Brand New Wayo: Funk, Fast Times and Nigerian Boogie Badness 1979-1983

I'm wary of all these African comps that seem to be sprouting up like weeds these days. Each one seems to promise unheard auditory miracles culled from a magical, nearly-untapped vault that's been recently discovered, only to (in most cases) fall short. I'll stand up tall and proud next to this one, however. High energy, eclectic and sophisticated post-disco jams from Nigeria's Second Republic, a time and place where democracy had returned after twenty-three years of military dictatorship and a burgeoning oil economy supported an expansion in industry, the music industry included. People were in a celebratory mood and it definitely shows here. "Record companies upgraded their technology and cranked out a staggering volume of output to an audience hungry for music to celebrate the country’s prospective rise as global power of the future. While it was a boom time for a wide variety of popular music styles, the predominant commercial sound was a post-afrobeat, slickly modern dance groove that retrofitted the relentless four-on-the-floor bass beat of disco to a more laid back, upbeat-and-downbeat soul shuffle, mixing in jazz-funk, synthesizer pop and afro feeling. At the time, it was still mostly locally referred to as “disco,” but has since been recognized as its own unique genre retrospectively dubbed “Nigerian boogie.”" Compiled lovingly by the die-hard over at Comb And Razor.


Wayo

The Lovin' Spoonful - Hums of The Lovin' Spoonful (1966)

The Spoonful's third full-length. Pretty disparate stylistically, but their intention was to sound different each time they recorded on this joint, so, they succeeded. I'm not infused with scholarly knowledge about who initiated "country rock" when, but I'd be willing to wager that select cuts from this album were among the first with 'Nashville Cats,' (a genius tune that pops into my gulliver often), 'Lovin You,' et al. Also included is their biggest, 'Summer In The City.'

Up north there ain't nobody'll buy 'em I said 'but I will.'

Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro - Uhuru Peak (2010)

This damned thing represents in excess of a year's worth of scavanging on my part. I still remain clueless to why it was so elusive (barring, of course, ordering the thing from Japan to the tune of sixty+ dollars, shipping not included.) Anyway, I did the work, you reap the benefit. These guys can funk with the best of 'em, better than most actually. And they're Japanese.
"While 2008's eponymous debut strove to tear up dance floors, "Uhuru Peak" is all about playing it cool. Boasting a more predominately lounge vibe than its predecessor, tight, well-crafted grooves such as "Theme of Kilimanjaro" and "Super Jock Strut" are heavily accented with jazz in addition to the excellent 1970s throwback funk and soul that is the cornerstone of the band's sound."


Uhuru Peak

Mickey and The Soul Generation - Iron Leg (The Complete Mickey and The Soul Generation)

Late sixties, early seventies funk from San Antonio, TX., an area which birthed a pretty swarthy funk scene in those days. Many consider M and the SG to be the swarthiest among them. Why am I using the word swarthy? Some consider them to be not only the best from that particular scene, but of any. I contend with that opinion, but it serves to show ya that these guys knew what they were about. Title track "Iron Leg" is definitely a classic of the genre.

Swarth!

Indispensable Summer

Sinatra-Jobim Sessions - Recorded '67 & '69, released '79



Sinatra-Jobim














Published only in Brazil and up until recently unavailable elsewhere, this is one of those musical pairings you wished existed, yet in this case  somehow actually does. Simply beautiful. Sinatra and Jobim are absolutely amazing together and I can't imagine what reason was touted for keeping this gem hidden from international publication for so long.

Jackie Mittoo & The Soul Vendors - Evening Time (1968)




Evening Time

Rocksteady regal herald of the keys, founding member of The Skatalites and irreplaceable writer/bandleader for the Studio One label. Sweet, breezy tropical bliss that truly deserves a much wider swath of recognition. Unsung classic.

"There are very few musicians of any style or era whose appeal is such that it is safe to recommend them to anyone for enjoyment in personal performance or on record. Jackie Mittoo is such a musician."

Mulatu Astatke and The Heliocentrics - Inspiration Information (2009)

"Mulatu Astatke (also written Astatqé on French releases) is arguably one of the most influential and legendary musicians from Ethiopia. During the 1960’s, he studied music abroad in London, Boston, and New York. He then returned home to Ethiopia armed with a love for jazz and Latin music. There he blended Ethiopian traditional music with the Latin-jazz he was so fond of to create a unique hybrid he called “Ethio-jazz”.
Mulatu Astatke is first and foremost a composer but also a multi-instrumentalist, playing the vibraphone, keyboards and organs. He is further credited as having established congas and bongos, instruments normally central to Latin styles, in Ethiopian music. However, as Ethiopian songs traditionally focused on vocals his greatest contribution to the music of his country was introducing a new focus on instrumentation.
Three of his LPs were recorded in New York City – his first two, Afro-Latin Soul Volumes 1 & 2 in 1966, plus laterMulatu of Ethiopia in 1972. The bulk of his output was on Amha Records (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) on which he released several 7” singles as well as one LP in 1974 entitled Yekatit Ethio-Jazz."

This is his first album to be released in over twenty years, with the help of stellar instrumentalists The Heliocentrics. This is really jaw-dropping stuff, requisite fodder for your ear cannon. And if the sound of Middle Eastern singing isn't entirely inviting to you, please don't let the first track turn you off.

Inspiration Information

Tommy McCook & The Supersonics - Pleasure Dub (1974)




Pleasure Dub











Dub via Rocksteady. Coincidentally, McCook is another of the founding members of The Skatalites and a saxophonist par excellence. Errol Brown produced three albums which gave a dub treatment to rocksteady classics. This, Pleasure Dub, is arguably the best of the three. Consider as well that dub was a genre in utero at the time, making this cut all the more impressive.

Ranil y Su Conjunto Tropical - Ranil's Jungle Party (60's-70's)




Jungle Party












Top-notch Peruvian cumbia straight outta the Amazon. Perfect for sweltering days and balmy nights. Deeply funky psychedelic surf-guitar jams these is. The record label Masstropicas compiled these tracks and put together this beautiful vinyl release, limited to 1,000 copies

Miles Corbin - Sounds From The Tiki Hut (2000)





Tiki Hut












Couldn't really put it better than this guy did: "The laziest sound possible. A very interesting production mix: stripped down, retro soft synth beats entangled in classical Hawaiian/surf guitar melodies. All songs have thin basslines so the whole album is mostly in mid and high range (love those cheap, crisp snares) mostly sounding like some rare exotic vintage gem. A truly unpretentious record that takes you far, far away from the suffocating, confusing world of today's showy, charts aiming bands."