It took three years for the Summer of Love to reach Nigeria, kept at bay by bloody, deadly civil war. But when it finally landed in 1970, it hit full force, sweeping the old highlife music aside. The young fell in love with '60s Western rock, funk and, above all, the electric guitar. They shoved the Beatles, James Brown, the San Francisco Sound, and everything else Western they could find into a blender, and what came out are the sounds here, madness and glorious mayhem, all topped by guitars. Lots of guitars. With six strings and an amp, a young man in Lagos could feel like a king, and everyone wanted the crown. So many people wanted to strap on an axe and let rip, in fact, that the bands were forced to scavenge older drummers from the highlife bands.

Sometimes the sounds they make are just short, wild bursts of fretboard anarchy, as with Colomach and "Ottoto Shamoleda." But even when there's plenty of shape and form to a song, it's as if the bands are having to restrain their guitar players from going over the top — and they don't always succeed. Sometimes, as with Reme Izabo's Music… read more »