September 18, 2004
More Sunny Ade.
The Nigerian graphic designers who worked on these Sunny Ade sleeves were truly masters of the form. I'd attempt to spin some pseudo narrative around these like I did the previos batch but Matos would almost certainly catch me out like he did last time. "Check E" I read raved over by Robert Christagau in a Village Voice column I picked up whilst over in NYC last year (maybe I'll manage to come over again in the next few years). Unlike the Juju Music/Synchro System/Aura Island records it's a peak-period domestic Nigerian issue. Almost as great as "The Message", and that's saying something, the steel guitar as predictably electrifying. I paid c$10 for this at the Music and Video Exchange! What is it with people's failure to see beyond Afro-Beat? Doh!
This one is definitely a few years younger than the rest (catalogue number SALPS36), is lavish and spacey sounding with drum machine to the fore. Widely touted as his classic recording. Got this for $15 from cdandlp.com (which is great if you haven't checked it out) On the strength of these sleeves you'd think all the Sunny Ade records were lovely looking, but no, there's a whole slew of white covers with bad typography and ropey photography; records like "Jealousy". I'm tempted to think that those releases aren't up to the same standards as the ones shown here.
Posted by Woebot at September 18, 2004 07:53 AM