Music News 1.18.17

Nigerian Funk Musician Willian Onyeabor Dies at 70

Influential Nigerian funk musician William Onyeabor passed away peacefully in his sleep on Monday after a brief battle with illness. Onyeabor is credited as a pioneer of a “futuristic brand of afro-funk music that was heavily rhythmic and synthesized in style,” that featured politically charged lyrics bemoaning war and oppression. Owning his own pressing plant in southeast Nigeria, he composed, self-recorded, and self-pressed and printed nine albums between 1977 and 1985, affirming his place as a political and musical influencer in the region and other parts of the world. Onyeabor all but abandoned his musical career after becoming a born-again Christian in 1985, but saw renewed interest in his work after the successful release of an compilation album of his music organized by Talking Heads’ David Byrne. Byrne went on to form the William Onyeabor-tribute supergroup Atomic Bomb! Band whose fluid lineup included David Albarn, Dev Hynes AKA Blood Orange, and LCD Soundsystem’s Pat Mahoney. William Oneyeabor was 70. (CoS)

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New Animates Series from Mike Judge Based on the Stories of Country Singers

Mike Judge has a new animated series debuting later this year on Cinemax “chronicling the tales of some of country music’s most eccentric characters.” The show, called “Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus,” is created in collaboration with Hank Williams biopic co-author Dub Cornett. The exact format of the show has not been announced, but speculation leads audiences to believe the show will either have a Drunk History type of feel with country stars narrating true stories to Judge’s animation, or if it’ll be original cartoons based on the true stories of country singers. In either case, Cinemax has ordered eight episodes of the show, set to premiere later this year. (Austin360)

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-Taylor Wallace

 

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