William Onyeabor: Fantastic Man

The brilliant William Onyeabor, the Nigerian electronic funk musician who found fame some 30 years after leaving the music business, sadly passed away on 16 January. The groundbreaking artist composed, recorded, pressed and printed nine albums from 1977 to 1985 only to be “discovered” by the world thanks to the 2013 best of record Who Is William Onyeabor? (released by David Byrne’s label, Luaka Bop) …

Spoon: Hot Thoughts

From their upcoming LP Hot Thoughts (set for release 17 March), Spoon has just dropped the title track and it builds up—like so many of the Austin-based band’s songs do—entirely effortlessly. The dance-rock track is coupled with lead singer Britt Daniels’ vocals that vary from sounding mechanized and splintered to smooth and vulnerable. With some xylophone, a simple beat and some strings, it ends up …

America’s Last Disco Ball-Maker

Starting with an aluminum sphere (some as large as a whopping 10 feet in diameter), Yolanda Baker makes disco balls by hand, a craft she has perfected over almost 50 years. While the disco ball boom dropped off—thanks to cheaper, overseas options becoming available, Baker (known as Yo Yo) is America’s last disco queen. During the zenith of Studio 54, flares and doing The Hustle, …