I’m about to take a page from Anthony Fantano’s playbook of being the “Internet’s busiest music nerd,” which is a title that makes me cringe and laugh at the same time (long story short, I don’t like Fantano whatsoever; even when I first got into music, as well as being a critic, I never liked him. I always thought he was the epitome of the stuffy, pretentious, and snarky critic that hated everything, as well as had to be super judgemental about everything. The stuff that he did like, however, was practically unlistenable and inaccessible garbage that no normal person would give two shits about, but I’m getting way off topic), because I’ll be talking about a very obscure artist and record today. That would be 1980’s Aleke by Nigerian afro-funk / jazz-funk artist Aleke Kanonu. Good thing that I don’t make videos, because that would be a bitch to pronounce, huh? Anyway, I’m sure everyone reading this is like, “Huh? Who’s that,” and you’d be right to say that, because if you talked to me just a few weeks ago, I would have said the same thing. I was looking up some funk music on Bandcamp, and I came across this LP. I thought that it might be worth looking into, because I’ve always kind of wanted to get into jazz-funk. It would be good to talk about something a bit more obscure, as well as out of my wheelhouse, because going out of your comfort zone can be a good thing sometimes. This album just got reissued by a record label in Europe, which is how I was able to get a copy of it, but I thought the album would be interesting to listen to, because it’s different for me. Maybe I’d like it, maybe I wouldn’t, but it would be worth listening to, either way. That’s the risk that you take with going out of your comfort zone, for better or worse. Hell, I’d say that it’s always a good thing to go out of your comfort zone, but it’s not just because that you might find some stuff that you end up liking. It’s because that you’ll have a better understanding of what you like or dislike.
When it comes to this LP, well, I don’t know how I feel about it. I’ve given Aleke a handful of listens, and this is one of those albums that I just don’t know how I feel, because there are things I like about it, and things I don’t like about it, but I’m not sure where I fall. Let’s start with what I don’t like, because it’s good to get the negatives out of the way first. The main thing that I don’t like is how experimental it is. I mean, I knew that going in, as this LP is a jazz-funk album. It’s very free-flowing, and while it’s short, it’s very long-winded. This LP is 38 minutes, but it’s only four songs. Every song is around ten minutes long, give or take, and while they’re interesting, unique, and jazzy, I can’t say that I’m too crazy about them. They’re good songs, and I enjoy the album, but it’s not an album that I want to keep coming back to, because it’s relatively weird, unique, and off the wall, just not in an accessible or immediate way. At the same time, though, yeah, it’s unique, different, and interesting, because it’s more in the vein of world music. It’s got an African sound to it, and that’s cool, but it’s something I’m not used to. That doesn’t mean it’s bad whatsoever, but I can’t say that I’m digging this too much. Maybe I guess I don’t really care for this too much, but I do like it. It’s not bad by any means, and it’s a really interesting album from a very obscure artist that only released a couple of albums, if not just this one. I just don’t know to recommend this to, because this isn’t for the most casual funk fans, especially those that enjoy 70s funk at its height, and it’s not for people that don’t listen to that kind of music, either, because it’s really weird and different. I mean, I guess if you want something different, off the wall, or just plain weird, this is worth a listen. I don’t know how you’ll feel about it, but it’s worth a listen, regardless.
