct their business - and what these releases are doing, if anything, for the communities and the culture in which they were produced?

Do you know or have you read anything specific about their business practices re paying musicians?

I don't, and I'm not trying to make accusations - for all I know these reissue labels could be socially conscious and may be doing a lot of good for the actual lives and welfare of Nigerian musicians. I have no idea either way. My point was that if we're going to talk about colonialism, qualms about taste and listening habits are small potatoes - the more important issue is whether, by purchasing these records, we're complicit in any kind of financial exploitation. If a record, even a compilation, sells tens of thousands of copies and the musicians or their families get nothing, that's exploitation (of course this happens all the time in America too). And if it's a UK or American label that's making money off of African music and not paying its creators, that's when we should really start getting worried about "neo-colonialism." Not that the issue of what we listen to and why isn't important, or even that it's not shaped one way or the other by colonialism and its legacy - I'm just saying there could be bigger issues at stake here.

Everything i've read from / about Soundway and Analog Africa indicate they are very fair and go through lots of trouble to pay the proper people.

I'm just saying there could be bigger issues at stake here.

We've had the discussion re exploitation of musicians on one of the Mississippi label threads and I think on a Sublime Frequencies one as well.

Will check those out. Thanks for the heads up. Posting this made me realize I should really be better informed myself before I make these kinds of purchases.

And I'm glad to hear that labels like Soundway are doing what they can to operate ethically.

these two strut comps are both great, especially as an introduction to some of the music that's been discussed up-thread.

http://www.parisdjs.com/images/strut/Various-Club_Africa_b.jpg

http://www.parisdjs.com/images/strut/Various-Club_Africa_2_b.jpg

the modern highlife comp, always a pleasure

approx how long does it take to tire of ol 'circular' guitar patterns anyway, or am i set from here on out

in my experience you're set

all music should have circular guitars