Playlist "Psyche Van Het Folk", Radio Centraal, Antwerpen, Belgium : 2003-06-12 Africa, part 2 : HYPNOTIC AFROFUNK AND AFROFUSION, PSYCHEDELIC MUSIC FROM AFRICA AND PERFECT CROSSOVER STYLES Black Africa knows various urban dance genres, often too generally called "Highlife music", and the later developed Afrobeat,.. These genres inhibit the energy of a socially experienced life with an equal inner experience. Creative visions are melted to such direct approach to music. This "African way" seems almost opposite to a Western vision. Never the less there are recordings that should surprise any Western listener, with interest for musicality / originality and invention. This radioshow presents some tracks that are interesting from the viewpoint of a Western vision. These chosen tracks are surprising and challenging as much intellectually and emotionally. WebPage about African Highlife releases in UK : http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/african.htm Some reviews of African releases : http://www.slipcue.com/music/international/africa/aa_albums/A_01.html Listed at first will be at first highly original crossover styles and then the examples from Africa with complex hypnotic rhythms with a "psychedelic" effect. 1. ETHIOPIA : Ethiopia has the most perfect crossover style of it's seventies recordings. It's a crossover with jazz ; it reminds me melodically at Indonesian music because of it's strange singing style (influenced by Islamic singing ?) ; it can have nice psych organ, and has an original approach to brass arrangements. There was some luck, chances and evolution that led to a number of these incredible releases (all dated within a limited period of time). It was especially thanks to the earlier 80's reissue of Mahmoud Ahmed's "Erè Mèla Mèla" (rec. 1975) being described clearly by the editor of the Ethiopiques series on Buda Muysique, Francis Falceto as "It was the first Western breakthrough for the country's brassy, electric, urban pop : swinging and hypnotic, poignant yet funky. So unique, so different from anything else out of the African continent. This amazing, headspinning groove was celebrated the world over, and hailed as one of the finest releases of 1986 ( New Musical Express, Q, New York Times)". It was the same Buda Musique that acquired the exclusive rights to the Amha Records (1969-1975) and Kaifa Records (1973-1977), two major repositories of the golden age of Ethiopian music. I can only praise the reissues. There's a lot of essential material on it. And the booklets provide very good information and pictures. Info : www.budamusique.com Reviews with sounds : http://www.eastafricanmall.com/ethiopia/artists/ethiopiques.htm & http://www.aquariusrecords.org/audio/ahmedtezeta.rm # MAHMOUD AHMED * Buda Musique Ethiopiques vol.6 : Mahmoud Ahmed : Almaz (ETH, 1973)****° Tr.5, "Ambassel" 8 min Tr.6, "Zèmèdié" 4 min Tr.7, "Kulun Mankwalèsh" 6 min 18 I preferred not to use the tracks with the brass arrangements. The chosen tracks show a kind of "Indonesian"? mood, with flute, psych organ, electric bass, with a very beautiful refined singing in a complex melodic style. This singing reminds a bit at Indian too, but may be better is to say "arabesque", always unique. This is "Ethnic" music, in a very unique, sensitive way with a pure integrity. Track 7 has a funky wah wah electric guitar, flute, some extra band arrangements, a hypnotic repetitive rhythm, and a sax solo a bit further on. The singing here sounds more middle eastern, but the band combines various recognisable styles to a very unique blend. A must have heard track of let's say "ethnopsychedelica". The voice of Mahmoud Ahmed is very beautiful and rich. I believe his singing comes out very well with the organ drenched tracks. A great talent. A must have (heard). Soundfragment of Mahmoud Ahmed : http://www.aquariusrecords.org/audio/ahmedtezeta.rm * Buda Musique Ethiopiques vol.7 : Mahmoud Ahmed : Era Mèla Mèla (ETH,)? I still miss this recording, but will have it soon. It's Mahmoud next LP in order of time. With this album's reissue people began to wonder about what ever happened (musically,..) in Ethiopia. Webpages : http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Henk.Tummers/ahmed.htm http://www.acuwork.com/Pages/products/cdpages/artists/mahmoud-ahmed.html http://subterreign.com/newMahmuudAhmedwin.html http://www.afropop.org/explore/show_artist/ID/195/ * Buda Musique Ethiopiques vol 10, Ethiopian Blues & Ballads (ETH,1970-1974)***** Tr.8, Mahmoud Ahmed : "Tezeta" (1974) 13 min # ALÈMAYÈHU ESHÈTÉ * Buda Musique Ethiopiques vol 10, Ethiopian Blues & Ballads (ETH,1970-1974)***** Tr.6, Alèmayèhu Eshèté : "Altèlèyèshegnem" (1971) 5 min 18 46 The slow Mahmoud Ahmed song is based upon a high toned organ with a bass rhythm, with some beautiful sax, and again fantastic "arabesque" singing. The other track is bluesy ethnojazz. * Buda Musique Ethiopiques vol.13 : Ethiopian groove (ETH,1976-1977)****? Tr.4, Alèmayèhu Eshèté & Shèbèlé's Band : "Wèdèdku Afgèrkush" (1976) 6 min * Buda Musique Ethiopiques vol.9 : Alèmayèhu Eshèté (ETH,1969-1974)**** Track 2, "Yèwèyn Harègitu" (71) 4 min A fabulous more up tempo track. Review Eth.vol 9 : http://www.mondomix.org/mix_us/reviews_us/reviews_artists/ethiopiques.htm & http://www.gullbuy.com/buy/2002/4_23/ethiopiques9.htm # VARIOUS UPBEATS * Buda Musique Ethiopiques vol.13 : Ethiopian groove (ETH,1976-1977)****? Tr.9, Wallias Band (instr.) : "Muziqawi Silt" (1977) 4 min 10 56 The "Ethiopian grooves" has arabesque like songs, sung from the heart with fitting (ethnojazz) band arrangements. The second track is "groovy Jazz" with brass and very funky hypnotic guitar rhythm, psych organ, etc. and fantastic complex rhythms, wooden block, and some metalophone ? at the end. Incredible groovy psych dance music. * Buda Musique Ethiopiques vol.3 : The Golden Years of modern Ethiopian music 1969-1975 Tr.9, Tlahoun Gèssèse : "Sema" (1975) 5 min Tr.12, Tadèlé Bèquèlè : "Antchi Gondjo" (1975) 3 min 8 64 Two examples of crazy jazz fusions based upon an African rhythm, jazz sax arrangements, typical wonderful unusual singing. The first track has some more "African" sounding backing dialogue vocals. The second track is fantastic groovy ! # GÉTATCHÈW MÈKURYA * Buda Musique Ethiopiques vol.14 : Gétatchèw Mèkurya (ETH,1972)***** Tr.1, "Yègènèt Muziqa" 5 min Tr.2, "Shellèla" : 6 min Tr.3, "Aha Gèdawo" 5 min 16 80 Unique style of sax, and accompaniment. A must have (heard) ! A classic! Gétatchèw invented a new sax style based upon the vocal dialogue solos used in attack at battle. The style is a perfect blend between a hypnotic repetitive groove by the band, and the invention/inspiration/free improvisation by the sax. The three first track are musically very inventive, with the third track at its most intelligent/brilliant in arrangements. * Buda Musique Ethiopiques vol.5 Will still look for this one too for a future radio show. 2. NIGERIA : * Afro Stut Nigeria 70 : the definitive story of 1970's funky Lagos (NIG,70's)***°° CDR3, documentary Tr.1 (end of this track) intro 1 min Tr.2 1 min Wonderful document, with third CD containing a real documentary. This is "Food for years". I play only the introduction. The whole story about Nigerian music is complicated, for people, like me, that have to start from zero. CD2, Tr.2, Ofo the Black Company : "Allah Wakbarr" (1972) 4 min 86 A funky psych garage like Afrorock track with lots of electric guitar outbursts with certain "Hendrix" references and a psych organ. This was a single recorded in London (Afrodisia/Decca rec.). Audio fragment : http://www.aquariusrecords.org/audio/ofoallah.rm Tr.5, Afro Cult Foundation : "The Quest" 8 min 95 A structured Afro-Brazilian jazz fusion rock track based upon earlier jams (taken from LP "A Deusa Negra", Afrodisia/Decca Rec.) Tr.9, Fela Anikulapo Kuti & The Africa 70 & Sandra Akanke Isidore : "Upside Down" 15 min I guess Fela used often very complex rhythms and improvisation structures. The few tracks I heard before (I did not hear many yet)did sound very "African" to me. This particular track is such a fine choice that can be appreciated from all kind of viewpoints. It contains a fantastic drum with complex rhythm, with psych organ improvisations, very funky electric guitar, some brass and jazzy sax improvisations. Hypnotic ! Further on Sandra Isidore takes in and sing soulful on the rhythm (with a female vocal backing band), and then the band continues in its very groovy way. This band, Africa 70, was called Nigeria 70 before. Their new Afrobeat sound created a very creative musical period with Fela Kuti as its celebrated figure. There are plenty of Fela Kuti WebPages on the web. One of them is this : http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/music/muze/index.pl?site=music&action=biography&artist_id=16891 Review about this release : http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/world/reviews/var_nigeria70.shtml#review Another label that released interesting releases from Africa is the Afro Strut label : * Afro Strut Blo : phases 1972-1982 (NIG,1972-'82)***°° Tr.6, "Don't take her away from me" 5 min Tr.3, "Chant to Mother Earth" 7 min Tr.2, "Miss Sagit" 5 min 17 Not all tracks are similar in style, but there are some psych elements, a genre rarely used in Africa. One reason to see this group as unique. Unfortunately they didn't make much tracks like this ; the psych style was unusual for Africa. "Chant to Mother Earth" contains a psych freak out solo electric guitar element. "Miss Sagit" is completely in a psychedelic style. "number One" is very different, but it's a good funky track. Their style on their second album was being described in the notes as "moving through a funk rock landscape where Grand Funk Railroad meets KC and the Sunshine Band...etc." It was influenced by Ginger Baker (Cream), who came to Lagos once. Especially the guitar playing is much more psych rock than usual. Info : http://www.grooveattack.com/news/news_detail.php3?genre=Brasil%2FLatin%2FWorld&id=112 "Miss Sagit" audio fragment : http://www.aquariusrecords.org/audio/blomiss.rm "Number one" audio fragment : http://www.aquariusrecords.org/audio/blonumber.rm Afro Strut label : http://www.strut.co.uk/afrobeat.html Info : info@strut.co.uk Piratery caused the death of slowly developing good music & energy in it in Nigeria. 3. ZAMBIA In last 'Africa' radioshow I played 2 groups before, with a fuzz driven guitar African rock style. There was a small mining area in Zambia that brought forth various groups in a rock and rock'n roll style, playing fuzz guitars. 4. SOUTH AFRICA : South Africa knew more progressive music and some good folk examples, but most of them were from the "white side". Most of these were coming from a self- protective part of society, and with a few exceptions had in fact not much from the "groove" of "African" roots. Next release is different. 130 * Counter Point Afrika Underground -jazz,funk under apartheid (SA,60's-80's)**** Great funk, jazz and fusion compilation. Some tracks have a more "progressive" fusion sound. Tr.4, Jabula : "Thunder in our hearts" 7 min Great top Jazz Fusion track with complex repetitive Afro rhythm (from "Thunder in our hearts,1974 (?)). More info about Jabula : http://www.artistdirect.com/store/artist/album/0,,107537-447915,00.html Tr.7, Pacific Express : "The Way it used to be" (from "On Time"1978) Pacific Express has an over the top complex funky rhythm/melody. Great groovy, funky Jazz Fusion Rock. Tr.8, Dick Khoza : "African Jive" 16 min 145 Dik Khoza has a typical funk style for Africa, with various brass arrangements. It's chosen here for its rhythmic and dynamic complexity. There's also a groovy jazz sax drive further on in the instrumental. I must admit I rarely play funk with any brass arrangements, but this is an exceptional track. 5. GHANA : Ghana was long under the rule of Brittain. Musically it had its inspiration from Highlife, brass big-bands, jazz, and since the sixties also from some British (/American) groups. Fela Kuti and Osibisa had their influence too. * Sound Way Rec. Ghana Soundz, Afro-beat,funk and fusion in 70's Ghana (GH,70's)***° Tr.3, Marijata : "Mother Africa" 5 min 150 A track chosen for its almost psychedelic funky rhythm. The group has been described as having the rawest funk sound from West Africa. It's a nice and groovy dirty sound here. The release has an interesting 16-page colour booklet. Review of this release : http://members.lycos.co.uk/dubcitizen/ghana.html & http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/world/reviews/var_ghanasoundz.shtml -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS RADIOSHOW WILL BE PUT ON LINE IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS In cooperation with African music shop in Antwerpen : http://www.bambamstore.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First radioshow about Africa : http://psychevanhetfolk.homestead.com/files/AFRICA.TXT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update African Music (2004) : Normal Records released recently The Love,Peace and Poetry compilation on Africa: See http://normalrecords.de/start.php This is what is been written in the introduction : Africa 1969 to 1975 : Taken as a whole, the previous volumes of Love, Peace & Poetry can be seen as a sort of ever-expanding jigsaw puzzle. The picture that emerges brings into clearer focus the impact of the musical revolution of the 1960s across the far- off reaches of the globe. Like… Africa. The word itself is impossibly deep with cultural complexity and nuance. The world that produced Elvis Presley and The Beatles, Chuck Berry and The Rolling Stones, is immeasurably removed from a world in which elephants, lions and leopards wander free across the landscape. The world of myth and imagination in which Tarzan: Lord of the Jungle reigns supreme; versus a real world in which Tarzan’s life expectancy might peak at fifteen minutes, maybe half an hour on a really good day. Africa is an enormous continent of impossibly complex and shifting political landscapes within a greater historical context of colonialism and domination. To gain our footing here demands one immediate division: we will split the continent in two and look first at the evolution of a psychedelic music scene in Southern Africa (South Africa and Rhodesia, as Zimbabwe was known prior to 1980). Southern Africa : This division is not an arbitrary one. The music here from Southern Africa was created within a predominantly British culture that had been imposed upon an enduring African one. These musicians’ appreciation of African culture would have been almost always indirect and partial. In many senses these individuals were effectively cordoned off from the cultures of the indigenous peoples. Musical influences and styles were self-consciously adopted from the new psychedelic and progressive music coming in from Britain and the U.S. This is not to say that unique music was not made in these Southern African countries and that something uniquely African did not filter in at some level. This is a matter for the individual listener to decide as he makes his way through this volume. While there was a colonial presence in the African countries north of the Zambezi River as well, the indigenous African culture was not dominated by an imported one; and the music that developed there was made by indigenous people, not people whose families had been in Africa for a few generations at most. These psychedelic influences there would have been a lot more random, and no doubt what did filter through would have found many resonances in the indigenous musics that took their pulses and drones directly from their natural surroundings, unmediated by outside musical or cultural conventions. Psychedelic Music in South Africa, or: a Praying Mantis in the foyer and the Bee Gees are all there…. The institutionalized racism of apartheid began in 1948 under the specter of Afrikaner Christian Nationalism. The goal of the National Party was to stop dead or turn around a range of developments that were the norm in colonial societies elsewhere. Instead, as South African writer J.M. Coetzee observed, they “instituted a sluggish no-time, in which an already anachronistic order of patriarchal clans and tribal despotisms could be frozen in place.” Calvinistic Afrikaner nationalism sought to swamp, overshadow and displace the English- speaking culture, but this was itself a culture “…looking, when it looked anywhere, nostalgically back to little England, (that) did little to quicken time.” By the arrival of the “swinging Sixties” South African youth found themselves cut off and isolated from the rest of the modern world. The “better” English- speaking schools were little but unintentional parodies of British public schools whose traditions they desperately strove to emulate. At a time when these same British public schools were being corrupted by the illicit delights of the new psychedelic era, in South Africa and Rhodesia “good” boys’ schools continued to espouse the values of the years before and between the two world wars, with rugby and cricket considered to be the foundation stones of character-building. Prompted by the “more popular than Jesus” controversy, the South African Broadcasting Corporation banned the Beatles from state radio. Censorship of books, films and records was also commonplace. However, in an age of borderless electronic media, such controls and constraints are never wholly successful. One non-South African radio station, LM Radio, became important as an illicit importer of forbidden sounds. Based in Lourenco Marques (today Maputo) in neighboring Mozambique, LM blasted forth the latest pop sounds around the clock (including the banned Beatles), and was likely made solvent by the enthusiasm of South African teenagers. The South African “Summer of Love” burst forth belatedly in late 1969, spearheaded by the arrival of The Otis Waygood Blues Band from Rhodesia (the name derived from reversing the order of the two words in the name of a well- known elevator manufacturer to create something that sounded as if it could be the name of a black American bluesman) who stomped, shook and shuddered with all the primal frenzy of black-inflected rock ‘n’ roll. To conservative white Rhodesians seeing them belt out “You’re Late, Miss Kate” on national TV they must have seemed the devil incarnate (and a black devil at that). During their college Christmas summer holidays of 1969 they trekked down to South Africa to try their luck in the burgeoning scene of pop festivals and small underground clubs. In the months following the recording of their debut album, both their lifestyle and their music took a darkly psychedelic turn. In the face of ever- increasing police harassment and dwindling career prospects owing to the small size of the South African head audience, they returned to Rhodesia. They were loathed by Ian Smith as the embodiment of all that constituted an affront to any right-thinking Rhodesian, and he made it his business to see that military call- up papers awaited each of them on their return. Quietly, they slipped away and fled to Europe. Most of the surviving members still live abroad today. Otis Waygood is represented here by two tracks (2 & 10) from their 1971 LP, Ten Light Claps and a Scream. Much in the same way we’ve seen it progress throughout the rest of the world, clubs began to spring up everywhere in the major cities (Johannesburg, particularly the Hillbrow district, Cape Town and Durban). Durban, probably best known to heads the world over for the potent “Durban Poison” (actually grown and harvested in the Transkei area), had a particularly vibrant live scene. From the popular folk trio Mel, Mel and Julian came Julian Laxton, who joined Freedom’s Children when Kenny Henson, guitarist on the first LP, left to form the Abstract Truth. Although Freedom’s Children saw themselves as emulating the explorations of the leading progressive groups abroad (e.g. Pink Floyd and King Crimson), one has only to listen to Astra (track 8), Galactic Vibes (track 5), or Battle Hymn of the Broken-Hearted Hordes (track 15) to appreciate why they are held to be the premier South African psychedelic band of the era. The Third Eye released albums of original songs while supplementing their incomes by playing cover versions of hit parade songs at the South African equivalent of the high school Senior Prom (called “matric farewell dances”). They are represented here by tracks from both their Awakening…(1969) and Brother (1970) LPs. If you can imagine an amalgam of Black Sabbath and Grand Funk Railroad with the overall aesthetic aspirations of Cleveland’s art terrorists the Electric Eels and fronted by a mean and lean little punk from Detroit you have the basic idea of Suck. Represented here by “Elegy” (taken from their 1971 LP Time To Suck), Suck imploded in less than a year. Their outrageous antics enraged civic authorities everywhere and soon they were banned from nearly every available venue in the country. When Time To Suck was released in South Africa it stiffed everywhere and every .99 cent bargain bin was crammed with copies at the time. When the first enterprising psychedelic record dealer invents a practical time travel device those bins might make a good target for the maiden voyage. Quentin E. Klopjaeger was the Sergeant Pepper-inspired alter-ego of Billy Forrest, producer of the McCully Workshop LP and a popular MOR Country and Western singer in his own right. What may be less well-known is that “Billy Forrest” was yet another pseudonym; his real name was William Boardman. Quentin’s big hit was “Lazy Life,” in which he dreamily extolled the pleasures of such. This would, of course, not have sat well with the work ethic-conscious sensibilities of the audience that he attracted in his C&W guise, making Bill’s need for a further alias less than surprising. Quentin E. Klopjaeger is represented here by “Weatherman” taken from the 1969 LP, Fantasy. The South African tracks on this collection come full circle, back to the opener, the sublime Billy Forrest-produced “Circus” by McCully Workshop. It’s a gorgeous slice of churning psychedelic pop that would have sounded great had it been made anywhere. Closer to Their Satanic Majesties Request than Sergeant Pepper, the vocal delivery and atmosphere are uncannily close to East of Eden’s “Northern Hemisphere.” Theirs was a world where the sinister figure of a (presumably much larger than life) praying mantis could easily rub shoulders with the Bee Gees, which is probably as good a metaphor for psychedelic music in South Africa as any. Psychedelia Beyond Southern Africa : Moving beyond the borders of South Africa and Zimbabwe is a move into mostly as- of-yet uncharted territories for psychedelic record collectors. But record collectors are drawn from hardy stock and ready to cross the plains and enter the jungles in search of the lost fuzz guitar chord and four figure price tags. Here are some of the early results of their adventures. Blo Chapter One. One of the most sought after LPs from Africa (or anywhere, for that matter), this will be reissued later this year in its original gatefold cover. Producer Toni Amadi tried hard to get a US record deal with the Manticore label but it never happened. Two of the three band members toured the US and Europe in 1972 with Ginger Baker. In Nigeria, Blo worked as a support act for Osibisa and B.B. King. The band’s name is an anagram for the three band member’s names: Berkely Ike Jones, Laolu Akintobi and Mike Odumosu. Peace On You is an African/Italian collaboration recorded in 1972 by Mack Sigis Porter. The original LP exists only as a demo pressing on the Italian RIFI label housed in an elaborate triple gatefold sleeve making it among the rarest LPs from either country. Which African nation Porter is from remains unknown at this time. “The Seventh House” has definite late 60s-early 70s British influences in its construction. An Austrian record collector living in California recently discovered Rikki Ililonga’s Sunshine Love LP, a hitherto unknown album from Zambia recorded in Kenya. The entire album lives up to the promise heard here on “Love is the Only Way” and a reissue will be in the works in due time. Another album scheduled for a much welcomed reissue is My Ancestors by Chrissy Zebby Tempo & Ngozi Family. A very rare LP from Zambia, this is the first (and best) of many LPs by Zebby, originally released in 1974. As you hear here on “Oh Ye Ye” (track 12), Zambian records from this period are often characterized by their prodigious use of fuzz guitar. Besides Blo, Ofege is the other known band in the Nigerian underground music scene. Their first LP, Try An Love, was released in 1973 and will be reissued in the Fall of 2004. “Gbe Mi Lo” gives a good impression of its fuzz-driven sound and closes this collection. Enjoy. Stan Denski, Indianapolis, IN, USA David Masters, East London, SOUTH AFRICA. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other playlists : http://psychevanhetfolk.homestead.com/2003.html General index page : www.radiocentraal.be/psychevanhetfolk More detailed index page : http://psychevanhetfolk.homestead.com/index.html Receive weekly playlist before the radioshow with new on line reviews and various additional comments / news : ontvang wekelijks playlist vòòr de radio-uitzending : Subscribe / schrijf u in : psychevanhetfolk-subscribe@yahoogroups.com