Artist : The Psychedelic Aliens
Title : Psycho African Beat
Genre : Funk
Year : 2010
Date : 01/2011
Bitrate : VBR kbps
Tracks : 08
Label : Academy Records
Source : Vinyl
Encoder : Lame 3.97
Length : 23:48 min
Size : 25,7 MB
Tracklist:
----------
01.blofonyobi wo atale 02:58
02.hijacking 02:59
03.we're laughing 03:06
04.extraordinary woman 03:11
05.gbe keke wotaoc 02:32
06.gbomei adesai 03:11
07.homowo 02:55
08.okponmoni tsitsi emole 02:56
-------
23:48 min
Maybe the recent reissues by Zambians
Witch and Amanaz have set you to
wondering what the rest of African rock
sounds like; maybe you want something
more, something better? Now someoneÆs
found a long-lost band that, judging
from the record sleeve, would look just
right tucked between Hasil Adkins and
Esquerita in a Norton catalog, and was
called The Psychedelic Aliens to boot.
ItÆs almost too good to be true.
The broad outline of the AliensÆ (more
on that name in a minute) story could
apply to half the bands on those Pebbles
compilations; some young guys get hold
of some instruments and a family
memberÆs VW bus, cut their teeth at some
clubs and hotels around town, hit the
road, play with some big famous stars,
put out a few singles that sound great
but donÆt break them into the big time,
lose a couple members to college, fall
into disarray and break up. The hot
organ sound and distorted guitars could
certainly earn a few of those songs a
place on some garage-rock comp. But the
band members came from Accra, Ghana, and
they had to trade up with foreigners
passing through town to get their hands
on worthwhile gear in a country where
musical instruments were classified as
luxury items subject to a 300 percent
surcharge. The stars they hung with
included Fela Kuti, Santana and Wilson
Pickett.
Three of them had non-Ghanaian parents,
and it was that mix of Indian, Lebanese
and French heritage that inspired them
to name themselves The Aliens. They
started out in 1968 playing a mix of
highlife and Western pop; one singer
handled the English vocals, another sang
in French. Over time they acquired a Vox
Continental organ, some fuzz pedals, and
a copy of Are You Experienced?, all of
which pushed their sound closer to rock.
A paired-down portion of the band
recorded its first EP in 1970 during an
extended run in Nigeria, so rather than
use its regular name, the band released
it under a nickname given them by fans.
Those first four songs donÆt sound
particularly psychedelic, but theyÆre
pretty hot; ôHijackingö could be the
work of a rougher Booker T. & the M.G.s,
while ôExtraordinary Womanö sounds a
little like Hendrix, if heÆd gone with
R&B instead of those newfangled freak-
outs and covered ôWalkinÆ The Dog.ö
The other two singles were recorded the
next year, after the Aliens had started
playing with a light show that
instigated a name change to the Magic
Aliens. Jamming with Fela and sharing a
stage with Santana had encouraged them
to pick up the tempos and harden their
attack, but hearing a band from the U.S.
do its best to sound African had changed
them in another way. They no longer felt
like imitating anybody. Only one song
from the first recording was sung in an
indigenous language; none of the songs
recorded the second time around are in
English. The hand drums are louder in
the mix, the grooves more akin to sped-
up Afrobeat than rock ænÆ roll. But the
woozy guitar lick that kicks off
ôOkponmoni Ni Titsi Emo Leö is still
audibly beholden to Hendrix, and if
anything, the later tunes rock even
harder.
ItÆs a sound that would have been well
worth exploring, and itÆs a shame that
the Aliens didnÆt last long after the
departure of guitarist Carl Telfer and
organist Malek Crayem later in 1971. But
what could be more rock ænÆ roll than a
band that burned out rather than faded
away?
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