Thursday, September 9, 2010

The World Ends

Afro Rock & Psychedelia in 1970s Nigeria

I'm continuing to snatch up large quantities of compilations of African music from the late 60s and the 70s, as I marvel at how I could have missed such a rich vein of music of the years.

This compilation, put together by the people at Soundway, is made up of two cds, containing 33 tracks.  The focus is on post-civil war Nigeria, as the youth of that country became inspired by the social and political movements that swept the Western world in the late 60s, and reinterpreted them for an African audience.
The music here is incredible.  There are a variety of sounds, from the large groups that followed Fela's Africa 70 to smaller bands and individuals.  As usual with these releases, there is a nice thick book that digs into the history of the time, and describes in minute detail the makeup of these groups, as well as their demises.  I'll admit that I'm not really spending much time worrying about the academic side of this stuff - I'm really just sitting back and enjoying the music too much to deal with even learning band names.

My favourite track, which became my theme for the end of the summer, is PRO (People Rock Outfit)'s 'Blacky Joe'.  I love that song.

No comments: