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March 29, 2024, 08:17:37 AM

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Fela Kuti - Zombie

Started by samadriel, November 24, 2021, 09:00:07 AM

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samadriel

Damn, I love Fela Kuti, and the album "Zombie" in particular. Entrancing, funky stuff, a perfect balance between Western jazz and African music, I thoroughly recommend Zombie, and most of the rest of his stuff too. But this thread is pointed at people who already know Afrobeat -- where can I get more of it, now that I have most of Fela's discography? I don't know if Rokia Traoré fits the Afrobeat bill, but it's close, and I love her stuff too. It's a little poppier than Fela, but I welcome the variety. Anyway, where to next?


dr beat

Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra are pretty faithful to the Fela template.  And his son, Femi Kuti.

Crabwalk

Soundwave Record's 'Nigeria Special' series are top-tier comps if you want more of the same, and to branch out further into 1970s Nigerian highlife, funk and rock.

chveik

William Onyeabor - Good Name
Basa Basa - Homowo: High Life Music
Orlando Julius/The Heliocentrics - Jaiyede Afro

The Mollusk

Quote from: chveik on November 24, 2021, 02:44:50 PMBasa Basa - Homowo: High Life Music

Have we talked about this on here before? I just came in to recommend it myself, it's such a fantastic record. That wailing vintage synthesiser they use - paging @buzby for more info - has a haunting and melancholic feel to it but the record is still bursting with love and beautiful energy throughout. One of those albums I can't just listen to once, fantastic repeat play value.

Video Game Fan 2000




chutnut

Black Voices by Tony Allen is a classic but you probably already know it if you've checked out most of Fela Kuti's stuff

Ebo Taylor & Uhuru Yenzu ‎– Conflict Nkru!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q54D5EVtRsQ

K. Frimpong & his Cubano Fiestas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksAAu_gSQg0

African Brothers Band
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VzNKMpYSNg

and some stuff that's more highlife/soca than afrobeat but close enough!

Canadoes Super Stars Band of Ghana
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjqGqoIGKgI

Ashanti Afrika Jah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DImRj4RtI_Y

Kyerematen Stars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IHOOshd3kQ

not sure what the original of this is but its a banger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QRIh4855N8



Quote from: The Mollusk on November 24, 2021, 07:47:50 PMHave we talked about this on here before? I just came in to recommend it myself, it's such a fantastic record. That wailing vintage synthesiser they use - paging @buzby for more info - has a haunting and melancholic feel to it but the record is still bursting with love and beautiful energy throughout. One of those albums I can't just listen to once, fantastic repeat play value.
The synth sounds in Basa Basa remind me a lot of Patrick Adams who I believe used an ARP 2600 (relentlessly), although it's probably more likely to be a Minimoog or Odyssey as they were a lot more common. I'm not going to pretend I can tell what it is just by listening though!

buzby

#10
Quote from: The Mollusk on November 24, 2021, 07:47:50 PMHave we talked about this on here before? I just came in to recommend it myself, it's such a fantastic record. That wailing vintage synthesiser they use - paging @buzby for more info - has a haunting and melancholic feel to it but the record is still bursting with love and beautiful energy throughout. One of those albums I can't just listen to once, fantastic repeat play value.

Just given a few tracks a quick listen (the album originally came out in 1979 as Together We Win by Basa Basa Experience). Given that timeframe, I can hear what is probably an ARP Solina string machine on there, but I'm guessing you are asking about the lead synth. It doesn't sound particularly Moog-ish, and it doesn't have that quite the same 'scream' that an ARP Odyssey has.

However, the biggest clue is the use of arpeggiator-type gated runs. Not many synths had a built in arpeggiator at that time (and those that had one were probably out of reach of musicians in Ghana). However, the Korg MiniKorg 700S has a 'key repeat' function (i.e. with it enabled, when you hold down the key it retriggers the note at a tempo based on the slider positon, effectively producing a one-note arpeggio), which I've herd on some of the tracks. It also has a portamento function to glide between notes, which I also heard on there.


Just to link it back to Fela Kuti - he played sax on Dr. Solotsu,  the first track of Basa Basa Experience's previous album.

The Mollusk

Legend as always, cheers for that x