Afrobeat 319 Items

This two mindblowing songs were entirely recorded, mixed and mastered with old analog tapes, and played with vintage instruments which recalls the sound of bands like Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou or El Rego!

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.

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

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

LIDO PIMIENTA is a Toronto-based, Colombian-born interdisciplinary musician and artist-curator. She has performed, exhibited, and curated around the world since 2002, exploring the politics of gender, race, motherhood, identity and the construct of the Canadian landscape in the Latin American diaspora and vernacular. Her new album Miss Colombia takes her ecstatic hybridity to a new level, building on the "nu" intersection of electronica and cumbia established by her 2016 Polaris Prize-winning La Papessa as Canadian album of the year. Produced with Matt Smith, a/k/a Prince Nifty, Miss Colombia overflows with the kind of understated genius that promises yet another breakthrough.

This compilation collects a number of 7" singles produced by Audio Productions Ltd. in Kenya's capital Nairobi in the first half of the 1980s and released on the Wendo, Lulus, Mlima and APL imprints. The bands featured on this release are the New Gatanga Boys, Ruwengo Bros Band, Banana Hill Band and Les Victoria 'C' Kings from Kenya, Les Moto Moto and Orch Les Volcano from Tanzania (the latter being led here by Charles Ray Kasembe after the death of the legendary Mbaraka Mwinshehe). The closing track is by Orch Zaituken Band, whose name is a contraction of the countries its members came from: Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo), Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. The group is emblematic of the Kenyan capital's role as a magnet for East African musicians seeking to earn a living by recording and playing live in the 1970s and 1980s.

No Wahala Sounds are proud to bring you this latest collection of rare 45s from the golden era of benga and rumba, which have never been released outside Kenya before.

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.

Hailing from Minneapolis, MN, Black Market Brass is a 10-piece group performing their own brand of originally composed Afrobeat/Afrofunk music, as well as completing authentic renditions of the classic 1970's West African sound. Taking their cues from the godfathers, the band draws on complex polyrhythmic percussion, driving bass lines, dizzying guitar interplay, rolling keyboards, and room-commanding brass. The result? An eclectic blend of cool deep funk and driving Afrobeat grooves that will lure you to the dance floor and never let you leave.

"War Room" and "The Thick" represent the group's continuing evolving sound. Tracked with Leroi Conroy at Colemine Records HQ in Loveland, OH, these tunes simply burn!

A soundtrack of Sudan's revolution and the first ever international release of the Beja sound, performed by Noori and his Dorpa Band, an unheard outfit from Port Sudan, a city on the Red Sea coast in eastern Sudan and the heart of Beja culture.

Beja Power! is a living archive of the finest, most heartfelt Beja songs—a six-track portal to another time and place, of melodies long forgotten and never before interpreted by an electric and brass-driven ensemble. Few older Beja recordings were produced. Even fewer, if any, remain.

Electric soul, blues, jazz, rock, surf, even hints of country, speak fluently to styles and chords that could be Tuareg, Ethiopian, Peruvian or Thai—all grounded by hypnotic Sudanese grooves, Naji's impeccable, airy tenor sax, and of course, Noori's tambo-guitar, a self-made unique hybrid of an electric guitar and an electric tambour, a four-string instrument found across East Africa.

A truly ancient community, Beja trace their ancestry back millennia. Some say they are among the living descendants of Ancient Egypt and the Kingdom of Kush. They are even depicted in the hieroglyphics. Beja melodies—nostalgic, hopeful and sweet, ambiguous and honest—are thousands of years old. Yet their sounds are also reminiscent of Dick Dale's 1963 "Misirlou" and jazz great Charlie Rouse's 1968 "Meci Bon Dieu". This album could be 6,000 years, 60 years, or 6 months old.

Along with his Dorpa Band, formed in 2006, Noori's instrumental Beja music forms the latest link in an unbroken chain of an inherited, arresting sound that is local as it is global, a gift of a storied past and the exchanges of the well-traveled Red Sea.

Ostinato Records is honored to bring the nearly forgotten Beja sound in all its nostalgia, sweetness, honesty, and power, recorded and mastered to maintain the warmth of Sudan's signature aesthetic, to your sound system.

180g heavyweight vinyl with a 10" x 10" insert.

Spirit of Brazil is the new release in the spirit of Vinyl collection.12 unforgotable tunes to rediscover the Spirit of Brazil.

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...

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.

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.

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

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

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

We thought turning five this year would be a good reason to ask some friendly DJs and producers to go through our catalogue and select their favorite track to do an edit or remix on.
The first selection by DJ Nomad from Berlin is Barbara Hernandez' 'All Nite Tonight', written and produced by Leston Paul from Trinidad. Nomad's edit drives the song's dance floor ambition even further beyond the top. As a DJ Nomad does not necessarily put a label on his style, but always expresses love for Polyrythms, Soulful harmonies and the African drums and Percussion. He's notorious for finding fresh world music dance tracks all around the globe, before they become hits, and a massive collector of Tropical Soul, Funk and Disco.
His energetic and surprising , always fresh DJ set's earned him a residency in Paris's infamous ‚Tropical Discoteq’ Parties among the best Dj's of the genre. He is the founder of ‚Vulkandance’ Parties, Blog and Label in Berlin .. He's together with Edna Martinez cofounder of ’El Volcan’ - The first continental European Colombian Pico Soundsystem. As a Producer he's breaking ground and travelling the world together with Dirk Leyers and the transcultural Project Africaine 808, besides working as a master Editor for other artists around the globe. Keshav Singh who is part of Trinidadian/British production duo Jus Now put his hands on Trinidad's Mansa Musa's ’Beat The Drum’.
Being a percussionist in his own right he transformed the song into a housy Soca track and pure dance floor fiah! With his partner Sam Interface, he has produced soca music with EDM influence for Bunji Garlin, Machel Montano and 3Canal. Keshav commutes between Trinidad and the U.K.
The next two tracks are taken from our upcoming compilation ’Gotta Nice Buzz - The Funky Sound of Semp Studios Trinidad, W.I.’. French DJ & record collector Waxist gives Zodiac's ’I Believe’ a proper treatment. ’I Believe’, written by Francis Escayg, is an uptempo Caribbean Disco tune with a strong Giorgio Moroder influence with Denise Plummer on vocals.
Waxist, based in Lyon, France, started his love story with records as a teenager when he bought his first reggae 7 inches. If his love for Jamaican music has survived through the years, the DJ has progressively extended his interests to different, more dancefloororiented music genres like Disco, Modern Soul, Boogie or even a touch of House when needed... Being careful with the technique, as well as with the coherency of his selection, his sets are an invite to a dancing musical journey taking the audience from Disco to Modern Soul, through more Caribbean or Brazilian sounds.

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

Comet Records presents Afro Rhythms Vol. 2, the first repress of Comet’s singles and Remixes from 2009 – 2017 with floor filler tracks from Tony Allen Afrobeat pioneer 'African Man" remix by Ricardo Villalobos & Max Loderbauer along with the afro deep house reedit of "Cotton’s Field" by French producer Jeff Sharel, the "Awakening" remix from Krazy Baldhead, former artist of Ed Banger and producer of electro malian band Donso and finally Africaine 808 to end this Afro Rhythms comp with their stunning remix of Afrobeat classic tune "Afrodiscobeat". A proper trawl through the vaults of Comet Records.

For the 7th release on his label,Temi Kogbe compiles Willy Nfor's greatest songs from his solo works. The session player (bass) was involved heavily in the African boogie / funk scene with a impressive credits list.
Willy is little-known master bass player who left his country for Nigeria at 20, formed the Mighty Flames with made a name for himself as a session player played with Bongos' The Groovies, William Onyeabor (Crashes in Love), Odion Iruoje at Phonodisk where he played on several releases, left for Paris, became a sought-after session player, formed Ghetto formed Ghetto Blaster
(with Fela Kuti's Egypt 80 alumni), joined Mory Kante band toured the world on the back of the Global Hit record, unfortunately, he died before the world could really know him.
This compilation (from three rare Nigeria-produced LPs; Mighty Flames' Willie Nfor, Feel So Fine, My Turn) capture Willy's vision of a free world where love, music and breaks migrate freely. His afro-boogie nods to Bootsy Collins and Louis Johnson (The Brothers Johnson) but it invariably afro and inalienably Willy's music, a space funk with deeply rooted rhythmic grooves that has made these LPs highly sought-after by music aficionados and selectors worldwide.