Nigeria 70 - Lagos Jump Review

Now, as much as we love lots of different styles of music here at Cosmic Disco we cannot possibly have deep knowledge and understanding of every genre that’s out there. This is where we have been grateful to the likes of Strut for schooling us and with the upcoming release of ‘Nigeria 70 - Lagos Jump’ we are once again flabergasted by the amount of detailed research from both the compilers (Duncan Brooker) and journalists (Sleevenotes by John Collins, an associate professor of the music department of the University of Ghana in Legon.) who combine to provide yet another excellent compilation album, this time showcasing the sound of ‘Post Independance’ Nigeria.

$Baggy\'s nan with the Chanchangi wives.$

Ironically enough Baggy does have some experience of Nigerian afrobeat, brought back by family members and friends as back in the 70’s/80’s his grandmother worked in Nigeria for the countries largest domestic airline, where she became close friends with the Chanchangi family. The Chanchangi teenagers would bring their favourite music over to England as they were in being educated in the U.K. These experiences as a child still hold prominence to this very day as the hypnotic rhythms and tribal lyrics still have very much an influence on baggy’s musical tastes to this day.

$A (Very!) young Baggy with the Chanchangi\'s.$

As you would expect from the sounds of Afrobeat and Highlife you will find highly traditional Yoruba, trance like drum patterns (Accompanied with vailed social commentary) fused with the new European and U.S sounds of the time as artists were being influenced by what they were hearing over the radio as Rock, Soul and Jazz were digested and fused to concoct a distinctly African take on popular dance music. This compilation digs even deeper than Strut’s previous Nigeria 70 release (2001) which was a 3-disc compilation, this time ‘Lagos Jump’ pays attention to some of the lesser known musicians, making for an overall highly educational listening experience.

With distinctly modern production values many of the tracks featured here mix the international genres with the traditional. Soul can be heard in tracks such as Peter King’s ‘African Dialects’ where Jerry Crusade’s ‘Everybody’s Like’s Something Good’ has an even rawer DIY feel, sounding like a long lost gem from the American vaults.

There’s plenty to go at on the instrumental funk and breaks side too. Tracks such as The Faces - ‘Tug Of War’ features plenty of chopped up guitar work, those Yoruba styled drums and heavy afro-funk organ wigouts.

The standout track on the album has to be the Reggae tinged ‘Ire Africa’ by Chief Checker - an excellently produced track who’s dub sensibilities aren’t a million miles away from a Lee Perry production.

Back when the first Strut ‘Nigeria’ compilation was released there wasn’t all that much available in terms of a reference point for the layman interested in sourcing out heavyweight, rare Afro-funk and Hi-Life but over the last few years a good number of high quality compilation albums have become available. Although somewhat less accessible than other such releases this shouldn’t detract you from what is another top notch Strut release that as always, comes accompanied with a great, 16 page, full-colour booklet which goes to great pains to detail the tracks and artists. Also included are nice images of the cover art and some cracking photos. A nice touch which really helps to understand and add to the overall experience.

Finally, we have read a number of comments regarding sound quality and compression of many of the tracks on a couple of Strut’s recent compilation releases. We personally cannot find that much degradation/compromise in sound quality and find the vinyl restoration on this compilation to be more than sufficient to justify a purchase so don’t let any such feedback put you off what are essentially excellent compilation albums.

Nigeria 70 - Lagos Jump is available on general release from the 26th May. Also keep peeled for Strut’s ‘Disco Italia’ compilation coming very soon, featuring a number of Cosmic Disco essentials…