Various – The World Ends: Afro Rock & Psychedelia in 1970s Nigeria

In 1967, as Western teenagers were clearing their diaries for a summer of love, Nigerians were preparing for a far less peaceful revolution. The civil war ensured the 60s as we know it never happened in this part of West Africa, but when hostilities ended in 1970 exciting new forms of music took root.

The World Ends is a sort of African Nuggets, a collection of far-out rock and psychedelia from that era as translated by musicians who appropriated the sounds of the West into a style that took in Afrobeat, high-life, propulsive traditional rhythms and charged guitars. The result is a touching, funky and at times surprising 32 tracks that sound vaguely familiar yet utterly fresh.

There’s not much point mentioning individual artists – if you’ve heard of them, you’re probably pretty au fait with the 1970s Nigerian freak scene already. More than a historical curiosity, this is a soundgrab of a movement that transcends time and boundaries. [Euan Ferguson]