Drummer Drummer

Just got the sad news that Tony Allen has passed away. The Nigerian master drummer, co-creator of afrobeat with Fela Kuti, was 79. When Allen finally left Kuti's band Africa 70, Fela apparently needed four drummers to replace the man, while Brian Eno called Allen 'perhaps the greatest drummer who ever lived'. Miss him.

Tony Allen & His Afro Messengers - No Discrimination
Tony Allen with Afrika 70 - Progress

Without Fela

A 2010 recording session by two African musical giants, released at last. Afrobeat meets jazz, and it all swings like crazy. Rejoice? But of course. Drummer, do your thing.

Tony Allen & Hugh Masekela - Never (Lagos Never Gonna Be The Same)

Radio Mali

A fine straggler from last year by Oumou Sangaré, whose nickname 'the songbird of Wassoulou' makes a lot of sense. My current fave of Mogoya is the very funky Fadjamou, probably because it features afrobeat legend Tony Allen (of Fela Kuti's band fame of course) on drums.

Oumou Sangaré - Fadjamou

Wild Weekend Vol. 60

About time for Wild Weekend, edition 60. Afro, lofi, ancient blues and so much more for your money. Will melt away the clouds in no time. But first: a simple question.

We know by now they can play the blues (a bit), but can white boys play reggae, too? If they're true roots fans and mix it in with a punk rock background, why not? Just ask the Clash. Or the Ruts, whose angry and rootsy Jah War remains a classic in the genre. "Fighting, fighting, too close frightening..." And here's one especially for the missus. She saw Bill Callahan live in concert a couple of days ago and was mighty impressed, but couldn't remember for the life of her that we already saw the man play a couple of times when he still operated under the Smog moniker. To refresh her memory, here's the lofi and funny 37 Pushups: "I feel like Travis Bickle, I'm listening to Highway To Hell..."

The Ruts - Jah War MP3

Smog - 37 Pushups MP3

Promising new stuff up next, in the form of Two Cent Revival. From Brooklyn, where a lot of cool new bands reside at the mo, but sounding like they have a Texas - or maybe even Seattle - background. Their brooding The Devil's In This Whiskey immediately brought Mark Lanegan to mind, which is definitely a good thing. Gonna continue my obscure nineties indie fixation now with another short-lived combo you probably won't remember: Big Trouble House. Hailing from Minneapolis, they were almost inevitably raised on Soul Asylum and the Mats, which is obvious on their recommended second and last album Mouthful Of Violence.

Two Cent Revival - The Devil's In This Whiskey MP3

Big Trouble House - Union Feed Grain Mill MP3

The Library of Congress just launched a cool new website that allows listeners to stream a vast archive of more than 10,000 pre-1925 recordings of music, speeches, poetry and comedy. Much of it hasn't been widely available since World War I, so go there asap if you like old timey stuff I'd say. And since they forgot to include Ma Rainey's 1924 gem Booze & Blues for some reason, I'll put it up here. And I'll bid you farewell with a jazzy Afro scorcher by the one and only Fela Ransome Kuti. Bought a twofer of prime '75 albums I didn't own yet of the Nigerian master last week - Everything Scatter paired with Noise For Vendor Mouth - and I've been groovin' to them ever since. Go wild.

Ma Rainey - Booze & Blues MP3

Fela Kuti - Mattress MP3

Colour Me Yellow

How about some more colour in your lives? You know you need some. So come in, Aaron... "Oh yellow moon can you tell me, if the girl's with another man?" Sets the tone for yet another diverse hand picked six pack for your listening pleasure, coloured yellow this time. Featuring sweet New Orleans soul by the Neville Brothers, sharp lofi jugband sounds by The Scene Is Now, and a horny delta blues by Bertha Lee with 'papa' Charley Patton on guitar. Plus epic prog rock by Peter Hammill's Van Der Graaf, an intense folk song by the late great Jackson C. Frank and last but not least some hypnotic Afrobeat by Fela and crew. Dig it? Buy some of the albums these songs come from why don´t you.

The Neville Brothers - Yellow Moon MP3

The Scene Is Now - Yellow Sarong MP3

Bertha Lee - Yellow Bee MP3

Van Der Graaf - Cat´s Eye/Yellow Fever (Running) MP3

Jackson C. Frank - Yellow Walls MP3

Fela Kuti - Yellow Fever MP3

Fela Marathon

My new blogging colleague Fil over at Star Maker Machine took on a Fela Kuti track a few days ago as part of this weeks Ghosts and Zombies Halloween theme. The song in question - the well-known Zombie of course - is a real scorcher. As he writes: "Just about any '70s Fela will do, but if you can only have one of his songs, Zombie is the one to get".

I fully agree, but it got me to thinking about other Fela tracks I cherish. And as the Nigerian legend´s afrobeat is highly addictive, I found myself hosting a total Fela marathon last night. Good fun. And at last, I settled for the following three songs. First up is the ultra-funky Eko Ile from ´73: no wonder they sometimes call Fela the African James Brown. Next comes the jazzy No Agreement (´77), featuring Art Ensemble of Chicago trumpeter Lester Bowie in fine form. And last but not least there´s the hypnotic Expensive Shit (´75).

The anecdote about the latter is too good not to relate briefly here: Nigerian cops once planted a joint on Fela, who immediately swallowed it to destroy the evidence. He was then kept in jail until he could pass the drugs from his system. Miraculously, nothing turned up when his fecal sample was sent in for analysis, as he got help from his fellow inmates. Looking at the costs of this farce, Kuti coined the phrase expensive shit. True story.

Fela Kuti - Eko Ile MP3

Fela Kuti - No Agreement MP3

Fela Kuti - Expensive Shit MP3