Afrobeat Vinyl 712 Items

LP | 2018 | US | Original (Now-Again)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Limited five vinyl LP set. Waziri hails from a small part of Edo State in southern Nigeria called Afemailand, known for being a harmonious region where Muslims and Christians live-and dance-together. And there, as a devout Muslim and an exemplar of religious piety in his community, Waziri's music fuses Etsako/Afemai folk styles with pan-Nigerian highlife and pop to create a sublime vehicle for his Islamic philosophy that gets everyone-Muslims, Christians, whoever-on the dancefloor. This 5 LP set, VOL. 1-5 (1978-1984), focuses on Waziri's illustrious mid-career output-the music he created during the years leading up to and after he made his first hajj. Every song here (some of which you might recognize from The Muslim Highlife) strikes his signature balance of traditional music, highlife, and funk, as he entreats you to stay on the straight and narrow, though there's nothing straight about his beat. Included in the box set is a copy of The Journey So Far, a limited-edition book written and designed by his children, to celebrate Waziri's remarkable life and career.

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Mike Nyoni & Born Free

My Own Thing

57,99 €*

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (End Hits)

Release: 2018 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The latest release in Now-Again’s deluxe Reserve Edition series: the first ever anthology of Zamrock musician Mike Nyoni’s funky, psych-rock and folkloric 1970s recordings, plus bonus tracks on DL card for WAV files.
Zambian guitarist and singer/songwriter Mike Nyoni’s music is Zamrock only because he came of age during the country’s rock revolution. His preferred wah-wah to fuzz guitar, James Brown to Jimi Hendrix. His 70s recordings – often politically charged, and ranging from despondent to exuberant – are amongst the funkiest on the African continent. He was also one of the only Zamrock musicians to see his music contemporaneously issued in Europe. This anthology collates works from his three 70s LPs – his first, with the Born Free band, and his two solo albums Kawalala and I Can’t Understand You – and presents a singular Zambian musician on par with celebrated artists Rikki Ililonga, Keith Mlevhu and Paul Ngozi. The package also features an extensive, photo-filled booklet contains an overview of the Zamrock scene and Nyoni’s story. Includes a download card to WAV files, including bonus tracks.

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Krishna Das

Kirtan Wallah

50,99 €*

2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (End Hits)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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

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Krishna Das

Door Of Faith

50,99 €*

Pepe De Lucia & Paco De Lucía

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Pepito Y Paquito Deluxe Bookpack Edition

3LP | 2024 | EU | Original (BMG Rights Management)

49,99 €*

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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12" | 2020 | EU | Original (Nyami Nyam)

Forward Kwenda

Chawapiwa Deluxe Edition

47,99 €*

LP | 2022 | US | Original (Orchestra Gold)

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Forward Kwenda was born in the Buhera area of Manicaland, Zimbabwe. This area is known for its fierce resistance to colonial rulers and respect for Shona tradition. Forward Kwenda has always played Mbira, for the spirits, the ancestors, the land of Zimbabwe and the world around it. An undisputed master of this eminently spiritual instrument, he has developed a complex and unique melodic technique that has led him to perform and teach in the United States, Europe and Japan.
The EP Chawapiwa is the result of a collaboration with two of his students: Yann Dubois and Shiho Manabe.
The B-Side of this 12” is a remix and a loving tribute to Zimbabwe by Dj Oil, a french producer and dj, and a true veteran of the underground music and party scene in his native Marseille, Lionel Corsini, aka DJ Oil released his well-received solo debut as recently as 2012 (Black Notes for French label Discograph) but is probably better known as one part of The Troublemakers, who had the (probably unique?) distinction of being signed to both the legendary ‘90s house label Guidance and the most famous of all jazz labels, Blue Note.
The cover artwork is taken from Georgina Maxim's work: "Letters I wasn't supposed to read". Presented as textile sculptures like a diary made from second-hand clothes, the pieces bear the history and memory of the ghost corps that once wore them. Georgina Maxim lives and works in Zimbabwe where she founded the artistic collective, Village Unhu.
The visual adaptation and screen-printing was done by Vivien Le Jeune Durhin from PPP studio, Paris. This is a screenprinted limited edition release of 100 copies.

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Orchestra Gold

African Psychedelic Rock

45,99 €*

Akale Wube & Manu Dibango

Release: 2022 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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

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Anbessa Glitter Vinyl Record Store Day 2022 Gold Colored Edition

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Diggers Factory / Soul Makossa)

45,99 €*

Havanna Meets Kingston Live At The Royal Albert Hall

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Limited Edition for Record Store Day 2022.

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Mista Savona Presents

2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Baco)

44,64 €* 46,99 € -5%

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2LP | 2021 | EU | Reissue (Schoolkids)

Declan O'rourke

Arrivals

42,99 €*

Release: 2021 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Ett Samlingsverk Fran Nordvi

Nordvisor

2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Nordvis)

42,99 €*

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Preorder shipping from 2024-08-02

LP | 2024 | JP | Original (Toyokasei)

Thiiird Place

This Is Thiiird Place

42,99 €*

Nha Sentimento Crystal Clear Vinyl Edition

Release: 2024 / JP – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Thiiird Place, a 13-piece Afro-soul jazz band with a borderless ageless identity and sincere message, is releasing the first full-length album "This is Thiiird Place," a major masterpiece! The long-awaited first album by Thiiird Place, a band with a sound based on Afro-soul Latin jazz and a pop, euphoric and message for all. The album features a rich variety of nine songs, including the first single "Shoes," the Caribbean-Cuban flavored "Ears," the energetic R&B/soul number "Sorekara Dousuru" and the Pat Metheny cover "Last Train Home," which is well-known in live performances but not yet available on digital streaming.

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Cesaria Evora

2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Music On Vinyl)

41,99 €*

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Vilevilevilevilevilevilevilevile

Brandon López

LP | 2024 | Original

41,99 €*

Release: 2024 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2024 | Original (Visage Music)

Inventionis Mater

Dimentionis Matter

41,99 €*

Release: 2024 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Leve Leve Sao Tome & Principe Sounds

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

40,99 €*

World Psychedelic Classics 5: Who Is William Onyeabor

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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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.

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William Onyeabor

3LP | 2013 | US | Original (Luaka Bop)

40,99 €*

2LP | 2024 | Original (Ternaire)

Release: 2013 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Damon Albarn & Four Tet dig this gentleman, so you should dig this forgotten master of african synth-craze, too!

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Oum Dakchi

Live In Marrakech

40,99 €*

Release: 2024 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Havana Meets Kingston Part 2

Mista Savona Pres. V.A.

2LP | 2017 | EU | Reissue (Baco)

39,99 €*

Release: 2017 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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3LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Righteous Babe)

Ani Difranco

Living In Clip

39,99 €*

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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7"+Book | 2022 | EU | Original (Jagwar)

Terakaft & Philippe Brix

Jagwar

World Psychedelic Classics 5: Who Is William Onyeabor

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Welcome to the fascinating world of Terakaft, one of the most legendary bands from the acclaimed Desert Blues / Tuareg Rock scene that’s been nurturing in the Sahara desert for the last two decades. A world made of light, dust, goats, tree shadows, gas, tea and fire. A world where teenagers don’t dream of being footballers but guitarists like Ibrahim of Tinariwen, like Sanou of Terakaft, or like Ousmane of Tamikrest. A world made of constant stuggles, of war zones, where getting a visa to tour is nearly impossible, where covering your face and head with tuareg turbans to face the desert winds will turn you into a potential islamist when boarding an airplane. A world that Phillipe Brix knows damn well: he’s been managing those guitar heroes for the last two decades. Jagwar is his coming-of-age story, a tale of resilience, of doom, of family, of utmost tensions and unrivaled peace, the adventure of a life time. His journey will take you from the deepest deserts of Mali, Morocco and Mauritania to the biggest music festivals all across Europe and America. "In the desert, the dry air carries sound with clarity" Philippe Brix "A Kalashnikov has thirty bullets in a magazine; once you’ve emptied it, it’s over. A guitar has no limits." Diara, Terakaft

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William Onyeabor

3LP | 2013 | US | Reissue (Luaka Bop)

Release: 2013 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Michel/Tomatito Camilo

Spain

LP | 2022 | Original

Release: 2022 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Rogamar Turquoise Vinyl Edition

Cesaria Evora

2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Music On Vinyl)

LP | 2021 | US | Original (Drag City)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Limited edition of 750 individually numbered copies on turquoise coloured vinyl.

Three years after the Grammy Award-winning album Voz D'Amor, Cape Verdean superstar Cesaria Evora returned with Rogamar, the tenth studio album by the "Queen of Morna". Together with her talented Cape Verdean songwriting team, Cesaria Evora presents 17 tracks in total, including 2 bonus tracks that were specially included for this release ("Nos Maestro" & "Mae Africa (Version Cap-Vert))". It also includes a performance with Ismaël Lô on "Africa Nossa", as well as the popular song "Um Pincelada".

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Mind Maintenance

Release: 2021 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2LP | 2017 | Original (World Circuit)

Ruben Gonzalez

Introducing…

Release: 2017 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Hot Casa)

Togo Soul 2

LP | 2024 | Original (Culture Factory)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Hot Casa Records present Togo Soul 2: Selected Rare Togolese Recordings from 1974 to 1989 .

A treasure-trove of rare and unusual recordings mostly recorded in Lomé during the 70’s and 80’s . A fusion of traditional voodoo chants, raw soul and even Electro Funk . Finding these tracks and their rights holders hasn’t become any easier even after few trips all over this west African country bordered by Ghana , Benin & Burkina Faso. After 8 years, We , at Hot Casa Records with the kind help of Roger Damawuzan decided to select thirteen tracks, a snapshot of some hundreds of rare and often forgotten tapes from the most prolific, professional and exciting phase of the country’s recording history included international stars like Akofa Akoussah, Gregoire Lawani to Roger Damawuzan compared as the James Brown from Lomé to forgotten tapes and brilliant songs in Mina, Kabyié and Fon language.

Many of the tracks featured here are peppered with innovation and experimentation highlighting how diverse, the music scene in Togo was at the time even if the political context influenced their creation. Many of the original albums these tracks are taken from high prices online due to their rarity and so it’s with great pleasure that we present a selection here that evokes a golden boomtime in Togolese music history. Includes biographies and rare photos Remastered by Frank Merritt at The Carvery

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Bob Marley

Trenchtown Rockers

Release: 2024 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2021 | EU | Original (We Are Busy Bodies)

Eboni Band

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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3LP | 2021 | EU | Original (SVBKVLT)

Cache 02

3LP | 2018 | EU | Original (Analog Africa)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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Shanghai’s Svbkvlt throw down a killer 2nd ‘cache’ compilation bristling with exclusive new zingers from the extended label firm, including Slikback, Hyp11E, Tzusing, Hodge, Gabber Modus Operandi, 33emybw, Gooooose, Nahash and more. Chasing up one of the definitive club comps of recent years, ‘Cache02’ finds Shanghai’s best label is in rude health with a full spectrum coverage of styles from hyperpop to clobbering hardcore rave, mutant drill and back-alley EBM techno by some of the most crucial artists in operation right now. Gooooose does wicked slow/fast footwork with Memphis rap cowbells and jibber-jawed edits in ‘Cows,’ and the Sbvkvlt/Hakuna Kulala axis twysts out a properly fwd kongo-tekno thriller in ‘Mushen’ by Slikback & Hyph11E. Indonesian mentalists Gabber Modus Operandi go ham with the possessed vox and thunderous kicks of ‘Pedas,’ and 33emybw nails Photek-levels of martial dance moves on ‘Coupling.’ Tzusing & Hodge supply the set’s big-room peak with a steaming EBM hammer tune ‘LCD,’ and Shanghai-based UK producer Swimful makes his mark with the glyding drill synths and knifepoint grime drums of ‘Muckle.’ Impressive introductions are also made to Seoul’s NET Gala with the vivid trance futurism of ‘Alternet,’ and the weird, scorched drill soul of Nahash on ‘The Way That I.’

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Dur-Dur Band

Dur Dur of Somalia

LP | 2010 | US | Reissue (VP)

Release: 2018 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Analog Africa are proud to present the 27th release of their Analog Africa Series. A fantastic, hypnotic and funky compilation from the Dur-Dur Band of Somalia that comes out on a Triple LP.

When Analog Africa founder Samy Ben Redjeb arrived in Mogadishu in November of 2016, he was informed by his host that he would have to be accompanied at all times by an armed escort while in the country. The next morning, a neighbour and former security guard put on a military uniform, borrowed an AK-47 from somewhere and escorted him to Via Roma, an historical street in the heart of Hamar-Weyne, the city’s oldest district. Although previous Analog Africa releases have demonstrated a willingness to go more than the extra air-mile to track down the stories behind the music, the trip to Mogadishu was a musical journey of a different kind. It was the culmination of an odyssey that had started many years earlier.

In 2007 John Beadle, a Milwaukee-based musicologist and owner of the much loved Likembe blog, uploaded a cassette he had been handed twenty years earlier by a Somalian student. The post was titled ‘Mystery Somali Funk’ and it was, in Samy’s own words, “some of the deepest funk ever recorded.” The cassette seemed to credit these dense, sonorous tunes to the legendary Iftin Band. But initial contact with Iftin’s lead singer suggested that the ‘mystery funk’ may have actually been the work of their chief rival, Dur-Dur, a young band from the 80s.

Back then, Mogadishu had been a very different place. On the bustling Via Roma, people from all corners of society would gather at the Bar Novecento and Cafe Cappucino, watch movies at the famous Supercinema, and eat at the numerous pasta hang-outs or the traditional restaurants that served Bariis Maraq, a somali Beef Stew mixed with delicious spiced rice. The same street was also home to Iftinphone and Shankarphone, two of the city’s best known music shop. Located opposite each other, they were the centre of Somalia’s burgeoning cassette distribution network. Both shops, run by members of the legendary Iftin Band, would become first-hand witnesses to the meteoric rise of Dur- Dur, a rise that climaxed in April of 1987 with the release of Volume 2, their second album.

The first single ‘Diinleya’ had taken Somalian airwaves by storm in a way rarely seen before or since. The next single, ‘Dab,’ had an even greater impact, and the two hits had turned them into the hottest band in town. In addition to their main gig as house band at the legendary Jubba Hotel, Dur-Dur had also been asked to perform the music for the play “Jascyl Laba Ruux Mid Ha Too Rido” (May one of us fall in love) at Mogadishu’s national theatre. The play was so successful that the management had been forced to extend the run by a month, throwing the theatre’s already packed schedule into complete disarray, and each night, as soon as the play had finished, Dur-Dur had to pack their instruments into a Volkswagen T1 tour bus that would shuttle them across town in time for their hotel performance.

The secrets to Dur-Dur’s rapid success is inextricably linked to the vision of Isse Dahir, founder and keyboard player of the band. Isse´s plan was to locate some of the most forward-thinking musicians of Mogadishu´s buzzing scene and lure them into Dur-Dur. Ujeeri, the band’s mercurial bass player was recruited from Somali Jazz and drummer extraordinaire Handal previously played in Bakaka Band. These two formed the backbone of Dur-Dur and would become one of Somalia’s most extraordinary rhythm sections.

Isse also added his two younger brothers to the line-up: Abukar Dahir Qassin was brought in to play lead guitar, and Ahmed Dahir Qassin was hired as a permanent sound engineer, a first in Somalia and one of the reasons that Dur-Dur became known as the best-sounding band in the country.

On their first two albums, Volume 1 and Volume 2, three different singers traded lead-vocal duties back and forth. Shimaali, formerly of Bakaka Band, handled the Daantho songs, a Somalian rhythm from the northern part of the country that bears a striking resemblance to reggae, Sahra Dawo, a young female singer, had been recruited from Somalia’s national orchestra, the Waaberi Band. Their third singer, the legendary Baastow, whose nickname came from the italian word ‘pasta’ due to the spaghetti-like shape of his body, had also been a vocalist with the Waaberi Band, and had been brought into Dur-Dur due to his deep knowledge of traditional Somali music, particularly Saar, a type of music intended to summon the spirits during religious rituals. These traditional elements of Dur-Dur’s repertoire sometimes put them at odds with the manager of the Jubba Hotel who once told Baastow “I am not going to risk having Italian tourists possessed by Somali spirits. Stick to disco and reggae.”

Yet from the very beginning, Dur-Dur’s doctrine was the fusion of traditional Somali music with whatever rhythms would make people dance: Funk, Reggae, Soul, Disco and New Wave were mixed effortlessly with Banaadiri beats, Daantho and spiritual Saar music. The concoction was explosive and when they stormed the Mogadishu music scene in 1986 with their very first hit single, ‘Yabaal,’ featuring vocals from Sahra Dawo, it was clear that a new meteorite had crash-landed in Somalia. As Abdulahi Ahmed, author of Somali Folk Dances explains: “Yabaal is a traditional song, but the way it was played and recorded was like nothing else we had heard before, it was new to us.” ‘Yabaal’ was one of the songs that resurfaced on the Likembe blog, and it became the symbolic starting point of this project.

It initially seemed that Dur-Dur’s music had only been preserved as a series of murky tape dubs and YouTube videos, but after Samy arrived in Mogadishu he eventually got to the heart of Mogadishu’s tape-copying network – an analogue forerunner of the internet file-sharing that helped to keep the flame of this music alive through the darkest days of Somalia’s civil strife – and ended up finding some of the band’s fabled master tapes, long thought to have disappeared.

This triple LP / double CD reissue of the band’s first two albums – the first installment in a three-part series dedicated to Dur-Dur Band – represents the first fruit of Analog Africa’s long labours to bring this extraordinary music to the wider world. Remastered from the best available audio sources, these songs have never sounded better. Some thirty years after they first made such a splash in the Mogadishu scene, they have been freed from the wobble and tape-hiss of second and third generation cassette dubs, to reveal a glorious mix of polychromatic organs, nightclub-ready rhythms and hauntingly soulful vocals.

In addition to two previously unreleased tracks, the music is accompanied by extensive liner notes, featuring interviews with original band members, documenting a forgotten chapter of Somalia’s cultural history. Before the upheaval in the 1990s that turned Somalia into a war-zone, Mogadishu, the white pearl of the Indian Ocean, had been one of the jewels of eastern Africa, a modern paradise of culture and commerce. In the music of the Dur-Dur band – now widely available outside of Somalia – we can still catch a fleeting glimpse of that golden age.
Listen & Enjoy!

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Culture

Two Sevens Clash

Release: 2010 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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

Bo Carter

LP | 2013 | Reissue (Yazoo Record Company)

Release: 2013 / Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Best Of Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

LP | 2024 | US | Original (Shanachie)

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Merci Yaya Bongo - Female Animation Groups In Gabon 1982-1989

2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Secousse)

Fermin Muguruza Kontrabanda

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Gabon, 1980’s. President Omar Bongo has been in power since 1967. Together with his wife, the infamous singer Patience Dabany, he invents one of the ultimate political propaganda machine: ‘animation groups’, massive female choirs and dancers, up to 60 women deep, singing the praise of his regime over some of the best soukous rhythms ever, broadcasted live on TV. Between 1982 and 1989, mainly thanks to the flourishing oil economy, a record-label is created, a state-of-the-art recording studio is set up, and the best Gabonese and Congolese musicians are recruited. Dozens of vinyls are pressed and sold with huge success all over the country. The Bongo family has reigned continuously over Gabon until the 2023 coup d’état.

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2LP | 2024 | Original

Release: 2024 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Shanachie)

Mutabaruka

Black Attack

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Shanachie)

Rita Marley

Harambe

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Welcome To Zamrock Volume 2

2LP | 2017 | US | Reissue (Now-Again)

Africa Is The Future Green Vinyl Edition

Release: 2017 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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

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Kologbo

LP | 2017 | EU | Original (Paris DJs)

LP | 2011 | EU | Original (Pure Pleasure)

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Limited green vinyl edition of 250 copies only!

Guitar legend Oghene Kologbo was born in Warri, Nigeria in 1957. His father was the well-known highlife musician Joe King Kologbo. When Kologbo was a teenager, he began performing with the revolutionary Afrobeat master Fela Kuti. Kologbo went on to record more than 50 sides with Africa 70. He played the hypnotic tenor guitar lines, but often recorded bass and rhythm guitar too. Kologbo was Fela's personal assistant and "tape recorder". That is, it was his job to remember the melodies Fela would sing to him late at night, then teach them to the band at rehearsal the next day. In 1978, after a show at the Berlin Jazz Festival, Kologbo left the band (along with Tony Allen and a few others) and stayed in Berlin.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Kologbo worked with the legendary but short-lived Roots Anabo. He also toured and recorded with King Sunny Ade, Tony Allen, and Brenda Fosse, among others. In 2005, Kologbo began working with the Afrobeat Academy, Berlin's heaviest afrobeat ensemble — which later on morphed into Ebo Taylor's and then Pat Thomas' backing bands — and released together in 2007 the album "Remember Fela Kuti". In 2008 he moved to France to join Tony Allen's on tenor guitar. After nearly a year playing and teaching Afrobeat in Brazil, Kologbo came back to France to work on his new record, "Africa is the Future", produced by Loik Dury and Grant Phabao from the Paris DJs label/mediae.

"Africa Is The Future" is a true collective effort, with many guests gathering forces on the project: Tony Allen, playing drums on 5 tracks out of 8 (Nigeria/France), singer Pat Thomas (Ghana), deejay Joseph Cotton (Jamaica), singer Ayo (Nigeria/Germany), horn players from the Afrobeat Academy (Germany) or from Les Frères Smith (France), members of Antibalas (USA), Newen Afrobeat (Chile), etc. This is afrobeat from the 21st century at its purest, blending the originators and the descendants together!

This limited edition vinyl comes in a beautiful gatefold cover.

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Duster Bennett

Smiling Like I'm Happy

Release: 2011 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Analogue Foundation & Oshu)

Àbáse

Awakening

LP | 2024 | EU | Original (BBE Africa)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Greeting Mother Sea Intro Shining Menidaso My Hope Destruction Everywhere Orbit Sirius Sunmo Mi Ee Bloom Flora Gyaszba Borult Isten Csillagvara Home Vermezo Sun Is Away Shango Greeting Mother Sea Outro

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Remi Kabaka

Roots Funkadelia

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (BBE Music)

Grupo Ébano

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Once Upon A Time In Italy

Hugo Race Fatalists

2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Santeria)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Cleopatra)

Delta Rae

Coming Home To Carolina

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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L'orchestre National Mauritanien

Ahl Nana

2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Radio Martiko)

Los Hermanos Ballumbrosio

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Lost recordings that defined the modern sound of the Sahara.

This album contains the first recordings of modern music from the Sahara and mark the birth of the genre that is known in the West as ‘Desert Blues’ or ‘Desert Rock’. Ahl Nana changed the folk music of the Sahara to modern, cosmopolitan music by using Western instruments like the electric guitar. They paved the way for artists like Ali Farka Touré, Tinariwen, Mdou Moctar or Bombino. Although the group is still active today, they only recorded 2 LPs and a handful of singles. All these recordings took place in 1971 at the Boussiphone studios in Casablanca. The records were never distributed and therefore remained unknown for almost 50 years, until Radio Martiko discovered a batch of unsold factory stock a few years ago. On this album, you will find a selection of these revolutionary recordings.

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Homenaje A El Carmen

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Buh)

Manu Dibango & El Cuarteto Patria

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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

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Cubafrica Record Store Day 2021 Edition

2LP | 2021 (Music Box)

Release: 2021

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Mogadisco - Dancing In Mogadishu (Somalia '72-91)

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

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

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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After being blown away by a few tunes – probably just as you will be after listening to this – Samy Ben Redjeb travelled to the infamous capital city of Somalia in November of 2016, making Analog Africa the frst music label to set foot in Mogadishu. On his arrival in Somalia Samy questioned the need for a vehicle full of armed chaperones casually toting Kalashnikovs, deemed necessary to accompany him to the radio station archive every morning, but then began ri?ing through piles of cassettes and listening to reel-to-reel tapes in the dusty archives of Radio Mogadishu, looking for music that ‘swam against the current’. The stars were aligned: an uncovered and unmarked pile of discarded recordings was discovered in a cluttered corner of the building. Colonel Abshir - the senior employee and protector of Radio Mogadishu’s archives - clarifed that the pile consisted mostly of music nobody had manage to identify, or music he described as being ‘mainly instrumental and strange music’. At the words ‘strange music’ Samy was hooked, the return ?ight to Tunisia was cancelled. The pile turned out to be a cornucopia of different sounds: radio jingles, background music and interludes for radio programmes, television shows and theatre plays. There were also a good number of disco tunes, some had been stripped of their lyrics, the interesting parts had been recorded multiple times then cut, taped together and spliced into a long groovy instrumental loop. Over the next three weeks, often in watermelon-, grapefruit-juice and shisha-fuelled night-time sessions behind the fortifed walls of Radio Mogadishu, Samy and the archive staff put together Mogadisco: Dancing Mogadishu - Somalia 1972–1991. Like everywhere in Africa during the 1970s, both men and women sported huge afros, bell-bottom trousers and platform shoes. James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and The Temptations’ funk were the talk of the town.In 1977, Iftin Band were invited to perform at the Festac festival in Lagos where they represented Somalia at the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture. Not only did they come back with an award, but they also returned with Afrobeat. While Fela Kuti’s ‘Shakara’ had taken over the continent and was spreading like wildfre throughout Latin America, it was the track ‘Lady’ that would become the hit in Mogadishu. At the same time Bob Marley was busy kick-starting reggae-mania in Somalia, which became such a phenomenon that even the police and military bands began playing it. Some say that it was adopted so quickly because of the strong similarities with the traditional beat from the western region of Somalia, called Dhaanto. But then suddenly the trousers got tighter as the disco tsunami hit the country. Michael Jackson appeared with a new sound that would revolutionise Somalia’s live music scene. You couldn’t walk the streets of Mogadishu without seeing kids trying to moonwalk. ‘Somalia had several nightclubs and although most use DJs to play records, some hotels like Jubba, Al-Uruba and Al Jazeera showcased live bands such as Iftin and Shareero’ – so ran a quote from a 1981 article about the explosion of Mogadishu’s live music scene. The venues mentioned in that article were the luxury hotels that had been built to cover the growing demands of the tourist industry. The state-of-the-art hotel Al-Uruba, with its oriental ornaments and white plastered walls, was a wonder of modern architecture. All of Mogadishu’s top bands performed there at some point or another, and many of the songs presented in this compilation were created in such venues. Mogadisco was not Analog Africa’s easiest project. Tracking down the musicians – often in exile in the diaspora – to interview them and gather anecdotes of golden-era Mogadishu has been an undertaking that took three years. Tales of Dur-Dur Band’s kidnapping, movie soundtracks recorded in the basements of hotels, musicians getting electrocuted on stage, others jumping from one band to another under dramatic circumstances, and soul singers competing against each other, are all stories included in the massive booklet that accompanies the compilation - adorned with no less then 50 pictures from the `70s and ‚80s. As Colonel Abshir Hashi Ali, chief don at the Radio Mogadishu archive – someone who once wrestled a bomber wielding an unpinned hand-grenade to the ?oor – put it: ‘I have dedicated my life to this place. I’m doing this so it can get to the next generation; so that the culture, the heritage and the songs of Somalia don’t disappear.’

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FLEE

LP | 2017 | EU | Original (FLEE)

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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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!

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2LP | 2016 | EU | Original (Analog Africa)

Space Echo

LP | 2024 | Original (Les Disques Bongo Joe)

Release: 2016 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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In the spring of 1968 a cargo ship was preparing to leave the port of Baltimore with an important shipment of musical instruments. Its final destination was Rio De Janeiro, where the EMSE Exhibition (Exposição Mundial Do Son Eletrônico) was going to be held. It was the first expo of its kind to take place in the Southern Hemisphere and many of the leading companies in the field of electronic music were involved. Rhodes, Moog, Farfisa, Hammond and Korg, just to name a few, were all eager to present their newest synthesisers and other gadgets to a growing and promising South American market, spearheaded by Brazil and Colombia.

The ship with the goods set sail on the 20th of March on a calm morning and mysteriously disappeared from the radar on the very same day. One can only imagine the surprise of the villagers of Cachaço, on the Sao Nicolau island of Cabo Verde, when a few months later they woke up and found a ship stranded in their fields, in the middle of nowhere, 8 km from any coastline.

After consulting with the village elders, the locals had decided to open the containers to see what was inside – however gossip as scintillating as this travels fast and colonial police had already arrived and secured the area. Portuguese scientists and physicians were ordered to the scene and after weeks of thorough studies and research, it was concluded that the ship had fallen from the sky. One of the less plausible theories was that it might have fallen from a Russian military air carrier. The locals joked that again the government had wasted their tax money on a useless exercise, as a simple look at the crater generated by the impact could explain the phenomena. “No need for Portuguese rocket scientists to explain this!” they laughed.

What the villagers didn’t know, was that traces of cosmic particles were discovered on the boat. The bow of the ship showed traces of extreme heat, very similar to traces found on meteors, suggesting that the ship had penetrated the hemisphere at high speed. That theory also didn't make sense as such an impact would have reduced the ship to dust. Mystery permeated the event.

Finally, a team of welders arrived to open the containers and the whole village waited impatiently. The atmosphere, which had been filled with joy and excitement, quickly gave way to astonishment. Hundreds of boxes conjured, all containing keyboards and other instruments which they had never seen before: and all useless in an area devoid of electricity. Disappointment was palpable. The goods were temporarily stored in the local church and the women of the village had insisted a solution be found before Sunday mass.

It is said that charismatic anti-colonial leader Amílcar Cabral had ordered for the instruments to be distributed equally in places that had access to electricity, which placed them mainly in schools. This distribution was best thing that could have happened - keyboards found fertile grounds in the hands of curious children, born with an innate sense of rhythm who picked up the ready-to-use instruments. This in turn facilitated the modernisation of local rhythms such as Mornas, Coladeras and the highly danceable music style called Funaná, which had been banned by the Portuguese colonial rulers until 1975 due to its sensuality!

The observation was made that the children who came into contact with the instruments found on the ship inherited prodigious capabilities to understand music and learn instruments. One of them was the musical genius Paulino Vieira, who by the end of the 70s would become the country´s most important music arranger. 8 out of the 15 songs presented in this compilation had been recorded with the backing of the band Voz de Cabo Verde, lead by Paulino Vieira, the mastermind behind the creation and promulgation of what is known today as “The Cosmic Sound of Cabo Verde”.

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Africa Negra

Antologia Vol. 2

Release: 2024 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Continuing our exploration of Sao Tomé and Príncipe with DJ Tom B., Les Disques Bongo Joe proudly announces the release of Africa Negra Anthology Vol. 2.We"ve carefully selected and remastered 13 standout tracks for this volume, digitized from studio tapes by their tour manager. The album includes a booklet with updated liner notes and vintage photos of the group.

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Kampire Presents A Dancefloor In Ndola

2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Strut)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Strut introduces a pioneering new compilation "A Dancefloor In Ndola," curated by revered East African DJ, Kampire. This release marks an evolution in Strut"s approach to compilations, showcasing emerging DJ talent from across the world and embracing an innovative approach to musical discovery from the next wave of selectors.

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Ghana Special 2: Electronic Highlife & Afro Sounds In The Diaspora, 1980-93

3LP | 2024 | UK | Original (Soundway)

Amrak Seedna & Abtal Wa Harameyah

Release: 2024 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Soundway presents a collection of 18 burger highlife, electronic afrobeat and reggae tracks, highlighting a time when the burgeoning Ghanaian diaspora across Europe and North America was utilising new music technology and recording techniques. A period of movement, emigration and innovation. The dawn of the 80s saw an increase in emigration following a period of political upheaval at home, with many Ghanaians moving to Europe - especially Germany - to find work. Musicians recording both at home and abroad began to blend highlife with outside influences, taking inspiration from US disco and boogie, European new wave and Caribbean zouk and soca, reflecting new surroundings and cementing musical connections forged in London, Hamburg, Toronto and New York. Ghana Special celebrates this key period of musical innovation and cultural exchange that redefined the parameters of Ghanaian music and accelerated the cultural exchange between West Africa and Europe. Features rarities from legends including Pat Thomas, Rex Gyamfi and Gyedu-Blay Ambolley and deep cuts from lesser known artists like Abdul Raheem, Starlite and The Godfathers. Includes extended liner notes, original covers and neverbefore-seen photos. Gatefold 3LP includes deluxe 8pg booklet; 2CD is 6-panel wallet including 24pg booklet.

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Ziad Rahbani

LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Modulor)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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De Lucia,Pepe&De Lucía,Paco

Pepito Y Paquito

2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (BMG Rights Management)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Congo Funk! Sound Madness From The Shores Of The Mighty Congo River (Kinshasa / Brazzaville 1969-1982)

2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Analog Africa)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2022 | US | Original (Orchestra Gold)

Orchestra Gold

Medicine

Mochilla Presents Timeless: Mulatu Astatke

Release: 2022 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Behind Oakland CA-based ensemble Orchestra GOLD’s original sound is a decade-long story of knowledge, respect, and collaboration between Mariam Diakite of Mali and Erich Huffaker of Oakland. Blending the traditions of Mali and American Rock/Funk with a retro feel, OG represents a world of powerful cross-cultural experience. The group transcends borders and boundaries to be a force of healing within the community. OG offers a kaleidoscope of magical sound deeply rooted in the past while boldly blazing towards the genre-bending future: African Psychedelic Rock. OG’s vibrant sound is spearheaded by the dynamic Mariam Diakite, whose raw, hypnotic vocals deliver heartfelt and thought-provoking lyrics in the highly symbolic Bambara language. While paying homage to Malian musical traditions, this fierce new sound thrives with heavy swinging rhythms, a funky fresh brass section, and cosmic guitar licks. With the January 2023 release of their third album, Medicine, this profoundly spiritual and danceinducing ensemble continues their pursuit of spreading healing and community through the universal gift of music.

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Mulatu Astatke

2LP | 2010 | US | Reissue (Mochilla)

Release: 2010 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Buh)

Perkutao

Mis Ancestros

Del Cuarto Rojo Homenaje De Rafael Hastings

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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If, among the Afro-Peruvian music groups that have emerged in recent years, there is one that has dared to take the sound to new dimensions, it is Perkutao. Heirs to the best Afro-Peruvian tradition, they have been able to integrate Afro-Cuban elements and various contemporary popular styles, which they play with amazing with speed and precision. "Mis ancestros", is their debut album for Buh Records.Perkutao is an Afro-Peruvian percussion ensemble founded in 2005, directed by Percy Chinchilla, musician, percussionist, zapateador and teacher of young generations of percussionists. "Mis Ancestros" (My ancestors) is their first record under the production of Manongo Mujica and is the fourth title of the collection "Perspectivas de la Música Afroperuana" (Perspectives on Afro-Peruvian Music). Chinchilla shares the artistic direction of Perkutao with William Nicasio 'Makarito', another outstanding percussionist. Both grew up in the famous Callejón del Buque, in the district of La Victoria, a spot preferred by bohemians and known by local music partying -jaranas criollas. Both were also formed in Perú Negro, an emblematic Afro-Peruvian ensemble, and both carry in their blood the cult of percussion and Afro tradition. Chinchilla comes from a family of Afro-Peruvian musicians including Caitro Soto and Ronaldo Campos. And Makarito is the son of Macario Nicasio and grandson of El Niño, legendary Cuban percussionist in charge of introducing congas and bongo to Afro-Peruvian rhythms. Perkutao arose precisely from the merging of these traditions, Afro-Peruvian, Afro-Cuban and Caribbean music, and have become one of the most sought-after percussion ensembles due to the intensity of their sound and their powerful performances that include stage movements and surprising acrobatic skills. In addition to Chinchilla and Makarito, the ensemble is completed by Edu Campos, Andree Liendo and Víctor Sánchez Pitín."I follow in the footsteps of my ancestors, to the beat of the cajita, the quijada and the cajón, to the...

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Manongo Mujica

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Buh)

The Best Of Vis-A-Vis In Congo Style

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The story of Del cuarto rojo (From The Red Room) began in March 2020, when the Peruvian composer and percussionist Manongo Mujica received a call notifying him that the visual artist Rafael Hastings, his friend of almost half a century, had passed away. Since then, and in the midst of the pandemic, Manongo Mujica began a personal journey searching for sounds, which has resulted in a new set of pieces that evoke the memory of a friendship.Del cuarto rojo (From The Red Room), subtitled Homenaje sonoro escuchando la pintura de Rafael Hastings (Sound Tribute Listening To Rafael Hastings' Paintings), is Manongo Mujica's new album, and it has also motivated the preparation of a new show by the dancer and choreographer Yvonne von Mollendorff, wife of Hastings.The history of this friendship dates back to 1974, when a young Manongo returned to Lima, after ten years living in London, while young Rafael Hastings and Yvonne von Mollendorff settled in Peru after a long period in Europe. Since then, the collaborations between these artists have been continuous, always marked by an experimental impetus. The attitude of listening to images and painting sounds was more than a metaphor and became a code that identified them and a way of working, where the crossing of disciplines set the tone, both in video works and in unusual visual / conceptual scores, works of dance and experimental music, in the context of a creative effervescence that renewed the arts and music in Lima in the 70s.Del cuarto rojo is an album that integrates many of the musical resources developed by Mujica. It is an amalgam that well sums up his own language: from the creation of environments with extended techniques and objects, to experiments in jazz fusion; from the use of field recordings and sound montages to compositions with string arrangements: everything around the hypnotic pulse of percussion and drums, which oscillate between moments of subtlety and explosive improvisation.The album features the participation of outstandi...

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Vis-A-Vis

LP | 2021 | US | Original (We Are Busy Bodies)

2LP | 2018 | US | Reissue (Thrill Jockey)

Release: 2021 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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We Are Busy Bodies returns with a remastered reissue of The Best of Vis-A-Vis in Congo Style. The album finds the the young band in great form, with six new songs. The album was one of three released by the band in 1976. The band continued to be the backing band of choice of some of Ghana's biggest and most famous musicians all while recording their own albums.

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Sidi Toure

Toubalbero

Release: 2018 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2LP | 2010 | EU | Reissue (Music On Vinyl)

Lee Perry

Revelation

Release: 2010 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (By Norse Music)

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Mari Boine

Alva

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Africamore - The Afro-Funk Side Of Italy

2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Four Flies)

LP | 2024 | Original (Nonesuch)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Continuing Four Flies' dedication to delving into lesser-explored periods of Italian music, Africamore takes us on a captivating journey into the intersection of Afro-funk and the Italian soundscape during the six years between 1973 and 1978 - a time when disco was looming on the horizon and the nightclub market was rapidly expanding.

Before reaching Italian shores, the infectious sound originating from African and Afro-Caribbean roots traversed both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, landing on New York dancefloors, where DJ Dave Mancuso discovered "Soul Makossa" by Manu Dibango. In 1973, from Mancuso's Loft parties, the song's hypnotic groove spread to the rest of the globe, including in Italy, where it sparked a wave of imitations and variations.

Tribal influences thus found their way into Italian soul-funk and early-disco productions released between 1973 and 1978 – from psychedelic-tinged tunes like Jean Paul & Angelique's "Africa Sound"to the Afrobeat-inspired club banger "Kumbayero" by composer/producer Albert Verrecchia (aka Weyman Corporation); and from groundbreaking Afro-cosmic songs like Chrisma's "Amore", co-written by Vangelis and featuring the rhythms of Ghanaian-British Afro-rock band Osibisa, to mind-blowing floor-fillers like Beryl Cunningham's "Why O", a re-write of Nat King Cole's "Calypso Blues" arranged by Paolo Ormi, with percussion breaks that sound pretty much like what would later become known as techno.

Combining feel-good vibes with driving rhythms, world-style percussion, and even synths, all these productions pushed the boundaries of dance music at a time when disco had not yet taken over. In doing so, they sowed many of the seeds of the later Italian cosmic scene and its unique mixture of African elements, disco-funk and electronic music.

This was a brief but nuanced period in Italian music history, one that deserves to be rediscovered, with love.

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Nathalie Joachim

Ki Moun Ou Ye

Release: 2024 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Austin City Limits Live At The Moody Theater

Watchhouse

2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Yep Roc)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Crunchy Frog)

Ki!

Boy From Haeundae Beach

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Joseph Kabasele And The Creation Of Surboum African Jazz 1960-1963

2LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Planet Ilunga)

33,24 €* 34,99 € -5%

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Analog Africa)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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After the two previous O.K. Jazz compilation releases, Planet Ilunga continues its mission to uncover and highlight the overlooked yet epic achievements in the world of Congolese rumba. This time to tell the most spectacular story of all. This is the story of the creation of Surboum African Jazz, the first Congolese music label founded by a Congolese. Despite a few releases of Sonodisc on LP and CD, published many moons ago, which included some important parts of the back catalogue of the label, there is still a large part of the repertoire of Surboum African Jazz that remains completely hidden from the fans. That’s why Planet Ilunga associated with the children of Joseph Kabasele Tshamala (Grand Kallé) and Catherine Ingombo (Kale Kato) to compile 29 songs that were originally released on the label in the early sixties. Surboum African Jazz is the first Congolese music label founded by a Congolese; it was owned and managed by the best singer of all time, Joseph Kabasele, alias Grand Kallé. The recordings mainly happened in Brussels, Belgium. The label's catalog during the period 1960–63 is largely dominated by Grand Kallé’s band African Jazz in its various formations. The band, which could rely in 1961 and 1962 on a real dream team of musicians (Docteur Nico, Dechaud, Rochereau, Manu Dibango, Roger Izeidi and Mujos among others), released in this period at least 212 songs. The second largest source of music for the label is Franco’s band O.K. Jazz with at least 136 released songs. Next, with at least 34 released songs comes Manu Dibango with his different formations. These were the first ever published songs of the late Manu Dibango. For this compilation we chose an original selection of songs recorded by African Jazz in 1961 and 1962. We also included a few songs of Dibango’s bands in the final selection, in order to showcase the diversity and universal philosophy of Grand Kallé’s label. This adventurous music which was recorded in Brussels in the months and years after Congo’s independence is nothing less than post-colonial glory wrapped around popular music. It’s a collection of proud name-dropping songs, political and patriotic lyrics, euphoric declarations of love and explorations towards new and universal impulses and styles. The releases on Surboum African Jazz are for many Congolese the icing on the cake in the iconic history of Congolese rumba. They are a time capsule of the longing of Congolese society to be absorbed in the momentum of the nations. At the same time they are a testimonial of the musical excellence of the African Jazz musicians. This first ever double LP anthology of Surboum African Jazz comes with a large, thoroughly researched and well-illustrated 32-page booklet telling the whole story of this label. Included in the book, among other content, is a text by Alan Brain (director of The Rumba Kings) with never before published information and photos about the epic Table Ronde tour of African Jazz in Belgium, France and The Netherlands in the winter and spring of 1960. This text is the fruit of a research Alan initiated, and then further developed in collaboration with the Congolese author and scholar Manda Tchebwa. Furthermore, you can find in the book a detailed documentation of the recording tours in Brussels in 1961 and 1962, besides a discography of the Surboum African Jazz label and many testimonials of the Congolese community about the first Congolese music label founded by a Congolese.

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Ernesto DJedje

Roi Du Ziglibithy

Live: Return Of The Storyteller

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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

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

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

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

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Todd Snider

2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Aimless)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The Movers - Volume 1 1970-1976

The Movers

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Analog Africa)

2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Analog Africa)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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It’s a special, but also a strange sensation to be releasing an album of one of your early musical heroes. I first discovered The Movers on my very first “record safari” in 1996. My destination was Bulawayo, in southern Zimbabwe, and to get there I had to travel via Jo’burg. While in town I stopped at a store called Kohinoor, in search of Mbaqanga – also known as Township Jive – and found a few tapes which I listened to non-stop on the bus that carried me to the land of Chimurenga Music. One of these cassettes included the songs “Hot Coffee” and “Phukeng Special” which instantly became part of my daily life. Twenty-five years later I’m still grooving to them.

What I didn‘t know at that time was that The Movers were hugely successful during the 1970s; so when it came time to release some of their music, I though it was going to be “a walk in the park” to track down information about them and write their biography. I was in for a rude awakening. Despite their legendary status, there was almost no information available on band or any of its members.

Fortunately Nicky Blumenfeld from Kaya Radio came to the rescue. A few days after I reached out to her, she had managed to get the phone number of Kenneth Siphayi, who is considered to be the founder of the band, as well as vocalist Blondie Makhene and saxophonist Lulu Masilela. Although we left no stone unturned, we were unable to find any of the four original members who seem to have passed away in total anonymity.

The story of The Movers began in 1967 when two unknown musicians – the brothers Norman and Oupa Hlongwane – approached Kenneth Siphayi a stylish and wealthy businessman from the Alexandra township to ask if he could buy them musical instruments. In return he would receive a cut from future life shows and record deals. Kenneth, ended up doing much more, becoming their manager, setting them up in a rehearsal space, and introducing them to an organist who would prove to be the missing link in the band’s skeletal sound. He also gave them their name: The Movers … because, as he said, their music was going to move you, whether you liked it or not.

The band exploded onto the country’s racially-segregated music scene at the dawn of the 1970s with a sound that applied the rolling organ grooves and elastic rhythms of American soul to songs that came straight from the heart of the townships. Rumours of the band started to spread throughout the country and soon the record labels were sending their talent scouts to the Alexandra township to hear it for themselves.

The Movers finally signed to Teal Records in 1969, and their first album, Crying Guitar, went on to sell 500,000 copies within the first three months, launching them into the front rank of South African bands. In their first year they went from local sensations to being the first band of black South Africans to have their music cross over to the country’s white radio stations,

Although the first record was entirely instrumental, The Movers started working with different singers soon after – scoring an early hit with 14 year old vocal prodigy Blondie Makhene – and enriched their sonic palette with horns, extra percussion and various keyboards. Their stylistic range also expanded, incorporating elements of Marabi, Mbaqanga, jazz, funk, and reggae into their soul-steeped sound. But the essence of their music came from the almost telepathic connection of its founding members: the simmering organ of Sankie Chounyane, the laid-back guitar lines of Oupa Hlongwane, the energetic bass grooves of Norman Hlongwane and the simmering rhythms of drummer of Sam Thabo.

The band reached their apex in the mid-1970s, and their hit ‘Soweto Inn’, sung by Sophie Thapedi, became inseparable from the student revolts that signalled a new resistance to the apartheid government. In 1976, however, their manager was forced out, and their producer started to play a more active role in the band’s direction. By the end of the decade there were no original members left. But at their height The Movers were titans of South African soul who left a legacy of over a dozen albums and countless singles of pure groove. On The Movers 1970–76, Analog Africa presents 14 of the finest tracks from the band’s undisputed peak.

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Orchestre Massako

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The last time I found myself on the phone with Jean-Christian Mboumba Mackaya known as Mack-Joss - founder of the Mighty Orchestra Massako - I could hear gun-shots in the background. Libreville was upside down following the re-election of president Ali Bongo in August 2016. By the time I was ready to go ahead with this project, Mack-Joss’s phone number had been disconnected, and shortly afterwards I found out that the baobab of Gabonese music had fallen.

An adept of folk rhythms, Mack-Joss’s career as a musician began when he was just 17 of age and he quickly established himself as a staple of Libreville’s nightlife scene, singing in various local bands. By 1966 he had released “Le Boucher”, his first hit which swept the African airwaves and earned him the respect of Franco, the legendary master of Congolese Rumba. Franc ´s encouragement helped transform him from a Gabonese singer into an ascendent figure of pan-African culture. Between 1968 and 1970 Mack-Joss and his Negro-Tropical immortalised a good number of singles recorded in a makeshift open-air recording studios and in 1971 Gabon armed forces decided to form their own band. Mack-Joss was recruited to become the band leader and this was the birth of Orchestre Massako which became Gabon’s national orchestra.

At the end of the 1970´s funds were made available to bring recording equipment over from France. Studio Mobile Massako was born and Mack-Joss’s songwriting ability provided hit after hit. The master tapes with the recordings were sent to Paris for mixing and Mack-Joss would personally make the journey to France, carrying the reels in his hand luggage. The vinyl records were then pressed in France and shipped back to Gabon, and to other distributors throughout the continent. About a dozen long play records were recorded between 1978 and 1986 and most were released on Mass Pro, Mack-Joss´s own label. A few of these recordings featured a singer from Guinée Conakry by the name of Amara Touré who had joined Orchestre Massako as a singer in 1980 and had become an important ingredient in the band’s success. His specific voice, impossible not to recognise, left no one unmoved (ask those who listened to the compilation AALP078).

Mack-Joss’s retirement in 1996 marked the end of Orchestre Massako. With a four decades spanned career, his contribution to Gabonese culture cannot be overstated and continues to inspire the respect and devotion of people who knew him.

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Africa Funk Roots Chapter 2

2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Cosmic Disco Machine)

Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head) Transparent Vinyl Edition

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Second volume of this collection of pure Funk, Afro Beat and African Funk music is out! This chapter, as previous one, includes highly respected artists such as Mandrill, The Wild Magnolias, Manu Dibango, Fela Kuti, Tony Allen, Buddy Miles and many others, but also includes the very rare and exclusive long version of “Sangadongo” from Niagara. All these artists guarantee the high quality of this collection, a record that any funk lover can’t miss: the real funk from the origins and the groove in its free form.

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Seun Kuti & Egypt 80

LP | 2024 | Original (Record Kicks)

Release: 2024 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Preorder shipping from 2024-10-04

LP | 2024 | US | Original (Smithsonian Folkways)

Matmos

Return To Archive

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2024 | Original (Real Gone Music)

Israel Vibration

Strength Of My Life

Release: 2024 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2024 | Original (Blue Shine)

Arash Sarkechik

Bazaari

Release: 2024 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2024 | Original (Cpl-Music)

Orkestar Kriminal

Originali

Release: 2024 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2016 | EU | Reissue (Analog Africa)

Bitori

Legend Of Funaná /

Release: 2016 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Analog Africa No. 21 „bitori“ - Legend Of Funaná (The Forbidden Music of The Cape Verde Islands) - In 1997, a quiet, unassuming man of 59 years old named Victor Tavares - better know as Bitori - walks into a studio for the very first time to record a masterpiece which many Cabo Verdean consider to be the best Funaná album ever made.

Bitoris musical adventure had begun long before this point. It was 1954 when he embarked on a journey across the seas to the island of Sao Tomé & Principe. The young man´s hope was to return to Cabo Verde with an accordion.

Following two years of hard labour Bitori had succeeded in saving enough money to acquire what was to become his most valued possession, his cherished instrument. The two month journey back to Santiago, his island of birth, proved time enough to master it. Self taught, Bitori developed his own style, an infectious blaze, that quickly caught the attention of the older generation. Before long Bitori was being asked to share his musical talents, igniting the local festivities around Praia with his music.

But not everybody welcomed the rural accordion-based sound. Perceived as a symbol of the struggle for Cape Verdean independence and frowned upon as music of uneducated peasants, Funaná was prohibited by the Portuguese colonial rulers. Performing it in public or in urban centres had serious consequences - often jail time and torture awaited musicians that were “caught in the act”. In light of such persecution the genre of Funaná began to slowly disappear.

In 1975 Cabo Verde achieved independence from Portuguese colonial rule. Along with Cabo Verde’s independence came a lifting of the ban placed on Funaná. The musical repercussions in Cabo Verde were plenty - many upcoming artists embraced Funaná, translating and adapting its musical form in new ways. It was not to be until the mid-1990’s, however, that Funaná in its traditional form was actually recorded.

It was a young singer from Tarafal, Chando Graciosa, who was to play a key role in this event. Upon hearing Bitori, Graciosa immediately felt drawn to Bitori's unique playing style - a raw and passionate sound accompanied by honest lyrics that reflected the harsh reality of the Cabo Verdean working class. He eagerly approached Bitori suggesting they join forces and travel overseas with the objective of taking Funaná beyond its rural roots. The two of them, with others in tow, achieved their goal and travelled to Europe, introducing a receptive European audience to the vibrant energy of Funaná. Eventually Bitori returned to his beloved Cabo Verde. Graciosa opted to settle in Rotterdam in order to pursue his career - he vowed, however, to bring Bitori across to Holland at a later date to record an album.

In 1997 the time was ripe to immortalise the sound Bitori had shaped over a time span of four decades. Built around a formidable rhythm section, formed of drummer Grace Evora and bass player Danilo Tavares, "Bitori Nha Bibinha" was recorded. The recording catapulted Chando Graciosa to stardom, making him Cabo Verde´s No.1 interpreter of Funaná.

The success in Cabo Verde was phenomenal and Funaná rapidly gained the recognition it deserved, especially in urban dance clubs. Bitori´s songs quickly became standards - classics known and loved throughout the country. The musical success, however, was solely limited to the Cabo Verdean islands - until now!

Analog Africa is proud to contribute to the worldwide promotion of Funaná - the once forbidden sound of the Cabo Verde archipelago - by releasing a worldwide re-issue of Bitori and Chando Graciosa´s legendary recording. The release will herald Bitori´s first European tour taking place during the summer of 2016. Watch this space! And listen!

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Wagadu Grooves - The Hypnotic Sound Of Camara 1987-2016

2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Hot Mule)

2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (By Norse Music)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The Soninke collective consciousness finds its origins in a founding myth, a blood pact: the legend of Biida and the decadence of the empire of Ghana or Wagadu (evoked by Léopold Sédar Senghor as a land of plenty in his poem Le Kaya Magan). From the 3rd century AD, gathered in the region of Sahel, on the edge of the Sahara desert, the Soninko ruled over their kingdom and its capital Kumbi Saleh. According to folklore, they were blessed with abundant rain and nuggets of gold could be picked directly from the ground. They owed this prosperity to a providential but cruel protector: the Wagadu Biida, a seven-headed serpent who lived at the bottom of the Kumbi well. Every year, as a reward for his favours, the Biida demanded an offering: the life of the most beautiful virgin woman in the community. Sacrifices took place for generations, until the 13th century AD, when fate chose Siya Yatabéré, Maamadi Sehedunxote's sweetheart... Centuries later in 1977, Gaye Mody Camara, a young Soninke raised in Mali's Kayes region, settled in France to found his own empire. Initially selling wax, kola nuts and other goods in his Parisian outlets, he rapidly started distributing cassette tapes and eventually producing a multitude of recordings for his own label: Camara Production. Crossing paths and collaborating over the next four decades with legendary artists, griots and industry moguls like Boncana Maïga, Jean-Philippe Rykiel, Ganda Fadiga, Diaby Doua or Ibrahima Sylla, Camara became one of the great independent music producers of his generation, and a pilar of the Parisian Soninke diaspora. Released in close collaboration with Gaye Camara and with the assistance of Daouda N'diaye, one of A.P.S' (Association pour la Promotion de la langue et de la culture Soninké) historical members, this selection of songs and accompanying notes aim to shed a light on an intricate culture and its modern music, injustifiably unknown outside of West Africa and the various Soninko diasporas around the world. From Malian Zouk to Mauritanian Reggae and other psychedelic groovers originally released on cassettes or digitally, we have given the utmost attention to bringing this music to a new format. It has been carefully remastered and pressed on a couple of 180g vinyls, with riso printed liner notes.

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Sowulo

Wurdiz

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Afrobeat Experience Vol.1

2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Wagram Music)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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DJeudjoah & Lieutenant Nicholson

2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Hot Casa)

Vamos A Bailar Un Son Special Edition

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2+ is the 3rd album of DjeuhDjoah & Lieutenant Nicholson. A new sound stopover in their funky trip since their beginning with T’es qui ? album in 2015. This new building stone prolongs their critically acclaimed album Aimez ces airs released in 2019. What’s new? 15 tracks , eclectic, soft, deep, and funky, where electro, soul even afro beat touches , or bossa nova live together harmoniously. DjeuhDjoah & Lieutenant Nicholson make praise of slowness (« Pas si vite »), address environmental issues (« Coeur béton »), social statements on (« Police », « Raie publiques », « clic »), childhood on (« Bola Mba ») , the post colonial relation between Africa and the other continents. Love is also really well presented ( « Thé à la menthe «, « Ping Pong ») and why not sailing to Essaouira in Morocco ? During the summer of 2020 , when the french national radio asked them to perform a live cover , our french funky duo chose the famous « Né quelque part » by Maxime Leforestier released in 1987. Their Suave interpretation, haunting beat and spatial & languid atmosphere give a fantastic tribute to this beautiful melody and strong lyrics. They found a very intimate link with chorus in Zulu, harking back to the strong connection they made with South Africa during their last tour. It became clear that they needed to put this track on their new album , as their now club remix classic « Bwe Dlo « performed with their friend David Walters. After their tour in South Africa, they met « Cool Affair », the musician and electro house producer in Johannesburg who made a beautiful remix of « Aimé Césaire » which close perfectly this new opus. Recorded at « Le triangle des Bermudes » the home studio of Lieutenant Nicholson, produced and mixed by him with a electro analog sound dear to them. Horns, live drums, percussions and vocal choir were recorded at Bastille village at the label basement , even during the pandemic… On 2+, we can also hear the swirls of Antoine Berjeaut at the trumpet and bugle, magic keys from Florian Pellissier , two new flagships of the French jazz scene. Once again, DjeuhDjoah & Lieutenant Nicholson push the boundaries of the traditional « French song « to make the world dance. They want to keep their international audience , from Australia, Japan, Usa, South Africa to name a few the dance floors of the world will ignite with this new album . The French touch will still shine !

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Eliades Ochoa

2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (World Circuit)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Could We Be More Black Vinyl Edition

Kokoroko

LP | 2022 | UK | Original (Brownswood)

Release: 2022 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Essiebons Special 1973-1984

2LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Analog Africa)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Dick Essilfie-Bondzie was all ready for his 90th birthday party when the Covid pandemic hit. The legendary producer, businessman and founder of Ghana’s mighty Essiebons label had invited all his family and friends to the event and it was the disappointment at having to postpone that prompted Analog Africa founder Samy Ben Redjeb to propose a new compilation celebrating his contributions to the world of West African music.

For most of the 1970s Essilfie-Bondzie’s Dix and Essiebons labels were synonymous with the best in modern highlife, and his roster was a who’s-who of highlife legends. C.K. Mann, Gyedu Blay Ambolley, Kofi Papa Yankson, Ernest Honny, Rob ‘Roy’ Raindorf and Ebo Taylor all released some of their greatest music under the Essiebons banner.

Yet Essilfie-Bondzie had been destined for a very different career. Born in Apam and raised in Accra, he was sent to business school in London at the age of 20, and returned to the security of a government job in Ghana. But his passion for music, inspired by the sounds of Accra’s highlife scene, had never left him, and in 1967 he figured out a way of combining music and business by opening West Africa’s first record pressing plant.

The venture, a partnership with the Philips label, was a huge success, attracting business from all over the continent. By the early 1970s Essilfie-Bondzie had left his government job to concentrate on his labels, and by the mid-seventies he was on a hot streak injecting album after album of restless highlife into the bloodstream of the Ghanaian music scene.

Essiebons Special features a selection of obscure workouts from some of the label’s heaviest hitters. But in the course of digitising his vast archive of master tapes, Essilfie-Bondzie found a number of Afrobeat and Instrumental maszterpieces tracks from the label’s mid-70s golden age that, for one reason or another, had never been released. Those songs are included here for the first time.

Sadly Essilfie-Bondzie passed away before the compilation was finished. But his legacy lives on in the extraordinary music that he gave to the world in his lifetime.

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Edo Funk Explosion Volume 1

2LP+Book | 2021 | EU | Original (Analog Africa)

Dudu Tassa & The Kuwaitis

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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It was in Benin City, in the heart of Nigeria, that a new hybrid of
intoxicating highlife music known as Edo Funk was born.
It first emerged in the late 1970s when a group of musicians began
to experiment with different ways of integrating elements from their
native Edo culture and fusing them with new sound effects coming
from West Africa ́s night-clubs. Unlike the rather polished 1980 ́s
Nigerian disco productions coming out of the international
metropolis of Lagos Edo Funk was raw and reduced to its bare
minimum.

Someone was needed to channel this energy into a distinctive sound
and Sir Victor Uwaifo appeared like a mad professor with his Joromi
studio. Uwaifo took the skeletal structure of Edo music and
relentless began fusing them with synthesizers, electric guitars and
80 ́s effect racks which resulted in some of the most outstanding Edo
recordings ever made. An explosive spiced up brew with an odd
psychedelic note dubbed "Edo Funk".

That's the sound you'll be discovering in the first volume of the
Edo Funk Explosion series which focusses on the genre’s greatest
originators; Osayomore Joseph, Akaba Man, and Sir Victor Uwaifo:

Osayomore Joseph was one of the first musicians to bring the sound
of the flute into the horn-dominated world of highlife, and his
skills as a performer made him a fixture on the Lagos scene. When he
returned to settle in Benin City in the mid 1970s – at the
invitation of the royal family – he devoted himself to the
modernisation and electrification of Edo music, using funk and Afro-
beat as the building blocks for songs that weren’t afraid to call
out government corruption or confront the dark legacy of Nigeria’s
colonial past.

Akaba Man was the philosopher king of Edo funk. Less overtly
political than Osayomore Joseph and less psychedelic than Victor
Uwaifo, he found the perfect medium for his message in the trance-
like grooves of Edo funk. With pulsating rhythms awash in cosmic
synth-fields and lyrics that express a deep personal vision, he
found great success at the dawn of the 1980s as one of Benin City’s
most persuasive ambassadors of funky highlife.

Victor Uwaifo was already a star in Nigeria when he built the
legendary Joromi studios in his hometown of Benin City in 1978.
Using his unique guitar style as the mediating force between West-
African highlife and the traditional rhythms and melodies of Edo
music, he had scored several hits in the early seventies, but once
he had his own sixteen-track facility he was able to pursue his
obsession with the synesthetic possibilities of pure sound, adding
squelchy synths, swirling organs and studio effects to hypnotic
basslines and raw grooves. Between his own records and his
production for other musicians, he quickly established himself as
the godfather of Edo funk.

What unites these diverse musicians is their ability to strip funk
down to its primal essence and use it as the foundation for their
own excursions inward to the heart of Edo culture and outward to the
furthest limits of sonic alchemy. The twelve tracks on Edo Funk
Explosion Volume 1 pulse with raw inspiration, mixing highlife
horns, driving rhythms, day-glo keyboards and tripped-out guitars
into a funk experience unlike any other.
Double LP pressed on 140g virgin vinyl comes with a full color 20-pages booklet

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2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (World Circuit)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Laura Veirs And Her Band - Live In Brooklyn

Laura Veirs

LP | 2024 | US | Original (Raven Marching Band)

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Ochre & The Collected Eps

Blood And Sun

LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Sound Pollution)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Music Is The Most Beautiful Language In The World

LP | 2020 | Original (Play Loud! Productions)

Release: 2020 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2018 | EU | Original (Gearbox)

Ana Silvera

Oracles

Release: 2018 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2LP | 2018 | UK | Reissue (Hive Mind)

Maalem Mahmoud Gania

Colours Of The Night