V/A Lagos Disco Inferno (Academy) cd 14.98
YES! REPRESSED AND BACK IN STOCK!!
There's been a deluge of reissues and compilations of groovy '70s music from West Africa coming out lately, on this list in fact you'll also find Soundway's Nigeria Special Vol. 2 reviewed, with another one, their Nigeria Afrobeat Special comp, waiting in the wings. Well we just say, bring it on! If it's as good as THIS, we want to hear it!! Lagos Disco Inferno (the title says it all) is brought to us via the Academy label, who were responsible for that amazing Ofege reissue, among other great releases. Compiled by vintage vinyl fiend Frank Gossner (who does a blog called Voodoofunk), this is packed with a dozen tracks of burning, sweat-soaked funk/disco grooves, total dancefloor fuel, recordings circa 1976-'82 from Nigerian artists including Blo, Pogo Ltd., Doris Ebong, Grotto, Nana Love, Tirogo, MFB, Paradise Stars, Christy Essien, Geraldo Pino, Asiko Rock Group, and Emma Dorgu.
Track one, Doris Ebong's "Boogie Trip", with her persuasive vocals and some psychedelic electronic FX, is an insanely funky, and freaky, number that gets the party started right, in fact, it features the sounds of a wild dance party going on in the background (as there should be!). And track after track, the Lagos Disco Inferno party doesn't stop... right though to Nana Love's almost 15 minute tour-de-force "Hang On", which ends the album leaving you wanting more, more, more. Damn.
This is simply amazing from start to finish, a f*cking awesome comp, if you don't dig it then we doubt you've even got a funky bone in your body. The acts here could certainly compete with American contemporaries like the JB's, Kool & The Gang, and the BT Express, these exuberant tracks bursting with chicken scratch guitar, fat bass, ecstatic vocal squeals, and tight horn sections being put through their paces (ferinstance, on the aforementioned "Hang On"). James Brown is clearly a big influence, and Christy Essien on "Take Life Easy" sounds like she could have been one of his funky divas. To mention a few others, though we can't begin to pick favorites, we like how Geraldo Pino's "African Hustle" mixes in "Blow Your Head" style JB synth wiggle and vocal exclamations worthy of Jimmy Castor. "Everybody Get Down" by Asiko Rock Group is over 8 minutes of sheer get down grunt indeed. Pogo Ltd.'s insistent "Don't Put Me Down" also delivers the JB's vibe we enjoy (sounding a bit Ethiopiques too), while MFB's "Boredom Pain" has got more of a laidback groove, with soulful vocals and an eruption of fuzzed out acid rock guitar soloing that kicks in part way through - this could easily be something from those recently reviewed records by Amanaz or Witch from down in Zambia... Hey, but rather than talk about all twelve tracks, let's just say two words: get this! And again, two more: get down!!
Includes knowledgeable liner notes, the cd in a digipack, the vinyl in a nice gatefold sleeve.
MPEG Stream: DORIS EBONG "Boogie Trip"
MPEG Stream: ASIKO ROCK GROUP "Everybody Get Down"
MPEG Stream: MFB "Boredom Pain"
MPEG Stream: GROTTO "Bad City Girl"

V/A Lagos Disco Inferno (Academy) 2lp 26.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
There's been a deluge of reissues and compilations of groovy '70s music from West Africa coming out lately, on this list in fact you'll also find Soundway's Nigeria Special Vol. 2 reviewed, with another one, their Nigeria Afrobeat Special comp, waiting in the wings. Well we just say, bring it on! If it's as good as THIS, we want to hear it!! Lagos Disco Inferno (the title says it all) is brought to us via the Academy label, who were responsible for that amazing Ofege reissue, among other great releases. Compiled by vintage vinyl fiend Frank Gossner (who does a blog called Voodoofunk), this is packed with a dozen tracks of burning, sweat-soaked funk/disco grooves, total dancefloor fuel, recordings circa 1976-'82 from Nigerian artists including Blo, Pogo Ltd., Doris Ebong, Grotto, Nana Love, Tirogo, MFB, Paradise Stars, Christy Essien, Geraldo Pino, Asiko Rock Group, and Emma Dorgu.
Track one, Doris Ebong's "Boogie Trip", with her persuasive vocals and some psychedelic electronic FX, is an insanely funky, and freaky, number that gets the party started right, in fact, it features the sounds of a wild dance party going on in the background (as there should be!). And track after track, the Lagos Disco Inferno party doesn't stop... right though to Nana Love's almost 15 minute tour-de-force "Hang On", which ends the album leaving you wanting more, more, more. Damn.
This is simply amazing from start to finish, a f*cking awesome comp, if you don't dig it then we doubt you've even got a funky bone in your body. The acts here could certainly compete with American contemporaries like the JB's, Kool & The Gang, and the BT Express, these exuberant tracks bursting with chicken scratch guitar, fat bass, ecstatic vocal squeals, and tight horn sections being put through their paces (ferinstance, on the aforementioned "Hang On"). James Brown is clearly a big influence, and Christy Essien on "Take Life Easy" sounds like she could have been one of his funky divas. To mention a few others, though we can't begin to pick favorites, we like how Geraldo Pino's "African Hustle" mixes in "Blow Your Head" style JB synth wiggle and vocal exclamations worthy of Jimmy Castor. "Everybody Get Down" by Asiko Rock Group is over 8 minutes of sheer get down grunt indeed. Pogo Ltd.'s insistent "Don't Put Me Down" also delivers the JB's vibe we enjoy (sounding a bit Ethiopiques too), while MFB's "Boredom Pain" has got more of a laidback groove, with soulful vocals and an eruption of fuzzed out acid rock guitar soloing that kicks in part way through - this could easily be something from those recently reviewed records by Amanaz or Witch from down in Zambia... Hey, but rather than talk about all twelve tracks, let's just say two words: get this! And again, two more: get down!!
Includes knowledgeable liner notes, the cd in a digipack, the vinyl in a nice gatefold sleeve.
MPEG Stream: DORIS EBONG "Boogie Trip"
MPEG Stream: ASIKO ROCK GROUP "Everybody Get Down"
MPEG Stream: MFB "Boredom Pain"
MPEG Stream: GROTTO "Bad City Girl"

V/A Lagos Shake: A Tony Allen Chop Up (Honest Jon's) cd 17.98

V/A Laila Je T'aime (Mississippi / Change / Sahel Sounds) lp 15.98
**MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT****MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT**
One of three brand new Mississippi titles we're listing this week, this one a lovely collection of Western Sahelian guitar music brought to us also in part by Sahel Sounds who also released the incredible Saharan Cellphones compilation and the Ali Ag Amoumine record. Laila Je T'aime is comprised of various field recordings mostly of solo guitarists and singers, but also some larger groups in different areas of the region such as Mauritania, Senegal and Mali. The intimate recording technique not only captures the beautifully soulful vocals and circularly lyrical fingerpicking style, but also the outdoor ambiance of desert life. It really feels like you're present at the moment these songs are being performed. What's also surprising is that while many of the songs recorded seem to have a timeless traditional quality as if meant to be handed down from previous generations, the very last song will be very familiar to western ears. It took us a second to realize what it was, thinking it was just a coincidentally similar melody, but then the vocals kick in with what turns out to be a really lovely rendition of "Message In a Bottle" by The Police! Gorgeous stuff!
Comes with a newsprint booklet insert, with color photos and extensive liner notes about artists, and the journey that resulted these recordings.

V/A Legends Of Benin (Analog Africa) cd 24.00
Score three in a row for the always amazing Analog Africa label! First African Scream Contest, then Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou, and now Legends of Benin! Focusing on four composers, Gnonnas Pedro, Honore Avolonto, Antoine Dougbe, and El Rego from the small West African country Benin, recording between 1969 and 1981. All coming from different regional musical traditions but operating in the same fervent musical scene in Cotonou where the Orchestre Poly Rhythmo were also from, that group providing back-up on a couple of tracks here.
As with the other two Analog Africa compilations, this one also focuses on tight danceable grooves and rare afro-funk. Gnonnas Pedro was perhaps the most popular of the four, being a master of the style known as Agbadja, derived from early burial rituals focusing on three differently toned percussion instruments, Pedro modernized the sound to such a degree that the first track, the highly infectious "Dadje Von O Von Non" later became the anthem for the national football team. Honore Avolonto, a young tumba player from Togo, was the most prolific composer in Benin, writing songs for pretty much every group around. Amazingly, he had no band of his own, but would score a hit, tour with the band until the hit faded and then write another hit with some other band and be off. He eventually recorded an LP,which became Benin's biggest selling LP ever. El Rego, a boxer in his young life and a brothel owner later on, made one of the first recordings of Jerk music (as soul and funk music was so dubbed) in Benin. His tracks are the most Western influenced, often times singing in English. Antoine Dougbe, is the most obscure and his tracks are among the rarest finds. His style combined elements of Congolese Rhumba, High Life, and traditional Beninese rhythms into a form he called Afro-Cavacha, named after the fast rhythms of pop music from Zaire. Dougbe, often worked with the Orchestre Poly-Rhytmo, but it was often an uneasy relationship since Dougbe's father was a feared and powerful Voudon priest, and the band (most of them practicing Voudons) feared reprisals should they question Dougbe's arrangements and musical instruction. But undoubtedly this religious quality so pervasive in Benin is what created such intensely tight and dynamic music, hypnotic and bewitching and endlessly captivating. Pure Gold!
MPEG Stream: GNONNAS PEDRO ET SES DADJES "Dadje Von O Von Non"
MPEG Stream: EL REGO ET SES COMMANDOS "Vimado Wingnan"
MPEG Stream: ANTOINE DOUGBE "Kovito Gbe De Towe"
MPEG Stream: HONORE AVOLONTO "Na Mi Do Gbe Hue Nu"

V/A Legends Of Benin (Analog Africa) 2lp 27.00
NOW ON VINYL!!!
Score three in a row for the always amazing Analog Africa label! First African Scream Contest, then Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou, and now Legends of Benin! Focusing on four composers, Gnonnas Pedro, Honore Avolonto, Antoine Dougbe, and El Rego from the small West African country Benin, recording between 1969 and 1981. All coming from different regional musical traditions but operating in the same fervent musical scene in Cotonou where the Orchestre Poly Rhythmo were also from, that group providing back-up on a couple of tracks here.
As with the other two Analog Africa compilations, this one also focuses on tight danceable grooves and rare afro-funk. Gnonnas Pedro was perhaps the most popular of the four, being a master of the style known as Agbadja, derived from early burial rituals focusing on three differently toned percussion instruments, Pedro modernized the sound to such a degree that the first track, the highly infectious "Dadje Von O Von Non" later became the anthem for the national football team. Honore Avolonto, a young tumba player from Togo, was the most prolific composer in Benin, writing songs for pretty much every group around. Amazingly, he had no band of his own, but would score a hit, tour with the band until the hit faded and then write another hit with some other band and be off. He eventually recorded an LP,which became Benin's biggest selling LP ever. El Rego, a boxer in his young life and a brothel owner later on, made one of the first recordings of Jerk music (as soul and funk music was so dubbed) in Benin. His tracks are the most Western influenced, often times singing in English. Antoine Dougbe, is the most obscure and his tracks are among the rarest finds. His style combined elements of Congolese Rhumba, High Life, and traditional Beninese rhythms into a form he called Afro-Cavacha, named after the fast rhythms of pop music from Zaire. Dougbe, often worked with the Orchestre Poly-Rhytmo, but it was often an uneasy relationship since Dougbe's father was a feared and powerful Voudon priest, and the band (most of them practicing Voudons) feared reprisals should they question Dougbe's arrangements and musical instruction. But undoubtedly this religious quality so pervasive in Benin is what created such intensely tight and dynamic music, hypnotic and bewitching and endlessly captivating. Pure Gold!
MPEG Stream: GNONNAS PEDRO ET SES DADJES "Dadje Von O Von Non"
MPEG Stream: EL REGO ET SES COMMANDOS "Vimado Wingnan"
MPEG Stream: ANTOINE DOUGBE "Kovito Gbe De Towe"
MPEG Stream: HONORE AVOLONTO "Na Mi Do Gbe Hue Nu"

V/A LHave One On Meipa Kodi Ya City Council (Mississippi) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Yet another amazing compilation from this Northwestern reissue label. Mississippi, in addition to the bad ass blues and folk comp I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore 1927-1948 reviewed elsewhere on this list, also compiled this amazing collection of rare R+B, pop, high life, juju and choral music from Africa. Mali, Somalia, Kenya, Zambia, even Sierra Leone...
The comp opens with the most wicked slice of down and dirty afro funk you will ever hear. Super funky, hot and sweaty afro soul supreme. Dense propulsive funky drumming, killer old soul jangle riffs, and growled and crooned, sexed up vocals, complete with JB style "HEY!"s... So intense and emotional and irresistible. Nothing else on the comp is as wild or as funky, but it's all amazing. Crooned ballads with simple shuffling rhythms, fluttery flutes and a deep warm velvety voice, festive joyous celebratory jams, with wildly strummed guitars, lush vocal harmonies, wild percussion, dark languorous afroblues, every track here is a gem, some funky and upbeat, others moody and mellow, so fantastic. Fans of the Ethiopiques comps, the recently reviewed Yaala Yaala releases, that killer Ghana Soundz collection, and the Afro Funk Explosion comp, heck, if you love this stuff the way we do, then you NEED this.
All handmade packaging, recycled record sleeves with pasted on front and back covers. Nice.

V/A Living is Hard: West African Music in Britain, 1927 - 1929 (Honest Jon's) cd 17.98
Living Is Hard. Indeed. Truer words were never spoken. The plight of Africans in Britain in the beginning of the twentieth century, was indeed one of hardship and strife, of persecution and destitution of unspeakable violence and unfettered racism. And the songs on Living Is Hard perfectly capture the spirit of the time. The anger and resentment, but also the hope and happiness, the frustration of constant harassment and the dreams of something better.
As the liner notes mention, these songs were a "disruptive late entry into the history of black music in Britain", a music that owes very little to any white listenership. A hybrid of African spirituals, blues and plantation songs, with hints of Carribean music, bits of highlife, mostly vocal, with minimal instrumentation, managing to be simultaneously complex and musically dense, but also simple and heartfelt.
A few tracks are immediately recognizable as a sort of highlife blues, simple acoustic guitar and seemingly celebratory vocals, but much of the music on Living Is Hard, is truly unique, unlike anything we've ever heard, even as fans of wondrous and mysterious world musics, there are strange acapella tracks, where the rhythms are created from grunts and mumbles, the main vocal line, strangled and guttural, peppered with occasional percussion, some tracks have a Western folk vibe, even hinting at some Morricone-ish twang, others sounds a bit like doo wop, rich harmonies and gorgeous hummed melodies, but most of the tracks here are just vocal and percussion, chanting, crooning, call and response, voices sometimes rough and raw, sometimes smooth and silky, the rhythms backing them up ranging from simple and spare to dense and tribal, so varied and moving and simply wonderful.
As with all Honest Jons releases, Living Is Hard is gorgeously packaged, with a thick book of liner notes, lots of photos, translations of the lyrics and more.
MPEG Stream: ISAAC JACKSON "Nitsi Koko"
MPEG Stream: BEN SIMMONS "Untitled"
MPEG Stream: HARRY E. QUASHIE "Anadwofa"
MPEG Stream: DOUGLAS PAPAFIO "Kuntum"

V/A Living is Hard: West African Music in Britain, 1927 - 1929 (Honest Jon's) 2lp 22.00
Living Is Hard. Indeed. Truer words were never spoken. The plight of Africans in Britain in the beginning of the twentieth century, was indeed one of hardship and strife, of persecution and destitution of unspeakable violence and unfettered racism. And the songs on Living Is Hard perfectly capture the spirit of the time. The anger and resentment, but also the hope and happiness, the frustration of constant harassment and the dreams of something better.
As the liner notes mention, these songs were a "disruptive late entry into the history of black music in Britain", a music that owes very little to any white listenership. A hybrid of African spirituals, blues and plantation songs, with hints of Carribean music, bits of highlife, mostly vocal, with minimal instrumentation, managing to be simultaneously complex and musically dense, but also simple and heartfelt.
A few tracks are immediately recognizable as a sort of highlife blues, simple acoustic guitar and seemingly celebratory vocals, but much of the music on Living Is Hard, is truly unique, unlike anything we've ever heard, even as fans of wondrous and mysterious world musics, there are strange acapella tracks, where the rhythms are created from grunts and mumbles, the main vocal line, strangled and guttural, peppered with occasional percussion, some tracks have a Western folk vibe, even hinting at some Morricone-ish twang, others sounds a bit like doo wop, rich harmonies and gorgeous hummed melodies, but most of the tracks here are just vocal and percussion, chanting, crooning, call and response, voices sometimes rough and raw, sometimes smooth and silky, the rhythms backing them up ranging from simple and spare to dense and tribal, so varied and moving and simply wonderful.
As with all Honest Jons releases, Living Is Hard is gorgeously packaged, with a thick book of liner notes, lots of photos, translations of the lyrics and more.
MPEG Stream: ISAAC JACKSON "Nitsi Koko"
MPEG Stream: BEN SIMMONS "Untitled"
MPEG Stream: HARRY E. QUASHIE "Anadwofa"
MPEG Stream: DOUGLAS PAPAFIO "Kuntum"

V/A Love, Peace & Poetry: African Psychedelic Music (Shadoks Music ) cd 15.98
This latest installment in the on-going, ever-awesome Love, Peace & Poetry compilation series of rare psych rock music from around the world features tracks from African bands. While not as far-fetched as the Extreme Music From Africa comp we used to stock some time back, some might still be surprised by this. Of course, previous volumes in the LP&P series have conclusively demonstrated the all-pervading influence of the Western '60s rock revolution on the rest of the world, and we've stocked lots of cd reissues of LPs by acid-rockers from such 'exotic' locales as Turkey, Brazil, and the Phillipines. Not to mention all those Cambodian Rock collections! So of course there's gonna be African bands for Shadoks to compile. And in fact, we think they maybe included more South African (i.e. white) bands here than they really needed to -- not that the chosen tracks aren't worthy, just that they give the impression that Shadoks couldn't find enough stuff from the rest of the continent. Maybe their definition of "psychedelic music" is a little narrower than ours, but we'd have thought some Ethiopian groove stuff, or early Orchestra Baobab, would do nicely here. Too funky maybe? But already this collection boasts a wide range of styles from jazzy to spacey to folkish to heavy, hard rock. There's room here for both fuzz guitar fests (Chrissy Zebby Tembo & Ngozi Family's "Oh Ye Ye") and Beatles-esque balladry (Quentin E. Kolpjaeger's "Weatherman"). 17 tracks total, with several standouts including Nigeria's Blo (now that's some authentic African psych rock there) and South Africa's Freedoms Children (who managed to land three cuts on here) and the proto-metal of fellow countrymen Suck, among others. Perhaps not the strongest of the series (heck, that preceeding Mexican volume was a tough act to follow) but as always, well-stocked with gems -- stuff you're unlikely to hear elsewhere, either!
MPEG Stream: BLO "Time To Face The Sun"
MPEG Stream: RIKKI ILILONGA "Love Is The Only Way"
MPEG Stream: CHRISSY ZEBBY TEMBO & NGOZI FAMILY "Oh Ye Ye"

V/A Love, Peace & Poetry: African Psychedelic Music (Shadoks Music) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This latest installment in the on-going, ever-awesome Love, Peace & Poetry compilation series of rare psych rock music from around the world features tracks from African bands. While not as far-fetched as the Extreme Music From Africa comp we used to stock some time back, some might still be surprised by this. Of course, previous volumes in the LP&P series have conclusively demonstrated the all-pervading influence of the Western '60s rock revolution on the rest of the world, and we've stocked lots of cd reissues of LPs by acid-rockers from such 'exotic' locales as Turkey, Brazil, and the Phillipines. Not to mention all those Cambodian Rock collections! So of course there's gonna be African bands for Shadoks to compile. And in fact, we think they maybe included more South African (i.e. white) bands here than they really needed to -- not that the chosen tracks aren't worthy, just that they give the impression that Shadoks couldn't find enough stuff from the rest of the continent. Maybe their definition of "psychedelic music" is a little narrower than ours, but we'd have thought some Ethiopian groove stuff, or early Orchestra Baobab, would do nicely here. Too funky maybe? But already this collection boasts a wide range of styles from jazzy to spacey to folkish to heavy, hard rock. There's room here for both fuzz guitar fests (Chrissy Zebby Tembo & Ngozi Family's "Oh Ye Ye") and Beatles-esque balladry (Quentin E. Kolpjaeger's "Weatherman"). 17 tracks total, with several standouts including Nigeria's Blo (now that's some authentic African psych rock there) and South Africa's Freedoms Children (who managed to land three cuts on here) and the proto-metal of fellow countrymen Suck, among others. Perhaps not the strongest of the series (heck, that preceeding Mexican volume was a tough act to follow) but as always, well-stocked with gems -- stuff you're unlikely to hear elsewhere, either!
MPEG Stream: BLO "Time To Face The Sun"
MPEG Stream: RIKKI ILILONGA "Love Is The Only Way"
MPEG Stream: CHRISSY ZEBBY TEMBO & NGOZI FAMILY "Oh Ye Ye"

V/A Mali Lolo! Stars Of Mali (Smithsonian) cd 14.98

V/A Mali: Cordes Anciennes (Buda Musique) cd 16.98
Originally recorded and released on LP in 1970, "Ancient Strings" was the first recording devoted solely to the art of playing the Kora. Though it has been around for centuries in various shapes and under different names, the Kora -- a bridged lute with a large calf-skin covered gourd resonator -- is now pretty much standardized to 21 strings. The tracks on this disc are all kora duets (with the exception of two solo numbers) and the songs are beautiful, lulling pieces with the performers sharing in melodic and lead and accompaniment -- usually the songs tend to have one melodic lead supported by another melodic ostinato and a plucked drone bass underlying everything. These are definitely some of the musicians that Baaba Maal and Mansour Seck researched before releasing their classic Djam Leelii album (which, by the way was re-issued a ways back re-mastered and with extra tracks in case you're lacking a copy of it.)
RealAudio clip: BATOUROU SEKOU KOUYATE & SIDIKI DIABTE "Kulanjan"
RealAudio clip: BATOUROU SEKOU KOUYATE & N'FA DIABATE "Asumba"

V/A Mali: Le Hoddu Peul (Ocora) cd 21.00

MPEG Stream: "N'Doondo / Garbaare"
MPEG Stream: "Durgama"

V/A Marvellous Boy: Calypso From West Africa (Honest Jon's) cd 17.98

V/A Marvellous Boy: Calypso From West Africa (Honest Jon's) 2lp 22.00

V/A Music From Saharan Cellphones (Sahel Sounds) lp 14.98
How could anyone not be obsessed with this? We originally thought the title was just a catchy turn of phrase whipped up by MISSISSIPPI RECORDS, who originally put this out on cassette, but as we did some digging, we discovered that the title was in fact literal, this is indeed a collection of songs found on cellphone memory cards in the Saharan desert. It's not nearly as strange as it sounds once you realize that in Africa, much like in the US, people use cellphones for everything, including of course collecting and trading music, often swapping songs person to person via bluetooth. So here is a sort of best of, a collection of tracks which were super popular in the African mp3/cellphone network, but have essentially never been released commercially or really heard at all outside of these mp3 traders until now.
Obviously, anyone who's a fan of Sublime Frequencies, or Mississippi records is gonna go nuts for this stuff. The sound, besides reflecting a sort of African underground, also chronicles a new era of personal music production, with many of these tracks recorded in people's homes, on computers, using commercial software, synths, autotune and other things previously unavailable outside a proper studio. The sound is super varied: many tracks are classic sounding African music, with some of that desert blues vibe found on a lot of Sublime Frequencies releases, call and response vocals, warm buzzing melodies, simple skeletal rhythms, very hypnotic and mesmerizing, while others are far out takes on commercial pop, or Afro-hiphop, or African electro, all seemingly underpinned by classic African rhythms, but with way more modern elements woven in, some with super autotuned vocals, creating a strange soulful autotuned afro-pop hybrid that is pretty amazing, the record continues to slip back and forth from those classic sounds, to more modern takes on African music, some lush and layered, others super lo-fi, some obviously loose street jams (occasionally peppered with weird recording/cellphone storage/transfer glitches, which only adds to the sound), others are obviously meticulously composed and arranged, and those crazy autotuned vox continue to pop up throughout (obviously very popular with the mp3/cellphone music traders), and are definitely the strangest element.
And according to the label, since the original cassette release, most of the previously mysterious artists (the original tape featured very little in the way of artists and titles) have been tracked down and now get a majority of the royalties.
So totally recommended!
MPEG Stream: "One"
MPEG Stream: "Two "
MPEG Stream: "Three"

V/A Music From Saharan Cellphones Vol. 2 (Sahel Sounds) lp 14.98
Second volume in this amazing series of compilations, which gathers up all manner of music from discarded memory cards from cellphones, these memory cards and cellphones collected from throughout Northern Mali since 2010, even more relevant now that extremists in Mali have banned music on cellphones. A sad state of affairs for the people of Mali, who, like everyone else in the world, use cellphones for everything - including, collecting, trading, and listening to music.
Like the first volume, the music here offers a glimpse of some of the weird and wonderful music that doesn't often make it on to world music compilations, even comps on Sublime Frequencies and the like. Like the first one, maybe even moreso, the focus here is on the home produced DIY jams, heavy on the autotuned vocals, a modern hybrid of traditional African music, and modern pop. The opening track is the perfect example, sans vocals, and drums, it's a beautiful bit of deserty blues, all intricate melodies and warm steel string buzz, but then add the skittery lo-fi drum programming, and the woozy autotuned vocals, and you've got a strange bit of 'futuristic' Afro-pop. Even the songs that sound more traditional, like the second track, still display subtle elements that give the sounds a unique twist, in this case, more of that programmed Casio style drum machine, which gives the dreamy high life a strange propulsion.
There's an uncredited track here, that's a sort of reggae groove, which sounds like it's sung by a child, is laced with some crunchy guitar and groovy synths, not to mention the occasional bleat of a goat! After that the comp continues to swing wildly from the groovy desert blues of Hasso Akotey, to the moody percussive club music of Lakal Kaney, replete with rapping, to the handclap driven, fuzz guitar, horn flecked high energy of DJ Mopao, even the recently deceased Koudede shows up, with a gorgeous track of that warm languid, hypnotic guitar grooves. There's more autotuned pop in the form of Pheno S.'s laid back Afro-soul funkiness, although our two favorites might be Iba One's horn driven Afro-hop banger, which weaves majestic synth horns around skittery beats and strident anthemic vox, a huge American hip hop influence for sure, but filtered through classic African pop, and the crazy closer from Cheba Wassila, another high energy groover, that has a serious Bollywood vibe, soaring autotuned vox, and wild rhythms, lots of horns, squiggle synths, even some killer fiddle solos (also seemingly run through the auto-tune for good measure!).

V/A Music! The Berlin Phonogramm-Archiv 1900-2000 (Wergo) 4cd 96.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Founded in 1900 by Carl Stumpf, The Berlin Phonogramm-Archiv is a repository devoted to archiving the musics of the world before their eventual destruction by encroaching modernization brought about by global capitalism. Case in point is presented on page two of the accompanying booklet: "'Within the foreseeable future there will no longer be any day-long journeys by rowing boat, where twenty men in a canoe stand one behind the other and sing, because otherwise they would not be able to keep in time with the rhythm of the rowing..." (Albert Schweitzer, 1914) "...Because the songs of the members of the boat's crew who tow the boats along the Yangtse will have become silent forever, before these faint magical lines have worn away on the wax cylinder. Only the shrill whistle of the steamboat will be heard, and black smoke will lick away at the gruesome cliffs." So wrote Hedwig Weiss, wife of Friedrich Weiss who worked as a translator in the Sichuan province of China at the beginning of the 20th century. The two of them together took to recording the rowing song of boat crews working on the Yangtse river to preserve their songs. This is just one of the stories on this incredibly impressive four disc collection celebrating the 100th year anniversary of the Archive -- which now has a collection of over 150,000 recordings. Fans of the "Secret Museum" series should take heed, this is the shit! Some of the best recordings by pioneering ethnomusicologists are included here along with very detailed information not only about the music they recorded -- along with transcriptions in many cases -- but the stories behind the people who took to the field to make these recordings. The 100 tracks on this set are divided into four sections: disc one covers the wax cylinder recordings (1893 - 1954), disc two covers monophonic tape recordings (1951 - 1974), disc three covers stereophonic recordings (1967 - 2000) and disc four covers stereophonic, concert -- ie: not field -- recordings (1973 - 1999) and each disc is sequenced in sections by region: Asia, Oceania, Africa, The Americas and Europe. A hefty price tage yes, but well worth it.
RealAudio clip: (ANONYMOUS) NEW GUINEA 1912 "Interlocking Flutes"
RealAudio clip: (ANONYMOUS) CAIRO, EGYPT 1955 "Nubian Song"
RealAudio clip: JEGOG JAYUS "Jayan Tangis"
RealAudio clip: HAI, TRAN QUANG "Flowing Water, Equal Bars, Golden Chains"

V/A Nairobi Sound: Before Benga 2 (Original Music) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here resides the electic half of the "Before Benga" recordings. Unlike Ghana's high life, Kenya's Benga did not exist expressly for dance; Instead it focused more on lyrics. Most of the musicians heard here were certainly not superstars and could not even afford their own instruments. Because of this most wrote their songs while jamming in studios located conveniently enough in the back rooms of record shops.

V/A Niger: Hunters Of The Dallol Mawri (Ocora) cd 22.00

MPEG Stream: "Chant Destine Au Maidawa"
MPEG Stream: "Chant Destine Au Dan Galadima"
MPEG Stream: "Chant Destine Au Tous Les Malhaba"

V/A Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump (Strut) cd 16.98
There is absolutely no doubt as to the importance Strut Records' 2001 compilation, Nigeria 70: The Definitive Story of 1970s Funky Lagos, played in bringing about the current flood of interest in afrobeat, highlife, disco, soul and (of course) funk from Nigeria and other West African nations. It was the first compilation to really pay homage not only to the songs of that era but to the entire culture that allowed the music to come into being. By doing so, it laid the blueprint for the kind of lavishly packaged, meticulously researched, insanely detailed reissues coming from labels like Sound Ways, Honest John's and Analog Africa. It's hard, even just 7 years later, to remember how mysterious the world of Nigerian funk seemed at the time; it was a an entire world of sound that outsiders had access to only through bootleg LPs and traded tapes with giant question marks next to everything from song titles to the performers themselves. Now sadly out-of-print, the original triple cd Nigeria 70 comp was a revelation - an unparalleled wealth of sights and sounds that showed how much more there was to Nigerian music than just Fela.
If, like many of us here at aQ, you are still reaching for the original every time you make a mix tape, then you'll be happy to hear that Strut Records has not only risen from the grave but issued Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump, a second installment to the Nigeria 70 series (no doubt spurred on by the massive success of its many imitators). Rather than try to outdo the first volume, Strut have taken a decidedly lower-key approach to this single disc of astoundingly funky cuts from Nigeria's finest. The liner notes are slim but densely packed: John Collins' introductory essay traces the evolution in Nigerian popular music alongside the changes in the country's cultural and political climate, while the liner notes provide brief but informative notes for each cut. Musically, the collection is an immaculately compiled and sequenced mix of everything from the traditional highlife bounce of Ashanti Afrika Jah's "Onyame" and Rex Williams' soulful "You Are My Heart" to the swaggering afro-rock of The Immortals' "Hot Tears" and the afrobeat/ju-ju mashup of the leadoff track, Sir Shina Peters and His International Stars' "Yabis." Furthermore, we'd be remiss if we failed to mention Chief Checker's "Ire Africa," which manages to balance riddims cribbed straight from Studio One with proto-Rick James disco funk (check out the bassline!) and straight up afro sounds. Amazing!
If you've heard the original comp, it's a safe bet that you've already deemed Lagos Jump an essential purchase. If you missed out but have been loving the Nigeria Special comps even half as much as we have, then this disc will freak your beak. If your exposure to Nigerian music of the '60s and '70s subsists solely of the odd Fela Kuti song slipped in between segments on Democracy Now!, then this compilation could be the jump off point for a new musical obsession. This is raw, soulful Nigerian funk compiled by a label with an obvious reverence for the music as well as the culture and people that made it happen.
MPEG Stream: CHIEF CHECKER "Ire Africa"
MPEG Stream: REX WILLIAMS "You Are My Heart"
MPEG Stream: THE FACES "Tug Of War"

V/A Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump (Strut) 2lp 25.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW ON VINYL!
There is absolutely no doubt as to the importance Strut Records' 2001 compilation, Nigeria 70: The Definitive Story of 1970s Funky Lagos, played in bringing about the current flood of interest in afrobeat, highlife, disco, soul and (of course) funk from Nigeria and other West African nations. It was the first compilation to really pay homage not only to the songs of that era but to the entire culture that allowed the music to come into being. By doing so, it laid the blueprint for the kind of lavishly packaged, meticulously researched, insanely detailed reissues coming from labels like Sound Ways, Honest John's and Analog Africa. It's hard, even just 7 years later, to remember how mysterious the world of Nigerian funk seemed at the time; it was a an entire world of sound that outsiders had access to only through bootleg LPs and traded tapes with giant question marks next to everything from song titles to the performers themselves. Now sadly out-of-print, the original triple cd Nigeria 70 comp was a revelation - an unparalleled wealth of sights and sounds that showed how much more there was to Nigerian music than just Fela.
If, like many of us here at aQ, you are still reaching for the original every time you make a mix tape, then you'll be happy to hear that Strut Records has not only risen from the grave but issued Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump, a second installment to the Nigeria 70 series (no doubt spurred on by the massive success of its many imitators). Rather than try to outdo the first volume, Strut have taken a decidedly lower-key approach to this single disc of astoundingly funky cuts from Nigeria's finest. The liner notes are slim but densely packed: John Collins' introductory essay traces the evolution in Nigerian popular music alongside the changes in the country's cultural and political climate, while the liner notes provide brief but informative notes for each cut. Musically, the collection is an immaculately compiled and sequenced mix of everything from the traditional highlife bounce of Ashanti Afrika Jah's "Onyame" and Rex Williams' soulful "You Are My Heart" to the swaggering afro-rock of The Immortals' "Hot Tears" and the afrobeat/ju-ju mashup of the leadoff track, Sir Shina Peters and His International Stars' "Yabis." Furthermore, we'd be remiss if we failed to mention Chief Checker's "Ire Africa," which manages to balance riddims cribbed straight from Studio One with proto-Rick James disco funk (check out the bassline!) and straight up afro sounds. Amazing!
If you've heard the original comp, it's a safe bet that you've already deemed Lagos Jump an essential purchase. If you missed out but have been loving the Nigeria Special comps even half as much as we have, then this disc will freak your beak. If your exposure to Nigerian music of the '60s and '70s subsists solely of the odd Fela Kuti song slipped in between segments on Democracy Now!, then this compilation could be the jump off point for a new musical obsession. This is raw, soulful Nigerian funk compiled by a label with an obvious reverence for the music as well as the culture and people that made it happen.
MPEG Stream: CHIEF CHECKER "Ire Africa"
MPEG Stream: REX WILLIAMS "You Are My Heart"
MPEG Stream: THE FACES "Tug Of War"

V/A Nigeria 70: Sweet Times (Strut) cd 14.98
Yes! Just in time for the bright sunshine and actual summer vibes we've been basking in this last week comes the latest offering from Strut's awesome Nigeria 70 series. A collection of smoking Afro-funk, highlife, and juju from Lagos, Nigeria. Such spirited and body moving tracks drenched in so much soul and infectious energy. It's so awesome to discover lots of new-to us artists, we love when great comps get us searching for more from groups we can't believe we haven't heard from before. Who knows how likely it is to actually find more recordings from some of these folks, which makes thick comp invaluable, as Strut always digs so deep and complete in their curatorial excellence. We're going to be blasting this all summer long and beyond!
MPEG Stream: MONEYMAN & THE SUPER 5 INTERNATIONAL "Life"
MPEG Stream: ALI CHUKWUMAH & HIS PEACEMAKERS "Henrietta"
MPEG Stream: TUNDE MABADU " Viva Disco (Instrumental)"

V/A Nigeria 70: The Definitive Story of 1970s Funky Lagos (Afrostrut) 3cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
An ambitiously titled new collection from Afrostrut, the premiere label of Afro-Funk reissues. It's a lot to call a cd set the "definitive" story of funk from Lagos, but Strut really went above and beyond the call of duty on this one. Sure you've got all the expected inclusions here, starting with Fela Kuti's high life band Koola Lobitos, plus a couple tracks from Fela from the Africa 70 period. There are also tracks by Tony Allen as well as Orlando Julius and King Sunny Ade. Those who've already invested in a healthy collection of Nigerian music probably have a few of the tracks on here from the above artists, but the cuts that really make Nigeria 70 a crucial purchase are all the nuggets that you've never heard, plus a lot of tracks that are completely atypical of the "Afrobeat" sound. There's the off kilter blues track by Bongos Ikwue "Woman Made the Devil", the fuzzed out single "Allah Wakbarr" by Ofo the Black Company and the psychedelic "Kita Kita" by Gasper Lawal. But the thing that really gives Afrostrut the license to call this collection "definitive" is the inclusion of a third disc (if you buy the digital version that is) consisting of a 65 minute audio documentary -- complete with musical examples -- of the Nigerian music scene leading up to high life and on through the influence of Cuban rhythms and American funk with many interviews from people intimately involved in the scene. The vinyl gets some compensation with a gorgeous gatefold production though, with detailed liner notes covering the inside.
RealAudio clip: OFO THE BLACK COMPANY "Allah Wakbarr"
RealAudio clip: GASPER LAWAL "Kita Kita"
RealAudio clip: BONGOS IKWUE "Woman Made the Devil"

V/A Nigeria 70: The Definitive Story of 1970s Funky Lagos (Afrostrut) 3lp 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
An ambitiously titled new collection from Afrostrut, the premiere label of Afro-Funk reissues. It's a lot to call a cd set the "definitive" story of funk from Lagos, but Strut really went above and beyond the call of duty on this one. Sure you've got all the expected inclusions here, starting with Fela Kuti's high life band Koola Lobitos, plus a couple tracks from Fela from the Africa 70 period. There are also tracks by Tony Allen as well as Orlando Julius and King Sunny Ade. Those who've already invested in a healthy collection of Nigerian music probably have a few of the tracks on here from the above artists, but the cuts that really make Nigeria 70 a crucial purchase are all the nuggets that you've never heard, plus a lot of tracks that are completely atypical of the "Afrobeat" sound. There's the off kilter blues track by Bongos Ikwue "Woman Made the Devil", the fuzzed out single "Allah Wakbarr" by Ofo the Black Company and the psychedelic "Kita Kita" by Gasper Lawal. But the thing that really gives Afrostrut the license to call this collection "definitive" is the inclusion of a third disc (if you buy the digital version that is) consisting of a 65 minute audio documentary -- complete with musical examples -- of the Nigerian music scene leading up to high life and on through the influence of Cuban rhythms and American funk with many interviews from people intimately involved in the scene. The vinyl gets some compensation with a gorgeous gatefold production though, with detailed liner notes covering the inside.

V/A Nigeria Afrobeat Special (Sound Way) cd 16.98

MPEG Stream: FELA & AFRICA 70 "Who're You? (Original 45 Version)"
MPEG Stream: SAXON LEE & THE SHADOWS INTERNATIONAL "Mind Your Business"
MPEG Stream: MAD MAN JAGA "Hankuri"

V/A Nigeria Afrobeat Special (Sound Way) lp 30.00

V/A Nigeria Disco Funk Special: The Sound Of The Underground Lagos Dancefloor 1974-79 (Soundway) cd 17.98
Y'all went crazy for Sound Way's Nigeria Special compilation a few lists back, and we expect Nigeria Disco Funk Special -- the second installment in a 3-part series -- to be just as enticing a proposition. Whereas the first Nigeria Special was a sprawling collection of sounds and styles intended to show the sheer diversity of Nigeria's musical output in the early '70s, this volume is far more musically concise, consisting of mostly instrumental cuts that are heavily indebted to the American funk and disco being imported into Nigeria at the time.
This collection of deep funk, Afro-boogie and serious disco will transport you (and your booty) to the sweat-soaked discos of Lagos, where native sounds shimmy up next to imported grooves bringing the dancefloor to a fever pitch of go-go bells, funky drums, wah wah guitar, popping bass and blasting horns. This is tight, dirty funk being filtered through afrobeat and highlife.... the results are absolutely AMAZING!
Like all things from Sound Way, Nigeria Disco Funk Special comes with gorgeous packaging, extensive liner notes, archival photos and repros of original album artwork. Take your pick between a super slick digipak for the cd version and a gorgeous gatefold sleeve for the 2LP. This is heavy shit. Don't miss out!
MPEG Stream: JOHNNY HAASTRUP "Greetings"
MPEG Stream: DR. ADOLF AHANOTU "Ijere"
MPEG Stream: S-JOB MOVEMENT "Love Affair"

V/A Nigeria Disco Funk Special: The Sound Of The Underground Lagos Dancefloor 1974-79 (Soundway) 2lp 25.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Y'all went crazy for Sound Way's Nigeria Special compilation a few lists back, and we expect Nigeria Disco Funk Special -- the second installment in a 3-part series -- to be just as enticing a proposition. Whereas the first Nigeria Special was a sprawling collection of sounds and styles intended to show the sheer diversity of Nigeria's musical output in the early '70s, this volume is far more musically concise, consisting of mostly instrumental cuts that are heavily indebted to the American funk and disco being imported into Nigeria at the time.
This collection of deep funk, Afro-boogie and serious disco will transport you (and your booty) to the sweat-soaked discos of Lagos, where native sounds shimmy up next to imported grooves bringing the dancefloor to a fever pitch of go-go bells, funky drums, wah wah guitar, popping bass and blasting horns. This is tight, dirty funk being filtered through afrobeat and highlife.... the results are absolutely AMAZING!
Like all things from Sound Way, Nigeria Disco Funk Special comes with gorgeous packaging, extensive liner notes, archival photos and repros of original album artwork. Take your pick between a super slick digipak for the cd version and a gorgeous gatefold sleeve for the 2LP. This is heavy shit. Don't miss out!
MPEG Stream: JOHNNY HAASTRUP "Greetings"
MPEG Stream: DR. ADOLF AHANOTU "Ijere"
MPEG Stream: S-JOB MOVEMENT "Love Affair"

V/A Nigeria Rock Special: Psychedelic Afro-Rock & Fuzz Funk (Soundway) 2lp 21.00
NOW AVAILBLE ON VINYL!
It's appropriate that Nigeria Rock Special kicks things off with a supremely heavy slab of organ/bass/drum groove by Ofege called "Adieu," as this is the third and allegedly final installment in Sound Way's incredible Nigeria Special series. We were skeptical that this volume would be able to live up to the high standards set by the first two, but honestly this is probably the best of the three. No joke, it's so effing good that when we put it on in the store all of us just look at each other and kind of do that squinty head bobbing groove thing where you're kind of like, "holy crap how good is this? SO GOOD!" In fact this is one of those rare compilations that manages to transcend its genre and appeal to people who may not normally be into African music -- it's not every day that you see some of the serious blackened noisemongering customers digging stuff from the "international" section!
First thing, the title might be a little misleading... if you're coming to this expecting to hear stoned out proto-metal clomp or extended blues riffage, you might be a bit disappointed. While there are fuzzed out guitar explorations aplenty on this disc, the overall feel definitely leans more towards the funky side of things. If you're a fan of the Boscoe lp we reviewed a few lists back, or the Skull Snaps record, or even Black Merda (or anything from the now sadly out of print Chains and Black Exhaust compilation) you are going to LOVE this record: imagine blown out, psychedelic instrumental passages layered over heavy, heavy, heavy bass and drums with no shortage of traditional highlife and afrobeat flourishes and you're in the ballpark. In fact, with the exception of a few tracks (most notably, Question Mark's "Freaking Out," which, believe it or not, sounds kind of like Can covering something from the Nuggets box), the western influence is actually less present in this collection than it was in the last volume.
There are too many standouts to list them all, but we would be remiss not to mention that Mono Mono's "Kenimania" comes on like Fela tackling a Booker T jam; or that Ofo The Black Company's "Enario" is a simmering pot of mid-tempo funk and call and response vocals that holds up as a worthy successor to their mighty "Allah Wakbarr" (a song you might remember from two other essential compilations: Nigeria 70, and World Psychedelic Classics Vol. 3); or that the treble-kicking guitars of Colomach's "Cotocun Gba Gounke" create a mind-blowing hybrid of Middle-Eastern-tinged desert blues and Hendrix-ian pyrotechnics; or that Joe King Kologbo & His Black Sounds' "Another Man's Thing" is a frenetic polemic that switches gears from hyperactive shuffle to deep funk throb-n-stab in the blink of an eye!
Look, we know we've been pushing these Nigeria Special comps hard for the last few months but it's for good reason: the three volumes together form a meticulously curated, beautifully packaged collection of songs that spans two decades and demonstrates the intense creativity and musical diversity in post-revolution Nigeria. Taken by itself, Nigeria Rock Special is a gripping, exuberant, and infectious listen from start to finish and definitely comes with as high a recommendation as we can dish out!
MPEG Stream: THE ACTION 13 "More Bread To The People"
MPEG Stream: THE HYGRADES "In The Jungle (Instrumental)"
MPEG Stream: MONO MONO "Kenimania"
MPEG Stream: QUESTION MARK "Freaking Out"

V/A Nigeria Rock Special: Psychedelic Afro-Rock & Fuzz Funk In 1970s Nigeria (Soundway) cd 16.98
It's appropriate that Nigeria Rock Special kicks things off with a supremely heavy slab of organ/bass/drum groove by Ofege called "Adieu," as this is the third and allegedly final installment in Sound Way's incredible Nigeria Special series. We were skeptical that this volume would be able to live up to the high standards set by the first two, but honestly this is probably the best of the three. No joke, it's so effing good that when we put it on in the store all of us just look at each other and kind of do that squinty head bobbing groove thing where you're kind of like, "holy crap how good is this? SO GOOD!" In fact this is one of those rare compilations that manages to transcend its genre and appeal to people who may not normally be into African music -- it's not every day that you see some of the serious blackened noisemongering customers digging stuff from the "international" section!
First thing, the title might be a little misleading... if you're coming to this expecting to hear stoned out proto-metal clomp or extended blues riffage, you might be a bit disappointed. While there are fuzzed out guitar explorations aplenty on this disc, the overall feel definitely leans more towards the funky side of things. If you're a fan of the Boscoe lp we reviewed a few lists back, or the Skull Snaps record, or even Black Merda (or anything from the now sadly out of print Chains and Black Exhaust compilation) you are going to LOVE this record: imagine blown out, psychedelic instrumental passages layered over heavy, heavy, heavy bass and drums with no shortage of traditional highlife and afrobeat flourishes and you're in the ballpark. In fact, with the exception of a few tracks (most notably, Question Mark's "Freaking Out," which, believe it or not, sounds kind of like Can covering something from the Nuggets box), the western influence is actually less present in this collection than it was in the last volume.
There are too many standouts to list them all, but we would be remiss not to mention that Mono Mono's "Kenimania" comes on like Fela tackling a Booker T jam; or that Ofo The Black Company's "Enario" is a simmering pot of mid-tempo funk and call and response vocals that holds up as a worthy successor to their mighty "Allah Wakbarr" (a song you might remember from two other essential compilations: Nigeria 70, and World Psychedelic Classics Vol. 3); or that the treble-kicking guitars of Colomach's "Cotocun Gba Gounke" create a mind-blowing hybrid of Middle-Eastern-tinged desert blues and Hendrix-ian pyrotechnics; or that Joe King Kologbo & His Black Sounds' "Another Man's Thing" is a frenetic polemic that switches gears from hyperactive shuffle to deep funk throb-n-stab in the blink of an eye!
Look, we know we've been pushing these Nigeria Special comps hard for the last few months but it's for good reason: the three volumes together form a meticulously curated, beautifully packaged collection of songs that spans two decades and demonstrates the intense creativity and musical diversity in post-revolution Nigeria. Taken by itself, Nigeria Rock Special is a gripping, exuberant, and infectious listen from start to finish and definitely comes with as high a recommendation as we can dish out!
MPEG Stream: THE ACTION 13 "More Bread To The People"
MPEG Stream: THE HYGRADES "In The Jungle (Instrumental)"
MPEG Stream: MONO MONO "Kenimania"
MPEG Stream: QUESTION MARK "Freaking Out"

V/A Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-6 (Soundway) 2cd 25.00
Just when it seems like the well of quality West African reissue compilations is about to run dry, the Sound Way label returns with another outstanding collection of rarities. This time the focus isn't on a particular style (as previous compilations on the label such as Afro Baby or Ghana Soundz have tended to do) so much as on the artists, styles and scene that thrived in Nigeria during the cultural moment that followed the Biafran war. The three years of civil war left millions dead and displaced, but also injected Nigeria with a sense of newfound optimism and self-determinance -- just as Nigeria itself had once been a colonial creation, the nation was free to reinvent itself in the wake of brutal conflict.
What makes Nigeria Special a compelling listen is the way it reflects this period of expansion and transition by seamlessly placing traditional sounds side-by-side with afro-funk and psychedelic-tinged rock. Similarly, it contrasts the hybrid styles emerging from rapidly expanding urban centers such as Lagos with the rural sounds of their non-Yoruba countrymen. The musical diversity displayed on this collection reflects the growth and upheaval in Nigeria itself - tellingly, some of the most exciting tracks are the result of cross-pollination between old and new.
As with all things Sound Way, the 2cds are beautifully packaged with a detailed introductory essay, reproductions of original cover art and detailed annotations for each track. The vinyl version is split over two 2lp sets. The selections run deep enough to please even the most die-hard African music aficionados, while still being a great introductory collection for those unfamiliar with Nigeria's amazing musical output.
MPEG Stream: THE DON ISSAC EZEKIEL COMBINATION "Amalinja "
MPEG Stream: THE SAHARA ALL STARS OF JOS "Feso Jaiye"
MPEG Stream: THE NIGERIAN POLICE FORCE BAND "Asiko Mi Ni "
MPEG Stream: THE HYKKERS "I Want A Break Thru'"

V/A Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-6 -- Part One (Soundway) 2lp 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Just when it seems like the well of quality West African reissue compilations is about to run dry, the Sound Way label returns with another outstanding collection of rarities. This time the focus isn't on a particular style (as previous compilations on the label such as Afro Baby or Ghana Soundz have tended to do) so much as on the artists, styles and scene that thrived in Nigeria during the cultural moment that followed the Biafran war. The three years of civil war left millions dead and displaced, but also injected Nigeria with a sense of newfound optimism and self-determinance -- just as Nigeria itself had once been a colonial creation, the nation was free to reinvent itself in the wake of brutal conflict.
What makes Nigeria Special a compelling listen is the way it reflects this period of expansion and transition by seamlessly placing traditional sounds side-by-side with afro-funk and psychedelic-tinged rock. Similarly, it contrasts the hybrid styles emerging from rapidly expanding urban centers such as Lagos with the rural sounds of their non-Yoruba countrymen. The musical diversity displayed on this collection reflects the growth and upheaval in Nigeria itself - tellingly, some of the most exciting tracks are the result of cross-pollination between old and new.
As with all things Sound Way, the 2cds are beautifully packaged with a detailed introductory essay, reproductions of original cover art and detailed annotations for each track. The vinyl version is split over two 2lp sets. The selections run deep enough to please even the most die-hard African music aficionados, while still being a great introductory collection for those unfamiliar with Nigeria's amazing musical output.
MPEG Stream: THE DON ISSAC EZEKIEL COMBINATION "Amalinja "
MPEG Stream: THE SAHARA ALL STARS OF JOS "Feso Jaiye"
MPEG Stream: THE NIGERIAN POLICE FORCE BAND "Asiko Mi Ni "
MPEG Stream: THE HYKKERS "I Want A Break Thru'"

V/A Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-6 -- Part Two (Soundway) 2lp 23.00
Just when it seems like the well of quality West African reissue compilations is about to run dry, the Sound Way label returns with another outstanding collection of rarities. This time the focus isn't on a particular style (as previous compilations on the label such as Afro Baby or Ghana Soundz have tended to do) so much as on the artists, styles and scene that thrived in Nigeria during the cultural moment that followed the Biafran war. The three years of civil war left millions dead and displaced, but also injected Nigeria with a sense of newfound optimism and self-determinance -- just as Nigeria itself had once been a colonial creation, the nation was free to reinvent itself in the wake of brutal conflict.
What makes Nigeria Special a compelling listen is the way it reflects this period of expansion and transition by seamlessly placing traditional sounds side-by-side with afro-funk and psychedelic-tinged rock. Similarly, it contrasts the hybrid styles emerging from rapidly expanding urban centers such as Lagos with the rural sounds of their non-Yoruba countrymen. The musical diversity displayed on this collection reflects the growth and upheaval in Nigeria itself - tellingly, some of the most exciting tracks are the result of cross-pollination between old and new.
As with all things Sound Way, the 2cds are beautifully packaged with a detailed introductory essay, reproductions of original cover art and detailed annotations for each track. The vinyl version is split over two 2lp sets. The selections run deep enough to please even the most die-hard African music aficionados, while still being a great introductory collection for those unfamiliar with Nigeria's amazing musical output.
MPEG Stream: THE DON ISSAC EZEKIEL COMBINATION "Amalinja "
MPEG Stream: THE SAHARA ALL STARS OF JOS "Feso Jaiye"
MPEG Stream: THE NIGERIAN POLICE FORCE BAND "Asiko Mi Ni "
MPEG Stream: THE HYKKERS "I Want A Break Thru'"

V/A Nigeria Special: Volume 2 - Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-76 (Soundway) cd 16.98
Soundway has been building quite the amazing catalog with their brilliant Nigeria Special series. A collection of sounds that truly demonstrates that there is an endless wealth of amazing music made in Nigeria during the 1970's. This is volume two in the Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Nigerian Blues series and somehow it manages to meet or even beat the excellence of the first outing. What makes the collection so cool is how while still sharing a similar sound and pedigree, there is so much diversity in the sounds and instrumentation. Worth it all alone is the mind blowing track by Twins Seven, complete with otherworldly vibraphones and entrancing call and response vocals. We love how these comps turn us on to specific artists that then send us off on crazy hunts to try to find more songs and records by those artists. But then, that's exactly what a great mix is meant to do.
As a whole, Nigeria Special: Volume 2 has such a perfect sunshiny, laid back yet triumphant spirit. It's been our go-to record on Sunday afternoons when people are relaxing on a beautiful day, visiting the store, carefree after a leisurely stroll though the Mission, and the second we throw this on, we always see people casually swaying and tapping their feet as they make their away around the store, and they inevitably ask what's playing so they can grab a copy and hold on to that unbeatable feeling for the rest of the day, and for every weekend to come...
MPEG Stream: TWINS SEVEN "Totobiroko"
MPEG Stream: OPOTOPO "Agboho"
MPEG Stream: JAMES ETAMOBE & HIS ALL WEATHER BAND "Agboyabakpa"

V/A Nigeria Special: Volume 2 - Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-76 (Soundway) 3lp 30.00
Soundway has been building quite the amazing catalog with their brilliant Nigeria Special series. A collection of sounds that truly demonstrates that there is an endless wealth of amazing music made in Nigeria during the 1970's. This is volume two in the Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Nigerian Blues series and somehow it manages to meet or even beat the excellence of the first outing. What makes the collection so cool is how while still sharing a similar sound and pedigree, there is so much diversity in the sounds and instrumentation. Worth it all alone is the mind blowing track by Twins Seven, complete with otherworldly vibraphones and entrancing call and response vocals. We love how these comps turn us on to specific artists that then send us off on crazy hunts to try to find more songs and records by those artists. But then, that's exactly what a great mix is meant to do.
As a whole, Nigeria Special: Volume 2 has such a perfect sunshiny, laid back yet triumphant spirit. It's been our go-to record on Sunday afternoons when people are relaxing on a beautiful day, visiting the store, carefree after a leisurely stroll though the Mission, and the second we throw this on, we always see people casually swaying and tapping their feet as they make their away around the store, and they inevitably ask what's playing so they can grab a copy and hold on to that unbeatable feeling for the rest of the day, and for every weekend to come...
MPEG Stream: TWINS SEVEN "Totobiroko"
MPEG Stream: OPOTOPO "Agboho"
MPEG Stream: JAMES ETAMOBE & HIS ALL WEATHER BAND "Agboyabakpa"

V/A Nu Afrobeat Experience (Eko Star) cd 16.98

V/A Nyabole - Hamar, Southern Ethiopia (Wergo) cd 19.98

V/A Opika Pende: Africa At 78 RPM (Dust-To-Digital) 4cd + book box 59.00
We've raved about the amazing Dust-To-Digital label before, their releases are always incredible, from the recordings to the liner notes to the packaging, few can touch these guys when it comes to elaborate and over the top packaging. But let's take a second to gush again a bit about aQ pal Jonathan Ward, who besides having one of the most incredible collections of industrial music (not industrial as in Throbbing Gristle, but as in music created by and for corporations, commercials, etc), also runs the amazing Excavated Shellac blog, which is a treasure trove of lost recordings, and Ward writes beautifully about the records and their provenance. Ward curated the amazing Excavated Shellac: Strings lp on Parlortone a while back, which we can't recommend enough, but this long in the works boxset does that compilation one better. Or maybe four better. Four discs overflowing with incredible sounds, all gathered from 78rpm shellac phonograph records, most of which have never been heard outside of Africa, as these discs were not recorded for ethnomusicologists or as the liner notes suggest "curious Westerners", but for the local population, and thus were much more difficult to track down, but as we stated above, Ward's collection of 78s is stunning, and essentially, this boxset is like a physical version of his blog, with his extensive liner notes on each of the ONE HUNDRED (!) tracks here, totally fascinating and informative, not just discussing the song, but offering an overview of the time, the culture, and more extensively going into the hunt for, and discovery of these records, as well as the reasons behind their limited distribution and the difficulty of tacking down records from different regions. It's as good a read as it is a listen (like the blog!), but the music, so divine, so varied, from pretty much every region of Africa: Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Kenya, Congo, Cameroon, Malawi, Burundi, Seychelles, Namibia, Angola, Niger, Somalia, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and beyondÉ The tracks range from celebratory, almost high life sounding folk music, all tribal drumming and call and response vocals, to hushed intimate solo performances of just voice and buzzing strings, some songs are wild and chaotic and full of joy, others are mournful and melancholy, we could go track by track, but pretty much everyone who's heard this has been immediately smitten, and if you're a fan of that Excavated Shellac lp (or the blog), any of the other Dust-To-Digital comps or anything on Sublime Frequencies, this is a must have.
And as mentioned above, the packaging is incredible, a book sized red and yellow cloth slipcover, inside the 4 cds housed in a fold out 8 panel full color dvd style gatefold sleeve, alongside a massive soft cover book, filled with tons of photos, as well as Ward's extensive liner notes. So totally recommended!!
MPEG Stream: CHEIKH AMIN HASANAYN "Surah Al-Haaqqa, Pt. 1 (Arabic; Egypt)"
MPEG Stream: MOHAMED BEN HAMADI, DIT MAROCAIN "E Zzine Emlih Yamana (Arabic; Algeria, Morocco)"
MPEG Stream: CHEIKH EL AFRIT "Enna Nehoub, Pt. 2 (Arabic; Tunisia)"
MPEG Stream: LES GRIOTS DE TAHOUA "Chanson de Dyahadi, Pt. 2 (Hausa; Niger)"
MPEG Stream: YETNA TADDEGHEGN "Ere Ye Agerie Lidj (Amharic; Ethiopia)"
MPEG Stream: GROUPE DE JEUNES FILLES DE BAMAKO "Celu Mankan (Bambara; Mali)"

V/A Ouaga Affair (Savannahphone) cd 17.98
While there has been no shortage of awesome collections of sounds from West Africa in the '70s, this collection somehow steps ahead of the crowd as it fantastically focuses on the much overlooked sounds coming from Burkina Faso, between the years 1974-1978. Combining heavy psych grooves, Afro-funk, rich orchestration and rock, into a sound that is warm, warbly and infectious. The recordings sound quite lo-fi, not an aesthetic decision as is the style these days, instead, a result of resources in the region during this era being extremely limited. But luckily it suits the music perfectly, as the songs jump out on their own without the need for fancy studio polish. And the echo, reverb and understated production really would make so many of today's lo-fi hipsters drool in envy. Another strength of the compilation is how well it works from start to finish, really feeling like a unified album and not just a random mix of songs from a singular time and place. Some tracks burn while others melt, some smolder, and others swing. With an overall vibe and sound that falls somewhere between The Psych-Funk 101 compilation we've been digging so much, and some of the recent comps from labels like Soundway and Honest Jons that have also done much to shed light on so many of the amazing sounds coming out of Africa in the '70s.
MPEG Stream: VOLTA JAZZ "Mama Soukous"
MPEG Stream: CISSE ABDOULAYE & SUPER VOLTA "A Son Magni"
MPEG Stream: MAMO LAGBEMA "Sind M'bassa"

V/A Ouelele (Comet ) cd 17.98
'Ouelele' is a wonderful collection of early 70s Afrobeat rarities (with the earliest track being from 1967) with with tracks by Letta M'Bulu, Philip Cohran & The Artistic Heritage Ensemble, J.M. Time & Foty, Manu Dibango, Smahila & the S.B.s, Marius Cultier, Ginger Johnson & His African Messengers, and more!

V/A Ouled Bambara (Twos & Fews / Drag City) cd + dvd 17.98

MPEG Stream: BRAHIM BELKANI "Sandiya"
MPEG Stream: HASSAN ZOUGARI "Ouled Bambara"
MPEG Stream: ABDELKBIR MARCHANE & AHMED BAQBOU "Chalaba Titara"

V/A Psych Funk 101: A Global Psychedelic Funk Curriculum (World Psychedelic Funk Classics) cd 16.98
Looking at the cover of this comp, what catches our eye? Well, of course the words PSYCH and FUNK in big electric pink letters. Pretty much had us right there, we're easy like that. But then the fine print on the sticker on the front adds an extra tingle of excitement: "None of these tracks have ever been reissued"! So what we have here is a survey course on some obscure shit, an international collection of freaky, fuzzy, funky jams from the golden years, circa 1968-1975 or so, mostly from groups we'd never heard of before. The ones did know were a good sign, being super groovy and decidedly eccentric. (Though we do have to point out that at least a few of the cuts here actually have been reissued before, that's how we knew 'em!). Here's the lineup: Hunsu Ozkartal Orkestrasi (Turkey), Kukumbas (Nigeria), Mulatu Astatke feat. Belaynesh Wubante and Assegedetch Asfaw (Ethiopia), Kim Sun (South Korea), Petalouda (Greece), Mehr Pooya (Iran), Staff Carpenborg and The Electric Corona (West Germany), The Group (Italy), Armando Sciascia (Italy), Wadih Essafi (Lebanon), Omar Khorshid (Egypt), Metin H. Alatli (Turkey), George Garanian with The Melodiya Jazz Ensemble (Russia), and Eskaton (France). 14 tracks in all, all of 'em b to the a to the d to the ass. Get ready for plenty of percolating percussion, infectious bass lines, analog synth buzz, chicken scratch guitar, greasy organ, drugged out FX, and in many cases Middle Eastern or African or other 'exotic' ethnic elements as appropriate to their nation of origin. Highlights are almost impossible to pick. All the African stuff is killer (Ethiopiques fans take note), so are the Turkish tracks (you want weird? check out how the Metin H. Alatli cut somehow segues from Richard Strauss Also Sprach Zarathustra 2001: A Space Odyssey monolith music to stoned cocktail bellydance improv!!), so is everything else. We dig how eerieness and jazziness are combined on "The Feed-back" by The Group (aka Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, featuring Ennio Morricone), and also Armando Sciascia's suspenseful "Circuito Chiuso" is pretty eerie too. Both are from Italy, where it seems that it's hard NOT to sound like you're scoring a phantasmagoric horror flick a la Goblin. Also, we love love love the grandiose extended electro-funk from Magmoid progsters Eskaton that closes out the disc. But why keep writing about this, you know you need it - unless your record collection already includes all these rarities, and there's no way it does.
Lovingly compiled with the help of DJs like Cut Chemist and Stone's Throw's Egon, Psych Funk 101 is truly a lesson in, well, a variety of awesome vintage funkiness, in the tradition of other cool comps like Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word, Obsession, Trap Door, and the Afro-centric Love's A Real Thing. Housed in a handsome digipack, it boasts a thick, 36 page booklet featuring a two-page spread on each track, with full color repro of the original LP or 45 sleeve from whence the cut originated, along with a page of text giving more info than you'd expect.
FYI this also came out on vinyl, but was gone so fast, we don't have any to list. However, we are told it is being repressed, soon we hope...
MPEG Stream: PETALOUDA "What You Can Do In Your Life"
MPEG Stream: OMAR KHORSHID "Rakset El Fadaa"
MPEG Stream: ESKATON "Dagon"

V/A Psych Funk 101: A Global Psychedelic Funk Curriculum (World Psychedelic Funk Classics) 2lp 17.98
Now available on vinyl! Yay!
Looking at the cover of this comp, what catches our eye? Well, of course the words PSYCH and FUNK in big electric pink letters. Pretty much had us right there, we're easy like that. But then the fine print on the sticker on the front adds an extra tingle of excitement: "None of these tracks have ever been reissued"! So what we have here is a survey course on some obscure shit, an international collection of freaky, fuzzy, funky jams from the golden years, circa 1968-1975 or so, mostly from groups we'd never heard of before. The ones did know were a good sign, being super groovy and decidedly eccentric. (Though we do have to point out that at least a few of the cuts here actually have been reissued before, that's how we knew 'em!). Here's the lineup: Hunsu Ozkartal Orkestrasi (Turkey), Kukumbas (Nigeria), Mulatu Astatke feat. Belaynesh Wubante and Assegedetch Asfaw (Ethiopia), Kim Sun (South Korea), Petalouda (Greece), Mehr Pooya (Iran), Staff Carpenborg and The Electric Corona (West Germany), The Group (Italy), Armando Sciascia (Italy), Wadih Essafi (Lebanon), Omar Khorshid (Egypt), Metin H. Alatli (Turkey), George Garanian with The Melodiya Jazz Ensemble (Russia), and Eskaton (France). 14 tracks in all, all of 'em b to the a to the d to the ass. Get ready for plenty of percolating percussion, infectious bass lines, analog synth buzz, chicken scratch guitar, greasy organ, drugged out FX, and in many cases Middle Eastern or African or other 'exotic' ethnic elements as appropriate to their nation of origin. Highlights are almost impossible to pick. All the African stuff is killer (Ethiopiques fans take note), so are the Turkish tracks (you want weird? check out how the Metin H. Alatli cut somehow segues from Richard Strauss Also Sprach Zarathustra 2001: A Space Odyssey monolith music to stoned cocktail bellydance improv!!), so is everything else. We dig how eerieness and jazziness are combined on "The Feed-back" by The Group (aka Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, featuring Ennio Morricone), and also Armando Sciascia's suspenseful "Circuito Chiuso" is pretty eerie too. Both are from Italy, where it seems that it's hard NOT to sound like you're scoring a phantasmagoric horror flick a la Goblin. Also, we love love love the grandiose extended electro-funk from Magmoid progsters Eskaton that closes out the disc. But why keep writing about this, you know you need it - unless your record collection already includes all these rarities, and there's no way it does.
Lovingly compiled with the help of DJs like Cut Chemist and Stone's Throw's Egon, Psych Funk 101 is truly a lesson in, well, a variety of awesome vintage funkiness, in the tradition of other cool comps like Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word, Obsession, Trap Door, and the Afro-centric Love's A Real Thing. Housed in a handsome digipack, it boasts a thick, 36 page booklet featuring a two-page spread on each track, with full color repro of the original LP or 45 sleeve from whence the cut originated, along with a page of text giving more info than you'd expect.
MPEG Stream: PETALOUDA "What You Can Do In Your Life"
MPEG Stream: OMAR KHORSHID "Rakset El Fadaa"
MPEG Stream: ESKATON "Dagon"

V/A Rough Guide To Afro-Peru (Rough Guides) cd 13.98

V/A Rumble In The Jungle (Soul Jazz) cd 21.00
When we first got wind of this comp, for some reason, we just assumed it was gonna be another amazing Soul Jazz reggae comp, it didn't even occur to us that it would be a collection of killer classic jungle jams from the early nineties. But we threw it on, and were just knocked on our asses, transported back to '93/'94 when we first discovered jungle, particularly, ragga-dancehall-jungle or whatever you wanted to call it, a killer blend of traditional Jamaican dancehall, and this new breed of sped up hip hop that had grown out of the rave scene in the UK.
The history and genealogy is complex, but there's been plenty written about it, the liner notes here are particularly informative, tracing the development of ragga-jungle from the early Reggae sound systems, through the rave scene, UK hardcore hip hop, and beyond. Ragga jungle was a flash in the pan, existing for 3 or 4 years before most of the folks making it moved on to two-step, garage, drum and bass and on an on. But for our money, this was it. This was THE music we had been waiting for. We have loved dancehall forever, the harder and faster the better, so here was the toasting and melody of dancehall, draped over chopped up stuttering and pounding hip hop beats, all sped up into a rhythmic frenzy.
If there's one track that sums it up for us, it's DJ Zinc's "Super Sharp Shooter", with its interminable vocal and squelchy synth intro, the loping creeping reggae groove, the buzzing melody, the simple shuffling drum beat, the slowed down Method Man sample, and that's all before the track actually even drops, and when it does... Whoooowheee. We remember hearing this for the first time in one of the few clubs in SF that played jungle back in the day, and it nearly knocked us out of our seats. We ended up buying a DJ mix tape from one of the DJs spinning, and thankfully it had "Super Sharp Shooter" on it, and from that point on, we listened to it over and over every day, in the car, cranked as loud as it would go, bass pumping (as much as the bass could be said to pump in a crappy old van). So fucking heavy and hooky and funky. When the track finally kicks in, it's massive, relentless serpentine pass line, ultra complex drums, funky and groovy but so tangled and dense, every once in a while the bass line locks on a single not and just hooooooooolds steady until it drops, hard, and we're off on another junglistic jam. As far as we're concerned this would be worth it just for this track, but thankfully, the rest of the disc is just as kick ass.
Lots of familiar reggae and dancehall names, Ninjaman, Bounty Killer, Beenie Man, Cutty Ranks, and for those in the know, the rest of the names read like an early nineties jungle all star lineup: Ragga Twins, Poison Chang, Ragga Twins, DJ Zinc, Shy FX... but even if you don't know any of these names, the music speaks for itself. Check out "Original Nuttah" by UK Apachi & Shy FX, beginning with some super hooky sing songy reggae vocals before the track launches into a maddeningly dense rapid fire snare workout underpinning a raw and tongue twisting flow. Furious and intense and so goddamn good. Then there's tracks like Ragga Twins' "Illegal Gunshot", with its playful and circusy melodic loop, but juxtaposed with some seriously aggro toasting, some Bomb Squad like production, and some outrageously funky drumming.
Pretty much every track on here is a killer, never has a record so much made even us non-dancers want to head for the dancefloor and go fucking nuts. The cool thing about this stuff, is even if you're dancefloor phobic, is that these tracks are so dense and multi layered, full of convoluted rhythms and mad drumming and rapid fire rhymes and wild toasting and strange melodies and killer grooves, that they're almost as fun to listen to as they are to dance to. Almost.
Like all Soul Jazz stuff, gorgeously packaged and extensively researched. Tons of liner notes, track notes, photos, all wrapped up in a full color slipcase.
MPEG Stream: DJ ZINC "Super Sharp Shooter"
MPEG Stream: RAGGA TWINS "Illegal Gunshot"
MPEG Stream: ASHER SENATOR "One Bible"
MPEG Stream: POISON CHANG "Press The Trigger"

V/A Rumble In The Jungle (Soul Jazz) 2lp 24.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
When we first got wind of this comp, for some reason, we just assumed it was gonna be another amazing Soul Jazz reggae comp, it didn't even occur to us that it would be a collection of killer classic jungle jams from the early nineties. But we threw it on, and were just knocked on our asses, transported back to '93/'94 when we first discovered jungle, particularly, ragga-dancehall-jungle or whatever you wanted to call it, a killer blend of traditional Jamaican dancehall, and this new breed of sped up hip hop that had grown out of the rave scene in the UK.
The history and genealogy is complex, but there's been plenty written about it, the liner notes here are particularly informative, tracing the development of ragga-jungle from the early Reggae sound systems, through the rave scene, UK hardcore hip hop, and beyond. Ragga jungle was a flash in the pan, existing for 3 or 4 years before most of the folks making it moved on to two-step, garage, drum and bass and on an on. But for our money, this was it. This was THE music we had been waiting for. We have loved dancehall forever, the harder and faster the better, so here was the toasting and melody of dancehall, draped over chopped up stuttering and pounding hip hop beats, all sped up into a rhythmic frenzy.
If there's one track that sums it up for us, it's DJ Zinc's "Super Sharp Shooter", with its interminable vocal and squelchy synth intro, the loping creeping reggae groove, the buzzing melody, the simple shuffling drum beat, the slowed down Method Man sample, and that's all before the track actually even drops, and when it does... Whoooowheee. We remember hearing this for the first time in one of the few clubs in SF that played jungle back in the day, and it nearly knocked us out of our seats. We ended up buying a DJ mix tape from one of the DJs spinning, and thankfully it had "Super Sharp Shooter" on it, and from that point on, we listened to it over and over every day, in the car, cranked as loud as it would go, bass pumping (as much as the bass could be said to pump in a crappy old van). So fucking heavy and hooky and funky. When the track finally kicks in, it's massive, relentless serpentine pass line, ultra complex drums, funky and groovy but so tangled and dense, every once in a while the bass line locks on a single not and just hooooooooolds steady until it drops, hard, and we're off on another junglistic jam. As far as we're concerned this would be worth it just for this track, but thankfully, the rest of the disc is just as kick ass.
Lots of familiar reggae and dancehall names, Ninjaman, Bounty Killer, Beenie Man, Cutty Ranks, and for those in the know, the rest of the names read like an early nineties jungle all star lineup: Ragga Twins, Poison Chang, Ragga Twins, DJ Zinc, Shy FX... but even if you don't know any of these names, the music speaks for itself. Check out "Original Nuttah" by UK Apachi & Shy FX, beginning with some super hooky sing songy reggae vocals before the track launches into a maddeningly dense rapid fire snare workout underpinning a raw and tongue twisting flow. Furious and intense and so goddamn good. Then there's tracks like Ragga Twins' "Illegal Gunshot", with its playful and circusy melodic loop, but juxtaposed with some seriously aggro toasting, some Bomb Squad like production, and some outrageously funky drumming.
Pretty much every track on here is a killer, never has a record so much made even us non-dancers want to head for the dancefloor and go fucking nuts. The cool thing about this stuff, is even if you're dancefloor phobic, is that these tracks are so dense and multi layered, full of convoluted rhythms and mad drumming and rapid fire rhymes and wild toasting and strange melodies and killer grooves, that they're almost as fun to listen to as they are to dance to. Almost.
Like all Soul Jazz stuff, gorgeously packaged and extensively researched. Tons of liner notes, track notes, photos...
MPEG Stream: DJ ZINC "Super Sharp Shooter"
MPEG Stream: RAGGA TWINS "Illegal Gunshot"
MPEG Stream: ASHER SENATOR "One Bible"
MPEG Stream: POISON CHANG "Press The Trigger"

V/A Secret Museum Of Mankind - Music Of North Africa - Ethnic Music Classics: 1925-48 (Yazoo) cd 16.98

V/A Shangaan Electro: New Wave Dance Music From South Africa (Honest Jon's) cd 17.98
With the abundance of amazing comps and reissues of lost gems from all over Africa in the 1970s, it can get easy to forget that there is the here and now, and that there is equally damaged, brilliant, fucked up and contagious sounds being made throughout the globe RIGHT NOW! Don't get us wrong we love all the reissues of '70s psych glory that's being dug up and rediscovered all over the world, including so much from Africa, but damn it's so refreshing and invigorating to get a set of brand new sounds from across the globe being created at this very moment that grabs a hold of our imagination in such exciting ways. Shangaan is a new form of dance music coming out of Soweto that merges the sounds of traditional mbira (thumb piano) music with hyperactive synthesizers. It really is like nothing we've heard before. Call and response glory wrapped in 180 bpm craziness!
In some ways this feels like the spazzy cousin to the great Congotronics compilation from a few years ago, as that also showcased a new form of charged and body moving sounds coming out of Africa. But this is even more dance minded. You have to make sure you go online to YouTube and check out the actual dances that are performed to this music, so spirited, full of a new folklore and such a psychedelic aura. The sound of the songs is kind of like some early Nintendo game getting hijacked by Omar Souleyman armed with a karaoke machine and a troupe of boys, girls, men and women all ready to move on their feet as fast and furiously as possible. There are parts of the music that sound like Fever Ray played on the wrong speed, or what we imagine M.I.A. would blast at an afterparty. Forget about the World Cup, this may be the most mind blowing cultural phenomenon going down in South Africa that we are lucky enough to get to hear and appreciate NOW. Beyond recommended!
MPEG Stream: TSHETSHA BOYS "Nwampfundla"
MPEG Stream: TIYISELANI VOMASEVE "Vanghoma"
MPEG Stream: ZINJA HLUNGWANI "N'wagezani"
MPEG Stream: NKATA MAWEWE "Khulumani"