Segun Bucknor

Segun Bucknor was a popular musician in Nigeria around about the turn of the '70s. Thanks to the tremendous contemporary interest in the time and place, Vampisoul has issued a major retrospective of his work. Despite containing two discs, it's pretty slight. The running time barely cracks a single disc's length, and too many of the tracks are simply second-tier. Most of this material represents capable fusions of the influences in West Africa at the time: soul music, a touch of psych and electric instruments modernizing traditional rhythms. However, even the liner notes admit that Bucknor's oeuvre was only modestly successful compared to both the vision and execution of Fela Kuti, whom Bucknor briefly bested in popularity. Most of these tracks are drawn from one album, so the crate digging is a bit lacking. More to the point: this is only a decent selection of an above-average talent, with songs like "Son Of January 15th" clearly rising above soul knockoff. At least the package is attractive and informative.