COLLECTION

CELLULOID: TRILOGY

 Disc one: New Africa 2
  1/  Casa Di Mansa (live)                       (I. & S. Toure)               5.37
        Toure Kunda
  2/  Toure Kunda                                (Ismalia Toure)               3.45
        Toure Kunda
  3/  Dewgal                                     (Suso)                        6.15
        Mandingo
  4/  Mr. Follow Follow                          (Kuti)                        6.38
        Fela Anikulapo Kuti
  5/  Electric Africa                            (Dibango)                     3.57
        Manu Dibango
  6/  Boat Peoples                               (Dibango,Turre,Wilson)        7.05
        Deadline
  7/  No Agreement                               (Kuti)                        7.24
        Fela Anikulapo Kuti

 Disc two: Hard Cell
  1/  World Destruction (remix)                  (Bambaataa,Laswell)           5.05
        Time Zone
  2/  Legs                                       (Massacre)                    2.04
        Massacre
  3/  Doriella Du Fontaine                       (Lightnin' Rod)               4.53
        Lightnin' Rod/Jimi Hendrix	
  4/  Makossa Rock                               (Dibango,Wilson,Laswell)      4.06
        Deadline
  5/  Omaha                                      (Spence)                      3.10
        Golden Palominos
  6/  1984                                       (Laswell)                     4.05
        Bill Laswell/Material
  7/  Two Sided Fist                             (Fier,Lindsay,Frith)          7.44
        Golden Palominos
  8/  Boy (Go)                                   (Fier,Harris,Stipe)           5.19
        Golden Palominos

 Disc three: Beat Freaks
  1/  Home of Hip Hop                            (Showard,Johnson)             3.50
        D.ST.
  2/  Get Movin                                  (Hadi,Worrell)                4.05
        The Last Poets
  3/  Zulu Groove                                (Material,Bambaataa)          4.14
        Shango
  4/  Mean Machine                               (Nuriddin,Showard)            4.41
        J.M.Nuriddin & D.ST.
  5/  For A Few Dollars More                     (Morricone)                   3.51
        Material
  6/  The Wildstyle                              (Bambaataa,Henderson)         4.58
        Time Zone
  7/  Change the Beat/Cairo Nights               (Material,Zekri)              3.43
        B-Side
  8/  What I Like (American Dreams)              (Material,Zekri,Fowler)       6.10
        Tribe 2
  9/  Megamix II (Why is it Fresh?)              (Showard)                     4.58
        D.ST.

          Recorded at various places
          Produced by various artists
Disc one: NEW AFRICA 2
(1) Ismalia, Sixu Tidiane & Ousmane Toure: vocals; Roger Chyco Dru: bass; Jean-Claude Bonaventure: guitar, synthesizer; Michael Billiez & Ben Belinga: saxophones; Michel Abissira: drums; Loy Ehrlich: piano, flute; Nabou Diop: vocals; (2) Ismalia, Sixu Tidiane & Ousmane Toure: vocals, percussion; Bernie Worrell: Prophet 5, synthesizer, fairlight CMI; Foday Muso Susa: kora, talking drum; Aiyb Dieng: chatan, cowbell, jimbe, percussion; Nicky Skopelitis & Jean-Claude Bonaventure: guitar; Roger Chyco Dru: bass; Michel Abissira: drums; Michael Billiez & Ben Belinga: saxophones; Nabou Diop: vocals; Alain "Loy" Ehrlich: piano; Lionel Jouot: trombone; Christian Martinez: trumpet; (3) Foday Musa Suso : kora, dousongoni, kalimba, talking drum, lead drums; Herbie Hancock: Yamaha DX-7; Joe Thomas: bass; Abdul Hakeen: guitar; Adam Rudolph: Hamid Drake: drums; Reymond Sillah: dundungo; Robin Robinson, Isatou Wlker & Nora Harris: background vocals; Aiyb Dieng: talking drum, chatan; (4) Fela Anikulapo Kuti: saxophone, keyboards, lead vocals w/ Africa 70; (5) Manu Dibango: saxophone, vocals; Herbie Hancock: Yamaha DX-7, piano; Bill Laswell: fairlight CMI, AMS; Aiyb Dieng: jimbe; Valerie Lobe & Brice Wouassy: drums, percussion; Joseph Kuo: Simmons drums; Jerry Malekani & Vincent Nguini: guitars; Francis Mbappe: bass, vocal; Florence Titty Dimbeng & Sissy Dipoko: vocals; Segona Peter Tholo: trumpet (6) Manu Dibango: tenor saxophone, voice; Bernie Worrell: synthesizer; Steve Turre: conch shells, didjeridu; Olu Dara: cornet, wood trumpet; Aiyb Dieng: congas, cowbell; Phillip Wilson: DMX, percussion; Bill Laswell: DMX, AMS; (7) Fela Anikulapo Kuti: lead vocals, saxophone, keyboards; Africa 70 featuring Lester Bowie on trumpet.

Disc two: HARD CELL
(1) Afrika Bambaataa & Johnny Lydon: vocals; Bill Laswell: bass, DMX; Bernie Worrell: synthesizer; Nicky Skopelitis: guitar; Aiyb Dieng: percussion; (2) Bill Laswell: bass; Fred Frith: guitar; Fred Maher: drums; (3) Lightnin' Rod: vocals; Jimi Hendrix: guitar, bass; Buddy Miles: drums, organ; (4) Manu Dibango: tenor saxophone; Bernie Worrell: synthesizer; Olu Dara: cornet; Steve Turre: Didjeridu; Paul Butterfield: harmonica; Jaco Pastorius: bass; Aiyb Dieng: talking drum, cowbell; Phillip Wilson: bass synthesizer, DMX, cymbals, balaphon; Bill Laswell: DMX, AMS; Robert Musso: processing; (5) Anton Fier: drums; Bill Laswell: bass; Henry Kaiser: guitar; Chris Stamey: guitar, backing vocals, piano; Michael Stipe: vocals; (6) Bill Laswell: DMX, turntables, records, tapes, shortwave radio; (7) Anton Fier: drums; Arto Lindsay: vocals; Fred Frith: guitar, violin; Bill Laswell: 4 and 6 string basses; Jamaaladeen Tacuma: Steinberger bass; David Moss: non-rythmic percussion; John Zorn: alto saxophone, clarinets, game calls; (8) Anton Fier: drums, DMX, Simmons drums; Bill Laswell: Steinberger bass; Jody Harris: guitars; Richard Thompson: lead guitar; Bernie Worrell: Hammond organ; Chris Stamey & Syd Straw: background vocals; Michael Stipe: vocals.

Disc three: BEAT FREAKS
(1) D.ST: turntables, keyboards, lead vocals; Bill (the mystic) Graves: bass guitar; Cedric C.J. Jones: percussion; John Shanks: power chords; Infinity feat. King Pin Shahiem, Godfather K.C., The Flyest Boo-ski: background vocals; Rahiem: echo rap; (2) Suliaman El Hadi: vocals; Bernie Worrell: synthesizer; Aiyb Dieng: chatan, cowbell; Bill Laswell: DMX, AMS; (3) Olu Dara: cornet; Craig Harris: trombone; Bill Laswell: bass, percussion; Michael Beinhorn: synthesizer, DMX; (4) Jalaluddin M. Nuriddin: vocals; D.ST.: vocals, DMX, synthesizers, turntables; Bernie Worrell: Prophet 5; Bill Laswell: shortwave; Infinity: background vocals; (5) Henry Kaiser : guitar; Anton Fier : drums; Bill Laswell: bass, other stuff; D.ST.: turntables; Daniel Ponce: bata, bells; Michael Beinhorn: synthesizer, DMX; Robert Musso: acoustic guitar; (6) Afrika Bambaataa and Wunderverke: all instrumentation; Afrika Bambaataa, Amad Henderson, Motivator & B-Side: vocals; (7) B-Side: vocals; Phillip Wilson: percussion; Bill Laswell: DMX, bass; Michael Beinhorn: synthesizer; Roger Trilling: voice; (8) B-Side: vocals; Nicky Marroero: bongos; D.ST.: DMX; Jimmy Mac & Bernard Fowler: vocals; Nicky Skopelitis: guitar; Bill Laswell: bass; (9) D.ST.: tapes, turntables, synthesizer; Infinity (D.ST., K.C., Shahiem, Booski): rap.

          1985 - Celluloid (USA), CELL 80808 (3x12")
          1985 - Celluloid (USA), CELL 80808 (3CD)

REVIEWS :

In the mid-1980's, hip-hop was still an underground music compared to its radio-hungry status in today's market. DJ's like Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster D.ST. were working with producers like Bill Laswell creating a musical offshoot of straight hip-hop breakbeats that has begun to finally be recognized by mainstream labels today almost 15 years later. This music is affectionately dubbed "electro."

On "Trilogy," producer/visionary Bill Laswell combined tracks from various releases on his own Celluloid Records to make a 3-LP compilation of electro/hip-hop/world music that inspired the less ambitious sounds of today's electro-breaks.

LP one is titled "New Africa 2" and features familiar names like Toure Kunda, Aiyb Dieng, and Herbie Hancock. On it, the musicians lay down lush electro synth sounds combined with more traditional African percussion.

LP two is "Hard Cell" and adds a rock edge to the electro mindset. Here, some of the African musicians like Aiyb Dieng and hip-hop pioneers like Africa Bambaataa are playing back-to-back with Lightnin' Rod and Jimi Hendrix. Even Michael Stipe lends vocals to the Golden Paliminos "Boy (Go)."

The third LP is "Beat Freaks," and certainly is the most irrestible piece of the platter. Grandmaster D.ST., The Last Poets, and Afrika Bambaataa show the origin of not only today's electro music, but hip-hop and electronica as well. The music is deep, bassy, and at times moving. The grooves are crisp, the turntables are spinning, and the emcees are live (how can you go wrong with a rapper named "The Flyest Boo-Ski"?).

Bill Laswell has gone on to become perhaps the most prolific ambient/dub producer of the last two decades and is now in charge of Axiom Records, a division of Island. "Trilogy" shows the earlier days of this genius and allow listeners of this decade and the next to see with 20/20 hindsight that electro music of the mid-80's was a powerful movement too easily forgotten.

Ryan (courtesy of The Best Music You've Never Heard website)