The late Fela Kuti was such a larger-than-life cultural supernova that it is very easy to forget that a host of other excellent Afrobeat bands spawned in his wake.  Of course, the comparative obscurity cloaking the rest of that scene was also not helped by the fact that virtually none of Nigeria’s other hot bands from that period ever had their albums released outside of their native country (or even reissued once the boom had ended).  On this, the fourth installment of Soundway’s Nigeria Special series, indefatigable curator Miles Claret sets out to redress that injustice (and assemble another great album in the process).

20 years ago I got my first taste of Meat Beat Manifesto in the form of Armed Audio Warfare. In the early 1990s, I knew DJs and collectors who had some of the early Sweatbox singles, but for most of my friends the Meat Beat odyssey began with this disc that served as the group's sort-of debut album. The history behind Armed Audio Warfare's release and subsequent reissues is full of mishaps and misspellings, track-listing gaffs and questions about what might have been. Now, 20 years later, I'm going back over the MBM discography to remember why it worked so well for me back in the day, and how it holds up now.

Looking back, it has only been a bit over a year since the Greyfield Shrines LP, my first exposure to these guys, yet in that year I’ve heard as significant amount of development and change in their work.  While that release was reminiscent of the intentionally minimalist drone of Sunn O))), subsequent work has brought in greater elements of noise, electronic music, and post-punk alternative.  This LP is perhaps the ultimate culmination of that, being released by no less than four labels and featuring guest appearances from members of Bloodyminded, Nachtmystium, Yakuza, and Velnias.

The announcement of Yellow Swans' dissolution last spring was a very disappointing one for many, as the duo were very firmly entrenched as one of the leading lights of the North American noise scene.  Their final album together makes for a strong end to an impressive career, yet it displays a degree of evolution that is unexpected for a band at the end of their life.  The band has certainly come a long way from their more unrestrained roots, but it seems like that trajectory may have continued still further if allowed.  Obviously, vanishing in style with enticing hints of still more unrealized potential to come is an admirable feat of showmanship, but it is also a frustrating one.

A Young Person's Guide to Kyle Bobby Dunn is the first record from Kyle that I have really loved. Built in part from songs featured on his 2009 album, Fervency, Dunn's latest adds a second disc of all new songs, which fit together perfectly and emphasize his unique approach to orchestral ambience and soundtrack music. Where I heard apprehension and hesitation in his music before, I now hear more confidence and a greater willingness to experiment.

The death of Jack Rose in December brought a premature end to a career that was just getting started. His last album covers nearly every aspect of his repertoire, from ragtime to country-blues to his signature long-form guitar ragas.  While it should not be taken as a last testament, Luck in the Valley contains the stylistic and expressive breadth that defined Rose's life as an artist.

With a slew of vinyl releases in their backcatalog, this is the first digital release for the enigmatic ultra-minimalist electronic project, formed to pay tribute to the titans of drone such as La Monte Young, Pauline Oliveros, and Charlemagne Palestine.  Their approach definitely demonstrates their lineage, but it is never derivative or stale.  The result is a beautifully sparse tapestry of analog electronics, which is both enhanced and slightly hindered by the purely digital medium.

The dichotomy at work through Kyle Parker's exquisite new album rivals the highest peaks of heaven and the lowest valleys of Hades. Mixing a bit of congestion within his soaring pieces, Parker—under the pseudonym Infinite Body—produces an album that borrows just as much from his noisier past as it does from Classical and Baroque masters long forgotten amidst the digital age.

Declaimed in a number of pompous and unhelpful reviews for mostly unintelligible or contradictory reasons, Marc Nguyen Tan's second full-length as Colder is, in reality, a dark and seductive electronic record with virtues to spare. Whether updating the anthemic possibilities of new wave or cross-breeding fake jazz with dub and cold motorik, Heat exudes a cool, sophisticated, and infinitely accessible atmosphere that is entirely unique to it.

This live LP (and download for those inclined) picks up where previous live albums left off and show another side to Will Oldham’s work. Other live albums showcased his rock and folk inclinations but here his music sounds like it belongs on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry rather than in the clubs he usually frequents. Wonderfully performed and perfectly captured, Funtown Comedown sees Oldham push further into a mainstream country sound like he did on last year’s Beware (though strangely includes no songs from that album here). However, his charm and larger than life character still come through strongly.

Hardcore CV fans and anyone who's a connoisseur of “classic” industrial are always quick to cite this as one of the zeniths of the genre, and it isn’t a claim that should be taken lightly.  One of the darkest records ever made, it acts as the Maggot Brain to The Conversation’s Mothership Connection:  it’s like when P-Funk were hanging with the Process Church and writing songs about finding decaying corpses of dead friends.

The meeting of one of Sweden’s premiere drone noise collective and the electronic duo featuring the king of Elgaland-Vargaland produced this single track where no input mixing boards dual with amplified rakes and found instruments to produce an expansive drone piece that isn’t afraid to get messy.

Since his recent reemergence, Matthew Bower has been more than happy to continue pushing his venerable project further and further into raw noise territory while bringing in a fair share of black metal influenced chaos to bolster the already maxed out volume levels.  Here is roughly 100 minutes of pure feedback worship and dedication to distortion pedals.  However, there’s none of the noise rock tendencies of Xaman or IIIrd Gatekeeper, for better or worse.

Unlike previous solo efforts, here Baker is flanked by a concentrated orchestra, propelling his demur drones into consonant and complete compositions. The result is an album of staggering growth as Baker explores the elegant side of drone and the filth of classical percussion and strings that not only established Baker as an innovator but as a inventive curator of drone and its many variants.

The first part of an expected trilogy devoted to iconic advances in technology, this marked the beginning of new stage in Jóhann Jóhannsson's career.  While already established as an acclaimed composer at the time of its release in 2006, IBM 1401 was a bold leap forward in both concept and scale from all that preceded it.  Although it was later eclipsed by the stone-cold instant classic that followed (2008's Fordlândia), it nevertheless remains a haunting, visionary, and unexpectedly personal work in its own right.

I long ago abandoned hope of a new Gil Scott-Heron record. Yet here it is: a delicate, intense, skeletal testament to his history, progress and survival. He covers Robert Johnson, Bill Callahan, and Brook Benton but this is a deeply personal album from which we all can draw hope; a beautifully convincing snapshot of an artist very much unbowed.

Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert’s New Order side project began very promisingly with the popular and critically acclaimed single "Tasty Fish" in 1990, but the collapse of Factory left the duo in label limbo.  Three years later, this (the duo’s debut album) finally got released to lukewarm reviews and sales.  Now that LTM has finally reissued it, I can confidently state that its unenthusiastic reception was entirely warranted.  There are a number of remixes optimistically appended to this expanded edition to prop up the weaker songs, but they cannot hide the fact that this is a pretty bland effort (three versions of “Tasty Fish” aside).

The songs on Atlan have a spore like potency. While listening I get a feeling in the back of my brain that they are somehow reawakening the old and sleeping powers of the earth. It is an album that reaffirms for me that the roots of music are often to be found in the otherworld. With his unique ability to seamlessly bridge the primordial with the contemporary Soriah returns the first instrument known to humankind –the voice- to a place of high honor. As a Tuvan throat singer highly skilled in overtone chanting Soriah shows that the voice is also one of the best instruments for creating sustained drones. When combined with Ashkelon Sain’s adept hand at electronic effects the result is nothing short of stunning.

It is difficult to acknowledge S U R V I V E’s new album without touching on the hype surrounding it. Half of the Austin band, Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, are responsible for the soundtrack to Stranger Things, which has received significant attention. But the fact of the matter is that the band (also featuring Adam Jones of Troller and Mark Donica) has been composing synth heavy film score work for years now, and while they are completely deserving of the attention their work is now receiving, RR7349 would be just as amazing of a record without the hype surrounding their extracurricular activities.

Multimedia artist Steve Roden has stated that his work often begins with the product of some other artist, and becomes a jumping off point for him to create his own inspired work. "Distance Piece," the audio component of Striations presented here, was part of a larger body of work inspired by an unfinished sculpture by his grandmother. The audio portion that makes up this disc may lose a bit in the translation from its overall conceptual framework, but still makes for a strong work on its own.