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| Popmatters |
 And the hits just keep coming. Someone out there has been remarkably busy scouring archives of African rock, funk, and soul from the ‘60s and ‘70s, and aficianados of killer fusion have had much to celebrate as a result. Just when you thought the stacks must be wearing thin, here comes Soundway Records with another compilation—a two-disc set no less, also available as three vinyl albums (featuring two extra songs!) entitled The World Ends: Afro-Rock & Psychadelia in 1970s Nigeria. Pulsing, rocking, funky as hell? You betcha.The 32 tracks on the double-CD set are almost overwhelming in their variety, but what they all share is passion: for music, for life, for the exploration of new sounds. Songs like “Rough Rider” by the Hygrades and “Breakthrough” by the Funkees (Alert! Coolest band name ever!) are funk-inflected bass-and-guitar workouts, with plenty of reverb and effects to catch the prevailing ‘60s guitar flavor. The Mebusas’ “Mr. Bull Dog” brings a fast-paced, slinky dance rhythm to the mix, one echoed later, with Farfisa thrown in for good measure, by the Tony Grey Super 7 in “Yem Efe.” There’s a lot of this: “Eti Ufok” by the Ceejebs leavens its guitar and bass with fluid keyboard riffs and swaths of polyrhymic percussion, but remains a down-and-dirty dance number. People Rock Outfit contribute “Blacky Joe”, which sounds like classic rock circa 1974, from its jangly guitar and gurgling organ to its anthemic chorus of “Blacky Joe, come on down!” When the buzzsaw guitar rips in for the final minute, it feels like a little bit of heaven is descending. Meanwhile, the Lijadu Sisters make a rare female presence for “Life’s Gone Down Low”, a mid-tempo number featuring sweetly harmonized vocals that makes one wonder why there aren’t more women in this collection....full text |
| Hmv |
| 'The World Ends' is the latest title from Soundway Records showcasing a wave of guitar driven and psychedelic groups that sprung up in Nigeria during the early 1970s. Featuring 32 electrifying and funk laden grooves, this is the sound of a generation attempting to pick up the pieces after the devastation of the Nigerian civil war. Spread over 2 CDs and 2 triple gatefold LPs, this bumper collection is brimming with youthful exuberance, fuzzed out guitar and cosmic organ vibes and owes much to the psychedelic sounds of Jim Morrison, Santana, Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane and James Brown. As the summer of love was blossoming in London and San Francisco, Nigeria was imploding into civil war. Also known as the Biafran war of 1967, it was a grisly conflict taking over three million lives yet at the same time as the country was being pulled apart there was a new world beginning. The tracks featured represent a forgotten chapter in Nigeria's musical history when the youth threw their varied morsels into the pot from hard rock to psychedelic soul when guitars were cherished instruments, symbolic of a new movement, when highlife and Afrobeat played second fiddle to 'the beat'....full text |
| Stereosubversion |
| Boy, you want to talk about a treasure trove for a music snob? The World Ends: Afro Rock & Psychedelia in 1970s Nigeria is just begging to be discovered by serious aficionados who want nothing more than to ensure that their taste is several steps more obscure than their peers. I mean, would you look at all of those awesome buzzwords in the title? “Afro Rock?” “1970s Psychedelia?” “Nigeria?” Insufferably pretentious people such as myself are going to be tripping over each other to introduce this stuff to our friends. We’ll act as though it’s for their personal betterment rather than to boost our own egos and show off how knowledgeable and cosmopolitan we are. I can just hear us now: “What, you’ve never heard of the Hykkers? You’ve at least heard of Reme Izabo’s Music Research, right?” Moving past the ugly and vain tendencies of us snide collectors, let us take a moment to just appreciate the idea of this compilation: young Nigerians emerging out of a fresh and horrific civil war to express their love for this newfound western genre known as psychedelic rock. Doesn’t that just sound like the most exciting cross-section of time period, culture, and external influences? Naturally, the resulting music doesn’t sound like any kind of psychedelic rock familiar to American audiences. The Afro rock promised in the title might actually be the stronger presence on this album, which is probably for the better. And though the title of this compilation promises two distinct, specific genres, it’s really a hell of a lot more diverse than that. Bongos Ikwue gives Sly Stone a run for his money with the graceful funk and irresistible pop on display in “All Night Long.” The Lijado Sisters’s “Life Gone Down Low” filters a despairing view of the world through endlessly compelling and elegant soul. And if Ofege’s “In Concert,” with it’s hyperactive polyrhythms and nonstop wah-wah guitar, never made it into a blaxploitation film, it would be such a waste of a brilliant piece of instrumental music. In the end though, The World Ends still delivers plenty of what the title assures it will. It’s difficult to imagine psychedelia and Afro rock meshing well into you hear something like the Founders 15’s “Don’t Take Me For A Ride” or the Elcados’ “Chokoi & Oreje.” Awe is the only appropriate reaction to the way the unmistakably Afro Beat rhythms engage with trippy organs and blistering, fuzzed-out guitar solos. Most likely, you’ve not heard anything like it. I know I hadn’t....full text |
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