Afrobeat Vinyl 830 Items

Mr. Money With The Vibe Bone W/ Red Splatter Vinyl Edition

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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This is Mulatu Astatke’s protege and Ethiopian saxophonist and composer Jorga Mesfin’s debut album. It’s a long foray into Ethio-jazz that takes this courageous syncretism further by fusing spiritual experimentation with bits from all kinds of situations in Ethiopian music, jazz music, and specifically Ethiopian jazz music that precedes it.

Jorga Mesfin is widely regarded as one of the most talented contemporary musicians and composers in Ethiopia. He started his professional career at the young age of 17 and has since collaborated with numerous renowned artists, including Tsegaye Gebremedhin, Carolyn Beard Withlow, The Last Poets, Vijay Iyer, Wayna Wondossen, Kirk Whalum, Takana Miyamoto, Gizze Reggae band, Dionne Farris, Aster Aweke, Mahmoud Ahmed, and Mulatu Astatke. Additionally, Mesfin was a resident at Astatke's legendary African Jazz Village in Addis Ababa every Thursday.

Jorga Mesfin is the founder of the Ethio-jazz group called Wudasse. He composed the music for the epic Ethiopian film "Teza" directed by Haile Gerima. His work on the film earned him the Best Music Award at the 22nd Carthage Film Festival and Best Composition at the 5th Dubai International Film Festival.

Muzikawi is an Ethiopian record label, music publisher, studio, artist management, and event organiser with offices in Addis Ababa and Stockholm. We understand and honour the culture of Ethiopia.

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Asake

LP | 2023 | US | Original (Empire)

2LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Favorite)

Release: 2023 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Pop

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Mr. Money With The Vibe is the debut studio album from Nigerian singer Asake. Following an impressive debut and meteoric rise in the music industry, Asake signed with Ybnl Nation, the label founded by one of the godfathers of modern Afrobeats, Olamide. The 12-track album features elements of traditional Nigerian fuji music, Afropop, and South African Amapiano and sees appearances from fellow Nigerian star Burna Boy and American rapper Russ. The results are an ethereal sonic oasis that clearly sets Asake apart from his peers. Includes the single, “Sungba (Remix),” “Peace Be Unto You (PBUY),” & “Terminator.” 1xLP, pressed on Bone Vinyl with Red Splatter.

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Voilaaa

Voiciii

Kokoroko HHV Exclusive White Vinyl Edition

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Favorite Recordings proudly presents Voiciii, the 3rd and new album by Voilaaa, an immersive dip into its Afro-Disco universe spread across 14 tracks. Needless to say you’ll find in this new LP all the ingredients that made him famous: strong dancefloor-friendly festive bangers, irresistible funky arrangements and an undeniable sense of humor and irony. Bruno “Patchworks” Hovart, behind Voilaaa, is as often surrounded by amazing vocal featurings from previous LP’s regulars (Pat Kalla, Lass) but also new voices you may already have heard on its recent EPs (David Walters, Rama Traore, Ayuune Suule), as well as the saxophonist Boris Pokora. The LP is also an occasion to pay tributes to major artists of the African sound, such as Fela Kuti (on “Water No Get Enemy”), or Manu Dibango (“Manu Écoute Ça” and “Tenor Jam For Manu”). Since the release of Voilaaa’s previous LP’s Des Promesses and On Te L’Avait Dit and their massive international support, the Voilaaa Soundsystem did travel through the world to deliver its message of infectious joy and groove, from Equator to Thailand, from Kazakhstan to the infamous French “Fête de l’Huma”. Now you know: Voilaaa is everywhere and Voiciii (“here it is”) their new album.

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Kokoroko

12" | 2019 | UK | Reissue (Brownswood)

17,99 €*

Vieux Farka Touré & Khruangbin

Release: 2019 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Limited to 500 copies on white vinyl!

Inspired by Fela Kuti, Ebo Taylor, Tony Allen and the sounds of West Africa, London 8-person collective Kokoroko presents its first EP. The four tracks reveal a musical vision of Afrobeat, soul, West African roots and inner-London jazz nuances. The wonderful "Abusey Junction" was already included on last year's Brownswood sampler "We Out Here", which was frenetically acclaimed by the trade press (Wire, Monocle, New York Times, etc.) and named compilation of the year 2018 by the London Rough Trade stores.

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Ali Jade Vinyl Edition

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Dead Oceans)

Riviera Drive / Genius Of Love

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Ali Farka Touré trekked the world, bringing his beloved Malian music to the masses. Dubbed "the African John Lee Hooker," one could hear strong connections between the two; both employed a bluesy style of play with gritty textures that elicit calm and fury in equal measure. While the influence of Black blues music prevailed, Touré created a West African blend of 'desert blues' that garnered Grammy Awards and widespread reverence. Though he transcended in 2006, Ali's musical legacy lives on through his son, Vieux aka "the Hendrix of the Sahara," an accomplished guitarist and champion of Malian music in his own right. On Ali, his collaborative album with Khruangbin, Vieux pays homage to his father by recreating some of his most resonant work, putting new twists on it while maintaining the original's integrity. The result is a rightful ode to a legend. Ali isn't just a greatest hits compilation. It's a lullaby, a remembrance of Ali's life through known highlights and B-sides from his catalog. It is a testament to what happens when creativity is approached through open arms and open hearts. "To me, music is magic, it is spontaneous, it is the energy between people," Vieux says. "I think Khruangbin understands this very well." The genesis of the album dates back to 2019, when Khruangbin, coming off their breakthrough album Con Todo El Mundo, was beginning to play to bigger crowds. The record was finished in 2021, as a global pandemic shuttered businesses and forced us to take stock of what Earth was becoming. Indirectly, Ali captures this as a moment of peace within a raging storm, a conversation between past and present without allegiance to suffering. Now, given Khruangbin's reach as a unit with legions of fans (including the likes of Jay-Z and Paul McCartney), they're poised to bring Malian music to broader groups of listeners.

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Magic Source

12" | 2022 | EU | Original (Favorite)

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Soundway)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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French label Favorite Recordings presents the new 12" from Magic Source (from The Mighty Mocambos and Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band). Expect tropical disco and funk flavours, hypnotic percussion and a really well-produced cover of Tom Tom Club's "Genius Of Love". Tip!

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The Mauskovic Dance Band

Dancing Time: The Best Of East Nigeria's Afro Rock Exponents 1973-77

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Soundway Records presents the eponymous debut LP from in-demand Amsterdam five piece The Mauskovic Dance Band – fusing no-wave dance punk, Afro-Caribbean rhythms and space disco in a “controlled explosion” (The Quietus).
Entirely self-produced, the band has reiterated their favourite elements of the 70s and 80s legacy of the Afro-Latin psychedelic music of Colombia and Peru, interpreting it through the context of modern day Amsterdam. The output is a lo-fi No Wave groove all its own - rooted in a deep love of champeta, Palenque, psychedelic cumbia, chichi, classic afrobeat and picó soundsystem culture.
Since the release of their “Down In The Basement” EP on Soundway Records in early 2018, the band have found themselves on a hectic European touring schedule – not to mention being involved in other side projects. Following stints with Turkish psychedelic folk rock group Altin Gün, and touring with the re-formed 70s Zamrock outfit W.I.T.C.H., Nic Mauskovic also teamed up with Dutch neo-psychedelic artist Jacco Gardner to form the “cinematic Balearic disco” duo of Bruxas (released by Dutch institution Dekmantel) – and together, they mixed The Mauskovic Dance Band debut album in Lisbon.
Lead single Space Drum Machine encapsulates the band’s prototypical brand of busy rhythmic patterns interwoven with insistent synth stabs and vibrant disco toms, layered with an elastic guitar riff drawing inspiration from Kenyan kikuyu and benga styles. High-pitched vocals describe being on a flight together and inciting each other to press a button of unknown consequence with “push it, push it” - and push it they do, at breakneck pace. And of course, the undeniable influence of Amsterdam’s hotbed of underground dance producers shines through as it does on all tracks - with the vintage psychedelic swirl of synthesiser, lo-fi drum machines and tape recording.

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The Funkees

2LP | 2012 | UK | Original (Soundway)

Could We Be More Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 2012 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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‘Dancing Time: The Best of Eastern Nigeria’s Afro Rock Exponents 1973 – 77’ by The Funkees is the latest title on Soundway to mine the rich musical output of 60s and 70s Nigeria. For the 5 year period this compilation spans The Funkees output crackled with dance floor fire.

Having featured on three of Soundway’s most popular titles, across the definitive Nigeria Special compilation series, we felt The Funkees output deserved closer inspection. Presented here (on CD, download & double gatefold LP) are 18 slices of funky Afro-rock grooves hand picked by Soundway’s Miles Cleret from a selection of the bands 45s and 2 long players.

In the early 1970s The Funkees were the number-one east Nigerian band and the only outfit to seriously challenge the popular Lagos based rock combos MonoMono and BLO.

It wasn't long before promoters in the UK came calling and The Funkees packed up their instruments and moved to London where they quickly established a fierce reputation on the live circuit.

Here they recorded two seminal albums before finally breaking up in 1977 amidst some controversy. This collection features for the first time all of their Nigerian 45s alongside the best of their UK album material and is accompanied by a full interview with original member Sonny Akpan, who still lives in the capital.

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Kokoroko

LP | 2022 | UK | Original (Brownswood)

31,99 €*

Release: 2022 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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24 Hours In A Disco 1978-82

Kiki Gyan

2LP | 2012 | UK | Original (Soundway)

LP | 2023 | Reissue (Chrysalis)

Release: 2012 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Soundway Records present ’24 Hours in A Disco 1978 - 82’, 7 cuts of relentless disco grooves from the sublimely gifted Kiki Gyan. Hailed as Africa’s answer to Stevie Wonder, Ghanaian multi-instrumentalist Kiki Gyan was a musical wunderkind who by 1975 had risen from the lowly status of high school dropout to being ranked eighth in a poll of the greatest keyboardists in the world (occupying the rarefied air of the top ten with heavyweights like Steve Winwood, Billy Preston, and Stevie Wonder) as well as becoming an in-demand session player in the top recording studios of London - all before his twenty-first birthday.

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Toumani Diabate

New Ancient Strings

Release: 2023 / Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2018 | EU | Reissue (Afrosynth)

Ntombi Ndaba & Survival

Tomorrow 2024 Repress

19,99 €*

LP | 2023 | UK | Original (Soundway)

Release: 2018 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Incl. her in demand tune "Tomorrow" . Six-track anthology of South African singer Ntombi Ndaba, featuring 2 songs from 3 of her solo albums, Mina Ngiljaji (1988), Mama Nature (1989) and Why Me (1991).
Ntombi Ndaba first rose to fame in 1985 with Ntombi & Survival, becoming one of the most popular singers of the bubblegum era. After setting up the independent label Anneko with her producer A.T. ‘Rubber’ Khoza in 1988, she went solo. Following Khoza’s death in the early 1990s, Ndaba never recorded again.

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Nkono Teles

Love Vibration

Watch Out Now / Try Again HHV Exclusive Red Vinyl Edition

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Soundway releases a storming compilation of Cameroonian-born, Nigerian-based super producer Nkono Teles’ solo work. The pioneer of West African electronic music was known for being tapped by over 100 other musicians to produce or arrange their music, from King Sunny Adé, Guy Lobe, even Steve Monite’s album “Only You” and more. Having already appeared on Soundway’s best-selling compilation “Doing It In Lagos”, here more of Nkono’s limited solo work is carefully remastered and reissued on vinyl for the first time. One of a small handful of pioneers of the Nigerian electronic music scene in the 1980s (alongside the likes of Jake Sollo & William Onyeabor), Teles was known for being tapped by over 100 musicians to feature on, produce or arrange their music. The list of ‘80s Nigerian records that his sound and style embellished is seemingly endless: Steve Monite (he arranged and produced the music on the Only You album recently re-issued by Soundway), Dizzy K, Peter Abdul, Odion Iruoje, Steve Black, Rick Asikpo, Feladey, Charly Boy, Majek Fashek & Sonny Okosuns, to name just a few, all engaged his enigmatic production and keyboard services throughout the 1980s. He became known as the first person in Nigeria to push the use of the drum machine into popular music and created a unique and original boogie-funk sound combining these new beats with guitars and an array of new and affordable synthesiser sounds that started appearing in the early 1980s

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Heroes Of Limbo

7" | 2023 | EU | Original (Mocambo)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Elmir)

Raina Rai

Hagda

Tomede Ehue & Orchestre Poly-Rythmo

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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As the first item in its catalog and on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the release of the album Hagda by Raïna Raï, the legendary band from Sidi Bel Abbès (Algeria), Elmir Records is happy to present the vinyl reissue of this multi-faceted pop-raï masterpiece. This mythical album recorded and self-produced in 1982, which cover of Ya Zina became an international hit, still sounds very modern thanks to the avant-garde guitar of Lotfi Attar. These eight electrified and electrifying raï tracks are ready to be (re)discovered! This new edition was remastered by Josh Stevenson in Canada and enriched with notes in French and English by the specialist Rabah Mezouane.

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Bella Bello

12" | 2022 | EU | Original (Canopy)

17,99 €*

LP | 2015 | US | Original (Awesome Tapes From Africa)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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The third release from Canopy features the title track from a tough to catch Afro funk 7” originally released on private press in Benin in the 1980s. While information on the mesmerising Tomede Ehue remains elusive, she is backed by the Beninois powerhouse, the truly almighty, “TP Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou”.

Electrifying cosmic voodoo disco grooves, heavy bass pulsing, blistering horns and spooky organ riffs set the tone on this transcendental dance floor afro funk cut.

A modernised tropical disco remix from bosq & an Afro - acid version from Sam Redmore revitalise this mysterious dance floor incantation and launch it into the present day.

These tracks strike a balance between moody afro psych-funk and more punchy electronic aesthetics, while maintaining the subtleties of the original composition and performance.

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Ata Kak

Obaa Sima

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Four Flies)

Release: 2015 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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A 1994 tape by Ghanaian musician Ata Kak called Obaa Sima is being reissued by Awesome Tapes From Africa.

The release is the culmination of a 13-year story for Awesome Tapes From Africa founder Brian Shimkovitz, who bought a cassette copy of Obaa Sima from a roadside stall in Cape Coast, Ghana, in 2002. The tape was the subject of the first post on his Awesome Tapes From Africa blog in 2006—the blog spawned a full record label in 2011.

Shimkovitz began searching for Ata Kat and says "Google and endless phone calls provided no leads." It was eventually discovered the musician, real name Yaw Atta-Owusu, had recorded Obaa Sima in Toronto before moving back to Ghana in 2006.

The restoration of the tape proved challenging. Only about 50 copies of the original tape were produced, and Atta-Owusu's master DAT had disintegrated, so the second-hand copy purchased by Shimkovitz was used as the source for the reissue.

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Psyche

In Search Of The Lost City Of The Monkey God

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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A unique combination of psychedelia, groove and afrobeat, the music of Psyché goes back to the roots of our future; it evokes visions of a mythical past, blending centuries-old music traditions and mixing them with modern genres. Like a warm Mediterranean breeze, it travels across lands, seas and eras, distilling essential rhythms and cosmic pulsations.

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The Sorcerers

LP | 2020 | UK | Reissue (ATA)

Mae Carinhosa Blue & Red Marbled Vinyl Edition

Release: 2020 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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ATA Records are proud to announce the follow up to the critically acclaimed debut album fromThe Sorcerers. Conceived as a soundtrack to an imagined lost European exploitation film,'In Searchof The Lost City ofThe Monkey God'covers a wide range of influences: Ethiopiques Ethio-Jazz rubs up against European library music of the 60s and 70s. The Sorcerers seamlessly blend these disparate elements into one cohesive sound.

Based in ATA Records' home of Leeds, The Sorcerers form the backbone of the ATA Records house band including drummer Joost Hendrickx (Kefaya, Shatner's Bassoon, Abstract Orchestra) and ATA label heads Neil Innes (Bass & Guitar) and Pete Williams (Woodwinds & Percussion). Bass clarinets, flutes, and esoteric percussion that sit alongside bass, guitar and drums are essential to The Sorcerers sound providing cinematic textures on top of a solid rhythmic foundation.

The Sorcerers began working on the new album during the winter of 2018 and it was during the writing sessions for this album that the concept for the LP began to take shape. The name for the album was taken from the title of a National Geographic article read by Bassist Neil Innes and was used as the starting point for the entire concept. The library music scene of the 60s and 70s has always been an intrinsic part of the sound of ATA Records and so it made perfect sense to envisage the album as a soundtrack, given the cinematic quality of The Sorcerers music.

Each track was written with a particular scene in mind and the music was then shaped in the studio to best reflect the essence of that scene. Drums, Bass and Percussion provide the solid foundation onto which Flutes, Bass Clarinets, Xylophones and Vibraphones add the atmospheric and melodic counterpoint, deftly weaving between one another to conjure up images of the unforgiving environment of the dense jungle, unknown eyes watching the protagonists of the imagined film as they make their way towards their ultimate goal, their pursuit by unseen assailants, the arcane mysticism of undiscovered cargo cultists and the ancient ruins of long passed civilisations.

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Cesaria Evora

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Music On Vinyl)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Buh)

Perkutao

Mis Ancestros

33,99 €*

2LP | 2022 | DE | Original (Decca)

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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Salif Keita

Mouffou

Vieux Farka Touré & Khruangbin

Release: 2022 / DE – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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"
After his many musical peregrinations, Salif Keïta made a salutary return to his roots with Moffou. Originally released in 2002, the album has since sold over 200,000 copies worldwide. To mark its 20th anniversary, Decca Records France is reissuing the album on CD (out of print) and releasing it on vinyl for the first time. Both formats include the bonus track Martin Solveig's famous remix of Madan."

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Ali Black Vinyl Edition

LP | 2022 | CZ | Original (Dead Oceans)

Release: 2022 / CZ – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Ali Farka Touré trekked the world, bringing his beloved Malian music to the masses. Dubbed "the African John Lee Hooker," one could hear strong connections between the two; both employed a bluesy style of play with gritty textures that elicit calm and fury in equal measure. While the influence of Black blues music prevailed, Touré created a West African blend of 'desert blues' that garnered Grammy Awards and widespread reverence. Though he transcended in 2006, Ali's musical legacy lives on through his son, Vieux aka "the Hendrix of the Sahara," an accomplished guitarist and champion of Malian music in his own right. On Ali, his collaborative album with Khruangbin, Vieux pays homage to his father by recreating some of his most resonant work, putting new twists on it while maintaining the original's integrity. The result is a rightful ode to a legend.Ali isn't just a greatest hits compilation. It's a lullaby, a remembrance of Ali's life through known highlights and B-sides from his catalog. It is a testament to what happens when creativity is approached through open arms and open hearts. "To me, music is magic, it is spontaneous, it is the energy between people," Vieux says. "I think Khruangbin understands this very well." The genesis of the album dates back to 2019, when Khruangbin, coming off their breakthrough album Con Todo El Mundo, was beginning to play to bigger crowds. The record was finished in 2021, as a global pandemic shuttered businesses and forced us to take stock of what Earth was becoming. Indirectly, Ali captures this as a moment of peace within a raging storm, a conversation between past and present without allegiance to suffering. Now, given Khruangbin's reach as a unit with legions of fans (including the likes of Jay-Z and Paul McCartney), they're poised to bring Malian music to broader groups of listeners.

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

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

34,99 €*

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

Space Echo

34,99 €*

Fela Kuti, Moblack, Emmanuel Jal & Henrik Schwarz

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

12" | 2020 | EU | Reissue (Defected)

16,99 €*

Basa Bongo / Black Pepper

Release: 2020 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2024 Repress

These are the words of legendary Nigerian musician and activist Fela Kuti, words that remain as true as ever over two decades since his untimely death. A pioneer of the Nigerian revolution, his fight against police oppression remains an ongoing conversation in the country. Now, Defected pays tribute to the vital work of Fela with a special 12” release, as Armonica and MoBlack revisit Fela Kuti’s ‘International Thief Thief (I T. T.)’ as the fight against systemic corruption continues to be a pressing issue in Nigeria. The A-Side features Armonica & MoBlack’s flawlessly executed and ever respectful remix of the record where Fela called out and directly attacked former Nigerian president General Obasanjo and Moshood Abjola, the CEO of Nigeria’s biggest national telecommunications conglomerate I.T.T and Decca Records. Their homage to Fela brings a powerful and culturally relevant piece of music to the forefront of dance culture in 2020.

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Yoruba Singers

7" | 2023 | UK | Original (Soundway)

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Habibi Funk)

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Guyana folk music reinterpreted and infused with Afroroots and culture, reissued on vinyl for the first time. A year after their debut album ‘Ojinga’s Own’, the Yoruba Singers from Guyana released the singles ‘Black Pepper’ and ‘Basa Bongo’. These two songs were recorded in Barbados and released on the Green Shrimp label and became extremely popular throughout the Caribbean and South America. The music also became an integral part of the very beginnings of what was later to become the Champeta Criolla sound in the Caribbean coast of Colombia.

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Ahmed Ben Ali

Subhana

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Rock & Indie

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Jorge Ben / Miriam Makeba

Xica Da Silva

7" | 2016 | UK | Reissue (Mr Bongo)

11,99 €*

Release: 2016 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Two classic cuts from Jorge Ben and Miriam Makeba take either side of this Mr Bongo Brazil 45 reissue.

’Xica Da Silva’ is one of Jorge Ben’s most well-known and well-loved cuts, housed on the legendary Africa Brazil LP that deserves a place in every collection. A magical MPB cut, it instantly transports you to the shores of Rio de Janeiro. With a low-slung funky samba flavour, Ben’s absorbing vocal recounts the legend of one of Brazil's oldest black icons.

On the flip side, Miriam Makeba serves up an entrancing, slowed-down, grooved-out version of ‘Xica da Silva’. A highly influential singer, songwriter, and civil rights activist from South Africa, this low and slow interpretation is doused in strutting guitar, off-beat piano stabs and hypnotic drums providing the perfect platform to let Miriam’s vocal shine through.

Remastered with refreshed artwork.

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2LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Wagram)

Oriental Rare Groove

L'orchestre National Mauritanien

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Rare Groove CollectionExplore the fusion of world music with soul, funk and disco through the Rare Groove Collection.With this new volume, discover unique groove tracks straight from Jamaica!Fully remastered original versions Oriental RARE GROOVEA trip to the oriental peninsula following the steps of the Lebanese disco of Elias Rahbani, cradled by the Morrocan Soul of Ouiness or trained by the Lybian melodies of Ahmed Fakroun...

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Ahl Nana

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

34,99 €*

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Sharp Flat)

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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Movement In The City

22,39 €* 27,99 € -20%

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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In the wake of a 2020 edition of Movement in the City's second album Black Teardrops (1981), Sharp-Flat Records returns with a prequel by way of a reissue of the band's self-titled debut from 1979.

As the 1970s were drawing to a close, the epic Black Disco studio project with its signature pairing of drum machine and organ had run it course. After delivering a killer trilogy of cosmic lounge outings dating back to 1975, the group yearned for funkier grooves and the core trio of composer Pops Mohamed on organ with Basil Coetzee on tenor sax and Sipho Gumede on bass decided to hire a drummer and rebrand as Movement in the City. In contrast with the New Age detachment of Black Disco, Movement in the City was conceptually grounded in the bleak social realism depicted on its photographic album covers and leaned into the vivid sensibilities of library music from the era. Blending Cape jazz with funk and soul, the group's output evokes a soundtrack for South African city life at the outset of the 1980s while nodding allegorically to the subterranean movements that were in the course of shaking the cage for political change.

With its cast of jazz fusion all-stars, Movement in the City is the manifesto of a band in transition - a bold and slick first offering that delivers a modern South African sound capable of both the funky exuberances of "Mister Lucky" as well as the down-home pathos of "Blue Sunday." Restored from its original tape masters and released in partnership with As-Shams Archive and Pops Mohamed, this rare artefact of South African jazz history is back in print for the very first time since its original 1979 release.

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Cumbia - Take Place At Heart Of

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Wagram)

LP | 2022 | US | Original (Mississippi)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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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.

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Los Golden Boys

Cumbia De Juventud

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

Release: 2022 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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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!

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Orchestre Massako

32,99 €*

12" | 2022 | EU | Original (Soundway)

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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Pigeon

Yagana

Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou Dahomey

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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Born out of an impromptu post-pub jam session in Margate, the 5-piece group Pigeon swoops onto the scene with their blistering debut EP Yagana.

As the tracks cross effortlessly between Afro-disco, grunge, no wave and jazz, the cohesive symbiotic relationship of the band members is obvious from the start. The powerful vocals of Guinean singer Falle Nioke are complemented by a wealth of talent from Graham Godfrey on drums, Steve Pringle on keys, Tom Dream on guitar and Josh Ludlow on bass.

Having moved to the UK from West Africa in 2018, Falle Nioke has recently been in the spotlight with EPs heavily supported by indie radio and BBC 6 Music playlisters. On Yagana, he continues to sing in a multitude of languages, but this time shifts towards a more organic musical direction, showcasing his incredible versatility as a vocalist.

This new path can be attributed to the pedigree of the rest of the group – veteran musicians Steve Pringle and Graham Godfrey are key members of Michael Kiwanuka’s band, the latter also performing with Little Simz, Cleo Sol and Sault, among others.

Furthermore, Tom Dream and Josh Ludlow are electronic artists in their own right – with a number of artistic projects in the works, as well as having performed together as ambient duo Soma World. Both used to play in metal and grunge bands in earlier years, an influence which has made its way into Pigeon’s distinctive sound.

The Yagana EP is an emotionally-charged offering, exploring themes of lust, saudade, homesickness, and hope for peace. The title track ‘Yagana’ translates to “it’s been a while”, and though its up-tempo disco rhythm and wild synth solos lend a cheerful disposition, the lyrics describe a melancholic yearning for Africa. Nioke sings in Susu, Wolof and Malinke – as he describes the struggle of being separated from one’s family, as well as hustling to support them financially from afar.

As a teenager, Nioke would train his voice by the great river Rio Nunez in Boké, among the remnants of the slave trade, pathways and crumbling buildings being swallowed up by the forest. While most Western teenagers grew up with traditional pets, Nioke disclosed to his band members that his closest animal friend in West Africa was the pigeon – and so the name of the group was chosen.

Moving through the record, ‘Nothing Grows’ follows on from the Afro-disco opener, bringing down the tempo and intensity. The heavily swung jazz rhythm is driven by the drums, while soft guitar tremolo picking and synth pads produce a delicate atmosphere over which the singer mournfully longs for a lost love.

But having lured the listener into a meditative and pensive state in ‘Nothing Grows’, feathers are suddenly ruffled by the entrance of “It’s You” - a sultry story of burning desire. Channelling grunge and elements of no wave, the song is defined by a rumbling bass that pulses alongside the kick, while an atonal synth riff and fuzzy guitar licks provide the minimal melody. Piercing through it all is the hypnotic spoken word of Nioke, switching between French and English, as he beckons – and at times even demands - a lover to enter his room.

Finally, ‘War (Jam)’ returns the record to its 4x4 disco pace, featuring rapid-fire hats and high-pitched guitar riffs seemingly nodding to Mugithi, a genre often associated with political commentary. This concept is built upon with lyrics sung in Susu, as Nioke condemns wars around the world and their ongoing futility, pleading for people to unite and create a better place. Running just over 7 minutes, ‘War (Jam)’ is an improvised long take which continuously evolves, allowing each musician an opportunity to shine.

Recorded in a single weekend, Pigeon’s Yagana EP is a clear testament to each member’s skilfulness and varied experiences, creating a fully-fledged being that is greater than the sum of its parts. With an opening hand like this, we await with bated breath to see what more the humble Pigeon can bring to the world.

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Gbeti Ma DJro / Angelina II

7" | 2021 | EU | Original (Acid Jazz / Albarika Store)

Baba Ayoola / Carry Me Home

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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More dancefloor dynamite from Benin's almighty Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou Dahomey, this time in the form of 'Gbeti Ma Djro'. Confusingly described on the centre label of the 1971 original issue as ’Soul’, this is in fact a prime slice of Afro-psych-funk complete with wails and grunts over fierce drums and picked guitar. 'Angelina II’ is a much warmer affair that rides a shuffling mid-tempo pachanga groove. Both tracks were transferred, restored and mastered from the original 1/4 inch tape.

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Kokoroko

12" | 2021 | UK | Original (Brownswood)

15,99 €*

Release: 2021 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Baco)

Bongeziwe Mabandla

Iimini

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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12" | 2020 | UK | Original (On The Corner)

Dngdngdng

Dengue Dengue Dengue

12,99 €*

Linda Majika / Thoughts Visions & Dreams

Release: 2020 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Dngdngdng is Dengue Dengue Dengue's new alias for this release of extra sensory perception. The duo have projected rhythmic visions of lost continents, unknown worlds and the unseeable past and future that is present all around us. By channeling rhythmic patterns from the matrix they're able to translate the waves of radiation around us which originated at the cosmic event which created the universe. Dngdngdng reach deep into their sonic imagination to draw from interlocking time signatures and variant tempos. From the cosmic interference and mathematics Dngdngdng create a polyrhythmic theme that brings the sound of continents lost and imagined to our ears. Dengue Dengue Dengue have established themselves as one of the most pioneering artists on the leftfield electronic scene in recent years with heavyweight support by the likes of Boiler Room, Resident Advisor and Bandcamp weekly.

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Let's Make A Deal / Step Out Of My Life Feat. Ray Phiri

12" | 2020 | EU | Original (Rush Hour)

15,99 €*

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (BBE)

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Double sider 12" including the bubblegum club track ''Let's Make a Deal'' by Linda "Babe” Majika, which was originally released on the rare 'Don’t Treat Me So Bad' lp in South-Africa, 1988. On the flip, you’ll find the deep late-night saxophone driven tune ''Step Out Of My Life'' which includes Don Laka on the keyboard and is produced by Ray Phiri, who also founded the popular South African group 'Stimela'. The song was originally released in 1989 and finally sees a reissue, pressed as a loud DJ-friendly 12-inch.

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Lumingu Puati (Zorro)

Mosese

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

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Rock & Indie

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

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Mike Nyoni & Born Free

My Own Thing

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Catalpas)

Release: 2018 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Anthology of Zamrock musician Mike Nyoni’s funky, psych-rock and folkloric 1970s recordings Zambian guitarist and singer/songwriter Mike Nyoni’s music is Zamrock only because he came of age during the countryís rock revolution. He 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.

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Alpacas Collective

Big Words

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Wah Wah 45s)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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A year on from their debut album Seven Wisdoms of Plutonia, global groove collective Alpacas Collective once again invite you on an enchanting musical trip for the second collection of Alpacas tunes! From of the adventurous spaces of Plutonia, from where Alpacas Collective emerged, this gang of fanatic music lovers continue their exploration of new places with new friends on second album Big Words.

Big Words takes the listener on a journey of discovery through a world of afrobeat, deep funk, hindustani raga mixed with psycho-dub and creole rap. Studio magic is once again conjured up by percussionist, composer and producer Frederik Kühn, with the creative contributions and improvisations of befriended artists, doing their signature tricks.

Thanks to these new collective collaborations, this record breathes creative freedom and the pure joy of creating together; But it also is a musical form of resistance, against the downgrading of morality and consciousness, against one-sided thinking, against the curtailment of liberty and justice, against the destruction of the environment.

On title track "Big Words" the collective pays homage to the late great Fela Kuti, with a political afrobeat song, dissing politicians’ hollow speech. While on "Movéfèzè" - creole for villains - rapper Nèg Madnick denounces the rich plantation owners who have poisoned his beautiful Caribbean island Martinique with toxic pesticides.

"Boyoma" has an irresistible African funk-groove helped by multi-talented West-African griot Zouratié Koné on his sparkling ngoni, and "What Could I Do" is propelled by joyful horns, pumping organs and jazzy flutes.

Both "Bhimpalasi" and "Gunkali" see Joël on his bewitching sitar, giving the album a spiritual Indian touch without forgetting the hips, heart and belly. And the mesmerizing "Surrounded" sounds like the soundtrack for a musical and cinematographic wandering from the East to the West, the ever expanding journey of Alpacas Collective…

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Eparapo

Take To The Streets

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Work Of Art Tri-Color Vinyl Edition

Asake

LP | 2023 | US | Original (Empire)

LP | 2023 | UK | Original (Soundway)

Release: 2023 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Pop

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Work of Art is the second album from Nigerian-born singer-songwriter and global superstar, Asake. Building on the sounds from his explosive debut, Mr. Money With The Vibe (which became Billboard’s highest-charting debut album from a Nigerian artist), the 14-track Work Of Art showcases Asake’s winning formula of fusing traditional and contemporary African music into something equally unique and celebratory. The release also marked Asake’s second straight debut on the Billboard 200, and clocked in Spotify chart debuts at number 2 on the Global Albums chart and number 5 on the US Top Albums chart. With standout singles such as “Amapiano,” “2:30,” “Basquiat,” & “Sunshine,” the album highlights Asake’s innate ability to cut through to global audiences, making him one of 2023’s most intriguing artists to watch. Pressed on Green/White/Green Tri-Color Stripe Vinyl.

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Ayo Manuel

1983-90

28,49 €* 29,99 € -5%

7" | 2023 | UK | Original (Philophon)

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Soundway Records presents Ayo Manuel ‘1983-1990’, a collection of selected works by one of Nigeria’s DIY pioneers. This mini compilation selects the stand-out cuts from his two albums Love Candidate and Party Time, showcasing the evolution of Ayo’s music. Side A is led by Song Of Love (Instrumental) - mid-tempo, synth-heavy music toeing the line between lo-fi crunch and sophisticated charm. This is followed closely by afro-disco melters Don’t Stop and the aptly titled Fun Time. Both with strong American, disco-funk leanings but full of Nigerian flavour, they come signed, sealed and delivered for any discerning dancefloor. Sojourn (Ajo) lights up side-B, a coming-of-age journey that sets the tone for the rest of the album. With slick US production, but with its feet firmly planted in Yoruba culture, we find a more developed artist combining talking drums with distinct ’90s production, that deliver a unique blend of afro-pop. Gboro Mi Ro echoes the influence of Nigeria’s biggest musical export, Fela Kuti, but still retains its own particular character. Do Goodfollows in the footsteps of its predecessors but with added drama and depth.

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Ahemaa Nwomkro

Yebre Ma Owuo

11,99 €*

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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7" | 2020 | UK | Reissue (Lyskestrekk)

Flammer Dance Band

Mer / Holder Rytme

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Real World)

Release: 2020 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Flammer Dance Band back with two new hip-shaking garage funk tunes! 2023 Repress edition in different sleeve artwork colourway Another essential from Lyskestrekk Records.

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Onipa

Off The Grid

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Fat Possum)

Joanna Sternberg

I've Got Me

30,99 €*

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Far Cry Records)

Milk Carton Kids

I Only See The Moon

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Irfan (Le Label))

La Rue Ketanou

Ouvert A Double Tour

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Afromagic Volume 1 - Hypnotic Grooves & Ecstatic Moves 1976-1981

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Everland)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Where Water Meets Water Black Vinyl Edition

Sainkho Namtchylak

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Ponderosa)

33,99 €*

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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No Food Without Taste If By Hunger Colored

The Good Samaritans

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Analog Africa)

32,99 €*

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Out Here)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Put your dancing shoes and be ready to kill the dancefloor, the intoxicating highlife music known as Edo Funk from Benin City, Nigeria is back. Following the planetary success of our „Edo Funk Explosion Vol.1“ project we have now unearthed „No Food Without Taste If By Hunger“ by „The Good Samaritans“, one of the most obscure Nigerian album ever recorded. Originally released in 1982, the bands first album is full of bouncy basslines, raw trance-like grooves and tripped-out psychedelic guitars, a funk experience unlike any other.

„The Good Samaritans“ is Philosopher Okundaye’s own Edo-Funk project, under which name he produced four albums, all recorded at Phonodisk Studio in Ijebu-Igbo east of Lagos with a 24 track. Okundaye who played many instruments, engaged the right musicians for each project and mixed the whole thing himself, is known as the composer of a large part of Benin City’s celebrated hits in the 80s. His name keeps popping up but somehow his role in the scene remains a bit hazy, giving the character an image of something like the gray eminence of Edo funk.

Due to its private pressing in a probably very small edition, „No Food Without Taste If By Hunger“ is very difficult to find. With this reissue limited to 2000 copies - newly mastered by Nick Robbins and approved by Philosopher Okundaye himself - „The Good Samaritans“ make a welcome and long-overdue return to turntables around the world in a beautiful Silk-Screen printed cover and an orange colored vinyl pressed on 180g high quality vinyl. This is funk stripped down to its primal essence, driving rhythms mixed with highlife horns, sweet keyboards and psychedelic guitar riffs, pushing the limits of dance moves towards cosmic dancefloors.

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Dur-Dur Band Int.

The Berlin Sessions

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Les Couleurs Du Son)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Tears are in the eyes of Xabiib Sharaabi, nicknamed the Somali King of Pop when he entered the stage of Berlin"s HKW. It is a mix of nostalghia, pain and joy. Like many Somalis he had been deprived overnight of both glamour and friends, the war in his homeland had sent him into exile. The glamorous discos and beachfront stages Mogadishu had once been famous for, had disappeared as the city was bombed to the ground. The King of Somali pop found himself stranded in Sweden, many others like the members of Dur-Dur Band Int. ended up in London which until today has the largest Somali diaspora in Europe. In the last decade many early recordings of Somalia"s funk, soul and disco era have been reissued. This record is not a reissue. The Berlin Session - it is the first studio album of its kind since the golden days of Mogadishu came to a halt three decades ago. It is the living proof that Somali music is hot, funky and (!) well alive. The record captures a historic reunion which took place in 2019 in Germany"s capital Berlin. London-based Dur-Dur Band Int. an eight-piece powerhouse of Somali livemusic unites with three legendary Somali singers: Xabiib Sharaabi, Faduumina Hilowle and Cabdinur Allaale. Fueled with a restored sense of pride, the freshly reunited band installs itself in a Neukölln studio for three days.

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Naissam Jalal

Healing Rituals

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2020 | EU | Reissue (Sunday Best)

Dub Pistols

Addict

29,99 €*

Release: 2020 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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12" | 2022 | EU | Original (Pura Vida Sounds)

K.O.G.

Zone 6 Remixed EP

18,99 €*

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Chicago Afrobeat Project Feat. Tony Allen

No Bad News / Cut The Infection

7" | 2022 | UK (Dinked)

10,19 €* 11,99 € -15%

10" | 2022 | EU | Original (NTS)

Release: 2022 / UK

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Description : Taken from “What Goes Up Remixed” LP from 2019, licensed exclusively from Future Rootz in Chicago, Dinked Records are pleased to commit two of the standout remixes to 45 with Cut The Infection edited down to fit our favourite format. Guaranteed to rock your dancefloors this festive season – if these bangers don’t get your head nodding then nothing will!

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Pamoja V Sisso

Singeli Sound

20,99 €*

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Hargrove)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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Discover the essential high tempo Singeli Sound that currently echoes throughout Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. This accompanying release to the mini-documentary on the scene from NTS, focuses on two of the central studios in the scene and their singular takes on Singeli; with Pamoja, helmed by Duke, and the inimitable DJ Sisso

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Drayton Farley

A Hard Up Life

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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12" | 2022 | EU | Original (Space Echo)

Randomized Coffee

Mariama Feat Kora Hero

Analog People Digital World

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Rock & Indie

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The meeting of Alieu and Randomized Coffee gives light to this new project, in which the Roman duo tackles a production that skillfully links Mediterranean influence to ancestral Africa in a patchwork woven of typical African ethnic elements to those of house and electronica in a "groovy" body that enhances the classical side of the African country in a modern musical mood and rhythm. The story tells about the day before an arranged marriage ceremony. Masanneh is a handsome and well-known man in his village of the Mandinka Tribe, born and raised in the village of Kudang, near the river that flows through the entire country; the Gambia. Many in the village believe him to be charismatic and generous, others believe him to be a venal materialist devoted to money. Masanneh decides to consult Cherno Jallow, a wise Marabout, to figure out how to deal with his future. He therefore moves westward to the village of Bondali, in Foni, where before practicing his work as a skilled trader he talks to Landing Sawo, the district chief, from there he hears the sound of a Kora played by Jali, while across the road he sees a beautiful woman Mariama Gomez passing by.

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Arp Frique

12" | 2022 | EU | Original (Colorful World)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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Arp Frique returns to the scene with a new album after a string of releases, leaving the cratediggers and dancefloor tastemakers with underground classics like Nos Magia, Voyage and Nyame Ye. On ''Analog People Digital World' he embraces the digital coldness of Yamaha’s classic DX7 synthesizer to create a refreshing listening experience using only the FM synthesis-based sounds from this machine to find new heat for an analog world, reflecting on the digital revolution we are living through. The album features Ghanaian songstress Mariseya (Omampam, Jah Kingdom, Digital World, Roi Salomon), Cape Verdean OG Americo Brito (Go Now Wetiko) and Surinam funkstar Sumy, who joins the record on the opening track “Spiritual Masseuse”. Arp Frique closes the album with “Duncan Truffle”, a very intense and wobbling instrumental echoing Bootsy and Bernie Worrell on a solo exercise. Expect an analog-digital exploration of lofi funk, highlife, zouk and reggae. Does that DX7 sound hot or cold to you?

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LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Wagram)

Trace Afrobeat

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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As a true reference cultural media, Trace completes its musical offer with a first collection of 3 vinyls!Find the cream of Afrobeat selected by Trace and journalist Osman Jr.With Manu Dibango-Ebo Taylor-Shina Williams...

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The Rough Guide To Spriritual India

LP | 2020 | UK | Original (World Music Network)

17,99 €*

Release: 2020 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Elmir)

Cheb Kader

El Awama

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Elmir)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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For its second release, Elmir once again puts 1980s pop-raï in the spotlight with the identical reissue of Cheb Kader's masterpiece: El Awama. Originally self-produced on cassette in 1986, this album was then released on vinyl by Michel Lévy, who was then Cheb Mami's manager and producer. Back then, the album was not the hit it was expected to be, because a little too avant-garde for the time. But more than 35 years later, fans and collectors consider the few remaining copies as priceless. The raï of Cheb Kader is a subtle compromise between the melodies of Oranese suburbs, the electricity of Casablancan guitars and the roaring layers of reggae. The listener can only be fascinated by this Awama (witch) who burns in his heart and to whom he declares his love; they can only be carried away by his hypnotic Reggae-Raï. This record is a rejuvenating find that makes you fall in love with the raï of the beginnings all over again. This new edition was remastered by Josh Stevenson in Canada and enriched with notes in French and English by the specialist Rabah Mezouane.

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Asmahan

Ya Habibi Taala Elhaani

T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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

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Afro Funk

LP | 2022 | UK | Original (Pias/Acid Jazz)

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Soulforce/Bmg)

Release: 2022 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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

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

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

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255 & Sfr

Phase One

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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DJeudjoah & Lieutenant Nicholson

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

31,99 €*

LP | 2022 | US | Original (Sahel Sounds)

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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Mamman Sani

Taaritt

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Glitterbeat)

Release: 2022 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Cosmic synth. Polyphonic analog synthesizers and drum machines interpret ancient Saharan folk ballads in an imagined science fiction future. A proposed relaxation guide, sonically lying somewhere between ambient library music and minimal wave. Recorded in Niger and France in the late 1980s.All Recordings by Mamman Sani Abdoulaye.Recorded 1985 - 1988 at Studio Samira in Niamey, Niger and Studio Kham Mai in Paris, France.Instruments include Crumar Bit 99, RCA Victor 70, Yamaha RX5, and Roland TR-505.Painting by Maria Joan Dixon.Layout and design by Christopher Kirkley.

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Liraz

Roya

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Batov)

Shotnez

Dose A Nova

LP | 2015 | EU | Reissue (Glitterbeat)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Two decades since they formed in New York City and over ten years since their last album, Tel Aviv based quartet Shotnez are back with Dose a Nova, an album of 10 exhilarating jazz filtered jams, with vibrations indebted to tuareg desert blues, Ethiopian-jazz, 1950's Afro Cuban recordings, surf- rock and folk from across the East Mediterranean basin.

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Bixiga 70

III

Release: 2015 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Wagram)

Caribbean Rare Groove

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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No Condition Is Permanent

Celestine Ukwu

LP | 2022 | US | Original (Mississippi)

12" | 2022 | EU | Original (Crown Ruler)

Release: 2022 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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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...

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K.G. Russell

Last Dance

16,99 €*

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Outre National)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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Jamaican born and Toronto raised, KG Russell is an unsung journeyman who followed the DIY path with his compelling output. Only a handful of collectors have been aware of the few releases via his private imprint Rain Sound - of which little information is known and copies very seldom seen.

A striking stand-out of Russell’s work comes via his Dance With Me album - a self-produced jewel originally recorded in 1988 with help from friends Tony Cameron and Orville Malcom on session duties. The brilliant blender of synth-soaked soul was released in 1990 on cassette only. Roughly 200 copies were manufactured and personally handed out to local record stores around Toronto.

Crown Ruler returns, plucking out three superior cuts for Last Dance and breathing new life into each via an impressive remastering effort from Melbourne sound wizard Daniel Elleson. Finally pressed to wax, this EP is clearly deservent of the 12” treatment. An island-tipped-electro-come-proto-house string of melters , guaranteed to prick the ears of lovers of the obscure and exotic. Last Dance is full of curious influences. It could be described as Caribbean flavored drum machine r’n’b. From the title track, a hypnotic boogie dancefloor filler, to Talk To Me, an electro rap meets smooth-jazz love jam, and finally Dance With Me, a bent and wasted soul ballad - Russell bares it all in another lost treasure given some TLC and repurposed for today’s DJ leaning ear

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Cheb Hasni

Volume 1

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Rock & Indie

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Raï is the music of a youth hungover from Algeria's recent independence. It became a space for a liberated, transgressive dialogue that told the social truths of its time -- an up-front yet poetic voice that covers the taboos and frustrations of daily life, expressing emotion without detour. This voice is heard at weddings, cabarets, in the nightclubs of the Oranese coast, and casually on the street... With the boom of the audio cassette, an avalanche of raï tapes were produced in Oran and diffused all over the world. Both women and men sang and listened to the new sound, as raï is intimately tied to parties, alcohol and the night. With the spontaneous improvisation of its singers as the main part of each song, raï keeps reinventing itself. In this style, Cheb Hasni, along with Cheb Nasro, incarnates a second generation of musicians. With the "love raï", or sentimental raï, Hasni sings about love, passion and its setbacks -- moving away from the bittersweet daily chronicles of the first chebs and chebates. Having recorded nearly 150 cassettes, Cheb Hasni remains one of the most prolific and talented raï singers of his generation. Almost thirty years after his death, this three-volume compilation of rare tracks from his cassette releases on the Oriental Music Production label is a tribute to the lasting legacy of Cheb Hasni -- ya raï!

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Music From Saharan Whatsapp

LP | 2022 | US | Original (Sahel Sounds)

12" | 2022 | EU | Original (Mawimbi)

Release: 2022 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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In 2020, Sahel Sounds hosted a project called Music from Saharan WhatsApp. This series consisted of ephemeral digital EPs, documenting live performances by some of the most exciting acts in the Sahel playing music, including Nigerién techno, wedding rock, Woodabe guitar, WZN, traditional music, Mandingue music, and more. Responding to an open call from our network of artists, musicians recorded a handful of tracks on their cellphone and sent them over the popular mobile app WhatsApp. Each session was hosted for a month on Bandcamp and sold on a sliding scale, with all profits wired directly to the musicians. After a month, the EP would disappear, replaced by another one. Now, some of the label's favorite tracks from this series are collected for the first time outside of Bandcamp as the Music from Saharan WhatsApp compilation LP. This LP features tracks by established Sahel Sounds artists such as Etran de L'Aïr, Hama, Alkibar Jr, Amaria Hamadaler (of Les Filles de Illighadad), and artists new to the label like Bounaly and Andal Sukabe.

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Jally Kebba Susso

Freedom

Akale Wube & Manu Dibango

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Born in a Gambian griot family, kora virtuoso and afro-fusion pioneer Jally Kebba Susso has been active in the UK music scene for twenty years. While based in London, he has tirelessly, through both personal and collective endeavours, built a singular musical identity by working hard on making the timeless Mandinka kora, an instrument he's been playing since his youth, sound like never before, combining the ancient West African strings with forward-thinking aesthetics and myriad of musicians and producers from the thriving London music scene such as Onipa, Dark Sky and Kay Suzuki. Jally Kebba Susso has already released two albums as a solo musician ("Malaye Warr", 2012 and "Banjul - London", 2017), as well as a member of the successful afro-fusion band Afriquoi, whose latest EP has garnered a very wide support, culminating in several million streams and performances on some of UK's biggest festival stages (Boomtown, Glastonbury). Freedom! A heartfelt shout expressing the newfound joy of an African musician whose working conditions, despite his long-standing roots in the London music scene, have sometimes been precarious. A newfound freedom to be able to look ahead and fully persue one's need of self-actualisation. Hence this new EP, written with the help of Jally's accomplished band members (Yuval Juba Wetzler, Nim Sadot and Oli Arlotto) and produced by Tom Excell (Onipa, Nubiyan Twist), whose 4 tracks all deal with topics (identity, homesickness, family, social justice) which are dear to Jally's heart as a Gambian native and West African musician settled in Europe. A pleasant atmospheric opener, "Wulu Doula" rides on a classic Afrobeat groove, while Jally reminds us how we are only what we become, no matter where we come from and who we inherit from. "Justice" is a stomping mandinka funk hit, in which "freedom, equal rights and justice" are claimed by Jally for all fellow artists and musicians from the West African diaspora working in Europe. Clearly anchored in Gambian music tropes and reminiscent of the pioneering mandinka fusion of Ifang Bondi, "Fakoly" tells the story of Jally's family lineage, as a member of the 74th Susso generation. As Jally puts it, "being a griot is a way of life". Homesickness can be a bitter feeling. But you can turn it around. That is exactly what Jally achieves with "Banjul", a cheerful, funky tribute to the Gambian capital, in which Jally grew up, learning words of wisdom from his elders.

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Anbessa Glitter Vinyl Record Store Day 2022 Gold Colored Edition

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

45,99 €*

2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Les Disques Bongo Joe)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Limited Edition for Record Store Day 2022.

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Africa Negra

Antologia Volume 1

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Continuing our work on Sao Tomé and Principe with curator DJ Tom B., we are pleased to announce the release of an anthology of the group África Negra.

This first volume includes 12 of their key tracks, remastered for the occasion and selected only from those officially released on different media. The album is accompanied by a booklet with the original covers and interviews with the band members still with us. A second volume containing only unreleased material, digitized from the studio tapes by their tour manager, and filled with period photos, is expected soon.

Formed in the early 1970s by Horacio, a butcher by trade, and his guitarist friend Emidio Pontes, África Negra is the best known of the great São Tomé and Principe bands. The catchy melodies in the local Forro language, provided by lead singer João Seria, and subtly harmonized by the enchanting backing vocals of the rest of the band, quickly ensured their influence outside the archipelago. Their incomparable blend of Puxa and Rumba rhythms and subtle melodies made them the most regular touring band from Sao Tome.

Their first album (Aninha) was released in 1981, followed by three more in 1983. They contain an incredible collection of timeless hits and have achieved high ratings on the second-hand market. Then came the excellent San Lena in 1986, which was unfortunately only released on cassette, but for which we were able to digitize the original tape. In 1990 their last album in vinyl format (Paga me uma cerveja) was released, the rarest. Three CDs and five cassettes followed in the 1990s. Like most São Tomean bands, they recorded their compositions at Radio Nacional STP, the only studio on the island at the time, whose cramped premises forced the big bands to do sessions outside in the courtyard, at night, facing the ocean and in front of their fans.

Reformed around João Seria, the band has recorded three albums since 2012, and has been touring again for a few years, offering, always with the same energy, their frenzied rhythms, their graceful harmonies, their poetry full of social metaphors, and their typical dance steps.

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Get It Right: Afro Dub Funk & Punk Of Recreational Records '81-'82

2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Emotional Rescue)

7" | 2022 | EU | Original (Four Flies)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Rock & Indie, Reggae & Dancehall

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Emotional Rescue returns to what it does best by unearthing musical gems of the British post punk scene with a double pack compilation of Bristol's short lived Recreational Records. Teaming up with Bristol Archive Records, 10 songs are remastered, reissued and cut loud for DJs and collectors. What is most striking is, although created in the space of just two years, with a disparate collection of artists, musicians and producers coming together, the music holds a considerable cohesive sound. Set up in 1981 by Bristol based shop, Revolver Records, Recreational was formed as an independent label with its own distribution, as part of the co-operative, Cartel. The label was a natural progression from the shop's punk's DIY aesthetic, acting as a hang out and inspiration for local artists from Mark Stewart to later staff member, Daddy G. 'Get It Right' starts with a one-off project in Scream + Dance, who similarly, alongside local bands Glaxo Babies, Maximum Joy and Rip Rig & Panic, explored post-punk with funk and jazz all underpinned with heavy tribal and dub influenced rhythms. 'In Rhythm', with its infectious groove, acts as a call to arms for the compilation, coming in two parts, the latter dropping away to explore the links with dub. Next is possibly the label's biggest band in Talisman, going on to be active up to today, their release 'Run Come Girl / Wicked Dem' are both featured in long 12" mixes that explore the classic 'discomix' of vocal and dub in longform. Animal Magic lead with the pack's title, 'Get It Right' a short-driven punk funk burst that captures the label's sound to perfection. However, much of the compilation is given over to the more experimental side of the bands, with a high percentage the B sides where they headed to the mixing desk for echo chambered dub inspired versions. X-Certs' 'Untogether; Electric Guitars' 'Don't Wake The Baby' and Animal Magic's 'Trash The Blad' are culled from the flips of various 7" singles and all are a fusion of percussive rhythms, studio trickery and dub inspired techniques, played out against the "Do it Yourself" aesthetic of the time. To complete is London based, soukous, kwela and afrobeat inspired collective, Ivory Coasters' 'Mungaka Makossa' and two rhythmic curveballs by Scream + Dance in 'Giocometti Wicked Mix)' and their riotous (and short) closer, 'In Pink & Black'. "Get it right this time, get it right!".

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Giuliano Sorgini

Mad Town / Ultima Caccia

World Psychedelic Classics 5: Who Is William Onyeabor

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Four Flies is delighted to present a super juicy treat for all 7-inch vinyl devotees: the first 45 ever to feature tracks from Giuliano Sorgini’s masterpiece ZOO Folle. To ensure maximum DJing pleasure, we’ve picked two of the grooviest tracks from the original recording session, never before released in this format. The psychedelic funk number “Mad Town”, on Side A, drags you in with its infectious drum breaks and the rapid yet hypnotic flute of Nino Rapicavoli. “Ultima Caccia”, on Side B, is sheer afro-tribal bliss, with drums by Sorgini himself and massive funky percussion by legendary session player Enzo Restuccia. If you want an ace up your DJing sleeve, look no further

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William Onyeabor

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

38,99 €*

Release: 2013 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Alogte Oho & His Sounds Of Joy

Doose Mam / Gure Yose Me

7" | 2021 | EU | Original (Philophon)

12,99 €*

LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Wah Wah)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Alogte Oho & His Sounds of Joy are back with a new single release after their album debut "Mam Yinne Wa", which can be seen as a harbinger of the second album. You can hear another Frafra Gospel masterpiece by the king of this genre.

"Doose Mam" is a soulful piece that goes straight to the limbs with its repetitive rhythm. The jubilant middle section, in which the wind instruments and the choir pass the balls to each other, is to be emphasized. "Gure Yose Me" ties in with the Frafra Gospel tradition of making use of reggae rhythms. Here we hear a stepper played by Josie Coppola, Europe's No.1 reaggae drummer. Both pieces were produced both in Berlin and in Kumasi by Max Weissenfeldt in Philophon's in-house Joy Sound Studios.

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Bazali Bam

Action

20,99 €*

LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Outre-National)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Rock & Indie

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Extremely rare, under the radar afro-psychedelic LP from South Africa. This mysterious band was produced by African funk master, composer, guitarist and producer Almon Sandisa Memela, who was active since the mid 1950s, first as a musician and guitar teacher and then also as a producer. He is famous for his 1970s Afro funk works Funky Africa and the very sought after Broken Shoes.

Action features a cool mixture of incipient afro-funk and garage pop/psych, with one of its songs having been compiled on the famous Next Stop... Soweto compilation series that helped ignite the current fever for African music.

Riyl: Ofege, Blo, Aktion, The Apostles, Sjob Movement, Soweto and the likes.

First ever vinyl reissue, reproducing the original sleeve artwork and with remastered sound. 500 copies only.

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Hocine Chaoui

Ouechesma

Muddy Waters: The Montreux Years

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Rock & Indie

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Chaoui is a genre of Berber music that originated in the Aurès region of Algeria. It is a mixture of Saharan and Atlas mountain music marked with dancing rhythms and is part of the oral living tradition of the Aurès region. The first recordings on magnetic tape date back to the 1930s when Aissa Jermouni’s music was introduced and published internationally. Over the years, Chaoui has given birth to various sub-genres. The genre was popularized in the 1930s and 1940s, and still generates a strong following of fans across the country and especially in the Aurès region in the 2000s. In its most frequent instrumental configuration, a chaoui music group includes a zorna, a gasba flute, a bendir and one or more singers.

Originally, Chaoui musicians were shepherds who lived in the Aurès mountains, and they sang their own localized poetry of personal and regional topics. But also, joyful themes such as local or religious festivals or in the context of Chaoui weddings.

Hocine Chaoui is one of the genre’s most famous and respected musicians and poets. ,Hocine modernized his sound with drum machines, incorporating intense and modern production techniques with phased gesba flute, reverbed out vocals, taking the genre to its logical new phase. This LP is a reissue of one of the most “in demand” of the genre’s cassettes originally released by Oriental Music Production, a cassette label dedicated to the some of the best regional releases during the heyday of the 80’s and 90’s golden era of rai and local Algerian music cassettes. These releases were only ever released on cassette and now command a premium on the collector’s market.

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Muddy Waters

2LP | 2021 | EU | Original (BMG)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2021 | UK | Original (Hive Mind)

Hassan Wargui

Tiddukla

LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Space Echo)

Release: 2021 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Hassan Wargui is a self taught musician, composer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and an expert in the songcraft and poetry of the Tachelhit speaking Amazigh tribes of the Anti-Atlas mountains in the south of Morocco.

He was born in 1985 in the rural community of Issafen, which lies between Taroudant and Tafraoute in the Anti-Atlas mountains of Southern Morocco. His music draws from the deep well of Amazigh, or Berber, cultures that have long been suppressed across North Africa after the region underwent a process of Arabization following the Arab invasions of the 7th Century.

Hassan grew up in an isolated mountain community in which art and music is embedded into daily life. This allowed him to develop an excellent musical sense, a deep understanding of the complex poly-rhythms that underpin Amazigh music, and time to become proficient on the banjo which, since the ascendency of the popular modern folk movement involving groups such as Nass El Ghiwane and Jil Jilala in the late '60s and early '70s, has been the preferred instrument of the region. Like many musicians from the region, Hassan built his first instruments himself, and it wasn't until he moved to Casablanca in his teens to find work which was scarce in his local community, that he was able to save for his first real banjo.

Since then Hassan has been active in the Amazigh musical community and has worked with a number of groups, notably Groupe Lbouchart, Imanaren and Etran Tiznit, as well as recording prolifically as a solo artist using Fruity Loops as a home studio. In 2009, Jace Clayton (DJ/Rupture) stumbled across a CD by Imanaren on a stall in Casablanca medina and this led to a fruitful series of collaborations in 2009 and 2011 (you can learn more about their work together here.)

Tiddukla (which translates to Friendship) is one of Hassan's numerous group projects and he recorded the album with friends in 2015 and self released it through YouTube due to the lack of music infrastructure in Morocco. The Tiddukla album is raw and hypnotic and sees Hassan and his group channeling the deep and contemplative sounds of classic Amazigh groups such as Izenzaren, Archach, Izmaz, all of whom risked their freedom by daring to sing in Tachelhit at a time when the language was still forbidden, and when Amazigh people were fighting for their rights to be recognised.

Hive Mind are thrilled to be able to release Hassan's beautiful music, and to introduce the fascinating rhythms of the Anti-Atlas Mountains into the wider world. We're incredibly proud to be able to support this fiercely independent and hugely resourceful and tenacious artist who has been able to continue creating music for over a decade without any real support from Morocco's music industry and while holding down a variety of day jobs. We really hope you enjoy his music as much as we do.

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Galathea