African System Orchestra (1978)

This is a gorgeous sunny hybrid of soukous and highlife courtesy of Cameroon guitarist Tambwe Dongo Pecos and his band, African System Orchestra. Expect floor shaking rhythms and electrifying lightning guitars.  Like this:
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That is a bad friend indeed. 
 
Tracklist:

01 Bad Friend
02 Bikoko
03 Good Night My Girl
04 Inyanga No Good

Get it HERE.

Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe ‎– Ndi Ochongonoko

There really isn't much I could say that would do this beautiful music and this phenomenal artist justice.  I just don't have the words to describe the feelings of serenity these songs foster in me.  Hopefully that is enough of an incentive for you to check out this beautiful album. And then if you are similarly struck, maybe you'll check out the other Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe LPs posted here at Snap, Crackle & Pop, and elsewhere around the internet.  You might even nurture a little obsession like the one I've had this past few years.

By way of a taste, here is a wonderful live performance from the Chief's Nigerian TV show:


Tracklist:

01         Ndi Ochongonoko     02         Yoba Chukwu     03         Nnwa Dinkpa     04         Uwa Ebuka

Get it HERE.

Admiral Dele Abiodun & His Top Hitters International - Ring My Number:Temi Laago (1988)

This chunk of late '80s juju is a bit infectious; the fidgety rhythms propel us at speed through the delightful wash of slide guitars and vocal harmonies. It's raining here in Brighton but this is the sound of summer.

Tracklist:

Side 1: Mo Kan'Lekun Oro / Eni Kanju Ola / Emi O Majo / Temi Laago (821 367)

Side 2: Maranti Olore / Temi O Ni Soro / Kolre Baje / Adawa Loni Juju

Get it HERE.

Lanrewaju Adepoju & His Akewi Theatre - Volume 3

Here's a treat.  Lanrewaju Adepoju was (is?) a famous Yoruban poet an on this 1975 recording they deliver an exciting blend of highlife, juju and afrobeat sounds that you just might like.  And if you do, you can find another wonderful LP over here.

Tracklist:

Side One - Igba oro ki i fo/Maa see e niso/Oyinbo Kare
Side Two - Timi agbale waja/Baba dari ji wa/Oga l'olowo

Get it HERE.

Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe - People's Club Special (1982)

Gorgeous! Osadebe is always popular with me, but this music really comes into its own when the sun comes out.  So, if the sun is shining where you are then you've really got no excuses not to grab this one.

Robert Christgau said Osadebe's band make relaxation a creative principle and that just about nails it.  So,  sit back, relax, and let these magical highlife sounds unwind in your mind.

Tracklist:

01 People's Club Special (Part 1)
02 People's Club Special (Part 2)

Get it HERE.

I Seek to Know this World

Here's this week's exciting flea market find, a lovely album by The Doves. This crackly old (1979) record is full of some bubbling Nigerian reggae/funk/highlife grooves with plenty of wah-wah and mooginess. You can read more about the group over at Comb & Razor.

Tracklist:

01 Life Is Gone
02 I Seek To Know This World
03 Strange Land
04 True Love Is Gone
05 The Urge To Sing Our Music
06 Living Together
07 I Shall Be Free
08 Lawrence Rest In Peace

Get it HERE.

E.K's Band - Sankofa (Go Back and Retrieve)

Here is a groovy slice of Ghanaian Highlife from one of the originators of the form. E.K. Nyame started performing in the late '40s, formed his own band in the '50s and brought respectability to the music of the palm-wine bars. Here you'll find spidery, picked guitars, mandolin, thumping double bass, super afro-latin percussion, theatrical harmonising and gorgeous clarinet. This album appears to be re-recordings of some of E.K. Nyame's earlier hits, but I have no clue as to when the tracks were originally recorded, or re-recorded for that matter.

Tracklist:

01 Small Boy Nye Me Bia
02 Onipa a Oyee Me Mahu Wo
03 Maye Maye Minni Aye
04 To Menna Mu Awurade
05 Minni Agya Minni Nna
06 Amane A Mahu
07 Awurade Iesu Beba
08 Boafo Yena
09 Onipa A Ode Nade
10 Nokware Asa
11 Agya Nyame Ni Wakyi
12 Owuo Busuoni

Get it HERE.

I have started using a new file storage site so please let me know how well it works and how easy it is to access the files.
Thanks in advance.

Ikenga Super Stars of Africa (1975)

I know this one has popped up on a number of other evil file-sharing blogs over the years, but it really is too good to miss. If you've never come across them before, the Ikenga Super Stars of Africa play the kind of dizzying, funky highlife that is sure to move both asses and minds. The interweaving guitars on these two long songs never fail to send me into a kaleidoscope hypno-trance, and that could never be a bad thing, could it?
And, just in case you're wondering, the file is hosted on mediafire. I've had a think about my options since all this megaupload kerfuffle started, and I've come to the conclusion that we humble muzak bloggers are but small fish. I'm really sorry to those (Moos at Global Groove, Owl at Holy Warbles, the team at Mutant Sounds amongst many others) who have had their files deleted - I can only imagine how upsetting this is - but I'm sure we're all going to be able to find ways to keep on keeping on.

Tracklist:

01 Ikenga Go Marry Me
02 Ikenga in Africa

Get it HERE (while you still can!).

Homzy Trio Group - Green Eagles Special (1981)

Picked this oddity up in a flea market a couple of weeks ago, and it suits the incredibly good weather we're having here at the minute. This is some wonky highlife and native blues that was made in support of the Green Eagles, Nigeria's national football team who in 1981 were playing matches to qualify for the 1982 World Cup.

This is Rossanah Nwhere Obi Nwayo:


Tracklist:

01 Green Eagles Special
02 Jelly Leave Me
03 Onye Dara Ada
04 Rossanah Nwhere Obi Nwayo

Get it HERE.

Cumb Assemble (Celestine Ukwu Memorial Band) - Tribute to Celestine Ukwu (RAS 1978)

Gorgeous Nigerian highlife played and sung in tribute to the great Celestine Ukwu who died in 1977.

"Oh dear Celestine Ukwu / Why have you left us / Without anyone?"

"In the memory of many Igbo people of Nigeria, late Celestine Ukwu is a paragon of wisdom. He is a true philosopher who is in-depth in analyzing the social world. His musical ingenuity is a fruit of deep reflection on mankind in general. His creativity is emblematic for the entire spectrum of Igbo music industry, past present and future.

He is a musician with a profound originality. Although died and gone, his legendary works linger on in the socio-cultural life of the Igbo people.

Music no doubt has a universal language. The rhythmic poetical flow of music is enjoyed by all people irrespective of culture or language. The content or the expression anchored in a piece of music obviously tells how an individual person or a group of people perceives and interprets the world. Music therefore is a passionate expression of reality in philosophies. Musicians are also known as poets who are also known as thinkers and philosophers. In music, a subjective attempt is made to recreate the objective reality. Therefore music is all about a passionate expressions of life, birth, death, love, pain, injustice, happiness, rejection, oppression, politics, religion, ethics, fear, anxiety, sickness, poverty, richness etcetera.

The Igbo culture is among the cultures in the world that expresses its worldview in music. Sometimes, decoding the meaning of musical expression is like decoding coded lines of poetries. At other times, the meaning enshrined in a piece of music stands very intelligible. In the case of Celestine Ukwu, one sees a true born philosopher. He is a conscientious reflector on things. As a talented musician, he is a social observer."

http://www.codewit.com/featured-news/the-philosophical-mind-of-an-igbo-musician-celestine-ukwu.html

You can hear Celestine Ukwu's beautiful music here, and here, but in the meantime you'll have to make do with this.

Tracklist:

01 Tribute to Celestine Ukwu
02 Uche Chukwu
03 Chi Na Elo
04 Don't Loose Courage

Get it HERE.

Nkengas - Destruction (1973)

I've been a bit busy in recent weeks, hence the lack of music posts. However I hope to make up for this absence by presenting you with this bad boy of an album. Devastating, earth-shaking funk from Nigeria, this is as raw and hypnotic as it gets.

Tracklist:

01 Anyi Bundi Igbo
02 Obuna Alu
03 Anyi Buofu
04 Jungle Beat
05 Ube Frank Special
06 Ndu Bu Isi
07 Nkenga Special
08 London Special
09 Destruction

Get it HERE.
Nkengas in London can be found HERE.

Pascal Bony et les Cantadors de la Capital (1977)

I found this gem in a charity shop in Bath at the end of December, and its been getting some heavy use since I got it home. Can't really tell you much about it as there's little info about Pascal Bony (or Bony Pascal) to be found on the internet. What I can say is that its very lo-fi and sounds like it was recorded in the midst of a really great party. The music is a frenetic blend of a variety of styles from the Cote d'Ivoire and Western Africa. There are some gloriously chaotic moments on 'Abobgna' where the whole thing sounds like its about to fall apart, but this just seems to increase the excitement.

Tracklist:

01 Abobogna
02 Alakamin
03 Assouo Kpla Mousouo
04 Annee de la Femme
05 Ahouan Foue

Get the goodies HERE.

K. K.'s No.2 - Odo Na Abusua (1976)

Don't know much about this one other than its some lovely, bubbling highlife from Ghana. Sunny music for a winter night.

Tracklist:

		Side 1: Medley
		Yene Me Nka
		Mewu A Na Mobesu Me
		Abusua Ne Wo Ara
		Papa Ma Me Bi Nni
		Obra Ye Bona
		Side 2: Medley
		Mfa Nhye Obi
		Kasekenken
		Wo Begyaa Me
		Odo Bra

Get it HERE.
P.S. This is a very crackly record!

The Nkengas - Nkengas in London (Orbitone 1973)

According to John at Likembe (thanks for the superb blog!) this album is not by The Nkengas, but is actually a recording by Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe and His Nigerian Soundmakers. A number of the group's players left taking the tapes with them, they started a new band called The Nkengas and released this album under that name. Very Naughty!
Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe's voice is spread like melted chocolate across all but one of the songs on the album. It's pretty unmistakable. This is feel good highlife of the very highest quality and it never fails to bring a smile to my maudlin face.

This is the song Ekene Dili Chukwu:


Tracklist:

01 William Emeka Omambala
02 Asa Mpete Special
03 Anaedo Special
04 Unzulu Onye / Ige'Gbupi
05 Ekene Dili Chukwu

Get it HERE.

Prince Nico Mbarga & Rocafil Jazz - Free Education (RAS/Rounder 1977/1982)

Prince Nico Mbarga is best known for his smash hit, 'Sweet Mother' a record that sold more than 13 million copies across Africa after it was released in 1976. Free Education was released the following year and I like it even better than the first. Sweet, sweet melodies, beautiful guitars and infectious dance rhythms make this an essential listen.

Track list:

01 Free Education in Nigeria
02 Onye Ori Obi
03 Simplicity
04 Nature

Get it HERE.

Osayomore Joseph & The Ulele Power Sound - Waka Waka (Emotan 1982)

This is some fantastically funky afrobeat/highlife from Benin City in the Edo State of Southern Nigeria. Wish I could tell you more, but I can't, other than its great.

Tracklist:

01 Waka Waka
02 Iro Ghama
03 Omonogie
04 Okpani Ya
05 Obo

Get it HERE.

Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe - Osadebe '77 (1977)

This is the second of the Osadebe cd's from the East Street market stall (the first is here). If you've never heard him, this is magical music - fantastically mellow Nigerian highlife. There's something really special going on here by the time we get to the muted trumpet in the mesmerising People's Club Odogwu...

Tracklist:

01 Uche Chukwu Geme
02 Ogo Di Nkpa
03 People's Club Odogwu

Get it HERE.

Peter Effiom & His Rabalac Messengers

Don't know much about this one I'm afraid, other than to say that its some fantastic Nigerian Igbo highlife, with great guitar playing and lots of percussion. Peter Effiom looks like a Major in some rock 'n' roll guitar army. I suspect that the album was released in the 1980s, but thats really just a guess. Any info would be much appreciated. In the meantime, enjoy....

Tracklist:

01 Mbre Ewangsi
02 Anie Ata Inva Inwang
03 Enyen Kusonge Enyin Ye Ami
04 Ayama Mbana Idem
05 Ita Edi Ama Mi
06 Obob Eyen Owo

Taste the goodness HERE.

Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe - Osondi Owendi (1984)

This is what Nigeria's Guardian Newspaper had to say about Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe after his death in 2007:

"A remarkable man, Stephen Osita Osadebe, began life as an ordinary Nigerian lad under the gaze of austere parents in colonial Nigeria. He schooled at Onitsha where his parents wanted him to pursue academics. When the young lad began taking an interest in music, they did not approve; as musicians in those days were often associated with hooliganism and loose living. However, in his secondary school days, he was a member of the college brass band. He was also a good footballer. In later life, still bowing to family pressures, Osadebe went to the Soviet Union where he studied trade unionism. On his return however, he again promptly went back to his old love by forming the Nigerian Sound Makers International Band.

Osadebe's early life began in Lagos where he initially worked in SCOA as a clerk by day and minstrel-for-hire by night. His meeting with the great Zeal Onyia of the Vicky nyem afum (Vicky give me my half-penny) fame changed his life. It was under the fabled trumpeter that Osadebe learnt the essence of melodic progressions, poise, dynamics and big band arrangement techniques. His career took off when he was hired as a supporting vocalist by the Empire Rhythm Orchestra under E C Arinze. Empire Hotel, Idi-Oro, in Lagos, was owned by Chief Kanu who is remembered among other things for providing employment and accommodation for early struggling musicians. The great Fela Anikulapo Kuti used to perform there. From Empire Hotel, the young Osadebe migrated to Central Hotel, Yaba where his unique ability to instantly compose and improvise beautiful lyrics was recognised. Buoyed by his success, he later established his own band in 1964. The rest, they say, is history as he went on to record song after song --- more than 500 in all. Some of his memorable songs include, one pound no balance, makojo, onye achononam (do not provoke me), nke onye diliya (let yours be yours), onye ije anatago (the wanderer has returned). But it was with his inimitable Osondi Owendi (some are happy; some are sad) that he struck gold. The album, which outsold the iconic Sweet Mother of Nico Mbanga, was snapped up in millions all over Africa and beyond. The boy who began life playing the maraca in seedy Lagos hotels had arrived.

Chief Osadebe had made a financial success of his calling and felt himself comfortable to follow his vision of highlife which was a mixture of meringue, rumba, samba, waltz, calypso, jazz, and twanging guitars. His sonorous voice decisively influenced all aspects of his music. He never lost his voice and was playing his music, like a true artiste, until the very end. Although not the inventor of high life, he played a unique role in its development by remaining faithful to the genre at a time when other musicians were scrambling to imitate western pop music and hip-hop. Interestingly, Chief Osadebe accurately described himself as the "Constant King of Highlife". His melodious tunes have held sway from the sixties till now. Among his many admirers, he was to acquire yet another title when he was described as "Doctor of Hypertension": an allusion to the sweet, soothing nature of his songs. His songs often waxed philosophic as he commented on the ups and downs of Nigerian life. He was not "political" in the sense of a Fela Anikulapo Kuti but among ordinary folk he was supreme in capturing the essence of their joys and sorrows in pithy phrases and idioms. His music cut across the length and breadth of Nigeria and even those who did not understand the Igbo language in which he sang often, nevertheless, enjoyed his rhythms. Praise singing of notables who have made it, was a feature of Osadebe's music. He gave as much to his rich patrons as he got from them. He was himself a member of the People's Club of Nigeria where self-made millionaires were often eulogized. He perfected the African art form of call-and-response and since he intended his music to be enjoyed on the dance floor, he often played for a longer stretch."

This is one of the best albums I've heard in recent months. It's a rip of a bootleg cd picked up from a stall on London's East Street market, and it is sweet, sweet, sweet. The man had a beautiful voice with an amazing texture...he starts singing and I melt like butter. The album is also full of some amazingly subtle psychedelic wah wah guitar that just unravels itself in your brain and fabulous muted trumpet that puts a big idiot grin on my face. And if you like this one then get yourself over here, here and here for some more.


Tracklist:

01 Osondi Owendi
02 Ndidi Kanma
03 Nigeria Kanyi Jikota

Download this beast of an album HERE.

Ernesto Dje Dje - Le Roi du Ziglibithy (Cote d'Ivoire 1977)

Ernesto Dje Dje was, until his death in 1983, the most famous singer from the Ivory Coast. On this great album, Dje Dje attempted to modernise the Ziglibithy dance rhythm and encourage other Ivorians to capitalise on their shared musical heritage. This is a hugely enjoyable album, fast paced and funky with great guitar and brass throughout.

Tracklisting:

01 Zibote
02 Zadie Bobo
03 Behdo
04 Lola
05 Gnizako
06 Assouna

Get it HERE!

And here's a little taster: