W
hen Nick Page (of TransGlobal Underground and Temple
of Sound fame) decided to combine his love of Jamaican
W
Crossroads
dub reggae and Ethiopiques-style 70s’ funk he didn’t just
Then we’re on to Sheguye Shegitu (Blue Nile Mix) which
ORLD
take the easy route of sampling and combining a bunch of
takes the template of a fairly standard blues and twists it into
vintage recordings on his laptop. He actually got on his bike
something wholly new and gripping, with its aircraft-hanger
(so to speak) and went out to Ethiopia’s unofficial capital city,
ambience and slide guitar licks courtesy of Little Axe. Another
Addis Ababa (from where the album gets its punning title)
highlight is Shem City Rockers which is clearly a nod towards
and linked up with the best Ethiojazz singers and musicians
the Clash doing reggae, although it never, even for one
he could find. The resulting album is an endlessly fascinating
moment, descends into mere pastiche. Instead, it voyages off
soundscape which at times, with
into uncharted waters with its spy-movie guitar riff and the
its Taxi Driver-era Bernard Hermann
mercurial, sensual vocal gymnastics of Mimi Zenebecl.
brass arrangements and spooky
And just when you think you’ve got a handle on where Nick
atmospherics, sounds like the
and his collective are coming from, the final track Mercato
soundtrack to the best movie you’ll,
Music presents yet another facet to
unfortunately, never see.
their sound. It’s a breath-taking jazz
But even though four of the track
instrumental which builds and builds
titles end with the word ‘dub’ there’s
in intensity for five minutes before
a lot more going on here than
eventually collapsing in on itself like a
just a tone-perfect tribute to King
black hole.
Tubby and co. For example Tazeb
But the biggest surprise with... Addis is
Kush opens with seductive sax and
that the two ostensibly disparate forms
then expands into a meandering
of Ethiojazz and dub reggae make such
ballad featuring the crooning vocals
exciting and comfortable bedfellows.
of Batha Gerbrehehiw. This track
This is certainly one of my favourite
wouldn’t have been out of place on
albums of the year and surely has to be
In A Town Called Addis
the recent Very Best Of Ethiopiques
one of yours too. Real World
compilation, which the likes of
Howard Male CDRW155
Brian Eno and Elvis Costello have so
enthused about.
C
elebrity offspring basking in reflected glory are a
phenomenon of modern music, though their success rate
is, to say the least, mixed. Anyone for Sean Lennon, Rolan
Bolan or Dweezil Zappa?
Sometimes, though, the inspiration gene truly seems to
pass on. Seun Kuti is a case in point. The youngest son of
Fela Kuti, Afrobeat pioneer, political firebrand and Nigeria’s
most reknowned musician, Seun has carried the torch for his
desire to make Afrobeat for
late father since Fela’s death in 1997. It hasn’t been an easy
the twenty first century, credit
role. Fela was not just a great artist but a confrontational
also goes to producer Martin
figure whose disputes with the national government saw his
Messonnier (who has worked
home and club destroyed by government troops, his mother
magic for King Sunny, Alpha
murdered and himself imprisoned.
Blondy and many others) for the
clean but still muscular sound.
Furthermore, Seun arrives in the wake of his half brother,
Femi Kuti, who has already made a more than decent job of
Seun’s gruff baritone vocals may
continuing Fela’s musical legacy.
lack the agility of his fathers,
but his political message is as
What can Seun bring to the party? As his debut album, Many scathing as anything Fela produced. Mosquito, which links
Things, attests, a surprising amount. For a start there’s Egypt malaria with social policy (and has a buzz unsettlingly woven
80, the big band his father assembled, into its melody), and the title track, which ridicules Nigeria’s
a sprawl of blazing brass, relentless politicians for the many things they claim to be doing,
percussion and call and response are, if anything, more subtle critiques. As Seun told The
vocals that’s a Nigerian equivalent Independent this year, Instead of get up and fight it’s going
of the James Brown Revue. Of its 16 to be get up and think.
players, a dozen veterans remain from
Fela’s glory days.
The spirit of defiance and vitality pours from music and lyric
alike. At a time when a new generation are discovering the
Awesome on stage, Egypt 80s sound legacy of Afrobeat via vintage reissues and the interest of
has been deftly updated on record, rock bands like Vampire Weekend, the arrival of Many Things
with inflections of rock guitar and couldn’t be more timely; the son also rises.
loping bass lines reminiscent of
Many Things
George Clinton’s Funkadelic on tracks
Neil Spencer
Tot Ou Tard
like Think Afrika and Don’t Give That
8345105852
Seun Kuti & Fela’s Egypt 80 play Cargo,
Shit to Me. While this reflects Seun’s London 5th & 6th October 2008
Properganda 10 32
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41