Press Release :
"Nigeria Disco Funk Special" - an amazing collection of heavy dancefloor grooves from urban Lagos in the '70s...

Lagos, Nigeria, 1974-79: The Funk & Disco capital of West Africa. More nightclubs, bars, spots and dance-floors than any place along the coast from Dakar all the way to Kinshasa.

Nigeria Disco Funk Special is an amazing collection of heavy dancefloor grooves from urban Lagos in the '70s - hot and driving slices of Funk, Disco and Boogie that show just how vibrant the music scene was in one of West Africa's most populous and culturally diverse cities.

In the '70s, it wasn't just James Brown who influenced the musicians playing in the nightspots of Lagos - the loose-structured and elongated jams that he was pioneering in America had been a part of Nigerian music much longer than that. This album is the sound of Cuban-heeled and Micro-minied Lagos youth soaking up the sound of the American discotheque and putting their own inimitable twist on the proceedings.

The Double Gatefold vinyl include rare tracks from famous musicians like Bongos Ikwue and Mono Mono's Joni Haastrup, as well as selections from cult bands like Asiko Rock Group, SJOB Movement and Jay-U Experience. Original photographs and label scans plus notes by compiler Miles Cleret.

More from Moton, this time following Citizen Kane are Diesel & Jarvis, amazingly it isn't house, house and more effin' house. "Malinga" is a well ace Afrobeat number, which shuffles along sweetly with tons of lead guitar, squelchy synth line and sing-a-long chorus, has a brilliant breakdown in the middle, then comes back for more. This is going to smash it in the Summer. Over on side-B "Mr Wrong" is a dark, dubbed out 80s disco track, reminds me of Fashion 'Mutant Dance' although there are some nice guitar flecks which bring a bit of sunshine. Last up is "Black Women" which sounds like some lost 80s collaboration between Talk Talk and Grace Jones musically, groovy guitars, pianos and some big backing vocals.

A treasure trove of rare grooves you've probably never heard before -- all pulled from the tiny, but excellent, catalog of Montparnasse 2000, a super-hip French sound library label! Most of these tracks were never issued formally to the public -- only recorded to serve as backings in radio, TV, and commercial use -- but that doesn't stop them from being some really great funky grooves, especially as most of them were performed by some of France's best funky jazzmen of the time! There's a sweet 70s groove that bubbles through the whole set -- lots of funky drums, choppy guitar, sweet keyboards, and other classic instrumental touches -- and since the Montparnasse catalog has been virtually untapped until now, nearly every track is super-fresh to our ears!

Sweet funky fusion from France -- a classic set played by an all-star group of players! The groove here is a blend of choppy euro fusion, funky big band grooving, and some soulful touches that remind us of some of the funky jazz coming out of the west coast during the 70s. A few cuts have some really great female vocals, scatting away with a warm and jazzy sound, but overall the set's mostly instrumental -- and features players that include Ivan Jullien, Didier Lockwood, Claud Delcloo, Andre Ceccarelli, and Francois Jenneau. Titles include "City Life", "It's So New" and "Sophie's Gift".

Really wonderful stuff -- a collection of totally unique grooves that won't cross over with any of your other African funk compilations! The focus here is on jazz, not funk or soul -- and the set features a wealth of great tracks pulled from obscure South African records of the late 70s and early 80s. Funky fusion is definitely in command here -- and the overall feel of the tracks is similar to some of the best European funky fusion of the 70s, fused with elements of African percussion and instrumentation -- creating a true crossover of styles that crackles with a freshness that will have you coming back to this one again and again! Most tracks are instrumental -- and the grooves here are a lot more complicated than on your average James Brown-inspired African funk tracks, a mix of strident modal modes, and other choppier funkier riff-heavy tunes. Plus, the whole thing's put together with the righteous intelligence of all the other Counterpoint titles -- with incredible sound and an approach that will easily take you to a whole new musical world!

Incredible funk from an almost-unlikely source -- the legendary P&P family of record labels, mostly known for their groundbreaking disco work -- but also home to some excellent funky tracks in the late 70s! Given that most of the focus on P&P reissues has often been on the label's club tracks, nearly all the tunes on this LP are reissued here for the first time -- offering a completely fresh look at the sound of P&P -- making the collection a totally essential set, and long overdue! Many of the tracks are instrumental, and have touches that clearly mark them as coming from the hands of Peter Brown or Patrick Adams -- nice spacey bits in the keyboards, wickedly snapping rhythms at the bottom, and an overall sense of groove that's always yearning for something new.

African rhythms, jazzy instrumentation, rock inspiration, and a motherlode of funky sound library grooves from two of the best British maestros working in the business! The album's an early 70s gem from the KPM catalog -- one of the most sought-after records ever issued by the label -- and like the rest, never really made for public sale back at the time! Despite that humble origin, though, the grooves here are right up there with the funkiest work coming out from that side of the Atlantic at the time -- a brilliant post-colonial blend of acoustic percussion, electric keyboards, and a fair bit of fuzzy guitar -- all presented with a stripped-down, no-nonsense approach to the rhythms that's often funkier than work by some of the bigger names in the genre. ("Swamp Fever" by John Cameron)

The onslaught of Sitar Funk continues -- with 5 exellent bits of funky Indian, all served up in one totally smashing vinyl EP! The grooves here are very much in the best brownsploitation mode -- mixing together sitar-heavy instrumentation with some deeper, more American styled funky backings -- and a few of the cuts on the album are edits from longer numbers, keeping a focus on the best funky sides of the tunes! ("Dharmatma Theme Music" by Kalyanji Anandji)

The Sitar Beat crew have done it again -- and come up with a great selection of classic funky Indian tunes! The package is lean on notes -- and doesn't even have a proper cover -- but it more than makes up for that loss with a great batch of tracks lifted right out of the brownsploitation era! The set's got 4 core tracks -- "Orchestral Music" by Raghunath Seth, "Aa Dekhen Jara" by RD Burman & Asha Bhosle, "Soul Sitar" by Sohail Rana, and "Dancing Drums" by Ananda Shankhar -- plus 2 more bonus beat sitar cuts!

India gets funky -- in this great set of rare tunes from the 70s -- a motherlode of cuts that make the most out of Indian music! Half the cuts are of European origin, the other half from India -- and they've got a great blend of beats, sitar, and other eastern touches. Titles include "Sitar Beat" by Klaus Doldinger, "Meri Aakohn Mein (edit)" by Sapan Jagmohan, "Dum Maro Dum (live)" by Asha Bhosle & RD Burman, "Psychastenie" and "New Delire" by Serge Gainsbourg, and "Mathar (7 inch edit)" by Dave Pike. Also includes some nice bonus beats too! They forgot to put a proper cover on this one, but the front does have a sticker on a white sleeve.