Udu - Sound Of The People | Dig This Way Records

Udu - Sound Of The People

by Dig This Way Records

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Comes with a small insert home-made at Dig This Way Records Stables with original Love Records Stamp + a little description written by Chief Tony Okoroji

Includes unlimited streaming of Udu - Sound Of The People via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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€8 EUR or more
Full Digital Discography

37

releases

Get all 37 Dig This Way Records releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Alphonsus Idigo - Search, Dawchy - Bayè, Allo & Shanthi meet The Royal Horses - Call It Life, Narg Funk Machine - Black Beat Disco, Clive Matthews - Mama Afrika, Helen Nkume and Her Young Timers Band, BG & FIBRE - Roots Connection Special, Prince Bolingo Akaba & His Obubu Sound of Uokha - Airende, and 29 more. , and , .

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1.	Sound Of The People 07:01	buy track
2.	The Chant 07:35	buy track
3.	NNE 04:12	buy track
4.	New Bride Song 09:15	buy track
5.	Nwanyalubi 05:30	buy track
6.	Uchuluchu 04:53	buy track

about

“Ladies and Gentlemen open your ears and Listen to the Sound of the People… for here comes Udu… Udu… Udu… Udu… Udu…”

We are pleased to announce the reissue of Udu’s sole LP “Sound of the People” originally released on Love Records (Nigeria) in 1976. The band took their name from the Igbo word for a large clay jug normally used to carry water. The jug has a regular opening at the top with an additional hole on the side. In addition to being used to carry water the jug was also played by Igbo women in traditional ceremonies.

It was in Lagos the Udu trio met musician, producer and owner of Love Records Alex Tony Okoroji. The debut release on the label is Alex Tony Okoroji’s own LP Super Sure (Love Records, 1976). Today, Chief Tony Okoroji is a legend of the Nigerian music scene, but back in 1976, just like Udu, he was just starting his recording career…

Both the Udu and the Alex Tony Okoroji records where recorded at legendry Arc Studio in Lagos. A studio facility initiated by Cream drummer Ginger Baker in 1972, eventually opening in January 1973. The engineers who worked on the Udu recordings had previously worked on a number of Fela Kuti Records (No Bread, Expensive Shit, Everything Scatter); whilst production and writing duties were in the hands of Alex Tony Okoroji…

All of the tracks have a fairly loose, almost conversational arrangement both in the music and the lyrical delivery… For the most part the pace is relatively laid back… it’s by no means chilled-out… there’s always an element of movement…

Four of the six tracks have an unexpected and subtle dance floor air: “The Chant", "Sound Of The People", “Nwanyalubi” and "New Bride Song" all have a fairly distinct and uniquely hypnotic build that once you get is seriously foot friendly from a sunrise perspective.

It would be easy to say the record is psychedelic, but at times that’s an overused term for a broad spectrum of music which suggests something, but doesn’t define anything in detail… it might be better in this instance to suggest the record has an other-worldly ambience, folk in essence and potentially devotional from a regional perspective; something possibly alluded to in the both the bands’ name and the title of the record… whatever musical genres the record crosses it’s a genuine shame that it’s taken just over 40 years to reach the ears of a wider audience outside of the few people who would have heard the record at the time…

Answering the question as to why the record has remained so unknown until now… although the record was recorded at Arc Studios, it was released on a fledgling independent label… in addition, musically speaking, the record doesn’t fit easily to one of the popular genres of the period. It may have been too subtle for the time and the place… falling through the cracks between Afro-Rock and Afro-Funk…

(To read the full Review written by our friend John Stewart check our FB Page!)

credits

released September 21, 2020

Produced by Tony Okoroji

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Dig This Way Records Italy

italian independent label born with the idea to dig out the best underground and forgotten music from Africa and expanding our project to new music productions

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