Vinyl Box Set #4

While I wish I was reporting to you on the quality packaging and superb sound this vinyl box-set contains, being a humble reviewer I've only received a three-CD promo set. The music here sounds fine, even if I'm not getting to fondle the beautiful packaging or read the essays by Afrobeat historian Chris May and the album's compiler, celebrated Texan R&B star Erykah Badu. Knitting Factory Records are curating Kuti's back catalogue with celebrity help. This is their fourth Fela box – the first three having been ‘curated’ by Questlove (of The Roots), Ginger Baker (of Cream and, at one time, a musical accomplice of Fela) and Brian Eno. Such celebrity branding likely helps shift far more boxes than would sell if the label just repacked Fela's back catalogue in an ‘original album series’. Presumably Badu cannot pick albums chosen previously in the series; while the albums here host some excellent material, they do reflect on Kuti's tendency to go on and on. This is one for the very dedicated Kuti (or Badu) fans then.