Afrobeat Vinyl 690 Items

Undying Thirst Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 2020 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

It's been a long, winding road to Hailu Mergia's sixth decade of musical activity. From a young musician in the 60's starting out in Addis Ababa to the 70's golden age of dance bands to the new hope as an emigre in America to the drier period of the 90s and 2000s when he mainly played keyboard in his taxi while waiting in the airport queue or at home with friends. More recently, with reissue of his classic works and a re-assessment of his role in Ethiopian music history, Mergia has played to audiences big and small in some of the most cherished venues around the world. With 2018's critical breakthrough "Lala Belu" Mergia championed himself and consolidated his legacy, producing the album on his own and connecting with listeners through the sheer creative power of his version of modern Ethiopian music. His subsequent performances revealed an artist who is in no way stuck in the nostalgia for the "golden age" sound. The press agreed, including the New York Times, BBC and Pitchfork, calling his music "triumphantly in the present" in its Best 200 Albums of the 2010's list. Mergia's new album "Yene Mircha" ("My Choice" in Amharic) encapsulates many of the things that make the keyboardist, accordionist and composer-arranger remarkable_elements that have persisted to maintain his vitality all these years, through the ebb and flow of his career. The rock solid trio with whom he has toured the world most recently, DC-based Alemseged Kebede (bass) and Ken Joseph (drums), forms the nucleus around which an expanded band makes a potent response to the contemporary jazz future "Lala Belu" promised. "Yene Mircha" calcifies Mergia's prolific stream of creativity and his philosophy that there is a multitude of Ethiopian musical approaches, not just one sound. Enlisting the help of master mesenqo (traditional stringed instrument) player Setegn Atenaw, celebrated vocalist Tsehay Kassa and legendary saxophone player Moges Habte from his 70's outfit Walias Band, Mergia enhances his bright, electric band on this recording with an expanded line up on some songs. Mergia produced the album which features several of his original compositions along with songs by Asnakesh Worku and Teddy Afro. An artist still reinventing his sound every night on stage during his marathon live sets, this 74-year-old icon refuses to make the same album twice. The album feels as urgent and risky as his concerts can be, pushing the band to the outer limits of group improvisation and back with chord extensions during his exploratory solos. "Yene Mircha" captures this live experience and fosters an expansive view of what else could be in store for this tireless practitioner of Ethiopian music.

Go to Item

Black Market Brass

LP | 2020 | US | Original (Colemine)

Release: 2020 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Black Market Brass’ sophomore record, Undying Thirst, is a noxious brew of diesel and bleach; a special long-player full of wasteoid rippers for skullduggerous hover-bike gangs peddling fugazi relics and snake oil tinctures. Hellacious guitars, nitrous-charged percussion, a brass section harsher than paint-thinner, and a special batch of short-circuited electronics and synthesizers will leave your head buzzing into the 31st century. Blasting Undying Thirst from your home speaker system is like going over a waterfall in a rusted out oil barrel, long after the sun has boiled the falls dry.

LP is packaged in high quality Stoughton Tip-On gatefold jacket, LP stored in an anti-static innsersleeve, and includes a download card. Pressed at Gotta Groove Records in Cleveland, OH.

Go to Item

Leve Leve Sao Tome & Principe Sounds

LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Les Disques Bongo Joe)

40,99 €*

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

The two Portuguese-speaking African islands of Sao Tomé & Principe, located in the Gulf of Guinea, created an unique music called Puxa : a refined mixture of various musical components from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. A blend of Semba, Merengue, Kompas, Soukouss, Coladeira patterns, often pushing forward with a voodoo-like energy, solid bass lines, delicate melodies and backing harmonies of the rich Sao Tomean melodic traditions. Very first compilation focusing on the golden age of these island’s sounds, the 16 tracks selected will surely set fire on all dance floors !

Léve-Léve is the first ever compilation devoted to music from São Tome and Principe, two small islands situated off the coast of Gabon in central Africa. The album unravels a story of liberation where the music of Africa, Europe and the Americas unify with a carefree spirit personified by a phrase the islanders use all the time: “léve, léve” (“take it easy”). With echoes of Angolan semba and merengue, of Brazilian afoxê, of coladeira from Cape Verde and dance music from the Caribbean, it is a sound fiercely proud of its island heritage, sung in local dialects and using distinctive local rhythms.

On this record you can hear the cultural and social history of São Tome and Principe, and how live music represented its beating heart. Once known as the “Chocolate Islands” (remarkably, these two tiny islands were the largest cocoa producers in the world, though now this title acts as a reminder of its colonial past), through the years leading up to independence from Portugal, music would be a fundamental voice of liberation and conviviality. Os Úntués were one of the first groups to make an impression, releasing a couple of 7 inches in Angola – the litmus test of success for any of the islands’ groups. They united unique rhythms and dances like socopé, puita and dança-congo – borne from the islands’ largely slave-descendant population – with the sound of pop music beamed in on the radio from Europe, even adding in a little bit of soukous and Brazilian instrumentation. Their main rivals were Conjunto Mindelo, who fused São Toméan rhythms with rebita, an Angolan style, to create high energy puxa, a truly original island rhythm.

From the mid-1970s, coinciding with independence from Portugal in 1975, the islands’ groups featured an even stronger African influence and nowhere was that more apparent than with Africa Negra. They would listen to the latest records from Gabon, Zaire and Cameroon, taking inspiration and trying out phrasing from the greats of Central African guitar playing, developing a devoted fan base off the islands, as well as on. A score of other bands would follow a similar musical path, with a few getting their dues overseas in Angola, Cape Verde, Portugal and across Africa.

Os Leonenses (led by the iconic Pedro Lima), Conjunto Sangazuza, Sum Alvarinho and Conjunto Ecuador were just some of the other bands that formed a lively home-grown music scene that lit up the islands’ bars and open-air shows from the 1950s through to the mid-90s. Regardless of class or age, they were responsible for keeping the population entertained come the weekend, with Sunday matinee shows the highlight of the week, the music not stopping from midday until midnight.

As a Portuguese island colony that was for many years populated with slaves brought from Africa, São Tome and Principe has much in common with other Lusophone countries and boasts a richly complex and idiosyncratic musical DNA. Whilst the musical tapestries of Angola and Cape Verde are well known, São Tome and Principe’s secrets were assigned to the islanders themselves. Until now.

Go to Item

Apala - Apala Groups In Nigeria 1967-70

2LP | 2020 | UK | Original (Soul Jazz)

28,99 €*

Night Dreamer Direct To Disc Sessions

Release: 2020 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Soul Jazz Records new ‘Apala: Apala Groups in Nigeria 1964-69’ is the first ever collection of Apala music ever to be released outside of Nigeria.
The album focusses on a wide selection of recordings made in Nigeria in the 1960s, a time when Apala music was at the height of its popularity. Apala is a deeply rhythmical, hypnotic and powerful musical style that combines the striking nasal-style vocals and traditions of Islamic music, the Agidigbo (thumb piano), and the equally powerful drumming and percussion rhythms and techniques of the Yoruba of Nigeria.
The most significant figure in Apala music is undoubtedly Haruna Ishola who features throughout this album. Ishola holds an almost mythological status in his role as populariser of Apala music in Nigeria. Ishola’s singing was believed to be so powerful that, without proper restraint, it could kill the recipient of his music.
Apala is a popular music that also functioned as a form of cultural resistance – Apala music involved no western instrumentation and is sung in the Yoruba language, its aesthetic an implicit cultural rejection of the British Empire’s colonial rule over Nigeria which lasted from 1901 until independence in 1960.
Apala music was popular and widely accepted in Nigeria due to its philosophical and profound lyrical content alongside the complex rhythmic patterns of this heavily percussive style, which highlighted many of the percussion instruments of south-west Nigeria.
Apala is one of a number of popular urban styles of music that came out of Nigeria in the 20th century and sits alongside the more well-known (in the West) styles of Fuji, Highlife, Juju and Afrobeat. Of these modern forms Apala remains perhaps the most ‘roots’ style (sometimes described as ‘neo-traditional’) due to the authenticity of its sound. It has similar Islamic roots to other neo-traditional styles of Nigeria – including Waka and Sakara – examples of which are also included on this collection contextualising the music of Apala.
These recordings were originally made and released locally by Decca and EMI Records as well as a variety of independent labels in Nigeria and have never been released outside of the country before. Soul Jazz Records are releasing this album as a deluxe double gatefold vinyl (+ download code), CD, slipcase and booklet, both containing full text and photography.

Go to Item

Seun Kuti & Egypt 80

LP | 2020 | US | Original (Night Dreamer)

Anywhere Trouble Feat. Cristina Violle

Release: 2020 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

“It’s a paradox, in a way, like you’d have in a dream – something that’s both light and heavy,” Wayne Shorter muses, speaking to Nat Hentoff for the liner notes of Night Dreamer, his 1964 album and first for Blue Note as a leader.

Night Dreamer takes its name from this album, and retains something of the essence of what he was trying to convey.

Working with Artone Studio, and located above Record Industry pressing plant in Haarlem, Netherlands, Night Dreamer specialises in direct-to-disc recordings – the process by which music is cut onto acetate from single-take live performances, without interference: Neumann microphone to Neumann lathe. From there, it is simply ‘walked downstairs to the pressing plant.

For musicians recording at Artone, the process speaks to Shorter’s paradox. The levity of liberation vs. the weight of expectation; trust in raw musicianship vs. vulnerability of exposure. It is in such alchemical moments of contrast that the essence of expression can emerge.

Every Night Dreamer release is produced using a wide range of vintage mastering and recording equipment assembled and painstakingly restored over seven years. With one of just four remaining RCA 76D mixing desks – the same model used at Sun Studios – alongside Westrex Capitol cutting amps, designed specifically for Capitol studios to record the likes of The Beatles and The Beach Boys, it brings together state-of-the-art, often bespoke gear that has never been bettered.

Shorter captured Night Dreamer in a single day, an art not lost on today’s musicians, who, although afforded a surfeit of choice, are as wedded to the idea of collaboration as those of previous generations. The methods are timeless, and the impulse is as contemporary as ever.

Go to Item

Franck Biyong

12" | 2020 | EU | Original (Hot Casa)

12" | 2019 | EU | Original (Autonomous Africa)

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

After a few other successful projects, Franck Biyong, French-Cameroonian Afrobeat composer, guitar player and singer is back on Hot Casa with a hot futuristic Afro-Brazilian club anthem.
The similarities and filiations between traditional West-African drumming and Afro-Brazilian religious musical rites are many: under colonial rule African people and African slaves outwardly practiced Christianity but secretly prayed to their own God, Gods, or Ancestor spirits. So we aimed at keeping the gritty urban menacing sound and poetry of Afrobeat with the percussive mass rumble of Batucada and poignant beauty of Carioca. We then got in touch with Cristina Violle, the first lady of “Samba de Roda” in Paris who graced us with a startling inspired and heartfelt melody. The first completed version of the song then briefly went on alternative radio, we also made plans to release a vinyl version, but for one way or another we shelved the project, without thinking we would get back to it again…until a few months ago.
We went back to the studio last summer and started ironing the song again from scratch. That same initial spirit and energy caught hold of us again from the day we started and we worked relentlessly to create a balanced but experimental track, showcasing rootsy sound, pop instrumentation, tight world beat drumming, song structure, jazzy horns, spacey synthesizers, choral-like vocal harmonies with call and response figurative vocals.
We now proudly present this brand new record; Like our predecessors years ago, we subconsciously did our best to keep alive a longtime tradition of cultural tradition of African Artistic Renaissance, pushing further musical themes of contemporary African sound. To be continued…

Go to Item

The Green Door Allstars

Youth Stand United

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Altercat)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

In 2015, Optimo’s Autonomous Africa label released Youth Stand Up!, a triangular recording project hatched at Glasgow’s Green Door Studio that brought together young musicians from Belize, Ghana and Glasgow for ten tracks of cross-cultural collaboration. The result was an infectious cocktail of traditional Caribbean and West African rhythms, hip hop, highlife and Glaswegian post-punk, featuring contributions from Optimo Music regulars Golden Teacher and Whilst, among others.

Go to Item

Afrodyssey Orchestra

Under The Sun

Fu Chronicles Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Greece is maybe not the first country that comes to mind when you think of Afrojazz. Afrodyssey Orchestra unexpectedly hit the scene some time ago after the release of In the Land of Aou Tila, their debut album — while that first album was going to the hands of the few lucky ones who managed to discover the band back then, Afrodyssey Orchestra were already booking more studio time in order to start working on further recordings. Three years later, we’re proud to present you Under the Sun, with seven new compositions that reflect the logical evolution the band has experienced during this time, including some fine-tuning in their line-up. A melange of African polyrhythms, jazz, a scent of the Balkans and a fling with Afrobeat that holds hands with their beginnings — all this devised through the prism of the vast Greek musical universe.

Go to Item

Antibalas

LP | 2020 | US | Original (Daptone)

Isaac Birituro & The Rail Abandon

Release: 2020 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

With a globetrotting 20-year career renowned for being a voice for the people across four decades of political and societal upheaval from the late ‘90s to today, Antibalas celebrates its 20th Anniversary with a stark return to their Williamsburg roots on its latest Daptone Records studio album, Fu Chronicles. Pre-gentrified Williamsburg serves as the backdrop for Fu Chronicles–voyaging back to the early days of when Antibalas and Daptone Records spawned out of lead singer Duke Amayo’s kung fu dojo. A senior master of the Jow Ga Kung FuSchool of martial arts, Duke Amayo along with Antibalas founder/baritone saxophonist Martín Perna guide listeners through an epic journey of where kung fu ingeniously intersects with Afrobeat on Fu Chronicles.

Go to Item

Kalba

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Wah Wah 45's)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Medianos Exitos Subtropicales Volume 2: El Relincho Del Tiempo

Los Siquicos Litoralenos

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Hive Mind)

2LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Running Back)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

“The unique and magical sound of Los Siquicos Litoraleños (The Psychics of El Litoral), fermented in the rural north of Argentina, land of gauchos (Argentine cowboys), mate tea, chamamé folk music and Psilocybe Cubensis. In this remote region, cut off from the fashions of the city, Los Siquicos were able to nurture their obsessions, hone their craft, and develop a singular style that takes the traditional chamamé folk music of rural Argentina, then throws it in a blender with Latin-American cumbia and chicha, the tropicalia of Os Mutantes and Tom Ze, the free music of Sun Ra, Captain Beefheart, The Residents, UFO conspiracies, radical philosophy, and a strong dose of the absurd. Out in the hinterlands, they fully embraced the spirit and ethic of DIY punk, gaining a reputation for wild, open air shows on the backs of flatbed trucks, or from makeshift set-ups in village squares and at local fêtes and fairs, where confused locals half recognise the twisted sound of a chamamé beamed in from another planet.

Hive Mind Records are delighted to help bring Medianos Éxitos Subtropicales Vol. 2: El Relincho Del Tiempo (Medium Subtropical Hits Vol. 2: The Neigh of Time) out into the world. The album features a number of brand new songs alongside tracks chosen from Los Siquicos' extensive archive of home recordings. El Relincho Del Tiempo contains the soupy dub-cumbia of Para Ser Un Gran Hombre, the fantasy radio-hit La Danza Del Brontosaurio, and the shamanic ecstasy of Los Ninos Del Brasil or Dostoyevski En El Minimercado.
Los Siquicos Litoraleños invite you to take a leap into their world in which the sounds of the future and the past blur into one, where the music of the whole planet is digested and spat out in new shapes, where the noise is joyful.“

Go to Item

Mim Suleiman

Si Bure

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

7" | 2019 | EU | Original (Lokalophon)

Ahemaa Nwomkro

Ye Fre Yen

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

As Lokalophon's first single (Chris De Wise Shepherd, LO45001) shows the one side of the label - licensing of alredy locally released music, Ye Fre Yen by Ahemaa Nwomkro shows its other side - the recording of local styles by ourselves directly on site.
Ahemaa Nwomkro, which means queens of Nwomkro, are Victoria Osei and Theresa Owusuaa. Nwomkro is an old Ashanti musical style, which played an influencial role in the origin of the typical more roots-like Highlife style of Kumasi, the cultural capital of Ghana in the middle of the jungle.

Go to Item

Kinshasa 1978 (Originals & Reconstructions)

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Crammed)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

O Céu É Velho Há Muito Tempo

Lucas Santtana

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (No Format)

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Awesome Tapes From Africa)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

For his eighth album, Lucas Santtana returns to guitar-voice simplicity, in the spirit of his tropicalist peers (Gilberto Gil, Tom Zé or Caetano Veloso). At a time when everyone shouts very loudly, when no one wants to listen to the other, he decides to whisper in people's ears. He looks for the points of intersection between the intimate and the political and social situation, very degraded in Brazil since the election of the populist president of the extreme right Jair Bolsonaro. Surrounded by a young creative guard(Jaloo, Linn da Quebrada, DUDA BEAT)and Juçara Marçal (Meta Meta), he offers a peaceful album in the face of the profound disruptions of retrograde societies and ideas. He thus delivers a free, airy, poetic record, because "even if the times are obscure, they will pass, because everything is cyclical. Hence the name of the disc: "the sky has been old for a long time".

Go to Item

Antoinette Konan

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Black Sweat)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

It makes sense that Antoinette Konan's eponymous album features nothing more than her ahoko on the cover. The deceptively simple traditional percussion instrument transformed Ivory Coast's Baoulé music scene when Konan deployed it against a roaring electrified backdrop of synth, bass guitar and drum machines. Released in 1986, the album is a veritable UFO of instrumental force and contemporary pop sensibility landing in a boiling pot of diverse, creative characters inhabiting Abidjan, Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire). Known as the "Queen of the Ahoko" among Ivorians, Konan single-handedly put the central-Ivorian instrument on the map when she gave it a 20th-century re-introduction. The three-piece wooden idiophone is handmade from a thin, ribbed, flexible stick, against which a smaller chunk of wood is rhythmically scraped. A hollow nutshell held in the non-scraping hand amplifies and manipulates the resulting overtones. Despite the ahoko's diminutive appearance, Konan and her powerful voice have remained at the forefront of Ivorian music for decades now, in an extremely diverse country_approximately 70 indigenous languages_with a competitive, internationally-recognized music industry.Music plays an important role in Baoulé cultural life, heard and seen in festivities, funerals and more. They are the largest ethnic group in Côte d'Ivoire and descend from Akan peoples who migrated from present-day central Ghana. Baoulé vocal music is characterized by polyphony, melodies built on parallel thirds and call-and-response. All of this can be heard in Konan's music. Konan's fingerprints are all over Antoinette Konan, she says, as it was meant to be a highly personal recording. She wanted to portray the suffering, injustice, frustrations, humiliations, personal career struggles, experience of child birth and poverty she sees in society. Taking on the producer role for the first time, Konan was the architect of her dancefloor-ready neo-traditional sound. But crucial to the recording was arranger Bamba Moussa Yang. A creati...

Go to Item

Cucoma Combo

28,99 €*

Shoreza Inyange / Amayaya

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Cucoma Combo. Above all, the new boiling energy of pan-rhythmic music, the awakening dance of joy, the experimental space for ambitious arrangements and free-improvised parts of colorful horns. From Black Africa to South America, we travel on paths of Congolese soukuss and Amazonian carimbò, between accents of Colombian cumbia, kalimba vibes and tribal voices. We find seeded traces of space-funk and afrobeat, with amazing acid keyboards and an enchanting female voice. The power of rhythm and in general the whole project are leaded leaded by Marco Zanotti, a multifaceted drummer and fine poly-percussionist, expert of the African and South American sound universe. With his Classica Orchestra Afrobeat, he proudly took part in outstanding collaborations with Seun Kuti, Sekouba Bambino and Baba Sissoko, as well as a prestigious participation in the Glastonbury Fest.

Go to Item

Niki Dave & Afro Kids

7" | 2019 | EU | Original (Afro7)

7" | 2019 | EU | Original (Afro7)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Two funky steppers from Niki Dave & Afro Kids! First ever reissue of rare seventies music from Burundi!

Go to Item

Mac & Party

Zandale / Kiss To Kiss

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Afro7)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

From Mac & Party aka. Yaseen Mohammes comes this fantastic Kenyan chakacha taarab dancer with a heavy clavioline keyboard hook. mid 60’s origin

Go to Item

Yaseen & Party

LP+CD | 2019 | Original (No Wahala Sounds)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Rock & Indie

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

A collection of 12 fantastic taarab songs from Yaseen Mohammed (Mac & Party) rich in exotic tone colour, full of swing and groove, compiled from the elusive Mzuri catalogue, Mombasa, Kenya 1960’s. Comes with with a large 4 page fold-out insert with extensive background story and never-before-seen pictures.

Go to Item

Orchestre Shika Shika

Hit After Hit

12" | 2019 | UK | Original (Mother Tongue)

Release: 2019 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

A selection of uptempo guitar-driven singles recorded by Congolese supergroup Shika Shika who formed in Kenya in 1981. While Shika Shika were only around for three years, during that short time they recorded four albums and over 80 singles on at least 16 labels. Members of the band had followed the trail of many Congolese musicians who headed to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi which was the man East African hub for recording and also offered plenty of opportunities for playing live. Bandmembers include main songwriter and singer Jimmy Monimambo, singers Lovy Longomba and Moreno Batamba and guitarist Siama Matuzungidi. As was typical in Kenya at the time, all songs were recorded with 45rpm singles in mind, and so the tracks were originally split into Parts 1 & 2 on either side of the disc.

Released in October 2018 and received airplay from Gideon Coe on BBC 6music, BBC Radio 3 Late Junction, DJ Ritu on SOAS Radio, Roger Hill on PMS BBC Radio Merseyside, Steve Barker On The Wire on BBC Radio Lancashire, and DJs Zoe Baxter and Debbie Golt on Resonance FM. Tracks were played by London-based DJ collective Village Cuts at their African music nights. A track featured on Rhythm Passport's monthly downloadable compilation in November 2018. Positively reviewed by David Hutcheon in Mojo magazine in March 2019.

Go to Item

Gin Tonic Orchestra

Stefania EP

13,99 €*

Sir Frank Karikari & The Polyversal Souls

Release: 2019 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Gin Tonic Orchestra, a brand new band out of St. Etienne (France), debuts
on Mother Tongue Records with a lush soulful tribute to their native city.
Afro-latin grooves, juxtaposed elements of funk and ethereal flute solos
backed by a stunning remix by UK legend Kaidi Tatham.

Go to Item

Siakwaa / Nana Agyei (Medley)

7" | 2019 | UK | Original (Philophon)

10,99 €*

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (BBE Music)

Release: 2019 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Frank Karikari is the son of legendary Highlife musician Ralph Karikari who played bass on countless classic albums such as "Sikyi Highlife" by Dr. K. Gyasi & His Noble Kings. So, Frank grew up surrounded 24/7 with high class Highlife music plus he has inherited the natural talent of his father. Now he teamed up with the Polyversal Souls to keep the spirit of Highlife alive.

"Siakwaa / Nana Agyei" are two songs taken from above mentioned album "Sikyi Highlife". Frank gets here some vocal support from the original court singers of the Ashanti king, which fits perfectly, as both songs are praise songs to the king.

"Odo Agye Gye Me" is composed by legendary Kumasi based singer Baffour Kyei, who sang for such groups like Kyeremateng Stars or B.B. Collins & His Powerful Believers. Besides creating this song, he is part of the choir on this future Highlife classic.

Go to Item

Lumingu Puati (Zorro)

Mosese

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Contre Jour)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Rock & Indie

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

In the late Congolese musician Lumingu Zorro, protégé of Kinshasa’s legendary 60s band leader Dr Nico, recorded Mosese, his only pre-2000 solo album, for the Tabansi label- and this is it.CHAMPETA STORM WARNING! The first-ever reissue of one of West Africa’s best-kept rumba-soukous secrets- as well as being one of the most in-demand titles on Colombia’s booming Champeta sound system scene, where a rare record is protected as fiercely as on the Northern Soul or Jamaican sound system scenes, the label scratched off, the record hidden from view when not on the turntable.Possibly one of the strongest and most consistent Congo dancefloor albums ever recorded perfectly balanced between voices, horns, guitars and percussion.Which is why original copies of this all-time rumba rarity almost never reach the open market, being traded between Colombia’s champeta picoteros (sound system selectors) instead.In Kinshasa they say ‘Miziki ezelaki eleng ndeko’- ‘Sweet music, brother!’. Roger that

Go to Item

Habib Koite

Kharifa

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band

Obiaa!

2LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Strut)

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Sounds Of Subterrania)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Strut is proud to announce Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band’s sophomore release ‘Obiaa!’, released on 4th October 2019. The album, produced again by Kwame Yeboah and Ben Abarbanel-Wolff at Lovelite Studio’s analogue HQ in Berlin, is a deep and soulful journey into the heart of Ghana’s indigenous highlife music celebrating the timeless and iconic voice of Pat Thomas, the 72 year-old “Golden Voice of Africa”. After producing Ebo Taylor’s seminal albums ‘Love and Death’ and ‘Appia Kwa Bridge’ for Strut Records, in 2014 Ben Abarbanel-Wolff approached Kwame Yeboah, Ghana’s top contemporary instrumentalist and bandleader, to work on a new project: “We initially wanted to invite Pat back into the studio with Ebo Taylor and Tony Allen to recreate and expand on some of the vibes they had recorded together during a lost session in 1977,” Ben explains. Recorded in Accra, the result was the critically acclaimed self-titled debut album ‘Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band’ in 2015.
Pat and the Kwashibu Area Band (named after Kwame’s neighbourhood in Accra) hit the road in October 2015. After a memorable performance at WOMEX in Budapest, they never looked back. The next two years took them around the world to play at major venues and festivals including Glastonbury, Roskilde, WOMAD, Sakifo, WOMADelaide, Sines and many more. “We could see there was something for everyone in our music. People of all ages, colours and trends were dancing together!’ explains Kwame, the mastermind behind the band’s unbelievable precision and killer live show.
The new album is called ‘Obiaa!’ which means ‘Everybody!’. Tracks include the modern parables ‘Onfa Nkosi Hwee’ warning against arrogance and ‘Odo Ankasa’ about the value of real love and trust as well as a great new cover of Thomas’ Afro-disco favourite ‘Yamona’. “Playing highlife around the world taught us what we had to do to move our sound forward,” continues Ben. While simultaneously looking back towards the classic days of highlife and forward to a fresh revival of the guitar band sound, this album cements Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band’s position at the pinnacle of modern African music.
‘Obiaa!’ is released on all formats on 4th October The album features exclusive cover artwork by Lewis Heriz with photos by Marie Weikopf and Michelle Chiu and is mastered by Édouard Bonan at Ed-Room Studio in Paris.

Go to Item

Bibi Ahmed

Adghah

23,99 €*

The Alan Lorber Orchestra

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Bibi Ahmed, Kopf und Bandleader von Group Inerane, stammt aus Agadez (Niger), eine der unbändigsten, unbeständigsten und gefährlichsten Gegenden dieser Erde. Früh wurde Bibi mit der Unterdrückung und Ausgrenzung der Tuareg durch die nationalen Regierungen von Mali und Niger konfrontiert. Ebenso früh erwachte seine Liebe zur Musik. Als Kind brachte sich Bibi Ahmed das Gitarre spielen selbst bei, bevor er seine Ausbildung von dem großen Meister und Vater des Tuareg-Blues, Abdallah Ag Oumbadougou, erhielt. Geprägt durch die Erlebnisse in den lybischen Flüchlingscamps während des Tuareg Aufstandes, verlieh Bibi Ahmed, während viele andere Künstler das Land in Richtung Amerika und Europa verließen, mit seiner Band Group Inerane der Rebellion eine eigene, musikalische Stimme und öffnete gleichzeitig die reiche Tradition der Tamachek-Gitarrensänge einer neue Generation Zuhörern. In Zusammenarbeit mit Sounds of Subterrania und den Lotte Lindenberg Studio entstand Februar 2019 sein erstes Soloalbum, bei welchem er alle Instrumente selbst einspielte. Diese Reduktion eröffnen einen völlig neuen Blick auf diesen sehr spezielle Mix aus Tuareg Blues, elektrifizierte Tamachek Folk und Psychedelic Sahara-Rock. Man spürt förmlich das Flirren der Hitze und begibt man sich auf den Pfad des Hörens , verschwimmen die Unterschiede zwischen spirituellen Trance und hypnotischem Psychedelic-Blues. Für Fans von Mdou Moctar, Tinawiren, Imarhan LP mit DLC in wertiger Aufmachung, CD als Digipack. Bibi Ahmed, head and bandleader of Group Inerane, is from Agadez, Niger, which is one of the most volatile, unbridled and dangerous parts of the world. Bibi was soon confronted with the oppression and marginalization of the Tuareg by the national governments of Mali and Niger. Just as early awakened his love for music. As a child, Bibi Ahmed taught himself to play the guitar before receiving his education from the great master and father of the Tuareg blues, Abdallah ag Oumbadougou. Marked by the experiences in the Libyan refugee camps during the Tuareg uprising, Bibi Ahmed and his band Group Inerane gave the rebellion its own musical voice, while at the same time making the rich tradition of Tamachek guitar singing accessible to a new generation of listeners. In February 2019 and in collaboration with Sounds of Subterrania and Lotte Lindenberg Studio, Bibi recorded his first solo album on which he played all of the instruments himself. This reduction opened up a whole new view on this quite extraordinary mix of Tuareg blues, electrified Tamachek folk and psychedelic Sahara rock. The listener literally feels the shimmer of the heat and, once one embarks on the path of listening, the differences between spiritual trance and hypnotic psychedelic blues become indistinct. For fans of Mdou Moctar, Tinawiren, Imarhan Vinyl in hi-end sleeve with dlc, CD as digipack!

Go to Item

The Lotus Palace

LP | 2019 | US | Original (Modern Harmonic)

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Les Disques Bongo Joe)

Release: 2019 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Orchestrated by legendary producer Alan Lorber, this talented cast of musicians weave their way through Eastern-influenced and psychedelic interpretations of pop gems and some way-out-there originals, in an album touted as the first in the fusion of raga and jazz.\n \nBrimming with the sounds of sitar, tabla, and Gamelan percussion, this eccentric blend of Eastern and Western music includes four\noriginally unissued bonus tracks!\n \nPackaged in a gorgeous replica of the original gatefold jacket, featuring the original notes and a fresh set of notes from Alan Lorber himself! Exquisitely mastered from the original stereo masters, cut by Kevin Gray for a stunning and enveloping classic stereo sound with delightful stereo separation. Pressed on gold vinyl at Third Man in Detroit!

Go to Item

Amami

Giant

12" | 2019 | EU | Original (Favorite)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

New band from Bongo Joes agitated hometown Geneva! Just somewhere between dub tape, afrobeat and dancehall... like a lost gem of a retro-futurist soundtrack or a dusty trap song from outer space. Just listen to IVORY to catch the vibe : furious claps, deep kick, melow synth and souly vocal. Drum machine and madness are maybe the two feet they stand on. So free your mind and just dive into this post-tribal dance.

As three face of the same coin, Raphaël Anker (Imperial Tiger Orchestra), Gabriel Ghebrezghi (Ghostape, Tapes Adventure, Uberreel) and Ines Mouzoune will catch you on their spinning game... and you'll not stay indemn.

Go to Item

Esnard Boisdur

Mizik Bel

15,99 €*

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Naive)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

“You don’t need to be a fan of Gwoka or even Antillean music in general to fall in love with the deep, expressive voices of the singers of the genre. Artists like COSACK, ANZALA and ESNARD BOISDUR have fascinated music lovers around the globe for decades. It’s not only the drumming style accompanied by their beautiful melodic intonation, but also the revolutionary spirit of these songs that make them a unique and powerful document of the culture and the history of the Antilles and the Caribbean.
I remember the first time I listened to this type of drumming and signing, live at the re-enactment of the slave riots, and being completely emotionally overwhelmed by it. Some of my record collector/DJ colleagues and friends – first and foremost Hugo Mendez and Émile Omar – shared the same fascination for the genre and kept inspiring me, and countless others, by their DJ sets at Tropical Discoteq in Paris, where I have had the pleasure to be one of the residents for five years and counting. At one of those nights, I met my friend Pascal Rioux from Favorite Recordings and told him about an amazing unreleased track I received months before, on a home-burned CD, from ESNARD BOISDUR. Among other beautiful songs, it contained one outstanding track, a mix of modern Gwoka and Zouk called “MIZIK BEL”.
When I started playing that track out, there were fierce reactions on both ends. The crowds loved it and after a while you could hear people cheer when they heard the first notes. Many DJs and labels wanted it, demanded it, and would even go as far as to block or unfriend me if I refused to comply. It became clear to me that the track had to be released on vinyl for the first time and made accessible to people who wanted to play it, while giving the original artist full credit. At the same time, I knew a remix version of the track that would pay respect to the original could only be created by getting the original stems, and not by editing the main track and pressing it into an “electronic dance corset.” Pascal agreed to the idea and started the licensing work and the search for the stems, which resulted in an ongoing three-year quest that was crowned by the finding of the ADAT containing the original tracks.
As AFRICAINE 808, Dirk Leyers and I spent considerable time trying to re-create the composition of the original, respectfully slicing and re-arranging it, adding new instrumentation, and recording additional percussion and talking drum with our percussionist ERIC OWUSU (Pat Thomas/Ebo Taylor). We stretched it, adding a krauty synth part without losing the focus of Esnard’s beautiful voice and lyrics, describing Caribbean music in all its diversity and beauty.
With this in mind, I hope you can now enjoy the beauty of “MIZIK BEL” as much as we have so far.” – (DJ NOMAD, June 2019).

Go to Item

Rachid Taha

Je Suis Africain

22,99 €*

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

On -The Sound Of On Records 1987-1989 Part II

Mafika

12" | 2019 | EU | Original (Egoli)

2LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Jazz Village)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

The late 1980s in the rainbow nation was a time when disco was mutating into what was becoming known as Bubblegum: pop music aimed at the black population of South Africa.
Bubblegum was a response to Western styles like disco and the fast spreading house music which originally came from the black ghettos of Chicago and New York. When the second Summer of Love took over the UK in 1988, first house, and other electronic music styles conquered South Africa as well. DIY - do it yourself - a motto that had already appeared in the punk movement, lifted the young local scene to the next level. With a minimal set up - keyboards, some drum machines and samplers it was suddenly possible to make music without having to rent expensive studios.
1 of 3 12" in a compilation of tracks from The ON label which was active in South Africa between 1987-1992, an era following the end of the apartheid regime and defining the new sound of Young Black South Africa in the early 90s

Go to Item

Ahmad Jamal

Ballades

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

The Bees / Little Big Man

On -The Sound Of On Records 1987-1989

12" | 2019 | EU | Original (Egoli)

Savane 2019 Remaster Vinyl Edition

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

The late 1980s in the rainbow nation was a time when disco was mutating into what was becoming known as Bubblegum: pop music aimed at the black population of South Africa.
Bubblegum was a response to Western styles like disco and the fast spreading house music which originally came from the black ghettos of Chicago and New York. When the second Summer of Love took over the UK in 1988, first house, and other electronic music styles conquered South Africa as well. DIY - do it yourself - a motto that had already appeared in the punk movement, lifted the young local scene to the next level. With a minimal set up - keyboards, some drum machines and samplers it was suddenly possible to make music without having to rent expensive studios.
The Bees are probably the best known group, releasing only a few album in 1988-1989 and a handful singles that are now highly collectible. Their sound is electronic, hypnotic and highly danceable.
As is the case for Themba Wawelela is a prolific South African artist/producer who is best known under the monniker ''Little Big Man''
1 of 3 12" in a compilation of tracks from The ON label which was active in South Africa between 1987-1992, an era following the end of the apartheid regime and defining the new sound of Young Black South Africa in the early 90s

Go to Item

Ali Farka Toure

2LP | 2019 | EU | Original (World Circuit)

28,99 €*

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Vinyl Passion)

Serge Gainsbourg

Avant Gainsbarre

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Rebel Up)

Tropikal Camel

Awakening Spirits

Ondigui & Bota Tabansi International

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

A download code is included. Berlin-based, Jerusalem-born artist Roi Assayag (a.k.a Tropikal Camel) is set to serve up his new album, Awakening Spirits, on Brussels' Rebel Up.

Go to Item

Ewondo Rythm

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (BBE Music)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Vampisoul)

Peru Negro

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Afrotunes: Best Of Juju Volume 2 - Oba Mimo Olorun Ayo

Ojo Balingo

2LP | 2019 | EU | Original (BBE Africa)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Attarazat Addahabia & Faradjallah

Al Hadaoui

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Habibi Funk)

Rebujo Colored Vinyl Edition

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

8 page vinyl size booklet & mp3 download coupon! Habibi Funk is back with another album from Casablanca. Completely unreleased album which was recorded in Morocco in 1973 by three generation family band. A unique blend of Gnawa, Funk and Rock. Traditional Moroccan music meets electronic guitars and dense layers of percussion by a band that used to run in the same circles as Fadoul (And actually wrote one of his songs).

Go to Item

Dona Onete

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Mais Um Discos)

19,99 €* 24,99 € -20%

A Life In The Limelight: Lagos Disco & Itsekiri Highlife, 1976 - 1981

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

On the eve of her 80th birthday, Dona Onete - "the grande dame of Amazonian song" - returns with Rebujo, a love letter to her hometown of Belém, situated deep in the Amazon. Rebujo brims with two music styles born in Belém: carimbós, influenced by African grooves, and bangues, a ska-type rhythm, plus there's a cumbia, brega ('romantic' music) and samba. Since the release of her 2017 album Banzeiro, Onete has become a superstar in Brazil - she composed and sung the theme song for one of Brazil's biggest soap operas (A Força do Querer), been awarded the Brazilian Ordem do Mérito Cultural in recognition for her contribution to Brazilian culture + her video for 'No Meio do Pitiu' has an impressive 9.2m views on Youtube Outside of Brazil she's performed at Roskilde, Womad (UK, NZ & AUS), Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Festival and TFF Rudolstadt and is a global spokesperson for indigenous cultures.

Go to Item

Julie Coker

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Kalita)

23,99 €*

LP | 2019 | EU | Reissue (Dig This Way)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Kalita are honoured to release the first ever compilation focusing on the musical career of Julie Coker, the queen of Nigerian television. Here we collate seven of Julie's most sought-after Afro disco and hauntingly-beautiful Itsekiri highlife recordings, accompanied by extensive interview-based liner notes and never-beforeseen photos.

Go to Item

Musical Breed

Save The Little Children

22,99 €*

This Is Bolga! Pts, 1 & 2

Release: 2019 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves, Reggae & Dancehall

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

The album was originally released in Nigeria by Tabansi Records and recorded at Afrodisia/Decca studio in Lagos. The Lp never really saw a commerical issue and was probably pressed in very few promotional copies for Radios and Djs making the original nearly impossible to be found nowdays.
Musically it comes with some dope , slow and one-a-way digital roots riddims filled with mad synths , deep conscious lyrics and a deep bassline, it's quite unique as the two main track comes with a raw Dub which is very hard to be found on any other African Reggae albums , the last track call “If I'm To Rule The World” is a very interesting blend of Reggae and Boogie.
We have been working together with the lead singer of the band , Sharon Escco Wilson that we met personally in Lagos, to finally make the album available worldwide.
The cover have been fully restored and the Audio remastered , in the LP we'll add an insert with Lyrics , original pictures from back in the days (and a few new ones) , a newspaper article from 1990 and an extensive interview by Sharon Escco Wilson.

Go to Item

The Polyversal Souls

7" | 2019 | EU | Original (Philophon)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

This time the Polyversal Souls come along with the Bolga All-Stars, named after their hometone Bolgatanga up in the north of Ghana. The Bolga All-Stars are a choir consisting of the leading local Kologo and Frafra-Gospel artists: Guy One, Alogte Oho, Florence Adooni, Bola Anafo, Amodoo, Ana'abugre and Lizzy Amaliyenga.
This is Bolga! is a hymn of praise about the very vital music scene coming out of Bolgatanga. After an instrumental introduction with solos by Barou Kouyate on the Ngoni and Christian Magnusson on the trumpet, radio Dj Messy from Bolgatanga's leading station World FM is shouting out all names of the singers, before the choir finally comes in and take lead. Carried on by a heavily rocking rhythm section the piece reaches its peak throughout the eloquent solo of saxophone viking Søren Jagtkylling.

Go to Item

LP | 2019 | US (Mississippi/Olvido)

Bulawayo Blue Yodel

17,99 €* 23,99 € -25%

Release: 2019 / US

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

7" | 2019 | EU | Original (Philophon)

The Polyversal Souls

Addis Abeba Bete

Black Savage / Majek / Ovid

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

This is part three and the last of the collaboration series between Ethopia's legendary soul singer Alemayehu Eshete and the Philophon house band The Polyversal Souls.
On the A-side you hear Alemayehu's classic song Addis Abeba Bete in an intimate live performance. This recording happend during a cultural exchange programm organized by Galerie Listros, Berlin's finest gallery for Ethopian art, with support from the Bundeskulturstiftung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland.
The flip side is the complimentary portrait to the recently released Portrait of Alemayehu (Daytime) - now, on Portrait of Alemayehu (Night-time), you get an idea of the masters fiery stage persona as it is documentated on the A-side. It's night-time now - booooooom!

Go to Item

CBS EP

12" | 2019 | EU | Original (Afro7)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Afro7 is back and this time we’ve dug deep in the CBS Kenya vaults and found four fantastic soulful reggae tracks of early 80’s origin! First song is the bouncy ‘FIRE’ by Kenyan Black Savage Band (played out on the Worldwide show by Gilles Peterson back in the start of Summer 2018) Track two on the first side is Nigerian Sheila and Desmond Majek’s laidback soulful ‘GOT THE FEELIN’ and flip it for two fantastic tracks by the Kenya coastal outfit Ovid, check out the synth drum machine laden KARIBUNI and the party number OPERATOR. Mastered by Frank The Carvery. EP comes in super deluxe cardboard jacket made in Thailand with silk screened coastal-inspired artwork made by California resident Steve Roden. Limited to 500 copies, one copy per customer.

Go to Item

Ray Lema

Gaia

LP | 2019 | US (Mango)

14,99 €*

Release: 2019 / US

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Soundway)

Dexter Story

Bahir

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Mar & Sol)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Dexter Story is an artistic spirit in the truest sense of the phrase. From his work as a multi-instrumentalist for acts like the Sa-Ra Creative Partners, to his management role with Snoop Dogg and his turn producing Daymé Arocena’s 2017 album Cubafonia, Story understands the business from every conceivable angle.
Initially inspired by the music and cultures pervasive throughout the Horn of Africa, Story translated his experiences there into his previous album Wondem, followed closely by the single Wejene Aola featuring jazz luminary Kamasi Washington, both on Soundway Records. If Wondem was a brief glance into Story’s new creative vision, Bahir is a pinpoint refinement of that purpose, the fine-tuning and expanding of the world he created on his Soundway debut.
On Bahir, Story steps in front of those influences and melds his world into the one he fell in love with so strongly while in Africa. One way in which he’s done so is by incorporating musicians from both sides of this coin. LA luminaries are featured throughout, as are African contemporaries he encountered throughout his travels. Sudan Archives gives a show-stealing vocal performance on “Gold”, while the Ethiopian producer Endeguena Mulu adds impenetrable and psychedelic texture to the album’s title track.
So Bahir finds the polymath musician not stuck between two worlds, but as a member of both. We get Ethiopian jazz tonalities, Tuareg grooves, ekista dance rhythms, Afro-funk, Somalian soul and forays into more contemporary jazz rhythms, too. Angelenos like Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Josef Leimberg give the record its backbone, while African artists like the Ethiopian singer Hamelmal Abate give Bahir its glimmer and shine.

Go to Item

Africa Negra

Alia Cu Omali

12" | 2019 | EU | Original (Hot Mule / Secousse)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Mar & Sol presents the new album of the legendary band África Negra,"Alia cu Omali". New songs and some popular classics recorded between Lisbon and S.Tomé.
This album Its a reflection of the old rumba and soukous music that this epic band of São Tomé e Príncipe got us used to. They are an icon and one of the main bands of this island, representing in their music the authenticity and culture of the former Portuguese colony on the equatorial meridian.
It is our mission to expand this culture and here it is the testimony in our series of Luso Afro music which could best represent São Tomé.

Go to Item

Max Rambhojan

LP | 2019 | US | Original (Sahel Sounds)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Guadeloupe 1986. The football World Cup has all the Islanders' eyes riveted to their TV sets. At every half time breaks, local TV channel RFO broadcasts a music video on repeat: ‘’Tou’t Jou Pa Min’m". Max Rambhojan, the local singer responsible for this monster tune, has arrived.
In the video, he effortlessly sings and kickstarts a joyous street party with his band, Show Man, his dancers, kids, friends, family and what seems like the whole neighbourhood. The song will gain cult status from then on, cementing the power of the 'Zouk Chiré' sound, a high tempo version of Zouk, highly influenced by Guadeloupe's Carnival mass drum bands. Max self-releases his first solo album on vinyl in 1985, enrolling some of the best musicians the scene has to offer: his band leader King Klero, Guy Jacquet of les Vikings de la Guadeloupe fame on production duties, Ramon Pyrmée on synths, Claude Vamur, Meliza… In 1992 a new solo album follows. By then the artists have familiarized themselves with computers and the sound has gone full-on digital. In that album Max records an updated version of his “Tou’t Jou Pa Min’m” anthem to great effect.
Reducing Max Rambhojan to a zouk artist would be a mistake. He’s first and foremost a master of Gwo-Ka, a musical practice born during the transatlantic slave trade and performed by all ethnic and religious groups of Guadeloupe. It has never ceased to exist and has become a major part of the Island folk music culture. Max Rambhojan was schooled as a kid by Gwo-Ka pioneer Guy Conquette, and quickly joined the backing band of another legend, Ti-Sélès. That sound is the root of his particular style, especially vibrant on two tracks in his repertoire: “Cecilia” and “On Jou Matin”, both featured on this release's b-side. A touch of Spiritual Jazz is also palpable, allowing a magical vibe to spread, giving birth to some of the deepest music from this era.
In 2019, Max still performs Gwo-Ka every week-end in Guadeloupe and also hosts a show on local radio Media Tropical, 88.1FM. Secousse and Hot Mule are proud to present those 4 lost gems on wax and digital, carefully restored and remastered.

Go to Item

Ahmed Ag Kaedy

Akaline Kidal

Release: 2019 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

LP | 2019 | US | Original (Awesome Tapes From Africa)

Sourakata Koite

En Hollande

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Sahel Sounds)

Release: 2019 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Senegalese kora master Sourakata Koite began music from pretty much day one. "All the Koite are musicians!," he says. Indeed he is a member of a family of djeli (or griot in french), the hereditary caste of musician-storyteller-historians in West Africa. After moving to Paris in the late 70s he began to play in different bands and for musicians like Manu Dibango, Toure Kounda, Mangala, Mah Damba and more. During a festival in Holland, a music producer form Plexus Records heard him and asked to make a recording. In 1984 in an old chicken coop near Delft, Koite recorded the entire album in one take, including overdubs. The rich sonics and deep sound beautifully presents Koite's virtuosic and entrancing renditions of traditional and original tunes. With the reissue of en Hollande, Awesome Tapes
From Africa continues its mission of bringing tapes posted on the ATFA website over the years, including this one, to music fans all over the world.

Go to Item

Hama

Houmeissa

7" | 2019 | EU | Original (Philophon)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Nigerian composer Hama presents a groundbreaking album of traditional electronic desert folk songs, hovering somewhere between early 90s techno and synthwave. Nomadic herding ballads, ancient caravan songs, and ceremonial wedding chants are all re-imagined into
pieces seemingly lifted from a Saharan 1980s sci-fi soundtrack or score to a Tuareg video game. With a deep love and respect, Hama effortlessly takes back and re-appropriates fourth-world ethnoambient music.

Go to Item

Jimi Tenor

Vocalize My Luv

Heavenly Sweetness presents

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Jimi Tenor delivers another 7" on Philophon. This time he teamed up with the two glorious gospel queens Florence Adooni and Lizzy Amaliyenga from Bolgatanga/Northern Ghana. This release is a first insight into the next album by Jimi on Philophon, which will be released later the year.
Vocalize My Luv is a charmingly presented lure for love. The secret of the song is that drummer Ekow Alabi Savage's upfront high-life beat is triggering a Jimi-operated Korg MS-20 bass synth. Man and machine are melting down into a light and sportive groove, which irresistibly invites you to do some frisky aerobic moves on the 3am dancefloor. Ki'igba is a classic Frafra gospel song by Alogte Oho, completed with some jubilating flute by master Jimi.

Go to Item

2007-2017 – 10 Years Of Transcendent Music

2LP | 2017 | EU | Original (Heavenly Sweetness)

Baba Commandant & The Mandingo Band

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Hip Hop, Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Limited edition vinyl!

Transcendent : “Surpassing the ordinary; exceptional”
2007 - 2017 : Heavenly Sweetness is turning 10 years old!
They are celebrating with 3 birthday parties, and 2 compilations! One is a best of the label’s production, and the 2nd one is made of exclusive tracks, composed for this occasion.
This compilation is a very subjective best of the label’s production, from each album or single we had the chance to produce, with great artists.
A journey through 10 years of music, a great introduction to the label’s universe, but even the experts will discover unknown tracks.
Including well known artists such as Guts, Blundetto, Sly Johnson, Anthony Joseph, but also more confidential artists: Robert Aaron, Jacaranda Muse, Patchworks (and his tribute to Gil Scott-Heron) and many others!

Go to Item

Wasso

12" | 2017 | EU | Original (Mawimbi)

Inye Deluxe Vinyl Edition

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Interviews from Kenya about an “Economic Partnership Agreement” (EPA) mark the core of ten compositions by Sven Kacirek and Daniel Mburu Muhuni. They have spoken to dozens of people who might be affected by the planned free trade agreement between the EU and the African Pacific Countries. While EPA is being negotiated mainly outside of the limelight of international attention, this album of musical oral histories is an approach to shed a critical light onto the complex circumstances and inhumane side effects of global trade.
The spoken words are the vocals of the tracks. The artists have left the rhythm and tonality of the voices untouched, and the statements have simply been collaged into subthemes. Subsequently, Kacirek and Muhuni have dubbed the voices with their instruments: mallets, piano, percussion, synthesizer, and many more. The result is nothing less than a mesmerizing stream of consciousness. It sometimes reminds of sound collages by The Books, of Steve Reich’s “Different Trains” or of Jan Jelinek’s repetitive soundscapes. “Economic Partnership Agreement” can be listened to as an audio play or musical documentary as a whole while individual tracks such as “The Weather Has Changed So Much” stand out as single hits. Sven Kacirek has played and collaborated with Shabaka Hutchings, John McEntire, Nils Frahm, Sofia Jernberg and Stefan Schneider among others. He has travelled to Kenya many times, always on the quest for musical inspiration and collaborations. The most famous result are his “Kenya Sessions” (Pingipung 2011) as well as “Mukunguni” and “Rang’ala” (Honest Jons 2013/14). Daniel Mburu Muhuni is a percussionist from Nairobi who took part in the BLNRB project conducted by the Teichmann Brothers in 2012.
With this new album, the two artists focus on an intercultural exchange which aims at more than beautiful music: Unveiling voices about global trade from a Kenyan perspective. Five music videos will be published ahead of the release date
in which the interviewed guests are featured. This album shall be available for free on Bandcamp. Additionally, a limited vinyl LP edition of 200 hand numbered copies will be released. It comes in a luxurious gatefold cover with a 30 page booklet with all lyrics and more information on the EPA process and the people involved in this record.

Go to Item

Itadi

LP | 2017 | EU | Original (Hot Casa)

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

This deluxe LP contains also two unreleased tracks, interview, and photos and was fully licensed with his family. Afro funk and Political Soul from Togo. Recorded in the beginning of the 80's and self-produced by Itadi in 1983 , this obscure album contained deep soul and controversial rare grooves backed by the 5 band members called the “Afro Funk Band de Lomé”. Itadi's music is unique, in his second album, he kept the same recipe: a mixture of soul, reggae, hi-life and Funk, with heavy lyrics which sounds like slogans and caused him big trouble after its release. He was obliged to escape the country to USA. A real definition of a revolutionary musician. Remastered by Frank Merritt at Carvery Studio.

Go to Item

LP | 2017 | EU | Original (Aziza)

Murder By Contract

On Se Pousse Yoruba Soul Remixes

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

his LP explores the vast archives of African popular music, leading to an explosive selection of cuts that blend genres s.a. soul, jerk, psych, beat, garage and more. All cuts are reissued here for the first time.

Go to Item

Vaudou Game

12" | 2017 | EU | Original (Hot Casa)

Issue No. 1 - Benga Music (A Signature Genre From Kenya)

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

A 12inch single from the incredible French Afro Funk band including remixes by the one and only Osunlade under the collective name of Yoruba Soul!
Since their first acclaimed album Apiafo and its irresistible single “Pas contente”, these Lyon (France) natives never turned down the heat over 160 stages across Europe, Africa, Canada, Japan... Peter Solo has displayed his amulets, voodoo chants and charisma around the globe. When it came time for them to harness their Afro Soul sound for the second time, they turned their attention once again to their analog strengths. On the road Peter Solo and Osunlade met and could share their musical visions. It was obvious that this two will share their spiritual music experiences.
Kidayu is the name of the second opus which means “sharing”: it’s exactly what those versions of “On se pousse” are about: a true futuristic Hi-life, a great meeting of two ardent defenders of the Afro Soul sounds ! Limited press, mastered by Carvery.

Go to Item

FLEE

LP | 2017 | EU | Original (FLEE)

34,99 €*

Afro Latin Vintage Orchestra

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

6 rare and almost forgotten benga tracks from Kenya including edits by Nik Weston, Jaakko Eino Kalevi and Africaine 808!

Inculding a 16 page printed silkscreen magazine!

FLEE is a collective of dedicated afro-diggers, driven by the enthusiasm to find and preserve semi-forgotten genres. For their first release they focused on an old Kenyan music genre called “Benga”. The record will be completed by a printed silkscreen magazine retracing the history of the genre, which will feature original archive pictures, great authors from the region, such as Emmanuel Mwenda, as well as the writer and singer of the eclectic Kenyan Band, Yellow Light Machine, Ondiso Madete. This vinyl compiles six rare and for some unreleased benga tracks, edited by contemporary artists (Nik Weston aka Mukat, Jaakko Eino Kalevi and Africaine 808), with the aim of approaching this genre with an innovative perspective, transcending simple nostalgia.

Only 200 copies of this first issue!

Go to Item

Morpheus

LP | 2017 | EU | Original (Officehome)

15,99 €*

Sound Species & Ache Meyi

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

After two hip-hop albums (Got To Get Down in 2016 and Impact in 2017), the unpredictable Afro Latin Vintage Orchestra comes back to its fundamentals with a new instrumental album: MORPHEUS which repositions the band in the spirit of their previous spatial, almost cosmic albums Last Odyssey (2012) and Pulsion (2015), both released on Ubiquity Records and acclaimed by spiritual and fusion jazz lovers, library music fans, as well as rare grooves diggers (ALVO’s first 4 vinyl albums now being out of stock).
Each new ALVO new release is a millesimal which evolved and learned from its predecessors. Masta Conga, who’s still leading the herd, has for main purpose to explore the musical space-time, gaining ground on never before revealed tracks, followed by his now faithful team of atypical and farseeing musicians.
Compared to Miles Davis and his On The Corner by Wax Poetics, the band dives again in this “realm of psychedelia and beyond”, in particular with the contribution of Indian musicians. Twirling around violins, superimposed patchy keyboards and effects, just as if their conductor wasn’t already sufficiently influenced by Pierre Boulez and others such as Hiroshi Murakami…
The result is however more uncluttered and loaded with multiple vibes than its predecessor Pulsion, which already carried the ceremonial characteristics of cult movie soundtracks. Tracks “Moksha”, “Air” and “Morpheus” are the perfect demonstration, and far beyond their names. Simple grooves, lunar, but terribly efficient, emphasized by a mix that puts focus on these fiddly contributions of ethnic instruments, on percussions and horns on a drip of delay, reverbs and other space-echoes.
On the other side, the very rhythmic “Descarga Uno”, “Descarga Dos” and “Super Dopamine” show that the Parisian crew hasn’t lost its good habit to look around latin, ternary, and syncopated rhythms, in the ALVO only style!
A new millésime, a Grand Cru maybe, but for sure to taste and appreciate in all weathers including space ones.

Go to Item

2LP | 2017 | EU | Original (Manana)

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

LP | 2017 | CH | Original (Les Disques Bongo Joe)

Damily

Very Aomby

LP | 2017 | EU | Original (Hot Casa)

Release: 2017 / CH – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

New, furiously exhilarating Tsapiky music from the south-west of Madagascar, beside the Mozambique Channel.
A rough, electric, rural take on the classic Congolese, Kenyan and Mozambican urban dancefloor styles of the 60s and 70s — hyper-fast interplay between pumping bass and clattering drums, overlaid with cranked-up high-life guitar — nourished with the musical traditions of local villages, especially in the singing and other passages of acoustic respite.
Ace.

Go to Item

King Bucknor Jr

African Woman

Fela Ransome-Kuti & The Highlife Rakers

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

A fantastic afro-beat album from a Fela Anikulapo Kuti disciple and Kalakuta Republic member. A sublime spiritual and political session recorded in 1979 at the Emi studio in Lagos (Nigeria). Arranged and self-produced, this second Kingsley Bucknor‘s album, hopelessly obscure and impossible to find ranks alongside the best afro-beat album in history!
At the age of 19, King Bucknor Jr, also known as the Black Isaiah of Africa, released his second album backed by a 16 band members called “The Afrodisk” and 10 background singers .
Two long and hypnotic grooves with all the afro -beat ingredients, fluid and complex drums patterns, strong horns, female voices on chorus, strong lyrics, beautiful keys and horns solos .
Essential for all the afro collectors and music lovers.

Go to Item

Fela's Special

7" | 2017 | EU | Original (Soundway)

10,99 €*

LP | 2017 | US | Original (Musique Plastique)

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Soundway Records presents Fela's Special 7" single, the first recorded tracks from the great Fela Kuti.
This item usually comes with the extensive Highlife On The Move 3xLP compilation, but due to an accidental over-pressing we have a small number of these 45’s for sale individually.
Very limited stock available.

Go to Item

Pedro (Peter Mekwunye)

One Kind Of Love

16,79 €* 27,99 € -40%

Red Light District / The Game Of Love

Release: 2017 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Peter Mekwunye, who had moved from Nigeria to the United States, self-released 'One Kind Of Love' as a small run cassette in 1993 under the moniker Pedro. His songs were influenced by traditional Nigerian music, as well as the popular tunes he heard on the radio while growing up, f.i. by Fela Kuti and William Onyeabor. Now 'One Kind Of Love' is available on vinyl for the first time ever.

Go to Item

The Afro Soul Prophecy

7" | 2017 | EU | Original (Schema)

9,99 €*

Mogoya White Vinyl Edition

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

The Afro Soul Prophecy project welcomes the Spring of 2017 with a series of two exclusive 7-inch records, for a total of four fully instrumental new compositions. This first 45rpm consist consists of the main track “Red Light District”, a rare groovy funk effort tinged with catchy brass melodies, backed with the slower, mellow and sensual “The Game of Love” – yes, the title says it all! Once again Alex Puddu has lent his creativity and put his music signature on these tracks, for an exciting and charming result!

Go to Item

Oumou Sangare

LP | 2017 | EU | Original (No Format)

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

LP | 2017 | US | Original (Awesome Tapes From Africa)

Umoja

707

15,99 €*

LP | 2017 | US | Original (Comb & Razor Sound)

Release: 2017 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Originally recorded in the 1980's in South Africa the release is a cosmic blend of disco, soul and pop. Umoja were one of the key figures in a genre which has since become known as 'Bubblegum Music' with the group recording their music during the violent era of apartheid in Africa.

Go to Item

Shango Dance Band

10" | 2017 | EU | Original (Schema)

Release: 2017 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

In the early years of Fela Kuti's career, well before he would define the genre of afrobeat, and leave an indelible mark on the musical landscape, he was a struggling trumpet player, seeking to redefine the sound of his current group, the art-jazz ensemble Fela Ransome-Kuti Quintet. As he moved his group towards the then-popular genre of highlife in 1963, he lost his bassist in the move towards commercial success, but gained the company of Ojo Okeji, who had a sterling reputation both as a bassist and
percussionist in groups like Lagos Cool Cats, Rex Williams' Nigerian Artistes, and Western Toppers Highlife Band, a favorite of Kuti's. Okeji impressed Kuti with his deft jazziness on the bass, so he was in on the spot, and the Fela Ransome-Kuti Quintet became Koola Lobitos. It was Okeji that introduced Kuti to the famed percussionist Tony Allen, (Who would subsequently join Kuti into his greatest years as an artist) as well as conguero Abayomi "Easy" Adio. During his time in Koola Lobitos, Okeji not only contributed deeply melodic, and adeptly rhythmic baselines, but brought his own influence from emerging US soul artists like James Brown & The Famous Flames and Wilson Pickett, heavily pushing Koola Lobitos towards a more soulful direction. This push was often resisted by Kuti, who frequently clashed with Okeji. 1968 proved to be a turning point for the group, as the Nigerian Civil War broke out, and many starving musicians turned to the military for work. Okeji and Adio would leave for the army, while Kuti and Allen kept Koola Lobitos going, where it evolved through different names and iterations and grew into the worldwide afrobeat force that made Kuti an icon during the 70s and 80s. But as Kuti and Allen rose to global recognition, Okeji and Adio would form a new band within the ranks of the 6th Infantry Brigade of the Nigerian Army. Their emblazoned blue jackets earned them the nickname "The Blues”, but Okeji preferred the name “Shango” after the Yoruba thunder god. Shango took the fundamentals of Kuti's famous afrobeat and brought new layers of guitar and horn arrangements, while often invoking supernatural aesthetics, and maintaining a love for the US soul artists that influenced Okeji so much. Because Shango was an army band however, their records were not readily available to anyone outside of the military so their music, including their eponymous 1974 LP, remained relatively unknown even amongst the people of Nigeria. Decades later Comb & Razor is thrilled to present this long-lost Nigerian gem for the first time to a world-wide audience.

Go to Item

The Afro Soul Prophecy

The Devil Made Me Do It

13,99 €*

LP+CD | 2017 | EU | Original (Schema)

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Inspired by the music of Fela Kuti and his Africa 70 project feat. drummer Tony Allenl, “The Devil Made Me Do It” is pure downtempo afro beat in its original version; the first remix here included, the “Invisible Cosmic Echoes”, has a slower pace and is characterized - as the title suggests - by reverberations and space sound, while the “Invisible Astral Wave” is perfect for a DJ remix and has got a slightly accelerated pace, with an emphasis on the percussive / tribal element.

Go to Item

Gino Conte

Nell’Anno Della Luna

7" | 2017 | EU | Original (Afro7)

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

A deep mystery surrounds the movie “Nell’anno della Luna” (In the year of the Moon) and its soundtrack, which was released one year later. A beautiful work that lingers in between swing and melodies, in a fad that was popular a few decades earlier, complemented by some elements of novelty borrowed from beat and rock. The title track, “Alla brasiliana” and “Samba Querida” sound more traditional, while titles like “Afro Swing”, “Underground”, “Beatmania” (all featuring the vocal ensemble I 4+4, led by Nora Orlandi) represent a more adventurous side of this soundtrack.

Go to Item

Loi Tok Tok Eboma

Chakacha / Mungwana

2LP+7" | 2017 | EU | Original (Cree)

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Loi Toki Tok band started out as a nondescript musical group. But irrefutably, the band’s star scaled the heights and shone brightly on the early 1970s Kenyan capital, Nairobi’s burgeoning live music circuit. And basking on the top of the pops charts, was vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Leon Kabasela aka Kalle. He also doubled as band’s composer and songwriter – earning credits for among other tracks, this mellow ‘ballad’ aptly titled Mungwana – loosely translated in Swahili, is descriptive of a selfless and conscientious gentleman. Kalle is one of handful surviving remnants of the band, whose lifespan was somewhat short-lived. It lasted barely three years – circa 1971 to mid-1973. Mungwana’s lyrics, sang in Congolese lingala dialect, mirror his roots and musical dream, which lured the youthful artiste during late 1960s to pack bags, and desert the rural fringes of Lubumbashi – then Zaire’s second largest city. On the 45 single flipside is a soulful, funky hit Chakacha – a seemingly timeless afro-soul flavoured cut. Its catchy and hypnotic lyrical refrains, easily grow on the listeners. The vocals of the band’s one-time frontman, singer Kasim Combo, ooze with an unmistakable tinge of late 1960s to early 70s American soul rhythms, propelled onto the global showbiz spotlight by US pop stars Otis Redding, James Brown and Jimi Hendrix. Their popular hits gained massive, almost staple airplay on Kenya’s then sole broadcaster’s twin national radio stations. The fact that this record was pressed on an obscure Athi River label, is perhaps symbolic of Loi Toki Tok’s last band phase – shifting base from Club Arcadia in the heart of Nairobi, to the Small World Club in Athi River – an equally nondescript urban town, tucked away along the Mombasa highway.

Go to Item

Lancelot Layne

Blow Way

LP | 2017 | EU | Original (Born Bad)

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

In 1971 two songs were released in Trinidad & Tobago that represented completely new directions in the musical and lyrical expression of Trinidad's place in the diaspora, Indian on one hand and African on the other. Nanny & Nana by Sundar Popo and “Blow 'Way” by Lancelot Layne were revolutionary and ground breaking and spawned two distinctly new genres in Trinidad & Tobago music – Chutney music in the case of Sundar Popo and Rapso, in Lance's case. Brother Resistance calls Lancelot Layne the father of Rapso music.
During the early 1970s Lance recorded at least a dozen startlingly original songs including “Blow 'Wa”y, “Afro'Dadian”, “Bringing' Off”, “Dat Is Horros” and “Kaiso For Mout' Band”. Each one expanding his talent for musical arrangements and dramatic counterpoint with chorus responses and vocal variation. He enlisted musicians, each exciting and pioneering in their own right, breaking ground in the post 1970 cultural revolution: calypso/jazz pianist, Clive Zanda; composer, guitarist, singer and flautist, Andre Tanker; Mau Mau Drummers including the young Jah Jah Onilu, Mansa Musa Drummers; vocalists, including Ann Marie Innis and Ella Andall.
The result is exciting, confident and musically ground-breaking. Until his death in 1990 he kept commenting and educating T&T'ssociety with songs like Get Off The Radio, Kamboulay, Jambalasie Dance and Strike Squad.
This release is pressed on 180-gram virgin vinyl and contains an additional 45RPM single. Everything is housed in a deluxe gatefold sleeve with 20-page booklet (8.2” x 8.2”) with extensive liner notes by Lancelot's daughter, Niasha Layne-Forde, and Christopher Laird. Cover and booklet artwork were created by famous Scottish painter, Peter Doig, one of the most renowned living figurative painters who settled in Trinidad since 2002.

Go to Item

Group Doueh & Cheveu

Dakhla Sahara Sessions

18,99 €*

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Volume 3: Sweet Times - Afro, Funk, Highlife & Juju From 1970s Lagos

Nigeria 70

2LP+CD | 2011 | EU | Reissue (Strut)

Warsaw Afrobeat Orchestra

Release: 2011 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

The third instalment in Strut’s essential trip through the rich archives of Nigerian music brings together ‘70s Afrobeat and highlife from Victor Olaiya, Rex Williams, Zeal Onyia and more.

Go to Item

Wendelu

2LP | 2014 | US | Original (Ubiquity)

LP | 2014 | EU | Original (Hot Casa)

Release: 2014 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Following up on their well-received single “Only Now” featuring a remix with label mate Bosq, Warsaw Afrobeat Orchestra deliver a knockout debut album full of heavy Afro and island-inspired tunes.

The album title Wëndelu means “Wanderer” in the native African Wolof language and is a fitting name for the album which explores the wide-range of sounds from the African diaspora and infused with their own traditional Polish folk, jazz and rock sensibilities. Tracks such as “No Such Thing”,“Let It Flow” and “Usurpation” reflect an obvious Reggae and Dub influence while the uptempo numbers on the album “Close To Far” and “Which Direction” veer towards Afro-Disco and Funk.

Formed in 2012, the 10-piece band consists of musicians that have worked and collaborated with each other in different projects ranging from rock, jazz, folk, reggae and funk in the ever-evolving and musically diverse underground music scene in Poland. Inspired by the masters of Afrobeat, world music, as well as African tribal music which is evident in their lyrics and choruses that repeat and weave in and out of deep, hypnotic grooves infusing it with a transcendental quality.

Go to Item

Vaudou Game

Apiafo

Shaluza Max / Tabu Ley Rochereau

Release: 2014 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Apiafo is a 12 tracks album, entirely recorded, mixed and mastered with old analog tapes, and played with vintage instruments, recalling the sound of bands like Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou or El Rego!

Go to Item

Mangase / Hafi Deo

12" | 2014 | UK | Original (Soundway)

13,99 €*

Sierra Leone in 1970s USA

Release: 2014 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Soundway Records present a special summer tribute double a-side 12" with two tracks from African musicians that both passed away within a couple of months of each other at the end of 2013 / start of 2014. Both tracks are perfect smooth summer tropical DJ fodder for the dancefloor.

On the first side South African singer Shaluza Max's massive Mashkandi / house anthem from 2002 gets a first release on vinyl. This track was a huge hit in South Africa and around the world on its release. With a soaring Zulu vocal and big sound it's a fitting reminder of a very talented musician who worked as a very well respected producer, composer and arranger who died tragically young at the age of 47 in January of 2014.

On the flip we drop a fairly unknown track from the mid 1980s from one of the biggest names in African music, Tabu Ley Rochereau. With a kind of almost balearic proto-house congolese pop cut with drum machines, and trademark sweet congo horn section, Hafi Deo is a beautiful track that fell into obscurity by perhaps being too smooth for the world music crowd in the mid 80s. Tabu Ley passed away in November 2013 in his late 70s with over 250 albums and 3000 songs to his name. A true pioneer of the congolese soukous sound, he was also one of the most influential African musicians of his generation.

Go to Item

Muyei Power

LP | 2014 | UK | Original (Soundway)

Release: 2014 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Muyei Power or Orchestre Muyei (muyei means ‘our country’) was one of the top dance bands of the1970s in Sierra Leone. Soundway Records' first collection of music from this West African country (‘Muyei Power: Sierra Leone in 1970s USA’) is an album of rock-infused, 'afro' music from a group that traveled the world throughout the mid 1970s. Fusing elements of electric Congolese and Nigerian music with fast, syncopated, uptempo modernised arrangements of traditional music, Muyei Power produced a series of unique single-only releases that have been unavailable for 35 years. The rare recordings featured here are a glimpse of a dynamic and powerful band at the very height of its powers.

Go to Item

Township Jive & Kwela Jazz Volume 2

LP | 2013 | EU | Original (Ubuntu Publishing)

LP | 2013 | UK | Original (Voodoo Funk)

Release: 2013 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Soul Safari presents volume Two of the Township Jive & Kwela Jazz compilation, featuring 18 rare gems from South Africa, recorded between 1930 and 1962. All titles on this compilation have been carefully handpicked from the ILAM Archives (the International Library of African Music), in Grahamstown, South Africa.

Go to Item

Eno Louis

Move!

John Foxx & The Belbury Circle

Release: 2013 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Eno Louis gained a solid background in traditional Edo music as a student at Edo College in Benin City, south-east Nigeria. He lived at Fela's Kalakuta Republic till the army raid in 1978, when he moved to the US for a couple of years. On his return, he recorded with Edo funk powerhouse The Talents Of Benin, and quickly became a mainstay of the flourishing disco and boogie scene, in-demand as guitarist and drummer, with credits including releases by Pogo Ltd, Amas Grill, Chris Okotie, Oby Onyioha, Chris Mba, Dizzy K Falola, Harry Mosco, Pat Finn and the Super Elcados... to name just a few.

Go to Item

Empty Avenues

10" | 2013 | UK | Original (Ghost Box)

12,79 €* 15,99 € -20%

Release: 2013 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

12" | 2013 | UK | Original (Voodoo Funk)

Tirogo

Disco Maniac

Time Factor / You Are The One

Release: 2013 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Two standouts from
Aiye People magnificently revived: crisp sound, top-notch pressing in
a Voodoo Funk house-bag, with a two-by-one-foot poster.

Go to Item

Tony Grey

LP | 2013 | UK | Original (Voodoo Funk)

Hailu Mergia & Classical Instrument: Shemonmuanaye

Release: 2013 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

The legendary digger re-ignites the Lagos Disco Inferno and kicks off his own mouth-watering imprint with these two sides of boogie-down bliss. Irresistible Afro-disco, layered with delirious syn-drums and sick keys, and featuring a horn-line bumptiously whipped from Louis 'Thunder Thumbs' Johnson's bass-playing on MJ's Workin' Day And Night.

Originally from Warri where he stayed throughout most of his career, Tony's first band was the Famous Latin And His Dominant Seven. He gigged for a while as a James Brown imitator with The Great Peters, before his breakthrough fronting the Magnificient Zeinians, with some amazing 45s on EMI's HMV imprint — best of all the psych-rock-funk monster Ije Udo. From the early to mid 1970s, his EMI sides range from Afrobeat to rock and pop. All Tony's records are great. He came up with various names for his backing bands — the Black 7, the Super 7, the Black Kings...
From the early-eighties, with the Ozimba Messengers, Grey's two recordings here were originally released on different LPs.

Limited, top-notch pressing from Pallas via Abbey Road; with a lovely 12-by-24-inch poster.

Go to Item

Hailu Mergia

2LP | 2013 | US | Original (Awesome Tapes From Africa)

2LP | 2013 | UK | Original (Soundway)

Release: 2013 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

This remastered reissue of Mergia's 1985 solo cassette features the multi-instrumentalist handling accordion, analog synth, rhodes piano and drum machine. The all-instrumental album has a distinctly futuristic (circa mid-80s) approach to classic Ethiopian songs and modes.

Go to Item

Chico Mann of Antibalas

Magical Thinking

LP | 2011 | EU | Original (Pure Pleasure)

Release: 2013 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Chico Mann’s fifth album will be anticipated by the single "Same Old Clown", featuring the sultry vocals of New York based Kendra Morris.

Displaying his mastery over an arsenal of studio weapons and synthesizers, Chico Mann (aka Marcos Garcia) scores his fifth long player against a backdrop of pop sensibilities and guest vocalists. The album draws as much on 80's funk, boogie and electro as merengue and Afro-beat.

A member of Antibalas, multi instrumentalist and guitarist, Garcia has in the past worked with the likes of TV On The Radio, The Roots and Dam Funk as well as remixing Little Dragon and Alice Russell.

Go to Item

Duster Bennett

Smiling Like I'm Happy

34,99 €*

Release: 2011 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Sainkho Namtchylak

Cyberia

2LP | 2011 | Original

Release: 2011 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Ajabu!)

Dorea

Grande Coisa

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Release: 2023 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

LP | 2013 | Reissue (Lionboy)

Lissie

Back To Forever

Release: 2013 / Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Banana In Your Fruit Basket: Red Hot Blues 1931-36

Bo Carter

LP | 2013 | Reissue (Yazoo Record Company)

36,99 €*

Release: 2013 / Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Fela Kuti, Moblack, Emmanuel Jal & Henrik Schwarz

International Thief Thief (I.T.T.) (Armonica & Moblack Mix) / Chagu 2024 Repress

12" | 2020 | EU | Reissue (Defected)