s w e e t b e a t s
november.28.2000 - #354
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artist : Fela Kuti
album : Shakara-London Scene
year : 2000
label : MCA
genre : Lo-Fi
quality : CD 192k HQ True Stereo
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01 Lady 13:48
02 Sakara Oloje (Braggart) 13:25
03 Jehin Jehin (Chop Teeth, Chop Teeth) 7:26
04 Egbe Mi O 13:15
05 Who Are You 9:28
06 Buy Africa 5:52
07 Fight To Finish 7:23
7 tracks | 01h 10m 37s | 97MB
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The late, great Fela Anikulapo-Kuti (1938-1997) made some of the
funkiest, heavy-grooving music your booty will ever know. And
finally, the vast catalog of this great Afro-beat renegade is
beginning to arrive in proper form on U.S. shores. MCA recently
released a two-CD Best of Fela collection, and now the company is
releasing Fela's individual albums, beginning with this combination
of 1971's Shakara, a two-song masterpiece that criticizes haughty
women and men, and the inimitable 1972 London Scene, featuring
pan-African anthems originally recorded at London's Abbey Road
studios.
Shakara and London Scene show us a Fela at the start of a decade in
which he would record more than 70 albums of music while facing
political persecution from the dictatorial Nigerian government for
his activism and flamboyant lifestyle. The peerless, far-out
Nigerian singer, saxophonist, keyboardist, and bandleader brought
African-American black nationalism back to his homeland after a
stint in America. In the 1970s, Fela established his own
independent "country" at his compound, Kalakuta Republic, a suburb
of the capital, Lagos. He also formed a political party, Movement
of the People, and brought to Nigeria an outlandish personality
that saw him openly using marijuana and living in open bigamy. In
fact, in a mass ceremony in 1978, Fela married some 27 women - many
of them members of his band.
On these albums, Fela's music struts and finger-points; one can
hear his transformation of the tight, spring-loaded rhythmic
innovations and preacher-like vocals of James Brown into spacey,
propulsive, ominous stories containing caustic social commentary
and strong declarations of self-confidence. Songs like "Lady,"
"Shakara," and "J'ehin J'ehin (Chop Teeth, Chop Teeth)" upbraid
women and men who do not fulfill their social roles, while songs
such as "Buy Africa" most obviously promote pan-Africanism.
Meanwhile, the Latin-flavored "Who're You" and the hard-driving
"Fight to Finish" challenge anyone who gets in Fela's way. The key
player behind Fela on these songs is Tony Allen; his magnificent
percussion follows Fela down every dark corridor and through each
thrilling passageway, giving the albums much of their spooky
flavor. This CD offers a great starting point for what promises to
be a tremendous series of releases for your booty. --VH1
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s w e e t b e a t s
we're all about bigamy!
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greetings to klangwerk, mgc, sour, & impg
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