It’s safe to say that 1976 Nigeria was a somewhat different world from today’s. The Edo-Delta region must have been a rather swinging place if this reissue of Felix Labarty’s classic, Girls For Sale, is any indication. The music is lush, perhaps a little tinny, disco mixed with reggae vibes Continue Reading
African Music
Moughenda Village – Calling the Spirits: Missoko Bwiti Music of Gabon
This Moment Records is a record label, “… which is dedicated to producing and promoting field recordings from around the world, in addition to crafting innovative soundscapes for relaxation and meditation,” at least according to their Bandcamp site. As we have never reviewed any music from Gabon before, I looked Continue Reading
Mahotella Queens – Abaculi Bethu / Umculo Kawupheli
Today’s share is a joyful slice of township jive out of South Africa from the legendary Mahotella Queens. It’s a tragedy that it took a cretinous thief like Malcolm McLaren to turn the world on to such music. From the Umsakazo Records Bandcamp site: “The reach and influence of “Umculo Continue Reading
Awalom Gebremariam – Desdes
Awalom Gebremariam was a singer from Eritrea who completed this gem of a record in 2007 in the United States. From his Bandcamp site: “Awalom completed Desdes in 2007, not long before he departed Eritrea. Because Awalom left after the recording he never received any money for cassette and CD Continue Reading
Linda Ayupuka – God Created Everything
Indeed, He did, yet as I’m new to the Fra Fra scene in Ghana, if Linda Ayupuka is a good example of what kind of music the genre produces, I think I’m going to like digging into it. The music is a combo of tinny beats, lo-fi disco, and a Continue Reading
S.E. Rogie – Further Sounds of S.E. Rogie
This is our second African gem this week, following the marvelously brutal release by Kenya’s Duma. This release by the late S.E. Rogie is a more relaxed, bluesy highlife affair from Sierra Leone. According to the Mississippi Records Bandcamp website, Rogie, “…went from running a tailor shop in Sierra Leone Continue Reading
Various Artists – Léve Léve: Sao Tomé & Principe Sounds 70s-80s
From the Bandcamp site of our friends at Bongo Joe Records: Léve-Léve is the first ever compilation devoted to music from São Tome and Principe, two small islands situated off the coast of Gabon in central Africa. The album unravels a story of liberation where the music of Africa, Europe Continue Reading
Verckys et l´Orchestre Vévé – Congolese Funk, Afrobeat & Psychedelic Rumba 1969-1978 (Analog Africa Nr. 17)
On October 13th,the African music world world lost an absolute demigod in the form of Verckys Kiamuangana Mateta. How important was he? Well, going by Wikipedia, he, “was a Congolese saxophonist, composer, bandleader, producer, record label founder, and music-business executive. He was renowned as a talented and prolific musician, and Continue Reading
Ernesto Djédjé – Roi Du Ziglibithy (Limited Dance Edition Nr. 15)
Analog Africa released a disc of music from Ivory Coast legend Ernesto Djédjé recently, and it was rather eye-opening to see that even in a place as far away as Côte d’Ivoire, they had the same problems of so-called foreign influence getting in the way of local music, with Ernesto Continue Reading
Yanna Momina – Afar Ways
Our friends at Xango Music reminded us about a profoundly interesting album released by Glitterhouse Records out of Germany. The artist, Yanna Momina, is from Djibouti, a country which very rarely gets any sort of press attention outside of military news (and the fact that it is now one of Continue Reading