I recently picked up all of these online brand new for a song. I love historical documents such as these, and all are worthy just for the historical book that comes with each. Like mini encyclopedias with CDs inserted. Essentially these are all fuzz laden African rock works, mostly taken from insanely rare 45s and a few album cuts. I'm more familiar with the Zambian acts as that scene has been mined pretty hard. But the Nigerian sounds were the real eye opener for me. I've heard a few bands from there, but I didn't realize just how vast the scene really was. This is the way to go to hear most of these, as collecting them individually would be impossible - especially those that have not been reissued separately. It's tempting to lump African rock in with funk and soul, and while there's slight elements of that, this genre is definitely separate from African-American styled rock. It's a fascinating blend of late era psychedelic and garage with elements of hard rock and African culture. The music is mostly simple but energetic and sincere. And possesses a wonderful raw sound. There's a distinct difference between what was happening in Zambia and Nigeria, but in the macro view, these are closer to each other than other worldwide genres. Brilliant work from Now-Again, likely the label that will go down as the best of the music researchers.
Ownership: CD: Wake Up You! The Rise And Fall of Nigerian Rock 1972-1977 Vol. 1. 2016 Now-Again.
CD: Wake Up You! The Rise And Fall of Nigerian Rock 1972-1977 Vol. 2. 2016 Now-Again.
CD: Welcome to Zamrock! Vol. 1. 2017 Now-Again.
3/19/23 (new entry)
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