Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 have minted a brilliant new label this month, bringing live production to wax through the Night Dreamer label. The band improvised and reinterpreted four tracks from last year’s Black Times LP, recording in one take straight to the acetate. No overdubs, no post-production; just how we like it.
If Discogs hosted dating profiles mine would read something along the lines of “Likes: raw, live, improvised, one-offs. Dislikes: overproduction, records that all sound the same, crappy generic plugin tunes.” I’ve been married for a while now so my assumption on how dating apps works might be way off here but you get the idea. ‘Overproduced’ remains my constant complaint of most music. Too much of it all sounds the same.
It’s a criticism that you can’t make of Seun Kuti & Egypt 80. Black Times was the fourth LP he recorded with the band inherited from his father, having matured as their bandleader, singer and saxophonist across the last 22 years. His most political to date, arguably his widest-reaching and the best display yet of his own talent.
Afrobeat is music to make you move. It will always have it’s roots based in revolution. As a form of expression it’s designed to be experienced live. Fela pioneered this sound to the world through his live performances and differentiated himself within the style by being able to capture that raw, live energy in the studio as well. The closer you can get to that live experience the better.
Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 capture that spirit. And the Direct-t0-Disc series has enabled them to take it even further within the confines of a studio.
The process went something like this. Day 1: Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 arrive at Artone Studios in Haarlem and do some sound checks. Day two: the band cuts four tracks in one session. The record was then rushed downstairs to the Record Industry pressing plant to be galvanised.
The EP marks the beginning of the Night Dreamer label and their direct-to-disc journey. Already announced for next year is an acoustic album from Seu Jorge, UK/Indian percussionist Sarathy Korwar, and a session by Turkish psych outfit BaBa ZuLa.
via Night Dreamer
Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 cut direct-to-disc session for Night Dreamer debut.
Seun Kuti, youngest son of afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, and leader of his father’s Egypt 80 band, entered the Artone Studio in Haarlem, Holland, earlier this year to cut a direct to disc session in a single take.
The first to be released on the Night Dreamer label, the session brought some of the foremost afrobeat musicians in the world together, many of whom cut their teeth playing with Fela himself.
Inheriting both his father’s musicality and political activism, Seun was only fourteen when his father died, and has played with the band for over twenty years, first as a singer and then as a saxophonist in his father’s mould.
For the Night Dreamer session, the band took a day to acclimatise themselves to the recording process, sound check levels, and perform a few test cuts, with Seun was the central figure throughout, orchestrating the band with the assurance of his father.
Playing without the safety of multiple takes, Seun and Egypt 80 cut all four tracks (two per side) in a single take without rehearsal on the second day, improvising with all the focus and relaxation of a band in the midst of a world tour.
The recordings were cut to the studio’s Neumann VMS70 lathe, capturing not just the urgency of the performance but the atmosphere of the session itself, with all its imperfections. A snapshot of a legendary outfit at the top of their game.