Ajate are a Japanese band who have the Afrobeat sound down. They’re one of the best bands working in this style while seamlessly blending Japanese percussion, funk and soul into their milieu.
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Italy’s Record Kicks has been releasing crime-funk, hip garage rock, deep soul, afro and boogaloo hits for 15 years so the label will be offering, as of May 15th, a compilation of some of their finest moments. Bands on this killer comp include The Tibbs, Calibro 35 and our favorite neo-soul diva, Martha Ren.
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I think this may be the first Gabonese album I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing. Orchestre Massako are a band who mixes Afro-Funk with cumbia beats, blending the best of Africa and Latin America together in a joyous mix.
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Beefy, gritty, nasty funk. That’s what you will hear from this monster by DJ Daniele Baldelli. There are elements of tribal funk, Afrobeat, and soundtrack music that wouldn’t be out-of-place in old German or Italian krimis or Poliziotteschi. Calibro 35 would be the most apt comparison to Daniele’s work, but this feels more dance-floor-ready.
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The Scorpios are a Sudanese/British Afrobeat band with an incredible pedigree. Regia Ishag, the band’s singer, is the daughter of the guitarist of one of Sudan’s funkiest bands, The Scorpions (obviously not the German hard-rock band bearing the same name). This new generation band maintains the funkiness of their forefathers and adds jazz, more funk and a more general Afrobeat element to the music. It’s rapturous and made for the dance floor or the wedding ceremony equally.
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Benin (formerly Dahomey) has produced so much good music, yet it’s suffered from a lack of availability in the West, meaning that only the most expert crate-diggers or West African music specialists were able to enjoy these artists. Thankfully, Analog Africa has been doing their best to make sure this music gets documented, digitized, and publicized around the world. Some of the composers included on this disc are Gnonnas Pedro et Ses Dadjes, Antoine Dougbé, El Rego et Ses Commandos and Honoré Avolonto. These were the cream of the crop of Beninois balladeers during the 1960s and 1970s. The comp…
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The first time I had the pleasure of hearing Afrobeat was in Skopje, Macedonia, of all places. There isn’t a lot of variance to the music on this comp, though there are a few gems on this comp, but I have to be honest – how do you better Fela Kuti and Tony Allen? It’s a tough sell. This is the future of Afrobeat you’re listening to on this compilation, and the best part is that the genre is exploding everywhere. You will find bands from Nigerian diasporas in places like France and Spain, but it was interesting to see…
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Analog Africa produces yet another astounding compilation. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait a while for this one, because the release date is scheduled for September 3, 2021. Still, considering the high quality of pretty much everything this label has produced, I’m expecting some fine music. Over on the Bandcamp release page, a question that had been in mind for a while has been answered. How could Cameroon, with a rich musical history, be so poorly represented? As it turns out, there was no infrastructure so speak of, so promotion outside the country would have been impossible in those days. From…
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Fiddling around on the Youtube stream today as I have the house to myself, I came across a video of this album, and within the first second or so, I got hooked into a mix of Malian blues, funk, Cuban rhythms and a general Afrobeat vibe. Muito Kaballa are a nine-piece band based in Cologne, Germany, and the label releasing this charmer is Rebel Up Records, a fine imprint out of Belgium.
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When reading tags about vodun jazz, a reggae vibe wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. Still, Togbe Adjos produces an album mixing the rhythms of the Caribbean with those of his native Benin. This is a mellow but lively album which wouldn’t feel out of place among that massive stack of Trojan Records you have laying around your listening room. West Africa is perhaps the hottest place in world music these days. It’s wonderful to see Benin’s musicians receiving more and more recognition.