Afrobeat Vinyl 306 Items

Born on November 25, 1912, Asmahan, whose real name was Amal al-Atrash, was a Syrian singer and actress of the first half of the 20th century. Modern and free, she was the sister of Farid al-Atrash; and perhaps the only singer able to compete with the famous Oum Kalsoum. Her private and public life is worthy of a Hollywood movie and was particularly eventful during the Second World War, where she played spy for Germany, France and Great Britain. She died in 1944, at the age of 32, in a mysterious car accident, leaving only a few recordings. This record features her most popular titles, to be rediscovered by the music enthusiasts of today.

Although Los Hermanos Ballumbrosio are one of the most emblematic groups of Afro-Peruvian music, no single recording has been able to portray the essence of the group... Until now. "Homenaje a El Carmen" ("Homage to El Carmen"), their debut album for Buh Records, sets the record straight: it captures the true spirit of the musical tradition of El Carmen, a city located a few miles to the south of Lima that is home to the largest black community in Peru. Songs based on percussion and zapateo bring back the memories and experiences of a culture that has produced one of the greatest treasures of Peruvian music."Homage to El Carmen", the third volume of the series "Perspectives on Afro-Peruvian Music", signals the return of the group to the recording studio, and also to the sources of rhythms such as festejo and panalivio, which they interpret with cajón, quijada (jawbone), congas, bongo and batá. The result is a distillation and a testimony of the memories and experiences that portray the cultural universe of El Carmen. We have access to a selection of traditional songs that are heard during the festivities, such as "Guanchivalito", which is played during the Yunza Negra, a ceremony in which a willow tree is cut to bring benefits to the community. "Panalivio " and "Serrana Vieja" are two traditional Christmas carols that are played in the "Hatajo de Negritos" and which reflect the syncretic character of the Afro-Peruvian culture. These songs speak of the difficulties of rural life, but they also serve as a vehicle to demonstrate the Ballumbrosio brother's mastery in the art of zapateo, a dance that is accompanied by violin and bells. The classic "La Esquina de El Carmen" is perhaps the song that best expresses the erotic character of festejo, also known as baile de cintura (waist dance)."Homage to El Carmen" is the highly anticipated return of the Ballumbrosio brothers to the recording studio. They have become indisputable references of Afro-Peruvian music and have displayed their sound and dance...

The latest instalment from Acid Jazz’s Albarika Store series, ‘Afro Funk’ compiles the very best of the legendary T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo’s funk cuts.

Formed in 1968 by leader Clément Mélomé, T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo became the leading group in Benin and the cornerstone of the Albarika Store label and legacy.

This collection brings together highlights from their extensive career, including tracks as ‘Gbeti Ma Djro’, ‘Segla’ and the collectable ‘It’s A Vanity’: wall-to-wall some of the finest Afro-Funk ever made.

The unstoppable, irresistible rhythms and melodies of Antibalas have influenced scores of artists across rock, hip hop, afrobeat and beyond. Born in a Brooklyn warehouse in 1997, 12 piece ensemble Antibalas is credited with introducing Afrobeat to a wider global audience, influencing countless musicians and developing a live show that is the stuff of legend. Members of Antibalas served as musical directors and the house band in the Broadway hit Fela! and penned original music for the show. Members have also recently collaborated/performed with Iron and Wine, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Mark Ronson, TV on the Radio and The Roots. On the heels of the hit musical Fela!, Antibalas ended up reuniting with former member and producer Gabriel Roth, who was at the helm for their first three albums. This self-titled album was their first on Daptone Records.

First, we had Unity. Now, South Sudan’s undisputed ‘King of Music’, the Juba-via-Melbourne eccentric outsider Gordon Koang, returns with his second full-length of original material since emigrating to Australia, the masterly titled follow-up, Community.

Eight tracks recorded in Melbourne with a cast of the city’s finest musical minds, including Zak Olsen, Jesse Williams, David “Daff” Gravolin and Jack Kong, the record draws upon Gordon’s pitch-perfect pop sensibility and compulsion for composing irresistibly catchy melodies. Add to this brew the extensive creditienals of his collaborators, who are known for their work with Trafik Island, ORB, Leah Senior and more, and you have yourself a perfect blend of East African pop and vintage psychedelia that is surely one of the most interesting records of the year, outstripping it’s Australian counterparts both in songwriting, production value and downright good energy.

After seeking asylum in Australia in 2012, Gordon Koang, along with his cousin, collaborator and bandmate Paul Biel, has gone on to become something of a darling in the Melbourne music community, delighting audiences year round with high energy shows and an irresistible enthusiasm. The pair have settled in the city’s outer suburb of Frankston, where Koang sits in isolation at home while Biel goes out to work each day; he was born blind, and has never seen neither his homeland in the Upper Nile Valley of South Sudan nor his new home on the streets of Melbourne.

This has done little to stop Koang channeling his creativity energy into music; he writes incessantly, and Community marks the twelfth full-length album of his career and his second since arriving in Australia (the previous ten currently lost to the streets of Juba in CD and cassette form - sure to be unearthed one day by Western tastemakers!)

His years of waiting for permanent residency in Australia, and prior to that of Civil War and unrest at home, have done little to dull the bright point of Koang’s positivity. He is without a doubt the man with the biggest smile in the room. A few short minutes with Koang will leave the listener walking away in a daze, his trademark phrases and bouncing laughter echoing for weeks. Community does for listeners what Koang can’t do himself - it reaches out to thousands around the world, providing him with a platform to personally greet and smile at each individual, to share a few words of encouragement and a quick observation about the warmth of the sun, or pleasure in simply being in company. If there is a silver lining to be found, chances are Gordon has already written an album about it.

The record is warm, fuzzy, catchy, lighthearted, and it packs a punch. It rocks hard with the best of them, Olsen’s beautiful production value drawing out the best in Koang’s eccentric and spiralling melodies, the band grinding themselves into an endless groove before bursting into some new impossible melody. Somewhere between William Onyeabor and King Gizzard, this is surely the soundtrack to round out what has been an incredible year of music post-pandemic.

Community is out everywhere Friday, November 11 via Music in Exile / Above Board (uk/eu) / Polyvinyl/Dispatch Dept. (North America).

Music in Exile is a not-for-profit record label and artist services company based in Melbourne, Australia, championing stories of culturally and linguistically diverse musicians and striving for a music industry that fairly represents all in our society.

Alpacas Collective (BE) takes you on a trip from Lagos to Addis Ababa, from Augusta, Georgia to New Orleans, and from Delhi to sci-fi worlds, bringing it all back home in a unique set of original songs featured on its debut album Seven Wisdoms of Plutonia (coming October 2022).

'Seven Wisdoms of Plutonia' is recorded during the lockdowns, in a process of swapping demos over the internet and one by one recording in the studio. Studio magic is conjured up with the creative contributions of friends performing their signature tricks.

We would like to thank Juha Sarkkola (guitar), Miki Mac (vocals), Katia Verheyen (flute), Micky Peeters (keys), Joël van Roode (sitar), Jasper Vandevorst (vibraphone) and Geert Claes (trumpet) for their creative contributions to the music.

The Music Lovers collection brings you a cool selection of Calypso hits for our greatest plaisure!

Since his introduction in the 60’s, he has lit stages on fire, whether it be with The Rickers Orchestra or with The Melo-Togo Orchestra (taking home 2nd place for the first National Festival of Tologese Music). His first seven-inch vinyl, “Wait For Me,” is a holy grail for diggers all around the world. It was such a hit that Togolese music is and will forever be stamped by Roger Damawuzan. He was principal in introducing Gazo, Akpesse and Kamou rhythms to modern day soul music. In Avépozo - a few kilometers from the capital, Lomé. Though Tropicana Hotel has been closed for years, the many European tourists who were lucky enough to visit have not forgotten the nights that Roger Damawuzan set ablaze throughout the years. Indeed, in their collective memory is nostalgic of his flaming spirit and the rawness of his rigorous funk. He is timeless: since 1987, the Tropicana is no longer but Damawuzan roars on. In response to requests from his studio and his label, “Tropicana Sounds”, which, during 80s, was responsible for releasing his work, Damawuzan also gave his expertise and was a major influence on the evolution of hip-hop and Tologese electro. Relentless and unstoppable, Roger Damawuzan is now making a comeback with Seda. Afro. Soul. Funk. Vaudou. This album may be described, but it cannot be explained. Only through listening to this disk at a high volume will one completely understand, at its full scope, Roger Damawuzan’s emotions, his complaints, his cries, and all his evisceration when he takes the mic. Such a force of nature, Roger Damawuzan could have been supported by only one group. Led by Peter Solo, the members of the Vaudou Game and Lomé’s most talented musicians are at Damawuzan’s disposal for this album. The bass thunders in his honor, the brass escorts his arrival through the drums' rhythmatic steps, and the guitars riff so perfectly to serve as the ideal bedrock. Such a force of nature, this album could have been only captured, if not mastered, by one studio. Such mission was accomplished by the legendary studio Otodi (Office Togolese of Disks) by utilizing solely analog equipment to translate and to breath all of Damawuzan’s soul into this album. In Mina, Roger Damawuzan’s native tongue, Seda means “listen.” And this is neither advice nor a suggestion - it’s an order!

Layering traditional kirtan with instantly accessible melodies and modern instrumentation, Krishna Das has been called yoga's "rock star." With a remarkably soulful voice that touches the deepest chord in even the most casual listener, Krishna Das-known to friends, family, and fans as simply "KD"-has taken the call-and-response chanting out of yoga centers and into concert halls, becoming a worldwide icon and the best-selling western chant artist of all time. To date, KD has released 16 well received albums, including Live Ananda (released January 2012) that was nominated for a Grammy in the Best New Age album category.KD spent the late '60's traveling across the country as a student of and later close friend Ram Dass, and in 1970, finally made the journey to India after previously leaving a Long Island rock band that eventually became Blue Öyster Cult. In India he met Ram Dass' own beloved guru, Neem Karoli Baba, known to most as Maharaj-ji. Given the name Krishna Das, KD began to chant as part of following the path of Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion. After the passing of Maharaj-ji, he took solace in music, as well as finding peace and strength in his yoga chant practice including workshops with long-time friends and teachers of meditation practices Sharon Salzberg and Jack Kornfield. Now, in 2022 and for the first time ever, two of Krishna Das' albums will be available on vinyl. Originally from 2003 and produced by the legendary Rick Rubin, known not only for his seminal rap and rock recordings, but also for his definitive work with Neil Diamond and Johnny Cash, the album "Door of Faith" represents KD's sonorous voice and his harmonium, joined here and there by instrumental tracings-Western strings, horns, and keyboards. A departure from Krishna Das's signature call-and-response-style chant this is a deeply moving collection of solo prayers-a duet with his daughter, Janaki, on "Mere Gurudev" is a most tender invocation. Krishna Das' 14th album "Kirtan Wallah" from 2014 is a natural conflu...

Layering traditional kirtan with instantly accessible melodies and modern instrumentation, Krishna Das has been called yoga's "rock star." With a remarkably soulful voice that touches the deepest chord in even the most casual listener, Krishna Das-known to friends, family, and fans as simply "KD"-has taken the call-and-response chanting out of yoga centers and into concert halls, becoming a worldwide icon and the best-selling western chant artist of all time. To date, KD has released 16 well received albums, including Live Ananda (released January 2012) that was nominated for a Grammy in the Best New Age album category.KD spent the late '60's traveling across the country as a student of and later close friend Ram Dass, and in 1970, finally made the journey to India after previously leaving a Long Island rock band that eventually became Blue Öyster Cult. In India he met Ram Dass' own beloved guru, Neem Karoli Baba, known to most as Maharaj-ji. Given the name Krishna Das, KD began to chant as part of following the path of Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion. After the passing of Maharaj-ji, he took solace in music, as well as finding peace and strength in his yoga chant practice including workshops with long-time friends and teachers of meditation practices Sharon Salzberg and Jack Kornfield. Now, in 2022 and for the first time ever, two of Krishna Das' albums will be available on vinyl. Originally from 2003 and produced by the legendary Rick Rubin, known not only for his seminal rap and rock recordings, but also for his definitive work with Neil Diamond and Johnny Cash, the album "Door of Faith" represents KD's sonorous voice and his harmonium, joined here and there by instrumental tracings-Western strings, horns, and keyboards. A departure from Krishna Das's signature call-and-response-style chant this is a deeply moving collection of solo prayers-a duet with his daughter, Janaki, on "Mere Gurudev" is a most tender invocation. Krishna Das' 14th album "Kirtan Wallah" from 2014 is a natural confluen...

The Blues Don’t Lie is the amazing new album from Buddy Guy, and is the legend’s 34th studio album, and the follow up to 2018’s Grammy winning album The Blues Is Alive and Well. Produced by songwriter/drummer Tom Hambridge, The Blues Don’t Lie features guests including Mavis Staples, Elvis Costello, James Taylor, Jason Isbell, and more.

The album will be released exactly 65 years to the day that Buddy Guy arrive in Chicago on a train from Baton Rouge, Louisiana in September of 1957, with just the clothes on his back an his guitar. His life would never be the same, and he was born again in the blues. The Blues Don’t Lie tells the story of his lifelong journey.

Reflecting on this body of work, Buddy says “I promised them all: B.B., Muddy, Sonny Boy as long as I’m alive I’m going to keep the blues alive.” He has indeed proven that again, and proclaims, “I can’t wait for world to hear my new album cause The Blues Don’t Lie.”

Fantastic Oakland, California-based ensemble Orchestra Gold offers up a kaleidoscope of sound deeply rooted in the Malian tradition while introducing a genre-bending nod to the future through their rare and artful fusion of African Psychedelic Rock. Spearheaded by the dynamic Mariam Diakite, whose raw and hypnotic vocal stylings deliver heartfelt and thought-provoking lyrics in the highly symbolic Bambara language. While paying homage to Malian musical traditions, this fierce new sound is supported by heavy swinging rhythms, a funky fresh brass section and cosmic guitar licks.

Star Feminine Band: a 2020 debut, first journey and a 2022 return!Though not exactly a world music label, Born Bad took up the challenge and released Star Féminine Band's debut album in late 2020. Heaps of acclaims and praise and the whole shebang, then boom: the tour that was to materialize, live, all of the band and its entourage's hopes got cancelled due to Covid. After a long delay, the band finally managed to get to Europe, performing on the Transmusicales Festival, as well as for TV stations like Arte, TV5 and BBC to much acclaim. "Once they played, Born Bad and the band clearly had a "mission accomplished" feeling - that all the energy put into this was worth it, starting with the critics who abounded at the Transmusicales to weigh the phenomenon. They left convinced, just like the audience, enthralled by the direct, live formula. The sequel to the adventures of these new ambassadors for Unicef? They persist and sign with a feverish and energetic soundtrack in which nabo, peulh and waama are enlivened with drum lines and spiced up with more "modern" sounds, spreading words of tolerance and kindness. Simple and direct, they speak of their reality, of the ills of young women who don't always have a choice. Often out of school and destined to selling peanuts, bananas or gari on the roadside, most of the girls around there don't have a future. Forced marriage, precocious pregnancies_ "These kids are heroines!", continues Born Bads JB who, by welcoming them in a record studio, allowed for the formula to be sharpened into a sort of garage band with an afro twist. Thanks to the English lessons that their manager Jérémie Verdier has been providing every Sunday night for two years over videoconference, the girls even experimented with English lyrics in "We Are Star Feminine Band" and "Woman Stand Up". In Paris is the happy outcome of that challenge.Vinyl LP in printed under sleeve with French + UK linernotes + Download code * Digipak CD includes 12 pages booklet with French + UK linern...

In 2019, whilst touring Japan, Barrio Lindo found himself moving away from the dance floor, instead getting lost in his headphones while listening to music that dismissed genre, oscillating between jazz, chamber orchestras and electronica. As a producer at the forefront of Latin America’s folktronica scene over the last 10 years, Agustín Rivaldo, to give Barrio Lindo his given name, has proven himself more than adept at crafting soundscapes that can transport listeners, full of detail and nuance, but they always had to pander to the club and its duty to keep revellers energised. The epiphany in Japan necessitated a change in direction, to make music that people could get lost in,and which also meant he could revert to his younger self, that guy in his twenties playing guitar with his friends, just for fun. So he booked a studio on the outskirts of Buenos Aires in early 2020 and invited some friends over; the idea was simple, let’s play some music and see where it takes us.
Espuma de Mar is the result, those initial sessions refined over the intervening years, new collaborators brought in where necessary, the production crafted in the same manner as his previous electronic-focused output, but the feel here, the ambience, is completely different. Like the espuma de mar, the sea foam that gives the album its name, this music has a fleeting quality, it arrives, imperfectly, and never stops transforming; it replenishes, it diminishes, it breathes.

The biggest difference between this album and Rivaldo’s previous works is the increased tension, and the sense of space; whereas beats and sequencers, as per their design, propel constant rhythm, here every note has intent, only played if necessary to the composition. This is felt on “Llegada”, a minimal groove soothed by kalimba thumb piano and fidgety synths while layers of trumpet take the lead until a surprisingly sombre piano motif brings the song to a close. The title track has a similar feel, whereby the music sounds improvised, each instrument free to roam, yet each note hits you in the stomach; here, we get an ominous opener, spare notes of trumpet, charango, snare drum and heavily-reverbed piano taking their turn until a rhythm begins to develop, albeit a rhythm that refuses to retain its form, flutes, synths, bass and detached vocals all playing their part as the song refuses to stand still.
Rivaldo has stated that it was the sounds of German-Senegalese group Mark Ernestus' Ndagga Rhythm Force and the UK-based project Hidden Orchestra that had the biggest impact on the album’s sound, and it is certainly possible to see the affect of the latter in the mixture of field recordings and percussive symphonic jazz. For this record, Rivaldo has worked with a small ensemble of Nicolás Lapíne on trumpet, Ignus and drums and Federico Estévez on percussion, as well as invitees such as flautist Mariana Iturri and violinist Alex Musatov. With Rivaldo himself adding guitar, synth, bass and piano, the effect is of a modern chamber orchestra and the drama that can bring. Opening track “Seguí” is a great example with its crashing piano chords and pulsating violin, and there’s no denying the euphoria of a track like “Oasis”, whose woozy trumpets can’t help but recall prime Beirut.
But there’s a reason Rivaldo is thought of so highly within the folktronica scene, and it’s for his attention to detail. No two tracks on the album are the same, it goes from the percussion-heavy “Migrante”, whose breakbeat and jerky synths show a love for hip-hop and 80s funk, to a beguiling track like “Azufre” that has a vaguely-Caribbean cadence until a tenor sax solo from Camila Nebbia takes it into more overtly-jazz territory. Then there’s a track like “Periferia” whose use of close- mic’d percussion makes it feel like the speaker is literally shaking with rhythm, alongside “Tac Tac Tac” that is full of warm, reverberant bass notes, albeit offset by hand claps and the only-discernible vocal on the album. With this in mind, it should be no surprise that Rivaldo is also a luthier, using some of the instruments he’s created on the album; there is a meticulous mind at work. Espuma de Mar is that rare beast, an example of an artist reinventing themselves, yet somehow sounding completely like they’ve always sounded. As Bandcamp once said in a feature on Barrio Lindo, his music is “carefully composed, revealing an underlying sense of wonder and joy”, and this continues on his latest, an album that is destined to provide someone else with an epiphany as they get lost in the music on their headphones, whether that be in Japan or elsewhere.

By the mid-1970s, the Southern African nation known as the Republic of Zambia had fallen on hard times. Though the country’s first president Kenneth Kaunda had thrown off the yoke of British colonialism, the new federation found itself under his self-imposed, autocratic rule. Conflict loomed on all sides of this landlocked nation. Kaunda protected Zambia from war, but his country descended into isolation and poverty. This is the environment in which the ’70s rock revolution that has come to be known as Zamrock flourished. Fuzz guitars were commonplace, as were driving rhythms as influenced by James Brown’s funk as Jimi Hendrix’s rock predominated. Musical themes, mainly sung in the country’s constitutional language, English, were often bleak. In present day Zambia, Zamrock markers were few. Only a small number of the original Zamrock godfathers that remained in the country survived through the late ’90s. Aids decimated this country, and uncontrollable inflation forced the Zambian rockers that could afford to flee into something resembling exile. This was not a likely scene to survive - but it did. Welcome To Zamrock!, presented in two volumes, is an overview of its most beloved ensembles, and a trace of its arc from its ascension, to its fall, to its resurgence.

If someone would have told me years ago, when I started the label, that one day I would be releasing music by Ernesto Djédjé, the king of Ziglibithy himself, I would have personally driven them to the closest psychiatric institute such is the magnitude of the artist and his iconic tune “Zighlibitiens”.

The star of Ernesto Djédjé started rising in the late 60s, when he became the guitar player and leader of Ivoiro Star, founded by Amédée Pierre, star of Dopé, the leading musical style at the time. Annoyed by the “congolisation” of the Ivorian music that was taking place within the band, Ernesto left the group and emigrated to Paris in 1968 to record his first few singles arranged by Manu Dibango and influenced by Soul, Rhythm & Blues and Jerk. Those recordings reflect the musical mood at that time which was dictated by two musical trends within the Ivoirian scene: Traditional music, embodied amongst others by Amédée Pierre on one hand and imported music from the States, Cameroon and Zaïre on the other. And while the first trend was generally neglected, the youth fully embraced the second and as a result bands such as „Les Black Devils“, „Djinn-Music“, „Bozambo”, “Jimmy Hyacinthe”, shot to stardom overnight by recording mainly funk and disco music. It is within this context that Ernesto would draw the inspiration for a future formula.

Returning to Côte d‘Ivoire in 1974 Ernesto began looking for like minded musicians to form the mighty “Ziglibithiens”. Diabo Steck (drums), Bamba Yang (keyboards & Guitar), Léon Sina (Guitar) and Assalé Best (chef d´orchestre and Saxophon) would become the core of the group and together with Ernesto they began thinking of ways of combining the rhythms and chants of the Bété people and fuse them with Makossa, Funk and Disco and create a musical style that was both Ivorian and International. He called his experiment Ziglibithy and his first two albums, immortalised at the EMI studios in 1977 in Lagos and released on the Badmos label, took West Africa by storm turning Ernesto Djédjé into an icon overnight and one of the legends of African music. Ernesto Djédjé died in mysterious circumstances on June 9th, 1983 - at the age of 35 - shocking the whole Ivorian nation. And although the end came abruptly, it didn’t come soon enough, and Ernesto had time - within 5 albums - to cement his legacy as one of the most innovative artists the Ivory Coast ever produced.

The song Zighlibitiens, brought to Colombia by an aeronautical mechanic in the early 1980, would become a huge hit on the Caribbean Coast. Renamed “El Tigre” by locals soundsystem operators - certainly due to the Badmos logo - that particular song would reach legendary status in Barranquilla and Cartagena. Setting fire to uncountable local parties, it has become one of the most sought-after Album in that part of the world. And so, while Ziglibithy has mostly disappeared from the airwaves of its country of birth, on the other side of the Atlantic, its fire continues to shine bright.

David Walters is an explorer. Not just one of those who show off on the screen. Like his Grandfather, David has not hesitated to cross seas or oceans to fulfil his desires fit. His mother's father left the Caribbean island of St Kitts for New York and started a family in London with a woman he met on the boat. David, on the other hand, travelled from his home in Marseille to Sheffield, London and Manchester to record this EP and to give a new twist to his career by musically extending the link that binds him to his grandfather, and more generally to his ancestors. "In Africa and its diasporas, as in the world for those who know how to see them, the elders are always at our side", he says in a soft voice.
"Music comes first".

It was on Guts' advice that David Walters changed his working habits. He and the French producer/beatmaker and DJ know each other well. "He offered to accompany me artistically on my new album, to be my third eye, or my third ear," says David. "He is someone I respect for his work, his discretion and his questioning, his desire to never repeat himself" he explains. "We often exchange ideas. We don't necessarily always agree, but whatever we think of each other, it's the music that comes first.” So when Guts told him about Tom Excell, David went for it. He headed for Sheffield where Excell, the producer, guitarist and percussionist had his own studio. The contact was direct. "We took the instruments and played like children", remembers David, still under the spell of the encounter. "Tom is part of the new English scene that combines jazz, soul, hip-hop and world grooves. He’s associated, as a musician, producer and remixer with Nubiyan Twist, Onipa, K.O.G., Me & My Friends and so many others. He has the freshness of the English sound. I like his approach. Over there, people have grown up with The Beatles, The Specials, Depeche Mode, The Clash or Apache Indian playing in the background in supermarkets. They have a different musical culture, a different musical culture that is part of the décor regardless of the genre, and that's a game changer," David says excitedly. "If people like it, they make room for you right away. I'm a fan".

"More personal and more open"
In three sessions at Tom Excell and David built these 4 tracks. “No One” which opens this E.P., was the first to be finalised. As always with David, everything is played - the Rhodes as well as the percussion, the bass as well as the drums - before being sampled. Even the electronic rhythms are sampled on the hi-hat or cymbal. Hence this organic sound. ”No One is a word of advice, an incitement to trust yourself, to listen to no one but your own instinct. This is something the singer already defended more than fifteen years ago on “Awa” the song that gave its name to his first album. "No One” is now more peaceful and serene than “Awa” was," he says. “Bow Down”, initiated with the Lyon-based producer Patchworks, is reinvented here in a lighter version. ‘It's a nod to New Orleans and the Afro-descendants, those men and women who kept their heads up despite slavery and mistreatment," says David, who recorded and produced the Nola is Calling project (2019) in a colonial house in New Orleans he transformed into a studio. The expression "Bow Down" is both a tribute to the Amerindians who came to the aid of African slaves and an affirmation of strength and resilience. Hurricane Kathrina is still on everyone's mind. As David explains, “Yemaja is the Cuban goddess of the sea. In Africa, she is called Yemoja”. There is no doubt that the sea is David's element. “The sea acts on me like a sort of great "reset". It's a place where you can also lose yourself," he says. “Baby Love”, the last track, echoes “Baby Go” from the album
Nocturne (2021), an opus recorded with cellist Vincent Segal, kora master Ballaké Sissoko and percussionist Roger Raspail. "In the end, these four tracks (+ a disco edit of “No One” by the American producer Captain Planet) are put together like a rebus, to tell a story that makes sense to me: Nobody is going to fall apart, thanks to Yemaja", David sums up with a warmth and smile in his voice.
David Walters is a true explorer, and doesn't intend to stop there. Future sessions are already scheduled in Tom Excell's studio in order to finalise a full length album which is due to be released early in 2023.

The long-awaited 7-inch version of the single released in 2022 by Zoe's Shanghai, a neo-soul band based in Paris, France! They made a splash with their album "Lava Love" released in 2021, and this year, 2022, they are releasing two singles in physical format for the first time! Must-check release for fans of Hiatus Kaiyote / Moonchild

The Hamadcha of Fez are dervishes belonging to the very old (xvii) Moroccan Sufi brotherhood Hamdouchiyia. Its members are mystics who sing and dance to trance in honor of the holy founder, the miracle worker Sidi Ali Ben Hamdouch.During a performance their amazing spiritual and artistic practices transmit to those who approach them their “baraka”, a divine grace.The audience vibrates and moves to the rhythms of the dervishes songs, tempos, stories and fascinating dances.Dj Click puts down his suitcases in the heart of the old city. He goes in search of atypical sounds coming from the heart of the streets, soaks up the atmospheres, then offering us a sound postcards where tradition alongside modernity.He is the first producer to be accepted into their brotherhood for a such meeting!

Born Aaron Livingston, Grammy Award winning Son Little unleashes his album Like Neptune never sounding stronger or more confident than now, showcasing his original vision of r&b, informed by his love for hip-hop imbued with tinges of funk, pop, and psychedelia. While Little"s collaborations with The Roots and Rjd2 had already helped him make a name for himself by that point in his adopted hometown of Philadelphia, critics on both sides of the pond were quick to recognize the unique power of Little"s solo recordings, which stripped the past for parts that could be reconstituted into something wholly new and original. NPR hailed Little"s "impeccably crafted songs" as "honest and unpretentious," while The Independent proclaimed him "a formidable talent," and Vice declared that he was "dissolving the barrier between R&B and rock "n" roll one tearjerker at a time."

In the musical universe of the Brazilian singer-songwriter Raphael Gimenes, wild landscapes are metaphors for unspoken feelings. The Copenhagen-based artist writes hauntingly visual, and poetically surrealistic stories, in which he can be hunted by sun-kissing jaguars, chased by thirstyhorizons, become a kaleidoscope of butterflies, or turn into dream-singing birds. His 2016 debut album, "Raphael Gimenes & As Montanhas de Som", was elected the best Brazilian album of 2016 by the Dutch website Written in Music, received 5 stars on Jazzism, and was hailed as a "conceptual masterpiece" by the Japanese magazine Latina.His sophomore release, "A tongue full of suns", is co-produced by the Faroese singer-songwriter Teitur, who also features on synths. On this new album, Gimenes explores his non-Brazilian influences and his life outside of Brazil. The songs are sung in English, a language that he learned when he lived in the United States as a boy. The lyrics are inspired by the mountainous landscapes of Jotunheimen, Norway, where he goes trekking on a yearly basis. The production and the arrangements draw heavily on sounds he heard on vintage European prog rock bands, particularly Yes and PFM. The music itself does not stray far from the universe of his debut album, but the songs do take more symphonic, progressive forms, while the Brazilian rhythms are substituted by the more meditative, minimalistic tabla played by the German musician Jan Kadereit. "A tongue full of suns" also features two guitar virtuosos from Argentina and the Netherlands: Matias Arriazu and Tim Panman.The fictitious story behind the concept album is presented as a poetic short text written by Gimenes himself: "These are the last songs written by The Painter, a broken-hearted sorcerer who disappeared on a journey of self-discovery in the vast canvas of the great wild. They were found floating above the silence of an ageless rock, in a valley of slumbering glaciers. It is said that on his odyssey, he learned the hypnotic dialects of t...

This summer sees the return of the unique cross-continental collaboration between Ghanain xylophonist Isaac Birituro and his band of live international musicians, The Rail Abandon. Having created something of a buzz back in 2019 with their debut albumKalba- gaining support along the way fromGilles Peterson,Cerys MatthewsandTom Ravenscroftto name but a few - and after something of a hiatus, the duo teased us earlier this spring with theLapaz EPin preparation for their new LP,Small Small.

Small Smallis a very Ghanaian saying, a direct translation to English, which is used in a wide variety of contexts to mean 'bit by bit,' 'one step at a time' or 'slow and steady'. Vocalist and musician Sonny Johns, from The Rail Abandon, was first introduced to the phrase on his initial trip to Ghana in 2016, when he met Isaac in Kalba, and the phrase has popped up over and over ever since.

"Any second album is a difficult process –how do you make something that follows on from the first but is different enough? It's particularly difficult when your first album was made under the unique conditions of having never played together, in unusual surroundings. It is also difficult when you live on different continents from each other. To add to those difficulties, we had to make a record in the middle of a pandemic. Fortunately, just before the world was locked down, we'd written and recorded the basis of the album over 3 days while on tour in Germany, October 2019. Then Isaac and the Rail Abandon went about adding their own musicians to the recordings in Ghana and the UK respectively, bringing everyone together via the internet instead of physically. Everyone involved had been hit dramatically during this period, some physically, some financially, all emotionally.

The rise of the BLM movement during this period also made a big impact on a project designed to unite people, bring equality and encourage mutual respect. The death of Tony Allen also hit us hard early in this period too -Tony (also of maternal Ghanaian heritage) was a person who united West African and European musics and cultures seamlessly and was instrumental in bringing together (indirectly) the music of Isaac Birituro & The Rail Abandon. So, we finished this albumSmall Smallover the intense year of 2020 influenced by the difficulties that we, and the world, have been through. The album is about loss, frustration and struggle, but it's also about the light at the end of the tunnel; about overcoming difficulties to find a brighter future and no matter what separates us, whether that be language, culture, continents or borders, when we listen to each other and learn from each other, there's really not much that can keep us apart. So from everyone involved, here's to a brighter future." Sonny Johns from The Rail Abandon.

The Rail Abandon is a play on the name Rail band - the short title ofThe Super Rail Band of the Buffet Hotel de la Gare, Bamako -a band from Bamako, Mali including such greats as Salif Keita and the more importantly the guitarist Dejimady Tounkara. Inspired by his playing the group were given the moniker The Rail Abandon as a way to release music without a face, specific name or singer. The line up is different depending on the music. Due to a joint love of African musics from across the continent, the core at the moment is Sonny Johns on vocals and guitar, Raph Clarkson on trombone and keyboards, and Israeli musician Yuval Wetlzer on drums and percussion, but it can incorporate any, all, none or more than these people.

As well as the core group, the album also features a number of special guests, including Ghanaian powerhouse vocalist Wiyaala; UK based Afrobeat Ambassador Dele Sosimi; the incredible Queen Ayesha and South African singer Nosihe.

Favorite Recordings proudly present its new series of 7" reissues with the following concept: each side dedicated to one Funky French track coming with its original artwork. You just have to flip it! On the first side, you'll get the amazing track "Funky Biguine" by West Indies band Crystal. Originally compiled by Charles Maurice on French Disco Boogie Sounds Vol. 2, the original eponymous album still goes for crazy prices. And there's a reason for that: "Funky Biguine" will bring the heat on the dancefloor with its enchanting synth bassline, its West Indies influences and melodious Funk arrangement. Don't miss the synth solo in the end! On the other side, you'll find a reissue of "Looking For You" by J.E.K.Y.S from the island of Réunion. The song has just started and you're already overwhelmed by the strong bassline and the sirens of this French boogie anthem - despite this one has English lyrics. Originally, you'll find it compiled by Charles Maurice on French Disco Boogie Sounds Vol. 3. Expect lovely harmonic progressions and perhaps a more spacey groove, as in these beautiful bridges leading to chorus where the lyrics blend perfectly with the synthesisers line and Fender Rhodes.

Favorite Recordings proudly present a new series of 7" reissues with a simple concept: each side dedicated to one French funky track coming with its original artwork. You just have to flip it! Starting with "Funky Baby Love" by Paul Fathy, it could not get funkier! The French boogie track originally compiled by Charles Maurice on French Disco Boogie Sounds Vol. 3, is your perfect tool for the dancefloor. It brings together all the ingredients of a great production with irresistible disco strings, a catchy chorus supported by beautiful backing vocals and its final climax will bring the dancers to a point of no return. On the other side, you get an exclusive reissue of West-Indies band Corail', with their song "Karukera C'est Comme Ça" taken from their eponymous album. This under-the-radar, zouky and funky track will surprise every listener with its appealing arrangement and lyrics: "Ça va danser / Sur l'île aux oiseaux". Soon, you won't be able to get it out of your head. The bass is groovin', the rhythmic guitar is infectious and digital keyboards are on point: we're pretty much sure this one will become sooner or later a banger of its own.

'Kekete Bue' is the first new album from legendary Congolese musician Kanda Bongo Man since 2010, and his first vinyl release in over two decades.
The master of soukous, the infectious and uptempo guitar-driven music from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kanda's latest album features new tracks alongside reinterpretations of some of his classic songs.