Vice recently carried an interesting interview with Miles Claret, whose Soundway Records label re-issues “… lost and forgotten recordings from the world’s most vibrant musical cultures.”  Among other things, Claret recounts a visit to the talented but eccentric Nigerian highlife musician, Sir Victor Uwaifo: “Then he took me into his concrete airplane he had built onto the side of his house. It was exactly like being in a real airplane–there were windows all down the sides. But in the cockpit there was a piano. He just sat in the cockpit and played for me as we sat and drank beer. It wasn’t your ordinary day.”

H/T: Naijablog.

Further Reading

The Visa farce

The South African government’s rush to clear visa applications has led to mass rejections, bureaucratic chaos, and an overloaded appeals system—leaving thousands in limbo.

Enter the Povo

Mozambique’s disputed elections triggered a deadly uprising, as citizens resisted Frelimo’s rule and exposed the cracks in neoliberal policies.