Jandek's brought the creamed collards, Space Lady delivered her out-of-this-world carrot soufflé, Lonnie Holley perfected his cranberry glazed sweet potatoes, Ernst Herbeck was all over the stuffing, and Daniel Johnston carved up a deep-fried, bacon-wrapped turkey that is literally illegal for health reasons in more than three-dozen counties.
Launched in 2004 by the mysterious Los Angelean Mr. Fab, Music for Maniacs promised: "Incorrect music, all that is bad, wrong, weird, or even illegal ..." and has been delivering on that promise ever since.
From physician-penned ditties about bacterial vaginosis to Beatles albums from alternate dimensions to, literally, heaps of Zoogz Rift tracks, Mr. Fab has been bothering normal people (and delighting the rest of us) every Maniacal Monday through Filthy Friday.
On Wednesday, November 19, Bodega Pop Live on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio celebrated this pioneering and enduring vault of unusual sonic delights with a mash-up of our own and Mr. Fab's favorite tracks from M4M's deepest recesses.
Grab the whole album here Ihiagwa is a Christian township of 8 villages a bit south of Owerri, the capital of Imo State (and former capital of Biafra). Obi Wuru Otu is the all-women dance group of the township, led by Maria Anokwuru. Their lead singer, on this album at least, is Rose Nzuruike. There are four tracks on this stunning CD, two of which top 15 minutes a piece. I picked this up, along with I'm-really-not-quite-sure-how-many other terrific albums, at Blessing Udeagu, a copy shop and Nollywood DVD store in East Elmhurst that also sells used books and Christian and secular music from Nigeria in CD and VCD form. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I'll be devoting tonight's Bodega Pop Live episode to mostly Sub-Saharan African music, and in preparation, pulled the 60 to 70 related CDs I've managed to accumulate over the last couple of years off and out of my various shelves and plastic bins. And realized that, oh, gosh, I guess there's a lot I still haven't shared with you guys yet. Better late than never?
I found this lovely CD, along with a number of other pirated treasures, several years ago in a sort of drugstore / 99-cent emporium on White Plains Road somewhere between the 219 and 233 Street stops. I was on my way to Moodies Records and Tapes -- a semi-famous purveyor of reggae on vinyl, cassette and CD -- and noticed an African music store stop out the window of the elevated train.
Only one CD came home with me from the African music store -- a 1992 pop album by Yvonne Chaka Chaka -- but while walking up the street toward Moodies, I somehow noticed that this odd sort of mish-mash store had racks of CDs. A whole aisle of them. I had no idea where these CDs had come from, other than Africa. I think I assumed Nigeria, based solely on the fact that the only sub-Saharan African music I'd previously managed to stumble onto in my travels around the boroughs was Nigerian (found at Blessing Udeagu copy and DVD shop in East Elmhurst).
For some reason I never got around to uploading this and, in fact, had forgotten all about it until putting together tracks for tomorrow night's Bodega Pop Live show. When I heard it I dropped everything to share it with you. And, so, here we are.
On Wednesday, November 5, Bodega Pop Live on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio criss-crossed Everybody's Motherland, from Angola to Zimbabwe, spinning three ear-searing hours' worth of afrobeat rock hip-hop, psychedelic garage mbalax, poly-rhythmic punk soukous and so, so much more.
