Afrobeat Vinyl 425 Items

In anice gatefold sleeve this vinyl will make you discover the most emblematic artists of Cumbia and other more confidential ones selected and explained by the journalist and expert OSMAN JR. Original versions entirely remastered.

North-Ghanaian singer Olando lives as a Frafra in the diaspora of Kumasi, the 2.5 million metropole and capital of the Ashanti people. Living there turned his style into a unique mixture of his rural heritage combined with some portion of urban insanity.
Both songs are with its 163 bpm the perfect climax in any afro-futuristic DJ set. While the A-side Tenan Wu has a playful bass which jumps around the driving Hip-Life beat, the B-side Be Han To'ora Ho Sina is chracterized by its hypnotic ostinato. Both songs are produced by Big Solo, one of Kumasi's most outstanding producer personalities.

Yaoundé, in the 1970´s, was a buzzing place. Every neighbourhood of Cameroon´s capital, no matter how dodgy, was flled with music spots but surprisingly there were no infrastructure to immortalise those musical riches. The country suffered from a serious lack of proper recording facilities, and the process of committing your song to tape could become a whole adventure unto itself. Of course, you could always book the national broadcasting company together with a sound engineer, but this was hardly an option for underground artists with no cash. But luckily an alternative option emerged in form of an adventist church with some good recording equipment and many of the artists on this compilation recorded their frst few songs, secretly, in these premises thanks to Monsieur Awono, the church engineer. He knew the schedule of the priests and, in exchange for some cash, he would arrange recording sessions. The artists still had to bring their own equipment, and since there was only one microphone, the amps and instruments had to be positioned perfectly. It was a risky business for everyone involved but since they knew they were making history, it was all worth it. At the end of the recording, the master reel would be handed to whoever had paid for the session, usually the artist himself..and what happened next? With no distribution nor recording companies around this was a legitimate question. More often then not it was the french label Sonafric that would offer their manufacturing and distribution structure and many Cameroonian artist used that platform to kickstart their career. What is particularly surprising in the case of Sonafric was their willingness to take chances and judge music solely on their merit rather than their commercial viability. The sheer amount of seriously crazy music released also spoke volumes about the openness of the people behind the label.But who exactly are these artists that recorded one or two songs before disappearing, never to be heard from again? Some of the names were so obscure that even the most seasoned veterans of the Cameroonian music scene had never heard of them. A few trips to the land of Makossa and many more hours of interviews were necessary to get enough insight to assemble the puzzle-pieces of Yaoundé’s buzzing 1970s music scene. We learned that despite the myriad diffculties involved in the simple process of making and releasing a record, the musicians of Yaoundé’s underground music scene left behind an extraordinary legacy of raw grooves and magnifcent tunes. The songs may have been recorded in a church, with a single microphone in the span of only an hour or two, but the fact that we still pay attention to these great creations some 50 years later, only illustrates the timelessness of their music.

Comet Records is excited to present Afro Rhythms Vol. 1 the first repress since 1999 of Singles and Remixes out of Black Voices’s LP from Tony Allen Afrobeat pioneer, along with the iconic Psyco On Da Bus creating a new sound between experimental, electronica and afrobeat, both albums produced by sound activist Doctor L. The compilation is a proper trawl through the vault of the early years of Comet Records featuring producers and artists as IG Culture, Eska, Catalyst aka Alex Attias, Psycho On Da Bus Featuring Doctor L and Tony Allen, Cinematic Orchestra and the legendary Parisian duo Chateau Flight. The tracks "The Drum" and "Brotherhood" produced respectively by IG Culture (Son Of Scientist) and Cinematic Orchestra are part of The Allenko Brotherhood Ensemble project, a collaboration between the unique drumming style of Tony Allen and the best in contemporary producers. Comet label continues its hypnotic elliptical orbit through radical funk realms and dancefloor wormholes, connecting to five decades of music from four continents and still heading for the future, a pure and positive light to guide our way on.

Of the many great talents of the classic Nigerian highlife scene, none contained the existential depth, transcendence and grace of Celestine Ukwu. During his brief time in this world, he pursued education, music, and philosophy; first as a school teacher, then ultimately a singer, lyricist and musician, first as a member of Gentleman Mike Ejeagha's Premier Dance Band, and eventually fronting his own groups, The Music Royals and The Philosophers National. Beginning in the early 1970s, The Philosophers National established a radical shift in the possibilities of Nigerian highlife by moving away from the typical mid-century style and cutting a new path with a distinctly hypnotic and cerebral atmosphere. This sense of depth was apparent in the lilting, multi-layered and pulsing music of The Philosophers National, as well as the concise and clear-eyed lyrics sung so beautifully by Celestine Ukwu. The arrangements establish a living, breathing environment for each song; muted trumpet solos, hypnotic guitar runs, driving percussion; every instrument gracefully following a tide of patience, tranquility, wonder, climax, knowing and unknowing. "Celestine ditched the jaunty dance rhythms and relatively facile lyrics typical of the reigning highlife tunes, and ignoring the soul music tropes most of the highlife bandleaders were appropriating in an effort to inject new life to their ailing format. Instead Celestine concocted a new highlife style that was more contemplative and lumbering; with the layering of Afro-Cuban ostinato basslines and repetitive rhythm patterns that interlocked to create an effect that was hypnotic, virtually transcendental. Meanwhile, Celestine himself sang as he stood coolly onstage in a black turtleneck and a sportscoat, looking like a university professor. The message was clear: this was not necessarily music for dancing_even though the rhythms were compelling enough. This was music for the thinkers." - Uchenna IkonneThis LP compiles some of Celestine Ukwu's deepest and most affecting songs fr...

Heavy cumbia guitar rock from 1960s Colombia.Formed in 1961 by the legendary brothers Pedro Jairo and Guillermo Leon Garces, LOS GOLDEN BOYS rose quickly to the top of the Colombian "musica tripical" scene by combining popular rock influences with cumbia, gaita, porro and other local styles. The band recorded several hit singles and albums for the Dsco Fuentes label until the tragic death of brilliant electric guitarist Pedro Jairo in 1972 laid the original LOS GOLDEN BOYS to rest. Cumbia De Juventud is a newly remastered collection of 12 of the heaviest sogs from their golden era!

Following hot on the heels of our well-received reissue of his first album, Rim Arrives, we now present the two other key records that have made this a cult figure for lovers of both African music and ‘disco’ in its widest sense. Too Tough, a superb three track EP from 1982, on Sum-Sum Records, was credited to Rim and Kasa, whilst he issued the cracking 12” I’m Not Going To Let You Go as Rim And The Believers for Harmony Records the following year.
Too Tough kicks off with Shine The Ladies, an epic Afro-disco jam in call and response format, with the female lead vocals (Ms. Anita Berry) prompting a series of replies from the backing vocalists, setting the scene for a series of exciting solos set against a backdrop of punchy horns and swirling synths; tenor sax, guitar, drums (introduced with chants of ‘Play me some drums!’) and vibes all take a turn before the track fades out, clocking in just short of nine minutes. Next up is Love Me For Real, reminiscent of August Darnell with its girlie vocals and Latin flavour, ending with a mad swirl of synths and Rim’s own vocals. And lastly, I’m A Songwriter is cosmic Afro-reggae, bringing to mind Roy Ayers in his Fela phase, given a mad punk-funk twist … this one has to be heard to be believed!
The mood changes with I’m Not Going To Let You Go, which eschews the female chorus for an altogether mellower, instrumental ride, veering from out-there cosmic synth vibes to loungey jazz piano. It’s original flip, Peace of Mind, raw Afro-boogie track with a male vocal, is also included.
Those of you who had been searching in vain for Rim’s oeuvre for some years now having had it handed to you on a platter (well, two platters, actually), will be pleased to know that there is yet more material from the man Rim Kwaku Obeng to come from us at BBE …watch out for the digital-only release of four previously unreleased cuts from this legend of Afro-disco, taken from a long-lost acetate!

Acid Jazz Records continue their exclusive licensing agreement with Albarika Store, the legendary record label that defined the sound of Benin and influenced the entire region of West Africa and beyond.