Perfect Illusion - Lady Gaga

- Heya mate! How's it going?
- Hey. Welcome to The Irregular Riff...
- Woah, come on now, why so glum chum?
- Sorry, it's nothing.
- Is it because I was so rude last time we spoke? Those were the early days of the blog, things are picking up now. 
- No, it's not you. You're the blog's biggest fan. 
- Well, I'm not sure about that. But I am worried about you, there hasn't been a blog post in awhile. The last one was a cracker though. 
- I'm just a bit glum that's all. I think I've heard the death throes of modern music. 
- You what? 
- Music has finally come full circle and gorged on its own juicy chorus.
- You're not making much sense. Have you tried a paracetamol? Normally works.
- I don't know why but I had so much hope you know, ever since the last album. But I should have known. I was let down then and I shouldn't have got my hopes up for a second time.
- What are you talking about?! Spit it out! 
- It's Lady Gaga isn't it! It's Gaga, it's always Gaga! 
- You're this glum about Lady Gaga? Friend, can I call you friend? don't rant about her as the death of music, there's so much worse out there, believe me.
- I know, it's just that I had some hope for her in 2013 when she released Artpop. I thought she was the mega star who could challenge musical norms, create something exciting and experimental. She didn't. 
- But that was three years ago. Why are you telling me this now?
- Well, she's gone and released a new single hasn't she.
- Has she?
- Yes. What's more she only went and teased me with the potential of making something new and exciting again. It's like some kind of donkey and carrot situation and the carrot's just turned out to be some kind of mouldy orange sock on a stick and frankly, it's left me feeling like an ass.
- What did you think the carrot was gonna be?
- Only two of the best and most experimental producers of pop music of our recent times; Mark Ronson and Kevin Parker.
- Him from Tame Impala?
- The very same. They worked on this "Perfect Illusion", Gaga's new single.
- They're both great though! Uptown Funk's a blinder and Tame Impala are just brilliant!
- Well exactly! I thought if anyone could drag Gaga's potential for experimental, challenging and catchy pop into a song then they could but instead she's pushed them into the mud while she stands wailing and frothing at the mouth as she always has done. 
- Come on let's hear this. It can't be that bad. Ronson and Parker are so good! 
- I can't have it sully The Irregular Riff. This is a blog about good, upcoming music, not disappointing and insulting pop that's written by numbers and wiggles it's bum in front of anyone willing to pay the itunes fee.
- We need to hear this now. A fair and rational debate needs to be had.
- ...

- Oh God. Oh Lord no. 

- It's not...

- One second, the wails are still rattling around my skull. Will be with you in a second. 

- So ye, it's not a...

- Wait, still trying to get over that key change. Might take awhile. 

- But I've got a pithy one-liner...

- Are you sure that Mark Ronson and Kevin Parker are on this?!

- Yep. 

- It's just all so horribly bland isn't it? Why does she insist on belting it all out like that?! 

- Ye, you'd expect them to be able to deliver the high-art-pop that Gaga keeps pronouncing her songs to be. But this is as far from a Perfect Illusion as...

- Ye, it's just so incredibly meh, and it's the lead single too! 

- Can I say my one-liner now?

- It's neither perfect nor an illusion; it's so incredibly awful and oh so real. 

- Well, there's my one-liner gone! Thanks, I'd have said it better too...

- It would have been better to have stayed an illusion.

- That one's quite good. 

Lady Gaga

Perfect Illusion

Don't Know

Don't Know and Not Gonna Spend The Time To Look Up. Give Us Back Kevin Parker!   

Nigeria Soul Fever - Compilation

Sometimes the stars seem to align and you find your interests slotting right into the Zeitgeist. That's the time I find myself in right now and it's bloomin' great! 

As an enthusiast for Nigerian music from the '60s and '70s and a collector of original Nigerian highlife records, the latest craze for everything Afrobeat, Fela Kuti and African has given me plenty to get my teeth stuck into. Whether it's the ever growing Felabration, the annual celebration in honour of Fela Kuti on the 7th of October, or the gigs happening across Europe by some of Nigeria's greatest musicians including Dele Sosimi, Tony Allen and Orlando Julius, not to mention the numerous club nights blasting some killer grooves from this musically rich part of the world, Nigerian, African and so-called "World Music" (what a horrible phrase) is booming in popularity.

Truly cementing Nigerian music as part of the current Zeitgeist was The Guardian and Boiler Room's joint series of videos and articles all about the scene. Nowadays there's seemingly always something or someone celebrating Nigerian music and it's been a bit of a treat for me personally. Something especially exciting has been the sheer amount of reissued CDs and vinyl albums of some of the best, and previously horribly rare, music from the country. I've already written a post about one such release, the Keni Okulolo reissue on Hot Casa Records, and another about the Freedom Sounds compilation on Soul Jazz Records. 

Well, Soul Jazz just keep wanting to spoil me for some reason as they've done it again with Nigeria Soul Fever, described as a compilation of West African Disco Mayhem! As a fan of disco and funk in general, the combination of everything I love from West African music - the infectious percussion, chorus vocals, the sunny guitar playing - with classic funk and disco grooves is something pretty irresistible to me. My knowledge of Nigerian disco had been pretty much limited to William Onyeabor or the occasional funky Afrobeat or Soukous tune from the likes of Joe Mensah or Ebo Taylor. 

Nigeria Soul Fever is a fantastic introduction to the vibrant and varied disco scene from the late 1970s/early 1980s in Nigeria. Spread across 3LP (or a 2xCD), the package is typically polished with liner notes and pictures giving a taste of the time and track lists giving details of each track. 

Joni Haastrup is the star of the show with 4 tracks in the compilation, each one a perfect example of classic funk grooves with the addition of killer Nigerian horn arrangements, vocals and clunking percussion. They're all absolute bangers, from the dance-floor filler Do The Funkro, to the fuzzy guitar of Greetings and the sultry opener to the compilation, Free My People, that sounds like a funky disco banger that could easily have been a club hit in 1980s New York. 

Many of the tracks strongly show their influences but my favourites keep that Nigerian quality. Angela Starr's track, Disco Dancing, is a great example. It's a chilled out boogie track and is clearly influenced by b-boy tracks such as (Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew by The Rock Steady Crew, which came out three years previously in 1983 in New York. It's got the b-boy effects and bass and the vocal delivery style but with some Nigerian style percussion in parts and Starr's honeyed vocals making it a tune to hum all night long. 

Christy Essien's You Can't Change a Man is also heavily influenced by New York disco and has a fantastic bass line and a buzzing guitar riff throughout. Afrikana Disco by Akin Richards & The Executives probably has some of the best Nigerian flavour; with highlife type instrument arrangements, traditional instruments and that unmistakable percussion. 

"Boogie boogie boogie down, Afro disco all around!"     

One of the things I particularly like about this compilation from Soul Jazz is how it treats the artists as funk and disco musicians before Nigerian musicians. I find that with many compilations of African music in particular, but also other "world musics", the music on the compilation can often be only linked by the fact that it has come from Nigeria or Africa. Imagine creating a compilation of music from Britain, from Germany, from America, or, if we're honest, from any "white country". No such compilation could do justice to the diverse music scenes in these countries so why can we get away with vague compilations of music from Nigeria? I understand that these can act as an introduction to many to the music of a nation, but a little curation and direction in the content of a compilation, like we have here, makes those featured musicians into musicians to sit alongside James Brown or Nile Rogers rather than a simple foreign curio. 

This compilation from Soul Jazz is a fascinating insight into the funk and soul scene emanating from Nigeria in the '70s and '80s and a true testament to the skill of these musicians is that these tunes are in demand and able to fill a dance-floor 30 years after they were made. Long live the Nigerian Zeitgeist! 

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Compilation

Nigeria Soul Fever

Soul Jazz Records

Triple Vinyl LP or 2xCD out: NOW! at Sounds of the Universe