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elcome to the Digital Meltd0wn Music Blog. The aim of this blog is to introduce the readers to music that is out of print, commercially unavailable, released under a creative commons license, or with approval by the featured artist. The majority of the music posted here would be considered underground. Don't let that fool you into thinking that the music featured here might be any less enjoyable than that of the mainstream artists you hear on the radio, as this couldn't be further from the truth. Please keep in mind that the majority of the artists that appear on this blog, along with their respective record labels, are not wealthy and need your support. If you enjoy the material that you find here, please support the artists/labels by purchasing their material afterwards. If you are an artist/label that would prefer to have your material removed from this blog, simply leave me a comment, and I would be more than happy to promptly remove the offending post. In addition to running this blog, I also work on a few other projects during my spare time. You can find links to those, as well as a few other important links associated with Digital Meltd0wn in the menu bar above.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Ofo The Black Company - Allah Wakbarr/Beautiful Daddy 7" Single

By Request, this post was reuploaded 01/17/2015. NØ 



I had every intention to move on from the African music, and then I happened across this amazing 7", which I couldn't resist sharing. It was originally released in 1972 on the Decca records label. Both tracks are great, but the A-side track "Allah Wakbarr" is absolutely stunning, and the obvious star here. The track begins with some pure funk riffage, backed by a low groovy African beat, with chants thrown in for good measure. Just as you are feeling the whole African vibe, the track erupts into raw psychedelic funk. It slowly builds with the beat becoming heavier and heavier, all the while accompanied by a nasty squealing guitar solo.

The B-side "Beautiful Daddy" is great, but doesn't match the sheer ferocity of "Allah Wakbarr". The first half of the track is straight forward afrobeat, but that raw electric guitar emerges in the latter half, climaxing in a dirty psyched out solo. The A-side track has been featured on several compilations, including "Nigeria 70: The Definitive Story of 1970's Funky Lagos". The liner notes for this compilation includes a bio of the group, for which information is very scarce:


Discovered by Decca's A&R man in Nigeria, David Bennett, they were one of countless student band's playing in Lagos during the 70's. This "crunching rock jam" recorded in 1972 was their earliest hit and became their best known track. Due to it's release in the UK they were invited to play in Berlin before travelling on to the UK. They were based there before undergoing a name change to Ofo The Rock Company and returning to Lagos in 1975.

Members:
Guitar: Toks Shotade
Drums/Percussion/Vocals; Larry (Lari?) Ifedioranma
Keyboards: Dele Olaseinde (ex "Clusters" & "Ofege")
Congas: Kingsley Obiche


I read on another website that the band released a live LP recorded from their European tour. I would love to get my hands on a copy of this if any of you could help out. I would also love to hear more music with a similar sound, so if any of you have recommendations, please leave a comment. This comes highly recommended. At 10MB, the file size is very small, so do yourself a favor and download this now.

Year of Release: 1972
Label: London / Decca
Genre: Afrobeat, Psychedelic Rock
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
1. Allah Wakbarr
2. Beautiful Daddy

Download: Ofo The Black Company - Allah Wakbarr/Beautiful Daddy 7" Single
Download Size: 16.6MB



10 comments:

Subcomandante Marcos said...

Good track - this is on the Luaka Bop's "World Psychedelic Classics 3: Love's a Real Thing", which is another great afro-rock comp.

Zer0_II said...

@Subcomandante Marcos: Thanks for the info. I'll have to check it out. Do you have any other recommendations? I was considering getting the "African Scream Contest" compilation. Do you know anything about it? Thank you once again for the recommendations.

Subcomandante Marcos said...

Hi, I've uploaded that compilation I mentioned:
http://rapidshare.com/files/168343939/lart.rar pls feel free to share this on the blog.

Another good afro-rock album that I like is by a group called Amanaz, crotchbat's blog has it.
Cheers

Subcomandante Marcos said...

Forgot some info..

I've not heard that 'African Scream Contest' comp, but the reviews I've read are good. There are links to be found (and torrents) if you want to listen to it..
http://www.bluefame.com/index.php?showtopic=123708&mode=threaded

and

http://www.mininova.org/tor/1359675

Cheers!!

Zer0_II said...

Thanks once again for the info Marcos. Cheers!

Zer0_II said...

excellent article. Thanks for the work

Anonymous said...

Zero thanx for this gem. And Macros , thanx for the links, I like this genre so much, but it is so hard to find.

Anonymous said...

Ola, what's up amigos? :)
In first steps it's very good if someone supports you, so hope to meet friendly and helpful people here. Let me know if I can help you.
Thanks and good luck everyone! ;)

Anonymous said...

Reupload please?

Guitarradeplastico,scraping oddities said...

many thanks