What I Heard This Morning: Seun Kuti and Egypt 80
Admittedly late in the game on African music demigod Fela Kuti's offspring, Seun Kuti, I received this press release regarding his next album, From Africa With Fury: Rise, and Brian Eno's involvement caught my attention. Although I didn't find any songs from the upcoming release, I checked out "Many Things" which is the title track from Seun's 2008 album. This could be one of those rare instances when the typicality of a son's wish to follow in daddy's footsteps proves advantageous and somehow Seun sounds capable of making his own mark.
Via Sure Shot PR:
Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 - From Africa With Fury: Rise
Released by Because Music on 4th April
UK tour begins on 13th April
“This is what Afrobeat is all about and if I could give the album 10 stars I would – it’s absolutely superb.” Michael de Koningh. Record Collector *****
Seun Anikulapo Kuti will release From Africa With Fury: Rise on Because Music on the 4th April 2011.
At just 27 years of age, the album sees Kuti finding his own idiosyncratic voice as songwriter, singer, and band leader, heading up Egypt 80, the extraordinary combo first fronted by his renowned father, Fela Kuti. The album follows Seun Kuti’s critically praised debut, 2008’s Many Things, which was unanimously hailed for continuing Kuti’s musical legacy.
The mighty From Africa With Fury: Rise is produced by Brian Eno, John Reynolds and Seun himself, with additional production by Godwin Logie. Eno – an avowed fan – has nothing but the highest praise for Seun and his band, hailing them for “making some of the biggest, wildest, livest music on the planet." Co-producer Reynolds (whose work as musician, producer, and mixer spans such artists as Sinéad O’Connor, U2, and Natacha Atlas) agrees, applauding Kuti and Egypt 80’s distinctive Afrobeat as “a musical adrenaline rush.”
Seun is happy to return the compliments: “Brian Eno is ‘Brian Eno’ for a reason. He has a great mind when it comes to music. He adds new dimensions to the sound. He showed me new ways of opening up the sound I’d never have thought of on my own. Not to downplay the work of John Reynolds, who is an incredible producer. I’m really glad I had them work on the album.”
“What inspires me is the time that I live in,” Seun says. “Basically what is happening today in Africa are the same things that were happening 40 years ago, when my father was songwriting, but they’re happening in different ways.
Sadly, Seun finds himself challenging many of the same injustices his father fought in his heyday, from corporate greed to militaristic leaders to the ever-futile war on drugs. Perhaps the album’s most unequivocal battle cry is the blistering “Rise,” in which Kuti impels listeners to fight “the petroleum companies” that “use our oil to destroy our land,” “the diamond companies” that “use our brothers as slaves for the stone,” and “companies like “Monsanto and Halliburton” which “use their food to make my people hungry.” But where Fela’s work often featured an explicit call to revolution, Seun’s goal is subtler. He sees his role as that of an educator, speaking truth to power in order to provoke awareness and debate throughout his beloved homeland.
“In Africa today, most people are struggling in silence,” Seun says. “The systematic oppression of the people has made them blinded to their reality. Everybody’s just thinking about survival. Nobody wants to stand up for anything, everybody just wants to tow the line. So I’m trying to make people think about these things that they are forgetting. I want to inspire people to want things to change.”
Watch a documentary about Seun Kuti his father Fela Kuti and the origins of Afrobeat here:
http://www.pbs.org/soundtracks/stories/black/
http://www.facebook.com/seunkuti
www.myspace.com/seunkuti
Africa Soul Rebels Special
Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 and Donso
TOUR DATES APRIL 2011
Weds 13th LONDON - Royal Festival Hall 0844 875 0073 / www.southbankcentre.co.uk
Fri 15th NORTHAMPTON - Royal & Derngate 01604 624811 / royalandderngate.co.uk
Sat 16th EDINBURGH - Usher Hall 0131 228 1155 / usherhall.co.uk
Mon 18th MANCHESTER - The Ritz 0161 907 9000 / www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk
Tues 17th BANGOR - Prichard - Jones Hall 01248 382558 / www.theticketfactory.com
Tues 19th BRISTOL - Colston Hall 0117 922 3686 / colstonhall.org
Weds 20th BASINGSTOKE - The Anvil 01256 844244 / anvilarts.org.uk
Thurs 21st POOLE - Lighthouse 0844 406 8666 / lighthousepoole.co.uk
www.musicbeyondmainstream.co.uk
Sincerely,
Letters From A Tapehead
Via Sure Shot PR:
Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 - From Africa With Fury: Rise
Released by Because Music on 4th April
UK tour begins on 13th April
“This is what Afrobeat is all about and if I could give the album 10 stars I would – it’s absolutely superb.” Michael de Koningh. Record Collector *****
Seun Anikulapo Kuti will release From Africa With Fury: Rise on Because Music on the 4th April 2011.
At just 27 years of age, the album sees Kuti finding his own idiosyncratic voice as songwriter, singer, and band leader, heading up Egypt 80, the extraordinary combo first fronted by his renowned father, Fela Kuti. The album follows Seun Kuti’s critically praised debut, 2008’s Many Things, which was unanimously hailed for continuing Kuti’s musical legacy.
The mighty From Africa With Fury: Rise is produced by Brian Eno, John Reynolds and Seun himself, with additional production by Godwin Logie. Eno – an avowed fan – has nothing but the highest praise for Seun and his band, hailing them for “making some of the biggest, wildest, livest music on the planet." Co-producer Reynolds (whose work as musician, producer, and mixer spans such artists as Sinéad O’Connor, U2, and Natacha Atlas) agrees, applauding Kuti and Egypt 80’s distinctive Afrobeat as “a musical adrenaline rush.”
Seun is happy to return the compliments: “Brian Eno is ‘Brian Eno’ for a reason. He has a great mind when it comes to music. He adds new dimensions to the sound. He showed me new ways of opening up the sound I’d never have thought of on my own. Not to downplay the work of John Reynolds, who is an incredible producer. I’m really glad I had them work on the album.”
“What inspires me is the time that I live in,” Seun says. “Basically what is happening today in Africa are the same things that were happening 40 years ago, when my father was songwriting, but they’re happening in different ways.
Sadly, Seun finds himself challenging many of the same injustices his father fought in his heyday, from corporate greed to militaristic leaders to the ever-futile war on drugs. Perhaps the album’s most unequivocal battle cry is the blistering “Rise,” in which Kuti impels listeners to fight “the petroleum companies” that “use our oil to destroy our land,” “the diamond companies” that “use our brothers as slaves for the stone,” and “companies like “Monsanto and Halliburton” which “use their food to make my people hungry.” But where Fela’s work often featured an explicit call to revolution, Seun’s goal is subtler. He sees his role as that of an educator, speaking truth to power in order to provoke awareness and debate throughout his beloved homeland.
“In Africa today, most people are struggling in silence,” Seun says. “The systematic oppression of the people has made them blinded to their reality. Everybody’s just thinking about survival. Nobody wants to stand up for anything, everybody just wants to tow the line. So I’m trying to make people think about these things that they are forgetting. I want to inspire people to want things to change.”
Watch a documentary about Seun Kuti his father Fela Kuti and the origins of Afrobeat here:
http://www.pbs.org/soundtracks/stories/black/
http://www.facebook.com/seunkuti
www.myspace.com/seunkuti
Africa Soul Rebels Special
Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 and Donso
TOUR DATES APRIL 2011
Weds 13th LONDON - Royal Festival Hall 0844 875 0073 / www.southbankcentre.co.uk
Fri 15th NORTHAMPTON - Royal & Derngate 01604 624811 / royalandderngate.co.uk
Sat 16th EDINBURGH - Usher Hall 0131 228 1155 / usherhall.co.uk
Mon 18th MANCHESTER - The Ritz 0161 907 9000 / www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk
Tues 17th BANGOR - Prichard - Jones Hall 01248 382558 / www.theticketfactory.com
Tues 19th BRISTOL - Colston Hall 0117 922 3686 / colstonhall.org
Weds 20th BASINGSTOKE - The Anvil 01256 844244 / anvilarts.org.uk
Thurs 21st POOLE - Lighthouse 0844 406 8666 / lighthousepoole.co.uk
www.musicbeyondmainstream.co.uk
Sincerely,
Letters From A Tapehead
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