• Music

    Aselefech Ashine & Getenesh Kebret – ሸ​ገ​ኔ​ዎ​ች (Beauties)

    September 14, 2023 - By 

    Mississippi Records has unearthed an Ethiopian gem from the middle 1970s.  From their Bandcamp site: “On this 1976 gem of a record, Aselefech Ashine and Getenesh Kebret’s voices intertwine in close harmony, the two “beauties” singing in duet across 10 gorgeous tracks. The Army Band, which backed greats like Tlahoun Gesesse and Mahmoud Ahmed, brings Mulatu-esque minor-key piano runs, interlocking percussion, and rock-steady basslines. Arranger Teshome Sisay’s flute winds through the compositions, tying together gloriously woozy horns. The greatest elements of Ethiopia’s Golden Age combine here, in one of the final records of the era. Aselefech and Getenesh were raised…

  • Music

    S​.​E. Rogie – Further Sounds of S​.​E. Rogie

    November 1, 2022 - By 

    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 to being one of West Africa’s most popular artists. He toured around the country, singing his palm wine music in multiple local languages, created his own record label, and was known as the most handsome man in Sierra Leone. He formed the highlife band The Morningstars in 1965. In 1973,…

  • Music

    Marika Politissa – All Parts Dark

    November 13, 2021 - By 

    Much respect to Mississippi Records out of Chicago, Illinois for releasing this magnificent artifact! The back story is explained in great detail on the label’s Bandcamp site: Marika “Politissa” Frantzeskopoulou was a Greek singer from Constantinople, reknowned for her precise, fluid and graceful performances and depth of feeling. Backed by some of the best musicians of the era on lyra, violin, oud, kanonaki and guitar, Marika’s repertoire and techniques drew from Byzantine and Ottoman musical traditions. She possessed an ability to devastate her audience through her expressions of grief, exile, and tragic love, running the gamut of cafe aman, torch…