Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue
Remastered 180g reissue of the self-titled Brazil soul classic by the mysterious Brazilian vocal sensation Dila (pronounced: "Jee-la") from 1970, which, due to a tragic car accident, was to remain their only album the following year. Arranged and produced by Durval Ferreira and his studio band Os Grilos (The Crickets), the album is a jewel of the authentic, soulful samba sound of the favelas of Rio de Janeiro of the late 1960s / early 1970s.
The city of Belém, in the Northern state of Pará in Brazil, has long been a hotbed of culture and musical innovation. Enveloped by the mystical wonder of the Amazonian forest and overlooking the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean, Belém consists of a diverse culture as vibrant and broad as the Amazon itself. Amerindians, Europeans, Africans - and the myriad combinations between these people - would mingle, and ingeniously pioneer musical genres such as Carimbó, Samba-De-Cacete, Siriá, Bois-Bumbás and bambiá. Although left in the margins of history, these exotic and mysteriously different sounds would thrive in a parallel universe of their own. I didn’t even know of the existence of that universe until an Australian DJ and producer by the name of Carlo Xavier dragged me deep into this whole new musical world. Ant it all began in Belém do Pará. Perched on a peninsula between the Bay of Guajará and the Guamá river, sculpted by water into ports, small deltas and peripheral areas, Belém had connected city dwellers with those deeper within the forest providing fertile ground for the development of a popular culture mirroring the mighty waters surrounding it. Through the continuous flow of culture, language and tradition, various rhythms were gathered here and transformed into new musical forms that were simultaneously traditional and modern. Historically marginalized African religions like Umbanda, Candomblé and the Tambor de Mina, which had reached this side of the Atlantic through slaves from West Africa – especially from the Kingdom of Dahomey, currently the Republic of Benin – left an indelible stamp on the identity of Pará´s music. They would give birth to Lundun, Banguê and Carimbó, styles later modernised by Verequete, Orlando Pereira, Mestre Cupijó and Pinduca to great effect. The success of these pioneers would create a solid foundation for a myriad of modern bands in urban areas. Known as the “Caribbean Port,” Belem had been receiving signal from radio stations from Colombia, Surinam, Guyana and the Caribbean islands - notably Cuba and the Dominican republic - since the 1940s. By the early 1960s, Disc jockeys breathlessly exchanged Caribbean records to add these frenetic, island sounds to liven up revelers. The competition was fierce as to who would be the first to bring unheard hits from these countries. The craze eventually reached local bands’ repertoires, and Belém’s suburbs got overtaken by merengue, leading to the creation of modern sounds such as Lambada and Guitarrada. To reach a larger audience, the music needed to be broadcast. Radios began targeting the taste of mainstream audiences and played music known as “music for masses.” As the demand for this music grew, it led to the establishment of recording companies. Belém’s infant recording industry began when Rauland Belém Som Ltd was founded in the 1970s. It boosted a radio station, a recording studio, a music label and had a deep roster of popular artists across the carimbó, siriá, bolero and Brega genres. Another important aspect in understanding how the musical tradition spread in Belém, are the aparelhagem sonora: the sound system culture of Pará. Beginning as simple gramophones connected to loudspeakers tied to light posts or trees, these sound systems livened up neighbourhood parties and family gatherings. The equipment evolved from amateur models into sophisticated versions, perfected over time through the wisdom of handymen. Today’s aparelhagens draw immense crowds, packing clubs with thousands of revelers in Belém’s peripheral neighbourhoods or inland towns in Pará. The history of "Jambú e Os Míticos Sons Da Amazônia" is the history of an entire city in its full glory. With bustling night clubs providing the best sound systems and erotic live shows, gossip about the whereabouts of legendary bands, singers turned into movie stars, supreme craftiness, and the creativity of a class of musicians that didn’t hesitate to take a gamble, Jambú is an exhilarating, cinematic ride into the beauty and heart of what makes Pará’s little corner of the Amazon tick. The hip swaying, frantic percussion and big band brass of the mixture of carimbó with siriá, the mystical melodies of Amazonian drums, the hypnotizing cadence of the choirs, and the deep, musical reverence to Afro-Brazilian religions, provided the soundtrack for sweltering nights in the city’s club district. The music and tales found in Jambú are stories of resilience, triumph against all odds, and, most importantly, of a city in the borders of the Amazon who has always known how to throw a damn good party. “Jambú is a plant widely used in Amazonian and Paraense cuisine. Known for having an appetitestimulating effect, it is added to various dishes and salads but is most famously one of the main ingredients in Tucupi and Tacacá, two delicacies that have been immortalized in countless Carimbó songs. Chewing the leaves of the Jambú plant will leave a strong sensation of tingling on the tongue and lips. Indigenous communities have relied upon its anaesthetic qualities for centuries as an effective remedy against toothaches and as a cure for mouth and throat infections. A decade ago, a distillery from Belém discovered the euphoric effects of the Jambú plant when combined with distilled sugarcane based spirit - known as cachaça - and created the now legendary “Cachaça de Jambú“.
Corb Lund's eleventh studio album finally gives the genre he has cultivated over the years a name. As the descendant of many generations of rodeo riders and ranchers, he sings about a life that he and his ancestors have led themselves and pairs this with quick-witted, ironic observations of the here and now.
Xenia's first solo album, an indispensable album from today's Brazil, pays tribute to the sounds of the black diaspora and masterfully combines soulful music with jazz, samba, R&B and electronic flavors. Xenia França comes from Bahia, Brazil. She was nominated for the Latin Grammy 2018 for her debut album Xenia, as well as for the song "Pra que me Chamas?", Which is very popular with listeners. As part of an art scene dedicated to revitalizing and spreading Afro-Brazilian culture, the singer became a reference for female empowerment and behavior, especially among black women. Xenia has played at major Brazilian festivals such as Recbeat, Coala, Coma and Queremos. In 2018 she participated in the Central Park Summerstage in New York and also performed in Philadelphia and at the Pablo Toblón Theater in Medellin, Colombia.
Ever since her last album "Citizen Of Glass", which was released four years ago, people have known about Agnes Obel's many talents. In 2020, the Danish singer, musician, songwriter and producer is back with a new album: »Myopia« will be released here via Deutsche Grammophon. And even the first single release "Island Of Doom" shows: The willingness to experiment and the diverse facets of Obel are as great as ever. On »Myopia«, reserved piano melodies meet confused sound structures, singer-songwriter pop meets classical music. Add to that the singer's fragile yet tender voice. And in order to develop all of this to perfection, she prescribed herself the creative isolation in the Berlin home studio, where she experimented with new recording techniques, sounds and instruments.
The Kenyan music scene is one of the most diverse and vibrant in Africa. However, ask any Kenyan which pop music style truly represents Kenya as a nation and there is only one possible answer: benga. Benga is a pop style with its roots in traditional rhythms, instruments, and melodies. Luo musicians from western Kenya brought the style to prominence in the late 60s but other cultural/linguistic groups in other parts of Kenya quickly developed their own localized variants. With its pulsing beat, interlocking guitars, extended solos, and rapid-fire bass, benga music has dominated the Kenyan music scene over most of the post-colonial period. Kakai Kilonzo is one of only a handful of benga artists to attract a broad following across Kenya. He opened up his music to others outside his Kamba language and background by singing in Swahili, which is widely understood throughout Kenya. At the same time, with catchy melodies and engaging lyrics, Kakai sang about subjects that all Kenyans can relate to: songs on all aspects of love and marriage, on social responsibility, societal ills (like drinking and witchcraft), moral guidelines, national unity, economic development, and more. The songs on this compilation are taken from across Kakai's recording career, spanning from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, shortly before his illness and untimely death in early 1987, aged only 33. No Wahala Sounds are proud to present this selection of hard-to-find 45s from Les Kilimambogo Brothers, which are being released on vinyl here, for the first time outside Kenya.
Born to a Frafra father and an Akim mother, he grew up in the rainforest of southern Afghanistan before ascending to the savannah of northern Ghana in the Frafra land as a young boy. He grew up in Namoo, the village of his father's origin, and was deeply impressed by the glorious moments he experienced during the services in the village church. In 2013 Jan Weissenfeldt toured Ghana with some musician colleagues from Germany in order to make an extensive tour through Ghana with Alogte Oho & His Sounds of Joy and the eco-master Guy One. During this tour he got to know a dozen of Alogte's songs. The follow-up single "Mam Yinne Wa" was released in 2016. Just as the locally released version brought Alogte to the fore among Frafra gospel singers, this newly produced version made him a global player.
Repress! With this release, Comb & Razor Sound launches its exploration of the colorful world of popular music from Nigeria, starting with the post-disco era of the late 1970s and early 80s. The years between 1979 and 1983 were Nigeria's Second Republic, when democracy finally returned after twenty-three years of uninterrupted military dictatorship. They were also the crest of Nigeria’s oil boom, when surging oil prices made the petroleum-producing country a land of plenty, prosperity and profligacy. The influx of petrodollars meant an expansion in industry and the music industry in particular. Record companies upgraded their technology and cranked out a staggering volume of output to an audience hungry for music to celebrate the country’s prospective rise as global power of the future. While it was a boom time for a wide variety of popular music styles, the predominant commercial sound was a post-afrobeat, slickly modern dance groove that retrofitted the relentless four-on-thefloor bass beat of disco to a more laidback, upbeat-and-downbeat soul shuffle, mixing in jazz-funk, synthesizer pop and afro feeling. At the time, it was still mostly locally referred to as “disco,” but has since been recognized as its own unique genre retrospectively dubbed “Nigerian boogie.” A Brand New Wayo: Funk, Fast Times and Nigerian Boogie Badness collects 15 pulsing Nigerian boogie tracks in a lovingly compiled package chronicling one of the most progressive and creative eras in the history of African popular music.
Canadian singer-songwriter Oh Susanna aka Suzie Ungerleider is releasing a deluxe edition of her stunning, critically acclaimed second album Sleepy Little Sailor on MVKA. The album will be available on CD, digital and for the first time on vinyl. The original 11 songs are accompanied by five previously unreleased acoustic songs from the album, including the title track, which has already been released as a single. The album "Sleepy Little Sailor" was originally released in 2001 and musically lay somewhere between alternative country, rock and folk. At the time, Der Spiegel drew comparisons with the cowboy junkies and Lucinda Williams.
The members of the Zonke family from Nyamapanda, Zimbabwe, are among the few remaining master musicians of the matepe, a type of lamella phono belonging to the mbira family. This complex, interlocking music is played with four fingers on each instrument, with each finger using independent rhythmic patterns, which perform many psychoacoustic tricks on the listener's ear. This is the first time ever that a full Matepe ensemble has been captured on a studio album. We hope that this album is a step towards bringing this music to a new audience - and also a contribution to its preservation.
Ayalew Mesfin stands aside the likes of Mulatu Astake, Mahmoud Ahmed, Hailu Mergia and Alemayehu Eshete as a legend of 1970s Ethiopia. Mesfin's music is some of the funkiest to arise from this unconquerable East African nation. Mesfin's recording career, captured in nearly two dozen 7 ”singles and numerous reel-to-reel tapes, shows the strata of the most fertile decade in Ethiopia's 20th century recording industry, when records were pressed constantly by both independent upstarts and corporate behemoths, even if they were only distributed within the confines of this East African nation. Though Mesfin was forced underground by the Derg regime that took control of Ethiopia in 1974, he has returned almost 50 years later with this triumphant set albums - the first time that his music has been presented in this form. These albums give us a chance to discover a rare and beautiful moment in music history, in anthologies built from Mesfin's uber-rare 7 ”single releases and from previously unreleased recordings taken from master tapes. Good Aderegechegn gives us a chance to discover a rare & beautiful moment in music history, in an anthology built from his uber-rare 7 ”single releases. Contains an oversized 11 "x 11" 16 page book that tells the story of modern Ethiopian music and Mesfin's role within it.
Metronomy, the effective alias of the talented Joseph Mount, have thus far released three albums, starting with the jagged electro manoeuvres of their debut ‘Pip Paine (Pay The £5000 You Owe)’, through to their two albums on Because, ‘Nights Out’, where Mount first sang, and last year’s brilliant Mercury-nominated ‘The English Riviera’. As a pop group, Metronomy that are more Four Tet than Fab Four, though with a sense of adventure that would’ve made the Fabs proud. Their outing under the Late Night Tales banner journeys through the inspirations of the bands’ ever moving sound – along with a few surprises. Mount’s old favourite Autechre is present and correct, but then so are Kate and Anna McGarrigle and the Sun Ra of hip hop Sa-Ra Creative Partners. Joining Sa-Ra on the hip hop front, we’ve got Tweet’s ace ‘Drunk’ from her Hummingbird album alongside OutKast ‘Prototype’, spiced with some Doctor Octagon. For pure pop, they don’t come more refined than Alan Parson’s ‘Eye In The Sky’, who is buffeted by outbreaks of unsettling weirdness, among them the sadly departed Mick Karn’s supple bass figurines on ‘Weather The Windmill’ or Tonto’s Expanding Head Band – the guys that brought the funk to synthesizers with Stevie Wonder – and ‘Cybernaut’. And just when you think you’ve got it figured, Pete Drake arrives with his 1964 pedal steel novelty hit ‘Forever’. This is a maze rather than a journey. Naturally enough, there is the Late Night Tales special with a sparkling Metronomy rendition of Jean-Michel Jarre’s ‘Hypnose’. We’ve always had a soft spot for Devon and her cobbled street delights, but seen through the prism of Joseph Mount, it takes on a new hue that makes Brigitte Bardot and that other, lesser, Riviera seem somehow pallid. To paraphrase Buzzcocks: another music in a different riviera.
The multi-instrumentalist Jack Wyllie (Portico Quartet/Szun Waves) presents his new project Paradise Cinema. It was recorded in Dakar, Senegal in collaboration with mbalax percussionists Khadim Mbaye (saba drums) and Tons Sambe (tama drums). The impressionistic and dream-like quality of 'Paradise Cinema' is a stunningly effective realisation of Wyllie's experience, in ahypnagogic state of aural consciousness: "I had a lot of nights in Dakar, when the music around the city would go on until 6am. I could hear this from my bed at night and it all blended together, in what felt like an early version of the record." Atmospherically 'Paradise Cinema' is vaporous and enigmatic, but also percussive; existing in a paradoxical sound-space that's amorphous,yet still purposeful, serene, but propulsive and aesthetically sharp. Khadim Mbaye and Tons Sambe, provide the rhythmic backbone of the record. There are traditional elements of mbalax rhythm, but it is often deconstructed or played at tempos outside of the tradition, so while it hints at a location it occupies a space outside of any specific region. 'Paradise Cinema' is also informed by notions of hauntology – a philosophical concept originating in the work of French philosopher Jacques Derrida– on possible futures that were never realised andhow directions taken in the past can haunt the present. On the album's title Wyllie comments, "there are a handful of old cinemas in Dakar – these big modernist buildings dotted around the city built around independence. They're old and derelict now, but feel to me like monuments to that period, when the city was flooded with utopian ideas about its potential futures." As such it sits closely to 4thworld music – situated in an imagined culture and time that never came to pass. And while it contains rhythmic references to Senegal it combines these elements with ambient and minimalist music to produce a sound that sits outside of any tradition. Setting the tone for the long-player's themes is the optimism-driven, balmy beauty of 'Possible Futures', where rich-toned drums throb and levitate in a stratospheric ether. Like a time-lapse video of plants in bloom, 'It Will Be Summer Soon' is the sound of anticipation and growth. Rhythmically it flickers and flutters, evoking rainfall, or the blurred wings of a bird in in flight. Casamance moves through field recordings drifting in and out of focus, beats pitched-down low and unfurling saxophone, whilst the ambient 'Utopia' was made mainly with processed saxophone and suggests a longing for a perfect world. Galloping percussion juxtaposes with a wistful mood on 'Liberté' – a title that referencesa derelict modernist cinema in Dakar of the same name– a hauntological landmark, made more poignant by the its name being part of the French national motto. Tying into the cover artwork, Jack explains, "the 'Digital Palm is a telecommunications mast disguised as a palm tree in central Dakar. As a modern piece of technology that on first glance looks natural, it mirrors the combination of modern and acoustic elements." Perhaps eliciting a time that never came, or maybe still in hope of it yet to come, 'Eternal Spring' concludes the LP's otherworldly beauty with hypnotic drums powering a subtly-building, sparkling and powerful crescendo. Jack Wyllie is a musician, composer, electronic producer who draws on influences of jazz, ambient, and the trance-inducing repetition of minimalism. Wyllie performs and records in Portico Quartet, Szun Waves (withLuke Abbott and Laurence Pike)and Xoros. He has also collaborated with Charles Hayward, Adrian Corker and Chris Sharkey and released on Ninja Tune, Babel, Leaf, Real World and Gondwana. Khadim Mbaye and Toms Sambe play in various mbalax groups in Dakar. Khadim has also toured internationally with Cheikh Lo.
“Transmissions: The Music of Beverly Glenn-Copeland” is an unbelievably exciting musical journey of discovery into the work of the late discovered 76-year-old American-Canadian singer-songwriter and transgender activist of the same name, who is now ardently supported by pop stars like Robyn, Dan Snaith, aka Caribou or The XX singer Romy Madley-Croft is adored. Stylistically, a range from jazz & blues to folk to pop and electronics is depicted, always accompanied by this heavenly voice. The Süddeutsche Zeitung calls this mix “a kind of spiritual deceleration pop” and means it in the best possible sense. Absolute recommendation for fans of Antony & the Johnsons! The album appears on black heavyweight vinyl as LP + 7 ”in the gatefold cover. The enclosed download code grants access to all songs, including the “A Little Talk” and “Erzili” available on the CD and digitally.
Back in stock! Akiko Yano's Cult Second Studio Album from 1977 featuring the Cream of Tokyo and New York Musicians in Funk Mode. Wewantsounds continues its Akiko Yano reissue programme with the release of "Iroha Ni Konpeitou," another superb Akiko Yano album and one of her funkiest, highlighting her unmissable singing and songwriting talents. Recorded in Tokyo and New York City, the album features a superb line up of the best musicians from both cities and sees Yano mixing Japanese pop with funk and a touch of electronics, playing a wide array of keyboards programmed by YMO synth wizard Hideki Matsutake. This is the first time the album is released outside of Japan and this deluxe LP edition includes remastered sound, download card plus the original 4-page insert with poster, lyrics and full line-up. "Iroha Ni Konpeitou" is perhaps Akiko Yano's best known album in the Western world not just because of its striking front cover - a shot by famed photographer Bishin Jumonji featuring Akiko holding an inflatable dolphin (legend has it all the props and clothes were borrowed from the set of an Issey Miyake ad), but because the album is one of Akiko's funkiest ones. A slick mix of Japanese Pop and New York funk, the album was recorded in Tokyo except for the "Iroha Ni Konpeitou" title track which was recorded in NYC with an all-star line-up consisting of Rick Marotta, David Spinozza, Will Lee and Nicky Marrero. For the rest of the album, Akiko is accompanied by some of the best musicians from the Tokyo music scene gravitating around the groups Happy End and Tin Pan Alley: the ubiquitous Haruomi Hosono on bass, Tatsuo Hayashi on drums, Shigeru Suzuki on guitar to name just a few. Interestingly two Hosono compositions are featured on the album, "Ai Ai Gasa" which he recorded on his 1973 landmark debut "Hosono House" and "Hourou" originally recorded in 75 by singer and musician Chu Kosaka (on the eponymous album “Horo”). Last but not least Hideki Matsutake is handling the keyboard programming duties on the album as Yano is playing a wide array of keyboards: Moog IIIc, Mini Moog, String Ensemble, on top of the Fender Rhodes, Clavinet, Yamaha CP7C. Matsutake would soon become programmer in chief for YMO, touring and playing with them around the world (like Yano herself). Although the album feels very accessible and funky, there are complex keyboard layers underneath as on the first short introduction 'KAWAJI', a short electro fantasy, or on such tracks as "Ai Ai Gasa" and “Kino Wa Mou" on which Akiko is playing bass with her Moog, making the album a richly textured and inventive one once you scratch its surface. The tracks on the album flow effortlessly also highlighting Akiko Yano's superb songwriting and knack for creating fascinating pop song. "Iroha Ni Konpeitou" sounds as fresh and beautiful as when it first came out more than forty years ago and will please the growing circle of Akiko Yano fans around the world as a welcome addition to her brilliant discography.
Ayalew Mesfin stands aside the likes of Mulatu Astake, Mahmoud Ahmed, Hailu Mergia and Alemayehu Eshete as a legend of 1970s Ethiopia. Mesfin's music is some of the funkiest to arise from this unconquerable East African nation. Mesfin's recording career, captured in nearly two dozen 7 ”singles and numerous reel-to-reel tapes, shows the strata of the most fertile decade in Ethiopia's 20th century recording industry, when records were pressed constantly by both independent upstarts and corporate behemoths, even if they were only distributed within the confines of this East African nation. Though Mesfin was forced underground by the Derg regime that took control of Ethiopia in 1974, he has returned almost 50 years later with this triumphant set albums - the first time that his music has been presented in this form. These albums give us a chance to discover a rare and beautiful moment in music history, in anthologies built from Mesfin's uber-rare 7 ”single releases and from previously unreleased recordings taken from master tapes. Wegene gives us a chance to discover a rare & beautiful moment in music history, in an anthology built from his uber-rare 7 ”single releases. Contains an oversized 11 "x 11" 16 page book that tells the story of modern Ethiopian music and Mesfin's role within it.
The Swedish indie label Icons Creating Evil Art presents "Mono Secular Sounds", the second album by Old Kerry McKee, an outsider and lonely wolf from Sweden who follows in the footsteps of Captain Beefheart, Nick Cave and Tom Waits, and on a unique- idioyncratic, cranky-punk hobo art mixes folk, blues and black metal. And yet his horror blues always remains beautiful, dynamic and full of soul in a strange, stomach-turning way. CD and limited, hand-numbered 180g vinyl. "Joakim seems to fight his demons with breathtaking songs full of tragedy and melancholy as a result." - Out Of Step
Following highly praised releases by Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo, Leonardo Marques, Xenia Franca and Moons, 180g and the legendary Disk Union continue to explore the best of today's Brazilian music scene with this wonderful psychedelic and funky pop album by Rio de Janeiro's Gus Levy: Magia Magia.
The instrumental cult classic by the legendary Egyptian musician Omar El Shariyi, which first appeared on Soutelphan in 1976, is being re-released on vinyl for the first time ever. The iconic Egyptian musician and composer records six classical compositions by another Egyptian legend, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, as cover versions in his own hypnotic way. This series of great new releases of Arabic music, which began with the reissues of the Fairuz and Ziad Rahbani albums, is curated by Lebanon-born Arabic music expert Mario Choueiry of the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris. This new edition has been remastered and comes in its beautiful original artwork
We are very happy to announce our 30th compilation from the Analog Africa regular serie, 'La Locura de Machuca 1975 - 1980', telling the story of Colombia's most atypical and peculiar record company: Discos Machuca La Locura de Machuca is the story of one man's bizarre odyssey into Colombia's coastal music underground, and the wild, hypnotic sounds he helped bring up to the surface. The seventeen tracks sound like little else recorded before or since. They exist outside of time or place, as vividly unhinged in 2020 as they were on the day they were first released. You have to hear it to believe it. 'La Locura de Machuca 1975 - 1980' comes as a Double LP on 140g virgin vinyl with a gatefold cover and a full color 16-pages booklet. The CD comes with a full color 32-page booklet.
After "That Santa Fe Channel" (2018), the Nashville band's second album for ATO Records. Produced by Rick Parker (Lord Huron, Beck, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club) and recorded in Los Angeles. An explosive mix of country and southern rock, folk and groovy rock 'n' roll. Adrian Quesada from the Black Pumas also had his producer fingers in the game for the single "High Feeling". Limited, colored vinyl + download code
Ayalew Mesfin stands aside the likes of Mulatu Astake, Mahmoud Ahmed, Hailu Mergia and Alemayehu Eshete as a legend of 1970s Ethiopia. Mesfin's music is some of the funkiest to arise from this unconquerable East African nation. Mesfin's recording career, captured in nearly two dozen 7 ”singles and numerous reel-to-reel tapes, shows the strata of the most fertile decade in Ethiopia's 20th century recording industry, when records were pressed constantly by both independent upstarts and corporate behemoths, even if they were only distributed within the confines of this East African nation. Though Mesfin was forced underground by the Derg regime that took control of Ethiopia in 1974, he has returned almost 50 years later with this triumphant set albums - the first time that his music has been presented in this form. These albums give us a chance to discover a rare and beautiful moment in music history, in anthologies built from Mesfin's uber-rare 7 ”single releases and from previously unreleased recordings taken from master tapes. Mot Aykerim gives us a chance to discover a rare & beautiful moment in music history, in an anthology built from his uber-rare 7 ”single releases. Contains an oversized 11 "x 11" 16 page book that tells the story of modern Ethiopian music and Mesfin's role within it.
The first in a series of super-rare and sought-after original albums from the legendary Benin-based label Albarika Store, which will be reissued on vinyl. Originally published in 1978, back then without a protective case. Recorded at EMI Studios in Lagos, Nigeria, transferred from the original tapes and remastered by Grammy winner Frank Merritt at The Carvery Studio in London.
New edition of this super rare LP from 1978. Remastered by Grammy winner Frank Merritt at The Carvery Studio in London. The only known recording of this obscure band and one of the best that the extensive catalog of the legendary Albarika store label from Benin has to offer in Afro-Boogie and Afro-Funk.
"Matasuna Records" has found another musical treat from the African continent for its latest release - a song by the Ghanaian musician "Mawuli Decker". It was released in 1983 on the rare and sought-after album "Ayo Special" and is available for the first time as a 7inch vinyl single, which is supplemented by an edit from "Renegades Of Jazz". The esteemed London label "Kalita Records" was able to provide the audio material for new masters and is also acting as music publisher with the new "Kalita Music Publishing". Mawuli Decker was born in 1949 in Ghana, where he also grew up. His musicality has been given to him from an early age, so that he not only attracts attention as a singer, but also plays drums, percussion and bongo. He played in various dance bands, which were very popular in Ghana especially from the middle of the last century onwards and made the Ghanaian highlife known beyond the borders. He has played in various dance bands such as New Planets, Sawaaba Sounds, The Tops, Caprice 73, The Volta Pioneers and others, which have performed in Ghana and other West African countries. His first release was in 1975 with the band "Dzobi Soundz" on the Polydor label. Further releases of projects with his participation followed, until 1983 when he recorded his album "Ayo Special" at "Otodi Studio" in Lome (Togo) with an illustrious group of musicians. He is still deeply rooted in music and performs in West Africa and is still very active in recording. On the A-side is the original version of the song "Lololi-Lomko", sung in the "EWE" language, which is spoken in the south of Ghana as well as the southern parts of Togo. "Lololi" means "There's Still More Love" and "Lomko" stands for "Please love me" - classical themes that have appeared in countless songs in music history. Although a certain catchiness of the track cannot be denied, it doesn't seem cheesy at any point. Mawuli, who also contributes the vocals, creates perfectly formed harmonies through his compositions and arrangements, which are especially apparent in the bassline, guitars & brass and of course the vocals. This was certainly also the idea behind the edit of "Renegades of Jazz" on the B-side, which did not want to break up and alienate the organic composition. Listening closely reveals the approach: a steady tempo, a more powerful bassline and additional drums and percussions bring the song back directly to where it belongs: to the dancefloors of this world!
Limited re-release - Space Echo - the secret behind the "Cosmic Sound" of Cabo Verde is finally revealed! In the spring of 1968 a cargo ship set off from Baltimore harbor with an important shipment of musical instruments. His final destination was Rio de Janeiro, where the EMSE exhibition (Exposição Mundial Do Son Eletrônico) was to take place. It was the first exhibition of its kind in the southern hemisphere and many of the leading electronic music companies participated. Rhodes, Moog, Farfisa, Hammond and Korg, to name a few, were all eager to showcase their latest synthesizers and other equipment in a growing and promising South American market led by Brazil and Colombia. The ship wrecked eight kilometers off the coast of the Cape Verde Islands and so the instruments ended up on the island. Eight of the fifteen songs presented in this compilation were recorded with the support of the band Voz de Cabo Verde, led by Paulino Vieira, the mastermind and creator of "The Cosmic Sound of Cabo Verde".
This is a recent recording straight out of Ethiopia, courtesy of the Sheba Sound crew. Sheba Sound tour the Ethiopian hinterlands, capturing the mesmerizing sounds of local talented musicians, using state of the art pop-up recording studios. The process was captured in the highly acclaimed, award-winning documentary: Roaring Abyss, by Joaquin Piñero: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Roaring-Abyss-Quino-Piñero/dp/B08329VLRL The hugely anticipated next release from the Sheba Sound archives, under license to NuAfrique (My45) features crazy, untapped talent of Nebeyu Hamdi, with the Sabat Bet Gurage Band, based in Welkite, western Ethiopia. The original recordings from 2013 receive ethio-funk bassline overdubbing treatment from Addis Abeba's inspired masenko-bass man of the moment, 'Bubu' Teklemariam. The full package receives ultimate mixing treatment at The Yard Studio by master dub producer Nick Manasseh (Roots Garden). The B-side of this EP release features 3 exclusive ethio-dub cuts. Manasseh's inspiration of deep masenko bass and tribal drum rhythms is evident through his dub treatment of the originals. Playing the tracks back through his mixing desk like it was an instrument, the results are completely unique pulsating, punctuated Ethio-dub rhythm tracks. Watch out Shaka - the Ethiopians are bringing their own dub cuts to town!
The mastering was done from the master tapes from the studio recording of the album. The cover is a reproduction of the original. The cover includes a glossy finish in order to respect the original edition as much as possible. Released in 1981, "Sibou Odja" is Orchestra Baobab's second studio album produced at the Golden Baobab in Dakar by the young producer Ibrahima Sylla. After their masterpiece "Mouhamadou Bamba" recorded the same year, "Sibou Odja" would once again mark the history of Senegalese music by propelling the group's success into a new musical decade. Under the direction of the hard-hitting saxophonist Issa Sissokho and the irremovable guitarist Barthélémy Attiso, it is notably the young singer future icon of Senegalese salsa Médoune Diallo who will deliver one of his masterpieces with the irresistible "Autorail", song locomotive which celebrates the opening of the railway line connecting Dakar to Niamey. The Baobab symbolizing both rooting in traditional Senegalese values and the tree's ability to reach new heights, the group's sound is a perfect syncretism of Senegalese and Afro-Cuban imaginaries in which the montunos of electric guitars and the Vocal improvisations in the Wolof language subtly blend with the rhythms of Cuban sound and other boleros.
Glaswegian Gerry Cinnamon is one of the biggest UK phenomena in recent years, played almost all of the major festivals and sold over 115,000 tickets in 2019 alone. His eagerly awaited second album "The Bonny" climbed straight to # 1 in the UK and Ireland charts and is now being released as a deluxe edition with 4 previously unreleased songs. Gerry Cinnamon's music is cross-generational in a way that few artists manage - it's relevant, you can identify with it, and it establishes Gerry as a true storyteller. His inimitable live shows are known for their special atmosphere; often the audience sings along with songs that haven't even been released yet.
Nach der ersten "Ekera" EP in 2019 veröffentlicht das Brüsseler Ethno-Jazz-Kollektiv Azmari nun sein Debütalbum auf Sdban Ultra. Inspiriert von Musikern wie Okay Temiz, Mulatu Astatke, Cymande, Fela Kuti und The Heliocentrics präsentieren die sechs Mitglieder aus Belgien und Äthiopien auf "Sama'i" eine hypnotische Melange aus faszinierenden Rhythmen und Improvisationen zwischen Ethno-Groove, Dub, Psych-Funk und orientalischen Melodien, die den Hörer in neue Bewusstseinssphären heben.
Nach seinem vielgelobten, selbstbetitelten Debütalbum setzt das US-Quintett Ranky Tanky aus Charleston, South Carolina, seine Erkundung der traditionellen Gullah-Musik fort ("Gullah" entstammt einer westafrikanischen Sprache und bedeutet "von Gott gesegnete Leute"), die unter den Nachkommen versklavter Afrikaner in der Low-Country-Region des Südostens der USA entstand. Der Nachfolger "Good Time" enthält zwölf neue Songs, darunter lebensbejahende Partysongs, herzzerreißende Spirituals und feinfühlige Gute-Nacht-Lieder. - Hörprobe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZuCDxwRxFE
Enthält zwei Alben, Femi Kuti's "Stop The Hate" und Made Kuti's "For(e)ward". Jeweils in einer bedruckten Innenhülle mit Custom-Artwork von Delphine Desane Untergebracht in einer Deluxe Hülle Inkl. 8-seitigem Booklet mit Artwork, Fotografien und Texten.
It was in Benin City, in the heart of Nigeria, that a new hybrid of intoxicating highlife music known as Edo Funk was born. It first emerged in the late 1970s when a group of musicians began to experiment with different ways of integrating elements from their native Edo culture and fusing them with new sound effects coming from West Africa´s night-clubs. Unlike the rather polished 1980´s Nigerian disco productions coming out of the international metropolis of Lagos Edo Funk was raw and reduced to its bare minimum. Someone was needed to channel this energy into a distinctive sound and Sir Victor Uwaifo appeared like a mad professor with his Joromi studio. Uwaifo took the skeletal structure of Edo music and relentless began fusing them with synthesizers, electric guitars and 80´s effect racks which resulted in some of the most outstanding Edo recordings ever made. An explosive spiced up brew with an odd psychedelic note known as Edo Funk. That‘s the sound you‘ll be discovering in the first volume of the Edo Funk Explosion series which focusses on the genre’s greatest originators; Osayomore Joseph, Akaba Man, and Sir Victor Uwaifo: Osayomore Joseph was one of the first musicians to bring the sound of the flute into the horn-dominated world of highlife, and his skills as a performer made him a fixture on the Lagos scene. When he returned to settle in Benin City in the mid 1970s – at the invitation of the royal family – he devoted himself to the modernisation and electrification of Edo music, using funk and Afro-beat as the building blocks for songs that weren’t afraid to call out government corruption or confront the dark legacy of Nigeria’s colonial past. Akaba Man was the philosopher king of Edo funk. Less overtly political than Osayomore Joseph and less psychedelic than Victor Uwaifo, he found the perfect medium for his message in the trance-like grooves of Edo funk. With pulsating rhythms awash in cosmic synth-fields and lyrics that express a deep personal vision, he found great success at the dawn of the 1980s as one of Benin City’s most persuasive ambassadors of funky highlife. Victor Uwaifo was already a star in Nigeria when he built the legendary Joromi studios in his hometown of Benin City in 1978. Using his unique guitar style as the mediating force between West-African highlife and the traditional rhythms and melodies of Edo music, he had scored several hits in the early seventies, but once he had his own sixteen-track facility he was able to pursue his obsession with the synesthetic possibilities of pure sound, adding squelchy synths, swirling organs and studio effects to hypnotic basslines and raw grooves. Between his own records and his production for other musicians, he quickly established himself as the godfather of Edo funk. What unites these diverse musicians is their ability to strip funk down to its primal essence and use it as the foundation for their own excursions inward to the heart of Edo culture and outward to the furthest limits of sonic alchemy. The twelve tracks on Edo Funk Explosion Volume 1 pulse with raw inspiration, mixing highlife horns, driving rhythms, day-glo keyboards and tripped-out guitars into a funk experience unlike any other. Double LP pressed on 140g virgin vinyl comes with a full color 20-pages booklet CD comes with a full color 36-pages booklet
Sotomayor is the electronic music project with afro latin influence by siblings Raul (music production) and Paulina (vocals). It is a dance music project that fuses rhythms like cumbia, afro beat, dancehall, Peruvian "chicha" and merengue with futuristic electronic beats. The band debuted in 2015 with "Salvaje," an album that allowed them to perform in several festivals around the globe in countries like England, US, Mexico and Colombia. The album received excellent reviews from foreign media in countries like Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, Chile, United States and Colombia. They also appeared in more than 25 lists of the best of the year from medias from all around the world. 2020 will see the release of "Orígenes" their 3rd studio album trough the NY based label Wonderwheel Recordings. This album was recorded between Mexico and Puerto Rico, and was produced by the 28 times Grammy Winner Eduardo Cabra aka "Visitante" from the legendary band "Calle 13." In this production Sotomayor explores a new Afro Caribbean vision in the music, much more dance floor focused, and highly influenced by percussion.
‘GNAWA ELECTRIC LAUNE’ is the magical collaboration between Moroccan Gnawa-master (maâlem) Rabii Harnoune and Frankfurt electronic producer V.B.Kühl. Recorded at Achim Sauer’s 7V-Studio, collectively Rabii Harnoune & V.B. Kühl have produced an LP which represents entirely new territory, building a bridge from old to new, from Africa to Europe, and from to person to person. This melange of traditional North African Gnawa music and modern club sounds results in a fascinating debut, cross-cultural friction which is electric and otherworldly. “Traveller” (out 19th March) is the first offering from the album, a tale that belongs to the repertoire of “L’Bouhala”, a story which roughly translates as symbolism for multiculturism in Gnawa culture. “Traveller” is a Gnawa-club fusion track that feels equally at home on the dancefloor as it does in its core spiritual home. “The traveller is a character in the culture of Gnawa” Rabii explains, “who is travelling from tribe to tribe, from village to city, looking for experiences and knowledge, then sharing it by singing about it”. Gnawa music is among Morocco’s richest and oldest continuous traditions, dating back to pre-Islam. Rabii Harnoune joined the Kotab, a place where one can learn the teaching of the Quran, at the age of four. Growing up on a household diet of classical Arabic, Moroccan and Sufi music, Rabii was first introduced to Gnawa through his neighbour’s uncle who was a master in the genre. “Gnawa music was exclusively played by families whose parents came from Sub-Saharan or Central African tribes to Morocco in colonial times” Rabii explains, “it was rare to be able to listen to Gnawa music on radio, so I started to collect rare live recordings”. Rabii’s mastery at the Guembri, a three-string lute and Gnawa singing (a central aspect to the culture), would lead him to play world-class festivals in Essaouira, Fes, Marrakesh, and Casablanca – all spiritual centres for the genre. V.B.Kühl realised his own musical vision and ambition when he inherited his first ghettoblaster (boombox) and bought a four-track recorder: “rhythm is deep in me, and although music is not my profession, the passion never stopped”. V.B.Kühl caught the attention of DJ Shadow with two stellar remixes, which would later lead to commissioned remixes by Tru Thoughts for acts such as Anchorsong and Lakuta. V.B.Kühl and album co-producer Achim Sauer founded t&TT together, a DIY label that was used as a vehicle to release both artist solo projects. V.B.Kuhl and Achim first met Rabii while performing live at a house party of mutual friends. Rabii’s wish to release Gnawa music into the world lead to the trio collaborating and releasing ‘GNAWA ELECTRIC LAUNE’, twelve songs enriched with deep vibes and unstoppable grooves, an astonishing global mix of tradition and innovation. Supported by the likes of Pedo Knopp (Analog Africa), Tom Ravenscroft (BBC 6Music), Dom Servini (Soho Radio) and Moroccan stations such as Medi1 Radio, ChadaFM and Radio Aswat, Rabii Harnoune & V.B.Kühl continue the legacy of Jimi Hendrix, Robert Plant, Randy Weston and more recently Bonobo, Floating Points and James Holden – in bridging together two different worlds, of Gnawa and Western musicians.