Nigeria Special / Nigeria Disco Funk Special

Whoops; didn't click those blog links before posting.

I should have provided more explanation. Those blogs consistently do a nice job.

o man disco funk special ruling me right now.

It's about to rule me! (Brought it into work.)

seriosuly. both comps are great but the disco-funk one is ... MAN.

so many great comps so little time!
Afro Baby is my current fave of the bunch. anyone heard African Scream Contest?

I haven't heard ASC yet, but I'm hoping to get one in the mail.

Just heard African Scream--awesome. As all three Nigeria Soundways comps. And Nigeria 70. Wow. All I'm listening to lately. It may have been mentioned upthread but how are Green Arrows and Hallelujah Chicken Run Band recordsas good as these other titles?

The Green Arrows record is just okay, but the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band are great. Killer guitar leads and solos.

Anyway, Disco Funk Special is indeed very good, but I think I do like Special itself more. Both excellent, though.

My favorite is Nigeria Rock Special, but yeah, they all kick ass. And I just downloaded the 2004 comp Afro Baby: The Evolution Of The Afro-Sound In Nigeria 1970-79, which also looks pretty awesome.

The Green Arrows record is just okay, but the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band are great. Killer guitar leads and solos.

2nded

the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band are great. Killer guitar leads and solos.

Is this disc a good introduction to them?

Was for me. (that's the only one I've heard. Are there others? I thought they disbanded shortly after recording that, and Mapfumo went off to do his own thing.)

That's the only disc out there by the Hallelujah band, as far as I know. It's the one I have.

FYI: Strut's Nigeria 70 -- Lagos Jump turned up on eMusic today.

I wasn't that impressed with what I heard of Nigeria Special, but Lagos Jump sounds great.

I wasn't that impressed with what I heard of Nigeria Special

u mad, etc.

just picked up the nigeria disco funk special....WOW.

ps we all know about this, right? but when will the original be repressed? it's going for 112 euros on german amazon!

-- moonship journey to baja, Tuesday, 15 April 2008 02:19 (1 month ago) Bookmark Link

Available on iTunes - £7.99

(thats Nigeria 70 - Lagos Jump)

nigeria disco funk special unfortunately doesn't seem to be on iTunes although vols 1 and 3 are. Volume 2 looks the best, i think (or most intersting for me)

the one in the itunes canada store is the new one with the different tracks.

this is the original:
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf000/f043/f04311ijwee.jpg

I see, I misread the original post. Just saw the cover vahid posted and recognised it.

i'm going to join in the chorus here and say that nigeria rock special *is* fantastic.

i'm least sold on the disco funk special. maybe because i feel like the territory's been more thoroughly treaded in the past?

once you hear one makossa you've sort of heard them all, i guess

nigeria disco funk special unfortunately doesn't seem to be on iTunes

FYI: Vol. 2 and 3 will appear on eMusic. Don't know when, tho.

R.I.P. Nigerian singer/guitarist Sonny Okosun

He's not on any of these comps (I don't think) but he is a Nigerian who added rock to his sound...

I bought the Disco Funk CD at Aquarius, among other things, as a host gift for a friend who let me stay at her condo in SF while she was out of the country. I hope she loves it cuz I really wanted to keep it, heh.

This stuff is always worth having, in my opinion, even when it doesn't make a particular impression right away. Hopefully s1sk won't let me down.

Slightly off topic: Can anyone recommend any good books about this stuff?

NIGERIA 70 reissued!!!

$13.99 at my local store ... comes out tomorrow. missing the 3rd disc with the interviews and inexplicably missing the koola lobitos "Ololufe Mi" track that started the original set ... perhaps we can look forward to a koola lobitos reissue? thought maybe from the same label that put out "lagos baby"?

http://www.strut-records.com/content/nigeria-70-vol-1

whoooooooooo !!!!

Totally want. I'm hoping it turns up on eMusic (at least some of Strut Records' titles are there).

Bought the Disco Funk CD solely because it was on one of the clerks' top 10 list at Strictly Discs here in Madison, and I liked the cover. Amazing. Had no idea there were other comps from the same label, will now buy.

the series website is pretty cool: http://nigeriaspecial.info/

Got Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Ghanaian Blues 1968-81, another two-disc set, in today's mail. So far, fewer berserk acid-funk rampages than on the earlier Ghana Soundz sets, but it's still plenty sweet.

Coming in February: Nigeria Special Vol. 2 and Nigeria Afrobeat Special. Got promos of both from Forced Exposure; they're as awesome as everything else Soundway's put out so far.

The supply of great re-issue material seems inexhaustable, at least to labels like Soundway, Soul Jazz and The Numero Group.

As much as I love this stuff, there's something weird to me about the fact that virtually no one in the US is following current Nigerian music. Also, are any of the musicians on these comps still active? Is there a Nigerian oldies circuit?

Sir Victor Uwaifo is still alive, though I don't know if he's still making music. If he toured the US I'd go see him in a heartbeat. Nigerians are likely to have difficulty entering the U.S. for awhile, though.

Is there a Nigerian equivalent to that Hiplife Ghanaian comp from 2008 that featured young Ghanaians rapping over music that sometimes drew from old-school Ghanaian highlife?

And I don't mean imitating old Afrobeat records.

As much as I love this stuff, there's something weird to me about the fact that virtually no one in the US is following current Nigerian music.

I've heard people make a similar point about jazz, i.e., that the reissue craze has killed enthusiasm for newer, forward-looking jazz. Not sure if it's true in either case, but it makes an interesting parallel (to me, at least).

I check in on Allaboutjazz.com, and sometimes other sites (well mainly jazzcorner), and it seems to me there is a large community that remains interested and excited about newer jazz. You might be right w/r/t generalist music hipsters rather than jazz fans, or Nigerian music fans, per se.

(Or indie rock/indie pop types who listen to other things on the side.)

I don't think reissues are keeping people from buying new jazz albums. I think the crappiness of so much new jazz is keeping people from buying it. The same couple of dozen titles make up every jazz critic's year-end list, because they're the only good ones in a sea of bland sludge or hyper-intellectual wankery. The jazz scene is small enough that there are no hidden treasures - everybody who's paying attention knows about everybody who's doing anything worthwhile.

Re modern Nigerian music, I've got no clue what's going on. And even when I was editing Global Rhythm, the only African artists whose new albums popped up on my radar were the ones with US distribution - Baaba Maal, Amadou & Miriam, Salif Keita, etc., etc. I went to Victor Uwaifo's website a couple of minutes ago and he's got newish albums (the most recent one is from 2006), and there's a link beside each one that says "If you are a label outside Africa who wants to license this album, contact Victor Uwaifo."

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