Help Yourself to this!

Yes, I said I was going to put those auctions up on Monday. And yet, today is Thursday and there are nowhere to be found.

"My bad," is all I can say... Computer problems and other technical issues (as well as a good measure of busyness and yes--I admit--a smidgeon of good old-fashioned sloth) hamstrung me for a little while, but the auctions will be up by 3 pm ET tomorrow, I promise!

For now, I'm gonna hit you with a little preview track from the new Nigeria Special compilation.

Mind you, when I say "the new Nigeria Special compilation," I speak not of the collection that came out last month but the one that is coming out next week.

Talk about being spoiled for riches--I've been grooving out on the first part for the past month, and only last week did I start really seriously listening to disc 2! (True talk: I once spent like two whole days just listening to the Sahara All Stars Band of Jos's sublime but too, too short rendition of "Feso Jaiye" in a continuous loop!)

So yeah, it's almost overwhelming to think that before I'm even halfway through completely digesting the compilation, a piping hot second helping is already on the way!

And I do mean "hot"... As we have come to expect from Soundway, it's a solid set of tracks that are both hard and hard to find: I have no idea how Miles digs up these obscure LPs and lost 45s by forgotten artists. (I mean, Jay-U Experience? Voices of Darkness? And who knew SJOB Movement released a second album? Not me!)

The track I'm previewing over here is by an artist who is much less obscure, though the album this is taken from (1976's Tell My Girl) is less remembered these days and has been appearing on collectors' want lists these days.

(I might be putting a copy of the album up for sale tomorrow, by the way. We'll see.)

Bongos Ikwue & the Groovies - "You've Gotta Help Yourself"

So yeah... Help yourself to some of this disco funk on April 1 (March 31 in Europe)!

Oh yes... I nicked this link from Matsuli: Miles on the Belgian Beyondjazz.net podcast, playing some selections from Nigeria Special and talking about the soul-crushingly tragic destruction of a whole heap of great Nigerian music from the 1960s and 70s. Check it out here.

So... Did you get your Nigeria Special yet?

Yes, this long-awaited CD compilation finally dropped last week and I meant to blog about it then too... But you might have noticed that I haven't really had the chance to post anything on this page for a while now. I've been spreading the word in other forums both on- and offline, though; so... did you all go out and cop it like I advised you to?

Believe it or not, but I haven't even gotten a copy myself yet! By the time I got to the record store on Thursday, they were S-O-L-D out! They said they're getting some more in by the end of this week, as well as the vinyl edition. I went ahead and reserved two sets of vinyl (the compilation is offered either as a double CD or as two gatefold double LPs). Traditionally I've never been the type who constantly insists on getting doubles on everything, but over the past year or so I have somewhat developed that habit. And hey... All Soundway's releases are so singularly dope and so beautifully packaged, you know that every single one of them is a collector's item in waiting!

So in the meantime, I'm just grooving to all the audio samples on the Nigerial Special site while I wait for my records to arrive.

Man, I cannot wait for Nigeria Rock Special and Nigeria Disco Funk Special to drop in the next couple of months... It feels good to remain excited about going to the record store even as bloggers proclaim the brick & mortar music emporium a thing of the past. Best believe that as long as labels like Soundway, Oriki, Analog Africa, Numero Group and Stones Throw keep on dishing out that good gravy, I'm gonna stay buying music no matter how antiquated that concept might seem in this brave new world!

Here's an ethereal taste, courtesy of our friend Timjim:

Celestine Ukwu - "Okwukwe Na Nchekwube"

Enjoy!