Afrobeat 1301 Items

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Wagram)

African Vibes

Afro-Jazz-Folk Collection Volume 1

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Between electronic music and traditional African music, dive into the heart of this subtle mix thanks to the leading artists of the genre!Bonobo - Vaudou Game - Bonga -Guts - Fatoumata Diawara - Philippe Cohen Solal - Manu Dibango -Anschorsong

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Super Biton De Segou

2LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Deviation & Mieruba)

LP | 1975 | EU | Reissue (Matsuli Music)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Rock & Indie

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Deviation Records is pleased to present you their latest and exiting collaboration with the Mieruba Label Team. The Super Biton has existed since the 60s, like Ségou, its orchestra, the Super Biton has always remained behind what was done in Bamako and in the big cities of Africa. The Ségou orchestra developed and incorporated amplified instruments that mingle with brass, in particular electric guitars, symbols of modernity at the time. It opens up to Cuban music, and congas and bongos complement the sound of the orchestra. The group drew a unique sound from it, a perfect balance between tradition and the modern. There are about fifteen artits on stage, singers, guitarists, drummer and percussionists. The Super Biton has for years been the best known and most sought-after orchestra of Mali outside the country's borders, the Super Biton transcends the only Bambara heritage with its repertoire. Ségou is a crossroads between Bambara, Fulani, Mandingo and Somono cultures and Biton has drawn on all these traditions to create a repertoire extremely rich in rhythms and words. Some musicians completed their training in Cuba. They play "bambara jazz", incorporating a lot of brass instruments such as saxophone, trumpet, clarinet. The compositions are modern and sophisticated. Mieruba Art Center is a place dedicated to the transmission and safeguarding of Malian musical heritage through musical exchange between the older and newer generation - Artist residences, music lessons, rehearsals, Workshops, Masterclasses - and so on. Just as happy former musicians of Mali, the members of Super Biton give lessons on site. It is also the office of the Mieruba-ML label in the same place where Deviation Records is collaborating for the second time on the album - After the « Lost Maestros Collection » - with the support of La Manufacture de Vinyles. Phil of Deviation Records tells: "I am very enthusiastic at the idea of offering you these two volumes of the History of the Super Biton of Ségou, Clique of Super Heroes of sound, a source of inspiration for generations of musicians, DJs and also griots and storytellers of great renown! This double LP compiles the first Chapter of the rich Afro-Jazz-Folk Collection whose tapes have been remastered by Monsieur Jonin and cut at the MB Mastering Studio in Aubervilliers .The gatefold artwork is conceived by Ewwanuelle Collage and formatted by Bertrand Tondeur, Graphic designer of Les Mouches. All that’sleft to say is that i hope that you enjoy listening to the final result !"

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The Beaters

Harari

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Knitting Factory)

Release: 1975 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Excellent reissue of this amazing LP by the South African super group. Check the tunes ''Harari'' and 'Thiba Kamoo'', super groovy arrangements and tight cohesion between Alec Khaoli on bass guitar and Sipho Mabuse on drums, laced with the soaring vocals and guitar play by Selby Ntuli. Tip! The Beaters – Harari was released in 1975. After changing their name, Harari went into the studio late in 1976 to record their follow-up, Rufaro / Happiness. In 1976 they were voted South Africa’s top instrumental group and were in high demand at concert venues across the country. Comprising former schoolmates guitarist and singer Selby Ntuli, bassist Alec Khaoli, lead guitarist Monty Ndimande and drummer Sipho Mabuse, the group had come a long way from playing American-styled instrumental soul in the late sixties to delivering two Afro-rock masterpieces. Before these two albums the Beaters had been disciples of ‘Soweto Soul’ – an explosion of township bands drawing on American soul and inspired by the assertive image of Stax and Motown’s Black artists. The Beaters supported Percy Sledge on his 1970 South African tour (and later Timmy Thomas, Brook Benton and Wilson Pickett). But their watershed moment was their three month tour of Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) where they were inspired by the strengthening independence struggle and musicians such as Thomas Mapfumo who were turning to African influences. On their return, the neat Nehru jackets that had been the band’s earliest stage wear were replaced by dashikis and Afros. “In Harari we rediscovered our African-ness, the infectious rhythms and music of the continent. We came back home inspired! We were overhauling ourselves into dashiki-clad musicians who were Black Power saluting and so on.” Sipho Hotstix Mabuse, talking of the band’s time spent on tour in the (then) Rhodesian township from where they took their name. As well as expressing confident African politics, Alec Khaoli recalled, they pioneered by demonstrating that such messages could also be carried by “...happy music. During apartheid times we made people laugh and dance when things weren’t looking good.” The two albums capture the band on the cusp of this transition. One the first album Harari, Inhlupeko Iphelile, Push It On and Thiba Kamoo immediately signal the new Afro-centric fusion of rock, funk and indigenous influences. Amercian soul pop is not forgotten with Love, Love, Love and, helped along by Kippie Moeketsi and Pat Matshikiza a bump-jive workout What’s Happening concludes the album. The second album Rufaro pushes the African identity and fusion further, with key tracks Oya Kai (Where are you going?), Musikana and Uzulu whilst the more pop-styled Rufaro and Afro-Gas point to where Harari were headed to in years to come. The popularity and sales generated by these two classic albums saw them signed by Gallo and release just two more albums with the original line-up before the untimely death of Selby Ntuli in 1978. Whilst they went on to greater success, even landing a song in the US Billboard Disco Hot 100 in 1982, it was never the same again. “Harari’s music still speaks directly to one of my goals as a younger artist: to express myself as an African without pretending that I don’t have all these other musical elements – classical, jazz, house – inside me.” (Thandi Ntuli, niece of Selby Ntuli).

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Fela Kuti & Roy Ayers

Music Of Many Colours

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Sahel Sounds)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Music of Many Colours is a joint album between Roy Ayers and Fela Kuti, recorded after a three week tour of Nigeria’s major cities in 1979, during which Roy Ayers performed as the opening act for Fela’s band. The two artists decided to record the album as a round-up to the tour.

Roy Ayers describes the experience saying, “I met Fela Kuti in Nigeria in 1979, and we fell into a great relationship, good personal and music vibes, and we recorded that album together. Fela also came to USA in the eighties and we performed at NYC's Madison Square Garden. Amazingly energetic, Fela Kuti had a very original concept that was called Afro Beat – a genre with a very unique identity and exceptional music. One of Fela Kuti's most impressive qualities was that he was undeniably a brilliant show man, as a musician and as a huge dancer as well. His African concept was truly original… The tour was about two black men together coming together, one from Africa and other from USA, a very exciting collaboration."

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Hama

Houmeissa

2LP | 2018 | EU | Original (Hot Casa)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Nigerian composer Hama presents a groundbreaking album of traditional electronic desert folk songs, hovering somewhere between early 90s techno and synthwave. Nomadic herding ballads, ancient caravan songs, and ceremonial wedding chants are all re-imagined into
pieces seemingly lifted from a Saharan 1980s sci-fi soundtrack or score to a Tuareg video game. With a deep love and respect, Hama effortlessly takes back and re-appropriates fourth-world ethnoambient music.

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Vaudou Game

Otodi

12" | 1981 | EU | Reissue (Hot Casa)

Release: 2018 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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No one had been through those doors in years. Unchanged, seemingly untouched, just a Guard watching over it, one wondered whether the place would ever see the light of day again. Built in the 70s by Scotch, there were only twenty such places in the entire world. Twenty studios, all identical. Most had undergone a digital makeover in the 80s, but not this one; situated in Lomé, this studio had stayed true to its original form. Silent and uninhabited but waiting for one thing, and one thing only: for the sacred fire to be lit once again. That of the Togolese Recording Office, is studio OTODI for those in the know. Through thick layers of dust, the console was vibrating still, impatient to be turned on and spurt out the sound so unique to analog. That sound is what Peter Solo and his band Vaudou Game came to seek out.
The original vibrations of Lomé’s sound, resonating within the studio space, an undercurrent pulsing within the walls, the floor, and the entire atmosphere. A presence at once electrical and mystical sourced through the amps that had never really gone cold, despite the deep sleep that they had been forced into. In taking over the studio’s 3000 square feet, enough to house a full orchestra, Vaudou Game had the space necessary to conjure the spirits of voodoo, those very spirits who watch over men and nature, and with whom Peter converses every day.
For the most authentic of frequencies to fully imbibe this third album, Peter Solo entrusted the rhythmic section to a Togolese bass and drum duo, putting the groove in the expert hands of those versed in feeling and a type of musicianship that you can’t learn in any school. This was also a way to put OTODI on the path of a more heavily hued funk sound, the backbone of which maintains flexibility and agility when moving over to highlife, straightens out when enhanced with frequent guest Roger Damawuzan’s James Brown type screams, and softens when making the way for strings. Snaking and undulating when a chorus of Togolese women takes over, guiding it towards a slow, hypnotic trance. Up until now, Vaudou Game had maintained their connection to Togo from their base in France. This time, recording the entire album in Lomé at OTODI with local musicians, Peter Solo drew the voodoo fluid directly from the source, once again using only Togolese scales to make his guitar sing, his strings acting as channels between listeners and deities…

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Mac Gregor

Abidjan

21,99 €*

2LP | 2002 | EU | Reissue (Comet)

Release: 1981 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Rare and in High demand Afro digital Soul EP, recorded in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) in 1981.
Originally from Martinique, Clem Marise Voltine aka Mac Gregor moved to Abidjan in 1979 searching for, what she called, her “negritude quest”. She sang about her love for her adoptive city until her death in April 2004 at CHU of Abidjan, Trechville Hospital.
A visionary composer, poet and singer, mixing Creole, French and Nouchi, she made a brilliant musical bridge between the West-Indies and Ivory Coast, backed by a soulful group of top Ivorian musicians such as the great Houon Pierre.
This unique and must have record is a pure dancefloor killer and will definitely be the next Afro Tropical Hit of the next decade!
Fully Licensed in Abidjan, remastered at Carvery Studio on a 12inch vinyl (45 RPM).

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Tony Allen

Homecooking

Release: 2002 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Originally released in 2002, Comet is proud to present the legendary album Homecooking, reissued with a remastered version. Tony Allen talks about the album: “After Black Voices and Psyco on Da Bus albums, I came back with HomeCooking which was an album filled with guests. I brought in Ty, who had remixed some of my work previously, to rap on the record, and Damon Albarn, who had already sung about me on ‘Music is my Radar’. Since the early days I’ve been trying to find things that everybody will want to listen to. I’ve always been pushing Afrobeat in different directions. Here’s another one again, another style, almost clean but still rough, raggedy and radical.’’

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Nigeria Soul Fever! - Afro Funk, Disco and Boogie: West African Disco Mayem!

3LP | UK (Soul Jazz)

34,99 €*

LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Elmir)

Release: UK

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Soul Jazz Records’ new Nigeria Soul Fever is their first release to explore the vast wealth of Nigerian music recorded in the 1970s. The new album comes with introductory sleeve-notes by Bill Brewster (author of Last Night A DJ Saved My Life).
Packed-full with Afro-Funk, Disco and Boogie all from Nigeria, this triple album/double CD set brings together a stunning collection of diverse West African sounds. Whilst a small handful of the artists featured (Joni Haastrup, Tee Mac, Christy Essien) have seen the light of day outside Africa, this is essentially a collection of killer tracks by an array of artists completely unknown outside of Nigeria. Artists such as Don Bruce & The Angels, Akin Richards & The Executives, Angela Starr, Jimmy Sherry & The Music Agents. It’s no surprise that these records are extremely rare and expensive to buy individually so this album will save you going broke trying to find them.
These recordings were made at a time when Nigeria’s trade restrictions banned imported records. Whilst new musical trends (such as American soul, funk, disco etc) entered and influenced the country, the local music scene remained just that – local. Consequently, these recordings remain practically unknown to anyone outside of the country.

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Farid El Atarche

The Early Years

Trésors De La Chanson Judéo-Arabbe

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Rock & Indie

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Singer, actor and musician Farid El Atrache, born on October 19, 1910 in Soueïda, Syria, and died on December 26, 1974 in Beirut, Lebanon, is considered the greatest singer of the Arab world. A virtuoso of the oud, his timeless work, rich in hundreds of compositions, is recognized the world over. The present selection is devoted to the master's early works recorded in the 1930s-1940s.

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Lili Boniche

LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Elmir)

LP | 2024 | Original (Visage Music)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Rock & Indie

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Algerian singer and musician Lili Boniche was born in Algiers on March 14, 1921, and died on March 6, 2008. He was famous for his contribution to Judeo-Arabic music, and particularly associated with chaâbi, a musical genre popular in Algeria that blends Arab, Berber and French influences.

Born Eliaou Élie Boniche, and he grew up in a Sephardic Jewish family and became interested in music at an early age. His musical career really took off in the 1940s and 1950s, when he recorded numerous hits that helped popularize the Judeo-Arabic repertoire. His unique style blended elements of Arabic music, jazz and tango, creating a captivating musical fusion. He is widely recognized for his mastery of the lute and his distinctive voice. His lyrics were often poetic, reflecting the everyday life, love and culture of his time.

Lili Boniche left an indelible mark on the North African music scene. His legacy lives on in his recordings, which continue to be listened to and enjoyed by music lovers the world over.

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Inventionis Mater

Dimentionis Matter

41,99 €*

Release: 2024 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Find Your Flame White Colored Vinyl Edition

Nubiyan Twist

LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Strut)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Preorder shipping from 2024-05-03

Barcelona Gipsy Balkan Orchestra

Nova Era

LP | 2021 | Original

Release: 2021 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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7" | 2020 | UK | Reissue (Lyskestrekk)

Flammer Dance Band

Mer / Holder Rytme

13,99 €*

2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (RCA)

Release: 2020 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Flammer Dance Band back with two new hip-shaking garage funk tunes! 2023 Repress edition in different sleeve artwork colourway Another essential from Lyskestrekk Records.

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Buddy Guy

The Blues Don't Lie

Hypnotic Guitar Of John Ondolo

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The Blues Don’t Lie is the amazing new album from Buddy Guy, and is the legend’s 34th studio album, and the follow up to 2018’s Grammy winning album The Blues Is Alive and Well. Produced by songwriter/drummer Tom Hambridge, The Blues Don’t Lie features guests including Mavis Staples, Elvis Costello, James Taylor, Jason Isbell, and more.

The album will be released exactly 65 years to the day that Buddy Guy arrive in Chicago on a train from Baton Rouge, Louisiana in September of 1957, with just the clothes on his back an his guitar. His life would never be the same, and he was born again in the blues. The Blues Don’t Lie tells the story of his lifelong journey.

Reflecting on this body of work, Buddy says “I promised them all: B.B., Muddy, Sonny Boy as long as I’m alive I’m going to keep the blues alive.” He has indeed proven that again, and proclaims, “I can’t wait for world to hear my new album cause The Blues Don’t Lie.”

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John Ondolo

LP | 2022 | US | Original (Mississippi)

LP | 2019 | EU | Reissue (Sonorama)

Release: 2022 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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John Ondolo spent his life traveling between Tanzania, where he was born, and Kenya, where he recorded a string of singles for independent labels in the late 1950s and early 60s. Unlike most guitarists from the region, Ondolo used open tuning (a favorite of American blues guitarists), creating a hypnotic drone over which he laid down endless rhythmic variations on his main themes. Inspired by the exploding pop music scene in Nairobi, the newest rock and roll imports from the US, and the Abakuria tribal music of his youth, Ondolo transposed traditional instruments and rhythms to his guitar, playing it more like a traditional harp at times, and inventing a sound totally unique in the recorded history of African guitar. This album brings together John Ondolo's rare early 78rpm recordings in the first-ever overview of this innovative but overlooked artist. The music traces Ondolo's creative output, from the resonant acoustic guitar masterpiece Tumshukuru Mungu to the relentless guitar and flute (!) interplay of Kenya Style to his later electric guitar, bass, and drum recordings with the Jolly Trio, all tied together by Ondolo's unique rhythmic sense and vocal style. The breadth and variety of Ondolo's recordings may be a result of his sporadic recording history. Unlike more famous artists, Ondolo wasn't sucked into the Nairobi nightlife scene of the early 60s, instead traveling from his farm in the foothills of Kilimanjaro on occasion to record. An outsider and devout Catholic whose music was sometimes at odds with the style of the times, he later left music entirely, shifting to film and driving a mobile cinema van for the Tanzanian government, introducing socialist and Pan-African films to the countryside. An accident in his mobile cinema led to the loss of his left arm, though he continued his travels. He died in 2008 in Dar Es Salaam, leaving behind two wives and 11 children. Over a decade in the works, Hypnotic Guitar of_ includes an insert with lyrics and translations, as well as notes by Tanzanian m...

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Kapingbdi

Born In The Night

21,99 €*

Release: 2019 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Vampisoul)

Nil's Jazz Ensemble

Muddy Waters: The Montreux Years

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Highlights:The Only Album Ever Recorded By Peruvian Sax Player Nilo Espinosa And His Group, Also Known As The Nil's Jazz Ensemble, Remains Not Only As One Of The Truly Grails For Collectors Of Latin-American Jazz But Also As An Outstanding Piece Of Music On Its Own.After Years Unavailable, Our Reissue Presents This 1976 Album In Its Full Glory, With Remastered Sound And Original Artwork, Including The Rare Promo Poster.Pressed On 180g Vinyl.Description:Once Resettled In Lima, Peru, In 1974 After Spending Some Time Playing In A Jazz Quintet In Berlin, Sax Player Nilo Espinosa Would Put Together The Nil's Jazz Ensemble, A Top-Notch Array Of Local Talent Consisting Of Pancho Sáenz (Trumpet), Miguel 'Chino' Figueroa (Keyboards), Oscar Stagnaro (Bass), Andrés Silva (Drums And Percussion), Jorge Montero, Richie Zellon And Ramón Stagnaro (Guitars).They Recorded One Single Album That Remains Not Only As One Of The Truly Grails For Collectors Of Latin-American Jazz But Also As An Outstanding Piece Of Music On Its Own. The Opening Song "Reflexiones" Is A Mind-Blowing Jazz-Funk Number Right Up There With The Very Best Of The Genre, Written By Black Sugar's Former Member Miguel 'Chino' Figueroa, Featuring A Fantastic Work On Trumpet And Rhodes.The Album Also Includes A Cover Of The Rare Groove Classic "Hard Work" That Could Have Easily Sneaked Into The Funkiest Side Of The Prestige Catalogue.Following The Success Of This Album, Espinosa Would Expand His Band To A Big Band Format And Tour Local Theatres And Clubs In Lima, Where Jazz Music Was A Popular Genre At The Time.Our Reissue Presents This 1976 Album In Its Full Glory, Pressed On 180g Vinyl With Remastered Sound And Original Artwork, Including The Rare Promo Poster.

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Muddy Waters

2LP | 2021 | EU | Original (BMG)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2021 | EU | Original (We Are Busy Bodies)

Eboni Band

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Noir Et Blanc (Remastered)

Zazou / Bikaye / CY1

LP | 1983 | EU | Reissue (Crammed)

21,99 €*

Release: 1983 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Bahta Gebre-Heywet / Alemayetu Eshete

Tessassategn Eko / Ayalqem Tedenqo

7" | 2016 | UK | Original (Mr Bongo)

12,99 €*

Live At Basins Nightclub 1987

Release: 2016 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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‘Tèssassatègn Eko’ is a catchy, soulful Ethiopian jam. Originally released on
Amha AE 690 A in 1973. Arranged by the prolific Girma Beyene.

‘Ayalqem Tèdènqo’ see’s Eshèté’s third appearance in the Africa 45’s series. Released originally on Amha AE 290 A in 1971. A shuffling drum/percussion groove with soulful piano and bass, catchy vocal hook and guitar solo.

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Desmond Dekker

LP | 2024 | UK | Original (Burning Sounds)

Release: 2024 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Aggravators & Revolutionaries

Guerrilla Dub

LP | 1978 | UK | Reissue (Burning Sounds)

Release: 1978 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Banana In Your Fruit Basket: Red Hot Blues 1931-36

Bo Carter

LP | 2013 | Reissue (Yazoo Record Company)

Release: 2013 / Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Best Of Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

LP | 2024 | US | Original (Shanachie)

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Sledgehammer Dub In The Street Of Jamaica

Niney The Observer

LP | 2024 | UK | Original (Burning Sounds)

Release: 2024 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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When We Were Looking Seaglass Blue With Emerald Green Splatter Vinyl Editin

Louisa Stancioff

LP | 2024 | Original (Yep Roc)

Release: 2024 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2023 | US | Original (Burning Sounds)

Prince Lincoln Thompson

God Sent Dub

Release: 2023 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The Unreleased Sounds Of Top Rank

Aba / Nigeria

LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Dig This Way)

20,99 €*

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Reggae & Dancehall

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It's been a long journey from the day in Nigeria when we found, inside an Alpha Kuffa - Messiah I sleeve, a blank test press of the Yangaman Bob Lp with a little Top Rank sticker on it to the day we met the producer, the great and brilliant George Dureke, who gave us the test presses of the remaining unreleased albums from his Top Rank label, till to the complicated audio Restoration handled by Colin Young and Bassi Maestro. After two years of hard and intensive work it's finally arrived the time for this compilation to be ready and see the light! Eight Unreleased Digital Roots tracks made in Nigeria in the late 80s, never released or pressed, if not on a couple of test presses made on recycled plastic. Surely it includes some of the most interesting Reggae Music made in the Roots Land call Nigeria! Now Ready to be spreaded worldwide!

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Esa Presents Amandla: Music To The People

2LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Soundway)

12" | 1985 | EU | Reissue (Soundway)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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In September, Soundway Records will release its first compilation of 2019: Esa Presents Amandla: Music To The People.
Growing up in Cape Town, South Africa, during the last days of Apartheid, Esa recalls the immense power that music had in resisting oppression and division. “Amandla, Awethu”, which literally means “the power is ours”, was an ubiquitous chant echoing throughout the politically charged atmosphere of the time – a call to unite, and a call from which this release derives not only its title, but its intention as well.
“Music was a crucial way of bringing people and communities together”, reflects Esa, “and it’s what I hope to achieve with this compilation, too”.
For Esa Williams is not only a musical polymath but also passionate about connecting people through music – be it as a skilled DJ, an educator in production, a band leader reigniting the legendary Ata Kak band from Ghana, or a collaborator with the likes of Tanzanian artist Mim Suleiman. A firm favourite on the DJ circuit, he held a monthly residency at Phonox London for over 6 months - bringing guests such as Nu Guinea to Brixton audiences - as well as delivering memorable sets at Dekmantel, Atlas Festival, Boiler Room and more.
The last few years have seen a recent surge in interest in South African music from the 80s and 90s, including bubblegum, which was recently showcased on Soundway’s critically acclaimed 2018 compilation Gumba Fire: Bubblegum Soul & Synth Boogie in 1980s South Africa, put together by DJ Okapi. It was only natural that the label looked to delve deeper into the country’s rich musical legacy and tap another of its esteemed ambassadors for the role of compiler.
The result is a rainbow of complementary electronic styles hailing from not only South Africa but further afield, including zouk from Brazil and the French Antilles, as well as Afro-futurism. Together, they form a comprehensive picture that connects the dots of Esa’s musical journey – from growing up in South Africa, to artists he has encountered in his worldwide travels who have helped develop his identity as a musician.

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Free Youth

We Can Move

14,99 €*

LP | 1983 | EU | Reissue (Soundway)

Release: 1985 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Soundway Records reissues Free Youth’s long sought-after 1985 single “We Can Move”, their only release - fully restored, remastered and available for the first time on digital and 12” vinyl. “We Can Move” is the first known iteration of Ghanaian hip hop, emerging at the dawn of ‘hip-life’ (hip hop meets highlife).
Free Youth comprised three main members: Terry “Sir Robot” Bright, Lenny “Nii Addy” Dimple, and Abednego “King Abed” Ayim Bright. In the early 80s they began performing in clubs and parties across Accra, with friends and other dancers occasionally joining them on stage – including Reggie Rockstone, who later went on to find commercial success.
In 1985, the band were approached by a producer and invited to record at a local studio. Without having written down any music, Terry, Lenny and Abed sang the parts and beatboxed the rhythms to the session musicians prior to recording. Out of this session came “We Can Move”, a blend of hip-hop and Afro-funk with a proto disco-boogie beat, punchy trumpet riffs and melodic rapping.
Included in the Soundway reissue is an exclusive instrumental cover version of “We Can Move” from Welsh ensemble Drymbago. This replaces the original B side track “Freedom Video Centre”, which was an advertising jingle for a business associated with their former producer. Soundway Records is pleased to deliver Free Youth the release that they were after, 34 years later.

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Hotline

You Are Mine

20,99 €*

Fela Ransome-Kuti & The Highlife Rakers

Release: 1983 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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A very rare LP originally released in 1983 has made its way to Soundway and been mastered with the utmost care.
The only known recorded album by the band, it also features the track “Fella’s Doing It In Lagos” which was included on and inspired the name for Soundway’s hit compilation in 2016.
Band members: Austing D. Ilukhor, Charles Chiagoro, Geofrey Ochiagha, Hawly Adeyefa Jnr, Klesye Edward Doja, Shola Damole, Stanley Ifejoku.

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Fela's Special

7" | 2017 | EU | Original (Soundway)

10,99 €*

Hailu Mergia & Classical Instrument: Shemonmuanaye

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Soundway Records presents Fela's Special 7" single, the first recorded tracks from the great Fela Kuti.
This item usually comes with the extensive Highlife On The Move 3xLP compilation, but due to an accidental over-pressing we have a small number of these 45’s for sale individually.
Very limited stock available.

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Hailu Mergia

2LP | 2013 | US | Original (Awesome Tapes From Africa)

Release: 2013 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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This remastered reissue of Mergia's 1985 solo cassette features the multi-instrumentalist handling accordion, analog synth, rhodes piano and drum machine. The all-instrumental album has a distinctly futuristic (circa mid-80s) approach to classic Ethiopian songs and modes.

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Kenya Special: Selected East African Recordings From The 1970s & '80s

3LP+7" | 2013 | UK | Original (Soundway)

Rail Band Translucent Blue Vinyl Edition

Release: 2013 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Soundway Records present Kenya Special: Selected East African Recordings from the 1970s & ‘80s - a treasure-trove of rare and unusual recordings from East Africa. Spread out over two CDs and one triple LP, Kenya Special is accompanied by detailed liner notes, original artwork and photographs.

It follows on from Soundway’s much acclaimed African ‘Special’ series that to date has focused on the highlife and afrobeat output from 1970s Nigeria and Ghana. Kenya Special is a collection of 32 recordings (most of which were only ever released on small-run 45rpm 7" singles) that stand out as being different or unique as well as some classic genre standards. From Kikuyu language ‘liquid soul’, Luo benga and Swahili afrobeat to genre-bending Congolese and Tanzanian tracks recorded in Nairobi, Kenya Special sees Soundway yet again taking the less trodden path. Many of the tracks featured here are peppered with innovation and experimentation highlighting how diverse the music scene in Kenya was at the time.

In 1970s Kenya the two threads of rumba and benga loosely dominated the music scene. Benga quickly became Kenya’s unique contribution to afro-pop; spreading like wildfire through the interior countryside with it’s fast, 4/4 machine-gun beat and intricate electric guitar layers. The Congolese take on Afro-Cuban rumba was introduced by touring bands many of whom settled in East Africa - influencing bands from Kenya and Tanzania to come up with their own take on this popular style. Alongside these styles were small ensembles and hotel-sponsored bands, playing a blend of music that often included rock ‘n’ roll riffs, elements of ‘afro’ music (influenced by West African musicians like Fela Kuti), and multiple other combinations from South African and Zambian guitar styles to disco, funk and Swahili coastal rhythms like chakacha.

Painstakingly compiled, assembled and researched over two years by a team of five people from five countries (Kenya included), Kenya Special is a collection that looks beyond the mainstream and brings new life and recognition to some little known gems and forgotten classics of Kenya’s past.

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Rail Band

LP | 2024 | US | Original (Mississippi)

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Music On Vinyl)

Cesaria Evora

Club Sodade

38,99 €*

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Basa Bongo / Black Pepper

Yoruba Singers

7" | 2023 | UK | Original (Soundway)

14,99 €*

Rob Record Store Day 2022 Red Vinyl Edition

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Guyana folk music reinterpreted and infused with Afroroots and culture, reissued on vinyl for the first time. A year after their debut album ‘Ojinga’s Own’, the Yoruba Singers from Guyana released the singles ‘Black Pepper’ and ‘Basa Bongo’. These two songs were recorded in Barbados and released on the Green Shrimp label and became extremely popular throughout the Caribbean and South America. The music also became an integral part of the very beginnings of what was later to become the Champeta Criolla sound in the Caribbean coast of Colombia.

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Rob

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Mr Bongo)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The Accra-born pianist and frontman, ROB, only released a few albums in small quantities, yet two of them are among the most sought-after records from 70’s Africa. This was the first.

So what do we know? After learning his craft in Benin and playing with the likes of Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, ROB returned to Accra to write his own material and find a sound. Hooked on the driving funk and raw soul of stars such as James Brown and Otis Redding, he would often imitate his heroes on his father’s piano during school holidays.

The title track sets the pace with a JBs-like rhythm, ROB almost shamanic with his sparse yet commanding vocal. The organ and wahwah guitar spin us out before those imperious horns bring us back in.

And what better way to close this set than with ‘More’, swept up in a call and response between Rob and his backing singers as a ‘Blow Your Head’ synth flares and the brass blasts. Good times guaranteed.

As the man himself says, “Funky music is in my blood. What you hear is the coming out of my mind.” No one sounds like Rob, because there is no one like Rob.

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Mr Bongo Record Club Volume 3

2LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Mr Bongo)

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Mr Bongo)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Volume three in the Mr Bongo Record club series. Another showcase of recent vinyl finds and favourites from our DJ sets and radio shows. This is an extra special one however, as it lands in 2019, the year that we celebrate 30 years since it all began way back in 1989.
In celebration of the 30 years of Mr Bongo, 2019 will see a host of exciting events and even more releases. We take over Brighton Dome on the opening weekend of the Brighton Festival in May, an in-store takeover at Rough Trade East, in July a week long ‘Album Club’ at Spiritland, more at RAPPCATS in LA, record fairs in Utrecht and New York, alongside the digging (and no doubt surfing!) trips to Brazil, India, Australia, Portugal and France…
We’re releasing brand new music from punk-reggae superstars, The Skints; the previously undiscovered 25-year old master composer & arranger, Kit Sebastian; and crossover UK hip hop live show dons, Jungle Brown, this year.
Compiled by David Buttle and Gareth Stephens, assisted by Graham Luckhurst and Gary Johnson.

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Akofa Akoussah

LP | 2018 | EU | Original (Mr Bongo)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Rich, deep, percussive soulful folk album from master Togolese singer, Akofa Akoussah. The album moves through uptempo afro-folk-funk on ‘Tango’ to deep ballads of ‘Ramer Sans Rame’ and ‘I Tcho Tchass’ and lighter moments on ‘G Blem Di’ and ‘Mitso Aseye’. Akofas exceptional songs and soaring vocals are decorated with percussion, guitar lines, subtle backing vocals and horns to create a unique, rich sonic. The album was recorded for release by French label Sonafric in 1976. Produced by Gérard Akueson; founder & owner of African record label, ‘Akue’, based in Paris.
Music was truly in the blood of Julie Akofa Akoussah. She began singing at the age of three, inspired and led by her mother and older sister and became principal soloist in her school choir, St. Peter & Paul Choir of our Immaculate Conception Parish of Nyékonakpoé, at the age of 8. From there her career blossomed, and singing often took precedence over her studies. In order to master her art she spent time studying and working closely with local groups including Mélo Togo, Rocka Mambo, Rio Romamcero, Ok Fiesta, Eryco Jazz, Afro Cubano, Los Muchacho, Elégance Jazz and Togo Star amongst others. In her own words: ”Luck opened the door in January 1966 where I had the honour of being selected to share the stage with Bella Below – one of the best voices of
Africa – at the 1st ‘Negro Arts Festival’ in Dakar. On my return, I was approached by Ambroise Ouyi, the highly respected singer & poet, and we wrote ‘Tu Ne M'Écris Plus’, my very first opus.“
The popularity of her work led to an increased exposure for Togolese music outside of the country, in neighbouring Ghana and Benin most notably. During her career she collaborated and performed with greats including Manou Djibango, Queen Pelagie, Abeti Massikini, Aycha Koné and Myriam Makeba. Akoussah was also dedicated to, and widely recognised for, her work for social causes, championing and nurturing young musical talent, and the fight against AIDS. She was president of the National Union of Artists Musicians of Togo (UNAM) before sadly passing away in April 2007 after a long illness, at the age of 57.

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Tunde Mabadu

Viva Disco

Release: 2018 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Official Mr Bongo reissue of the ultra-rare Nigerian disco-boogie, ‘Viva Disco’, album from 1980. Originally released on the Afrodisia label, this one is unknown to even the most knowledgable collectors out there.
Tunde Mabadu recorded two albums in the 70’s – ‘Viva Disco’ and ‘Bisu’ as Tunde Mabadu & His Sunrise. Perfect examples of golden-era Nigerian disco & boogie, that still hold their own today.
Licensed from Tunde Mabadu and PMG.

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Mr Bongo Record Club Volume 2

2LP | 2017 | EU | Original (Mr Bongo)

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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This instalment follows on from our acclaimed ‘Volume One’ – Lauren Laverne’s ‘Compilation Of The Week’, supported by the likes of Disclosure, Jeremy Underground, Horsemeat Disco, Hunee and Laurent Garnier. ‘Volume Two’ picks up where the last one left off — with a touch more soul and disco — records we’ve been spinning in our DJ sets and on the radio show of the same name, that inspired this series.

Compiled by David ‘Mr Bongo’ Buttle and Gareth Stephens, plus a few personal favourites from Gary Johnson, Ville Marttila and Graham Luckhurst.

TRACKLIST, VINYL 2-LP: A1. Elbernita ‘twinkie’ Clark – Awake O Zion (full length, original version) / A2. Dee Edwards – Put Your Love On The Line / A3. Anubis – Ecology / B1. Guy Cuevas – Ebony Game / B2. Kiru Stars (Julius Kang’ethe) – Family Planning / B3. Teaspoon & The Waves – Oh Yeh Soweto / C1. Leny Andrade – Não Adianta / C2. Rosa Maria – Samba Maneiro / C3. Tom & Dito – Obrigado Corcovado / C4. Inezita Barroso – Maracatu Elegante / C5. Joao Diaz – Capoeira / C6. The Equatics – Merry Go Round / D1. Elias Rahbani And His Orchestra – Liza… Liza / D2. The Beaters – Harari

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The Original Sound Of Burkina Faso

2LP | 2017 | EU | Original (Mr Bongo)

LP | 2024 | Original (Culture Factory)

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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‘The Original Sound of Burkina Faso’ follows the hugely successful ‘The Original Sound of Mali’ compilation released in March this year, also on Mr Bongo. Here we have a collection of songs that pay tribute to a truly golden age of music; touching on folk, funk, blues, highlife, disco, psyche, latin, rock and soul.
Burkina Faso may be one of the least well-known parts of West Africa but it has a deep history and musical pedigree. A few years before President Thomas Sankara changed his country’s name from Upper Volta to its current one, a new sound emerged to soundtrack a cultural revolution.
Featuring music by Abdoulaye Cissé, Amadou Balaké, Pierre Sandwidi & Super Volta, Tidiani Coulibaly & Dafra Star, Bozambo, Youssouf Diarra and more. Including a booklet with extensive liner notes and photography.
Compiled by David ‘Mr Bongo’ Buttle and Florent Mazzoleni.

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Bob Marley

Trenchtown Rockers

Release: 2024 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Blancmanioc)

Sarera & Blanc Manioc

Walimizi

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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A Moi La Liberte - Early Electronic Rai Algerie 1983/ 90

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Born Bad)

12" | 1984 | EU | Reissue (Canopy)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Before becoming an international musical phenomenon, raï was first and foremost the expression of a social behaviour, of a way of being. It bothers, excites, seduces, but leaves no one indifferent! Delving into the deepest recesses of raï, this compilation serves as a tribute to its roaring years, but also as a rejuvenation of the genre in its sulphurous, subterranean version. It seemed like a good idea to dig into nearly untraceable cassettes, thus confirming it's in the oldest of Oranese pots that the very best of raï is to be found. Just 50 years ago, no one would have believed even a bit in a genre seemingly bound to forever turn round and round in its native Oran, laying low in one of its many coastal road clubs. In these underground venues, singers - backed up by a minimalist orchestration for lack of space - would move their audience to laughs and tears, sobbing in a beer or chuckling down (dry) whisky. Either way, the public would unfailingly be moved by their defying tunes, sounding like a challenge to the established, self-righteous order of things - complete with trumpets, electric guitars, accordions and an array of percussions. Through the pre and post-independence years, from 1950 to 1970, raï urbanised itself, with a generation growing up between asphalt and concrete to the sound of traditional flute, but also and mostly listening to twist, French variété and rock music. Their names were Boutaïba S'ghir, Messaoud Bellemou, Groupe El Azhar, Younès Benfissa or Zergui, and they passed on their collection of songs to the incoming "Chebs" -breathing a second youth into them. Oran, the capital of West-Algeria, will be at the heart of this rejuvenation. Raï's success was overwhelming, so much so that in 1985 - when it appeared at the Youth Festival in Alger and when Oran held its first raï festival - the Algerian authorities hastened to nationalise the genre, all the while calling for its "normalisation" (that is, the "purification" of its lyrics), and to declare it "an integral part...

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Alafia

Assanssan

17,99 €*

Release: 1984 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The fifth release on Canopy continues to up the ante and expand on the tropical Techni-colour palette already set out by the label.

Alafia was a studio project from the mid 80s in Paris. Masterminded and written by musical maverick Phil Han Mandounou and bringing together musicians from Benin, Cameroon and the French Antilles. The project is a superbly orchestrated and expertly delivered exploration of funk and afro off-beats with 80s synth leanings. Precise musicianship and forward leaning afro synth funk wizardry. Dextrous, extrovert, playful and masterful.

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LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Wagram)

Trace Afrobeat

T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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As a true reference cultural media, Trace completes its musical offer with a first collection of 3 vinyls!Find the cream of Afrobeat selected by Trace and journalist Osman Jr.With Manu Dibango-Ebo Taylor-Shina Williams...

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Afro Funk

LP | 2022 | UK | Original (Pias/Acid Jazz)

Release: 2022 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The latest instalment from Acid Jazz’s Albarika Store series, ‘Afro Funk’ compiles the very best of the legendary T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo’s funk cuts.

Formed in 1968 by leader Clément Mélomé, T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo became the leading group in Benin and the cornerstone of the Albarika Store label and legacy.

This collection brings together highlights from their extensive career, including tracks as ‘Gbeti Ma Djro’, ‘Segla’ and the collectable ‘It’s A Vanity’: wall-to-wall some of the finest Afro-Funk ever made.

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Antal Presents Beyond Space & Time Volume 2

2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Beyond Space And Time)

World Psychedelic Classics 5: Who Is William Onyeabor

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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Regular Edition WITHOUT the 7".

Rainbow Disco Club and Rush Hour, a long-standing friendship that transcends continents! House, disco, new wave, Caribbean, rare groove, leftfield.. Antal compiles the second release on "Beyond Space And Time", loaded with personal choice cuts.

Internationally recognised and much-loved festival from Japan, Rainbow Disco Club’s offshoot project "Beyond Space And Time" record label presents their sophomore release! Following the work by DJ Nobu, their second compilation has been compiled by none other than Antal. Also known as the festival's headliner and the man behind Amsterdam record shop/label Rush Hour, all 11 tracks are selected by Antal in a 2 x 12-inch + bonus 7-inch format. From local Dutch newcomers to '80s Japanese cult music, rare grooves to danceable house music, and rare Caribbean soul, this compilation is a portrait of music enthusiast Antal Heitlager’s enormous collection and 30-year DJ career, a work of art that can be enjoyed by all music fans!

An afro electronics track recommended by South African collector DJ Okapi, who co-produced the masterpiece compilation "Pantsula!: Rise Of Electronic Dance Music In South Africa: 1988-90" released in 2017, which brought Kwaito back onto the map. A-1

Improvisation Organic Deep House track by New Zealand’s newcomer. A-2

A rare breezin' boogie by Larry Heard’s alias Trio Zero from 1989. Highly sought after by all collectors as a cult Balearic track. Previously unreleased version. B-1

From the 2015 album by L.A. funk maker DAM-FUNK on the prestigious Stones Throw label. LO-FI beats and synthetic breakdowns that are reminiscent of early Rush Hour works and ‘90s house. B-2

The debut single of Japanese idol unit, Shohjo-Tai. Haruomi Hosono also produced some of their tracks later on in their career. Japanese new wave disco from 1984. C-1

The soundtrack from the Japanese manga "Touring Express". RDC fans will recognize this track from the final hours of the festival. A nostalgic oriental disco from 1985. C-2

80s Silky Mellow Soul by Connecticut jazz vocalist Dianne Mower who also contributed to the re-press of the prestigious Numero Group. D-1

The original version is a masterpiece from 1983 by Zouk singer Jocelyn Mocka of French Guadeloupe. This edit still very much emphasizes an emotional mid-tempo Caribbean soul, nicely reconstructed by Rush Hour's Bonnefooi. D-2

The first 500 copies will include a limited 7-inch bonus disc featuring a Dutch artist.
Modal jazz track from the Han Litz Group led by Han Litz, a jazz flute player representing the local Amsterdam scene. A-1

A freestyle percussion jam track inspired by Brazilian and Klaus Weiss music. Los Calxunxos Tuyos, derived from the band Zuco 103 formed by students of the Rotterdam Conservatory. B-1

A mysterious electronic pop floating, between the dance floor and easy listening by Rush Hour's Kamma. B-2

A total of 11 tracks from all types of genres and generations, a true masterpiece and representation of Rainbow Disco Club’s vision “Beyond Space And Time”. Bringing you the love from Amsterdam to the world!

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William Onyeabor

3LP | 2013 | US | Reissue (Luaka Bop)

38,99 €*

Release: 2013 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2020 | US | Original (Awesome Tapes From Africa)

Penny Penny

Yogo Yogo

Release: 2020 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The rags-to-riches chronicle of Penny Penny's life would be remarkable if he had only released his smash debut Shaka Bundu and packed houses for a few years. But the inimitable South African singer and dancer known for his trademark top ponytail and emphatic anthems was no one-hit wonder. In the aftermath of Shaka Bundu's nationwide explosion, far beyond his country the album resonated with ever bigger audiences. He performed up and down the continent, building fanbases in more than a dozen countries. So his sophomore album Yogo Yogo - released in 1996 - solidified Penny Penny's standing in pop music nationally and provided new energy to his pan-African stadium-filling adventures."I was very busy between Shaka Bundu and Yogo Yogo. Shows every week, local and outside the country. There was no relaxing from 1995 until 1999."The album also reflects the era in which it emerged. If Shaka Bundu arrived triumphantly amid newfound political freedom in South Africa with the end of Apartheid and Nelson Mandela's election, Yogo Yogo was a next level expression for the maturing artist. He wanted to get a message out. Composed with Joe Shirimani, who also produced the album, the sound and compositional style echoes the earlier recording but the topical nature of the lyrics became more deliberate, more didactic. In the song "Ingani" Penny proclaims, we are all one people even though we may speak different languages, we are all NguniâÇ"a larger historical grouping that includes many of the ethnic groups in modern South Africa. "Kulani Kulani," which means grow up, urges young people to say no to drugs and yes to education. Ama Owners, referring to the public transport drivers involved in violent rumbles, asks the nation's drivers to relax because we need them for our safe arrival. Penny's success as a Xitsonga artist should not be under-estimated in the context of popular music at the time in South Africa. "When I started with my own style and image, first time in Shangaan we had artist like me," Pen...

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Apala - Apala Groups In Nigeria 1967-70

2LP | 2020 | UK | Original (Soul Jazz)

LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Afrosynth)

Release: 2020 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Soul Jazz Records new ‘Apala: Apala Groups in Nigeria 1964-69’ is the first ever collection of Apala music ever to be released outside of Nigeria.
The album focusses on a wide selection of recordings made in Nigeria in the 1960s, a time when Apala music was at the height of its popularity. Apala is a deeply rhythmical, hypnotic and powerful musical style that combines the striking nasal-style vocals and traditions of Islamic music, the Agidigbo (thumb piano), and the equally powerful drumming and percussion rhythms and techniques of the Yoruba of Nigeria.
The most significant figure in Apala music is undoubtedly Haruna Ishola who features throughout this album. Ishola holds an almost mythological status in his role as populariser of Apala music in Nigeria. Ishola’s singing was believed to be so powerful that, without proper restraint, it could kill the recipient of his music.
Apala is a popular music that also functioned as a form of cultural resistance – Apala music involved no western instrumentation and is sung in the Yoruba language, its aesthetic an implicit cultural rejection of the British Empire’s colonial rule over Nigeria which lasted from 1901 until independence in 1960.
Apala music was popular and widely accepted in Nigeria due to its philosophical and profound lyrical content alongside the complex rhythmic patterns of this heavily percussive style, which highlighted many of the percussion instruments of south-west Nigeria.
Apala is one of a number of popular urban styles of music that came out of Nigeria in the 20th century and sits alongside the more well-known (in the West) styles of Fuji, Highlife, Juju and Afrobeat. Of these modern forms Apala remains perhaps the most ‘roots’ style (sometimes described as ‘neo-traditional’) due to the authenticity of its sound. It has similar Islamic roots to other neo-traditional styles of Nigeria – including Waka and Sakara – examples of which are also included on this collection contextualising the music of Apala.
These recordings were originally made and released locally by Decca and EMI Records as well as a variety of independent labels in Nigeria and have never been released outside of the country before. Soul Jazz Records are releasing this album as a deluxe double gatefold vinyl (+ download code), CD, slipcase and booklet, both containing full text and photography.

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Kamazu

Korobela

18,99 €*

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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New anthology on Afrosynth Records brings together six songs by South African disco star Kamazu, spanning his career from 1986 to 1997: two of his biggest hits, ‘Korobela’ and ‘Indaba Kabani’, two more obscure songs from his catalogue, ‘Victim’ and ‘Why’, and two tracks from his kwaito comeback, ‘Mjukeit’ and ‘Atikatareni’.

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Nigeria Soul Power 70 - Afro-Funk, Afro-Rock, Afro-Disco

2LP | 2019 | UK | Original (Soul Jazz)

12" | 2019 | EU | Original (Favorite)

Release: 2019 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Soul Jazz Records’ Nigeria Soul Power 70 album showcases the influence of funk, rock and disco on Nigerian music during the 1970s. Originally released as a now-long-out-of-print collectors’ 7” RSD box, this fully expanded album release now also includes extra tracks from Sonny Okosuns, Wings, Chief Kollington Ayinla and more.
While for many people the fusion of funk and jazz music with Nigerian rhythms and aesthetics began with Fela Kuti and his afro-beat sound, in fact this can be traced further back to the phenomena of the 1960s Nigerian artists and house bands in nightclubs and hotels who interpreted US soul and pop music with a local flavour and none more so than Geraldo Pino, the ‘African James Brown’ who features heavily in this collection. Other similarly inspired Nigerian funk and soul artists featured here included Tony Grey and his Ozimba Messengers and Don Bruce and The Angels.
Nigeria Soul Power 70 includes a number of tracks from the group Wings originally known as BAF (Biafran Air Force) Wings, an army band formed during the Biafran civil war in Nigeria. The groups’ heavy mixture of funk, rock and African styles was popular among many Nigerian groups at the time.
Beneath the shadow of the few Nigerian artists who signed international recording deals in the 1970s – Fela Kuti, King Sunny Ade, Chief Ebenezer Obey – lies of vast wealth of largely undiscovered musical transmutation and cultural cross-pollination, and included here are heavy afro-funk/rock and disco tracks from artists such as the legendary Sonny Okosuns as well as rare cuts from little-known outside of Nigeria - groups such as Colomach and MFB. Most of these obscure artists signed to major labels in Nigeria in the commercial slipstream that opened up as Philips, Decca and EMI tried to emulate the international success of the big three international Nigerian artists.
Finally featured here is Kollington Ayinla, one of the co-founders of Nigerian Fuji music, who gives us perhaps the heaviest of all tracks on this album. Ayinla is the great moderniser of the Fuji sound and in the late 1970s began adding Bata drums and synthesizers to his authentic music to create a powerful and heavy new fusion of traditional and modernist aesthetics, embracing both new technology and experimentation while rooted firmly in Nigerian historical lineage.

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Esnard Boisdur

Mizik Bel

15,99 €*

3LP | 2018 | EU | Original (Analog Africa)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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“You don’t need to be a fan of Gwoka or even Antillean music in general to fall in love with the deep, expressive voices of the singers of the genre. Artists like COSACK, ANZALA and ESNARD BOISDUR have fascinated music lovers around the globe for decades. It’s not only the drumming style accompanied by their beautiful melodic intonation, but also the revolutionary spirit of these songs that make them a unique and powerful document of the culture and the history of the Antilles and the Caribbean.
I remember the first time I listened to this type of drumming and signing, live at the re-enactment of the slave riots, and being completely emotionally overwhelmed by it. Some of my record collector/DJ colleagues and friends – first and foremost Hugo Mendez and Émile Omar – shared the same fascination for the genre and kept inspiring me, and countless others, by their DJ sets at Tropical Discoteq in Paris, where I have had the pleasure to be one of the residents for five years and counting. At one of those nights, I met my friend Pascal Rioux from Favorite Recordings and told him about an amazing unreleased track I received months before, on a home-burned CD, from ESNARD BOISDUR. Among other beautiful songs, it contained one outstanding track, a mix of modern Gwoka and Zouk called “MIZIK BEL”.
When I started playing that track out, there were fierce reactions on both ends. The crowds loved it and after a while you could hear people cheer when they heard the first notes. Many DJs and labels wanted it, demanded it, and would even go as far as to block or unfriend me if I refused to comply. It became clear to me that the track had to be released on vinyl for the first time and made accessible to people who wanted to play it, while giving the original artist full credit. At the same time, I knew a remix version of the track that would pay respect to the original could only be created by getting the original stems, and not by editing the main track and pressing it into an “electronic dance corset.” Pascal agreed to the idea and started the licensing work and the search for the stems, which resulted in an ongoing three-year quest that was crowned by the finding of the ADAT containing the original tracks.
As AFRICAINE 808, Dirk Leyers and I spent considerable time trying to re-create the composition of the original, respectfully slicing and re-arranging it, adding new instrumentation, and recording additional percussion and talking drum with our percussionist ERIC OWUSU (Pat Thomas/Ebo Taylor). We stretched it, adding a krauty synth part without losing the focus of Esnard’s beautiful voice and lyrics, describing Caribbean music in all its diversity and beauty.
With this in mind, I hope you can now enjoy the beauty of “MIZIK BEL” as much as we have so far.” – (DJ NOMAD, June 2019).

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Dur-Dur Band

Dur Dur of Somalia

12" | 2018 | EU | Original (Atangana)

Release: 2018 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Analog Africa are proud to present the 27th release of their Analog Africa Series. A fantastic, hypnotic and funky compilation from the Dur-Dur Band of Somalia that comes out on a Triple LP.

When Analog Africa founder Samy Ben Redjeb arrived in Mogadishu in November of 2016, he was informed by his host that he would have to be accompanied at all times by an armed escort while in the country. The next morning, a neighbour and former security guard put on a military uniform, borrowed an AK-47 from somewhere and escorted him to Via Roma, an historical street in the heart of Hamar-Weyne, the city’s oldest district. Although previous Analog Africa releases have demonstrated a willingness to go more than the extra air-mile to track down the stories behind the music, the trip to Mogadishu was a musical journey of a different kind. It was the culmination of an odyssey that had started many years earlier.

In 2007 John Beadle, a Milwaukee-based musicologist and owner of the much loved Likembe blog, uploaded a cassette he had been handed twenty years earlier by a Somalian student. The post was titled ‘Mystery Somali Funk’ and it was, in Samy’s own words, “some of the deepest funk ever recorded.” The cassette seemed to credit these dense, sonorous tunes to the legendary Iftin Band. But initial contact with Iftin’s lead singer suggested that the ‘mystery funk’ may have actually been the work of their chief rival, Dur-Dur, a young band from the 80s.

Back then, Mogadishu had been a very different place. On the bustling Via Roma, people from all corners of society would gather at the Bar Novecento and Cafe Cappucino, watch movies at the famous Supercinema, and eat at the numerous pasta hang-outs or the traditional restaurants that served Bariis Maraq, a somali Beef Stew mixed with delicious spiced rice. The same street was also home to Iftinphone and Shankarphone, two of the city’s best known music shop. Located opposite each other, they were the centre of Somalia’s burgeoning cassette distribution network. Both shops, run by members of the legendary Iftin Band, would become first-hand witnesses to the meteoric rise of Dur- Dur, a rise that climaxed in April of 1987 with the release of Volume 2, their second album.

The first single ‘Diinleya’ had taken Somalian airwaves by storm in a way rarely seen before or since. The next single, ‘Dab,’ had an even greater impact, and the two hits had turned them into the hottest band in town. In addition to their main gig as house band at the legendary Jubba Hotel, Dur-Dur had also been asked to perform the music for the play “Jascyl Laba Ruux Mid Ha Too Rido” (May one of us fall in love) at Mogadishu’s national theatre. The play was so successful that the management had been forced to extend the run by a month, throwing the theatre’s already packed schedule into complete disarray, and each night, as soon as the play had finished, Dur-Dur had to pack their instruments into a Volkswagen T1 tour bus that would shuttle them across town in time for their hotel performance.

The secrets to Dur-Dur’s rapid success is inextricably linked to the vision of Isse Dahir, founder and keyboard player of the band. Isse´s plan was to locate some of the most forward-thinking musicians of Mogadishu´s buzzing scene and lure them into Dur-Dur. Ujeeri, the band’s mercurial bass player was recruited from Somali Jazz and drummer extraordinaire Handal previously played in Bakaka Band. These two formed the backbone of Dur-Dur and would become one of Somalia’s most extraordinary rhythm sections.

Isse also added his two younger brothers to the line-up: Abukar Dahir Qassin was brought in to play lead guitar, and Ahmed Dahir Qassin was hired as a permanent sound engineer, a first in Somalia and one of the reasons that Dur-Dur became known as the best-sounding band in the country.

On their first two albums, Volume 1 and Volume 2, three different singers traded lead-vocal duties back and forth. Shimaali, formerly of Bakaka Band, handled the Daantho songs, a Somalian rhythm from the northern part of the country that bears a striking resemblance to reggae, Sahra Dawo, a young female singer, had been recruited from Somalia’s national orchestra, the Waaberi Band. Their third singer, the legendary Baastow, whose nickname came from the italian word ‘pasta’ due to the spaghetti-like shape of his body, had also been a vocalist with the Waaberi Band, and had been brought into Dur-Dur due to his deep knowledge of traditional Somali music, particularly Saar, a type of music intended to summon the spirits during religious rituals. These traditional elements of Dur-Dur’s repertoire sometimes put them at odds with the manager of the Jubba Hotel who once told Baastow “I am not going to risk having Italian tourists possessed by Somali spirits. Stick to disco and reggae.”

Yet from the very beginning, Dur-Dur’s doctrine was the fusion of traditional Somali music with whatever rhythms would make people dance: Funk, Reggae, Soul, Disco and New Wave were mixed effortlessly with Banaadiri beats, Daantho and spiritual Saar music. The concoction was explosive and when they stormed the Mogadishu music scene in 1986 with their very first hit single, ‘Yabaal,’ featuring vocals from Sahra Dawo, it was clear that a new meteorite had crash-landed in Somalia. As Abdulahi Ahmed, author of Somali Folk Dances explains: “Yabaal is a traditional song, but the way it was played and recorded was like nothing else we had heard before, it was new to us.” ‘Yabaal’ was one of the songs that resurfaced on the Likembe blog, and it became the symbolic starting point of this project.

It initially seemed that Dur-Dur’s music had only been preserved as a series of murky tape dubs and YouTube videos, but after Samy arrived in Mogadishu he eventually got to the heart of Mogadishu’s tape-copying network – an analogue forerunner of the internet file-sharing that helped to keep the flame of this music alive through the darkest days of Somalia’s civil strife – and ended up finding some of the band’s fabled master tapes, long thought to have disappeared.

This triple LP / double CD reissue of the band’s first two albums – the first installment in a three-part series dedicated to Dur-Dur Band – represents the first fruit of Analog Africa’s long labours to bring this extraordinary music to the wider world. Remastered from the best available audio sources, these songs have never sounded better. Some thirty years after they first made such a splash in the Mogadishu scene, they have been freed from the wobble and tape-hiss of second and third generation cassette dubs, to reveal a glorious mix of polychromatic organs, nightclub-ready rhythms and hauntingly soulful vocals.

In addition to two previously unreleased tracks, the music is accompanied by extensive liner notes, featuring interviews with original band members, documenting a forgotten chapter of Somalia’s cultural history. Before the upheaval in the 1990s that turned Somalia into a war-zone, Mogadishu, the white pearl of the Indian Ocean, had been one of the jewels of eastern Africa, a modern paradise of culture and commerce. In the music of the Dur-Dur band – now widely available outside of Somalia – we can still catch a fleeting glimpse of that golden age.
Listen & Enjoy!

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Fedia Laguerre

Divizion

20,99 €*

LP | 2016 | EU | Original (Hot Casa)

Release: 2018 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Founded in 2018 by DJ and producer Deni-Shain – the man behind acclaimed compilations Space Echo and Pop Makossa -, Atangana Records is the logical follow-up to more than 20 years of travels, constantly on the lookout for new artists and music around the world. As a “tropicalist globetrotter”, in this new project Deni-Shain, in partnership with Thomas Vicente, co-owner of the French restaurant “Le Verre Volé”, aims to dig, reproduce & transmit cross-cultural music, usually unreachable and/or less known by the public.
The goal is simple: share the love of music and to rediscover the pleasure of voicings, percussions and sadly forgotten harmonies, whether you find yourself in a jam packed club or the intimacy of your home.
Atangana’s first releases will be looking at the Caribbean’s Islands, especially into Haiti with the reissue – highly expected by various diggers – of the acclaimed single « Divizion » by singer Fedia Laguerre. Originally released in 1981, this first 12" comes with a remix by Voilaaa and an instrumental cut exclusively based on the additional work by the French afro-collective.

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Joni Haastrup

Wake Up Your Mind

LP | 1977 | UK | Reissue (Mr Bongo)

Release: 2016 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Growing up in a royal household in Nigeria, Joni Haastrup began his musical journey performing for his brothers band Sneakers and was quickly snapped up as a vocalist for Orlando Julius Ekemode and his Modern Aces' Super Afro Soul LP, one of Afro-beat's formative LPs. Soon after, Ginger Baker of Cream fame replaced Steve Winwood with Joni on keys for Airforce's UK concerts in '71 and the success of the collaboration led to further shows with Baker as part of the SALT project before he returned to Nigeria to set up MonoMono. Back in London in 1978, Joni recorded his solo gem Wake Up Your Mind for the Afrodesia imprint. Coming in a Deluxe gatefold Replika LP with printed sleeves

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Ebo Taylor

LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Black Sweat)

Release: 1977 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Nice repress on 180 gram wax!

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Addict Ameba

Caosmosi

LP | 2024 | Original (Blue Shine)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Rock & Indie

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After their debut album the most multifaceted and unpredictable musical collective in Italy – Addict Ameba – come back with their sophomore album, “Caosmosi”. Faithful to the aim of bringing together different paths, traditions and horizons in their music, the band moves between desert-blues and afrobeat landscapes, with latin rock rides and ethio-jazz parentheses. The vision of the album is further enriched by two absolutely valuable features: Joshua Idehen, Anglo-Nigerian poet and singer and pen of Sons Of Kemet and The Comet is Coming, is the author and lead voice in “Look At Us”, a poem – or perhaps it would be more correct to say a prayer – an invitation to be protagonists and change this time, before it changes us; Rabii Brahim, Tunisian actor and musician, who in "Ya Bled" gives birth to a love song for his land, telling the nostalgia and disorientation of migrant, even when he returns to his homeland. To approach listening to this album you should project that state of melancholy euphoria that you would experience when taking part in the last great party before the disappearance of the human race... Caosmosi!

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Arash Sarkechik

Bazaari

32,99 €*

Release: 2024 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (BBE Music)

Grupo Ébano

35,99 €*

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Little Runaway)

Gerry Cinnamon

Live At Hampden Park

34,99 €*

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2LP | 2023 | EU | Original (BBE Africa)

Remi Kabaka

Son Of Africa

35,99 €*

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2LP | 2022 | EU | Original (End Hits)

Krishna Das

Door Of Faith

50,99 €*

LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Black Sweat)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Layering traditional kirtan with instantly accessible melodies and modern instrumentation, Krishna Das has been called yoga's "rock star." With a remarkably soulful voice that touches the deepest chord in even the most casual listener, Krishna Das-known to friends, family, and fans as simply "KD"-has taken the call-and-response chanting out of yoga centers and into concert halls, becoming a worldwide icon and the best-selling western chant artist of all time. To date, KD has released 16 well received albums, including Live Ananda (released January 2012) that was nominated for a Grammy in the Best New Age album category.KD spent the late '60's traveling across the country as a student of and later close friend Ram Dass, and in 1970, finally made the journey to India after previously leaving a Long Island rock band that eventually became Blue Öyster Cult. In India he met Ram Dass' own beloved guru, Neem Karoli Baba, known to most as Maharaj-ji. Given the name Krishna Das, KD began to chant as part of following the path of Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion. After the passing of Maharaj-ji, he took solace in music, as well as finding peace and strength in his yoga chant practice including workshops with long-time friends and teachers of meditation practices Sharon Salzberg and Jack Kornfield. Now, in 2022 and for the first time ever, two of Krishna Das' albums will be available on vinyl. Originally from 2003 and produced by the legendary Rick Rubin, known not only for his seminal rap and rock recordings, but also for his definitive work with Neil Diamond and Johnny Cash, the album "Door of Faith" represents KD's sonorous voice and his harmonium, joined here and there by instrumental tracings-Western strings, horns, and keyboards. A departure from Krishna Das's signature call-and-response-style chant this is a deeply moving collection of solo prayers-a duet with his daughter, Janaki, on "Mere Gurudev" is a most tender invocation. Krishna Das' 14th album "Kirtan Wallah" from 2014 is a natural confluen...

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Addict Ameba

Panamor

LP | 2018 | Reissue (Chrysalis)

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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More than simply being a band, Addict Ameba is a wide Italian collective that makes brotherhood the weapon to live music together crossing all cultural boundaries. The driving force lies in the heterogeneous background of its members and the relative familiarity with different folkloric areas. The original and ambitious arrangements make the result a delicious soup! In this first work, their personal Afro-latin-beat reveals a sincere meeting between African and Central American traditions… for this reason they are against the drift of continents! The collective is connected to Al Doum and the Faryds, sharing some of their members, the same music label and the Guscio Studio where the album has been cooked thanks to the wisdom of the great master pirate. You can travel halfway between the Atlantic continents, where a gritty guitar deploys a solid knowledge of the stronger Latin-rock - you know the “Santana of Piola” is on board! - but it absorbs Funky and Tuareg riffs too, as well as brilliant psych deviations. Heavy horns abound with solutions and influences, blowing arias of Ethio-jazz or Cuban-Salsa crossings, such as Calypso and Caribbean progressions. However, it’s the rhythmic sailors section that supports all the dynamics of the sound with impeccable qualities of polyrhythm, sending seas of bodies into ecstasy; maybe they learn this rowing on a boat? Panamor represents "a profound union between living beings and objects in an increasingly divided World”. Such pirates of love!

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The Specials

More Specials

Release: 2018 / Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 1980 | Reissue (Chrysalis)

Selecter

Too Much Pressure

Release: 1980 / Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Ghana Special 2: Electronic Highlife & Afro Sounds In The Diaspora, 1980-93

3LP | 2024 | UK | Original (Soundway)

34,99 €*

LP | 1976 | EU | Reissue (Music On Vinyl)

Release: 2024 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Soundway presents a collection of 18 burger highlife, electronic afrobeat and reggae tracks, highlighting a time when the burgeoning Ghanaian diaspora across Europe and North America was utilising new music technology and recording techniques. A period of movement, emigration and innovation. The dawn of the 80s saw an increase in emigration following a period of political upheaval at home, with many Ghanaians moving to Europe - especially Germany - to find work. Musicians recording both at home and abroad began to blend highlife with outside influences, taking inspiration from US disco and boogie, European new wave and Caribbean zouk and soca, reflecting new surroundings and cementing musical connections forged in London, Hamburg, Toronto and New York. Ghana Special celebrates this key period of musical innovation and cultural exchange that redefined the parameters of Ghanaian music and accelerated the cultural exchange between West Africa and Europe. Features rarities from legends including Pat Thomas, Rex Gyamfi and Gyedu-Blay Ambolley and deep cuts from lesser known artists like Abdul Raheem, Starlite and The Godfathers. Includes extended liner notes, original covers and neverbefore-seen photos. Gatefold 3LP includes deluxe 8pg booklet; 2CD is 6-panel wallet including 24pg booklet.

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Heptones

Cool Rasta

Release: 1976 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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12" | 2024 | UK | Original (Bleak Winter)

Dystopian Volume 2

16,99 €*

Release: 2024 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2024 | US | Original (New West)

Secret Sisters

Mind, Man, Medicine

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Fallen Sparks)

Matisyahu

Youth

33,99 €*

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Music Brokers)

Los Pericos

Pericos & Friends

18,99 €*

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Cn)

Lori Mckenna

1988

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2020 | Original (Now-Again)

Witch

Introduction

Release: 2020 / Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Nouvelle Eau Dans La Riviere (Berlin Bamaka Sessions)

Mariam Koné

12" | 2023 | EU | Original (Trikont)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Alogte Oho & His Sounds Of Joy

Doose Mam / Gure Yose Me

7" | 2021 | EU | Original (Philophon)

12,99 €*

7" | 2021 | EU | Original (Hot Casa)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Alogte Oho & His Sounds of Joy are back with a new single release after their album debut "Mam Yinne Wa", which can be seen as a harbinger of the second album. You can hear another Frafra Gospel masterpiece by the king of this genre.

"Doose Mam" is a soulful piece that goes straight to the limbs with its repetitive rhythm. The jubilant middle section, in which the wind instruments and the choir pass the balls to each other, is to be emphasized. "Gure Yose Me" ties in with the Frafra Gospel tradition of making use of reggae rhythms. Here we hear a stepper played by Josie Coppola, Europe's No.1 reaggae drummer. Both pieces were produced both in Berlin and in Kumasi by Max Weissenfeldt in Philophon's in-house Joy Sound Studios.

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Vaudou Game

Bella

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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African, funky, sarcastic, bewitching, green, ecstatic: these words collide to describe Vaudou Game and all of them are true. Bella is the first vinyl single derived from the upcoming album called Noussin, due to be relased June 11th 2021. "Bella" is a smashing summer hit, sang in Mina and french. It's an ode to the nature and love in this hard times. "Be My Wife" on the B side, is a trip into a rock /funk universe with an uptempo twist rythm, sang into the voodoo harmonies. Composed in Lyon on 100% analog equipment during the lockdown, those two songs might be the funky nuggets of all DJ's and radio playlists .

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Edo Funk Explosion Volume 1

2LP+Book | 2021 | EU | Original (Analog Africa)

31,99 €*

LP | 2020 | UK | Original (R2)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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It was in Benin City, in the heart of Nigeria, that a new hybrid of
intoxicating highlife music known as Edo Funk was born.
It first emerged in the late 1970s when a group of musicians began
to experiment with different ways of integrating elements from their
native Edo culture and fusing them with new sound effects coming
from West Africa ́s night-clubs. Unlike the rather polished 1980 ́s
Nigerian disco productions coming out of the international
metropolis of Lagos Edo Funk was raw and reduced to its bare
minimum.

Someone was needed to channel this energy into a distinctive sound
and Sir Victor Uwaifo appeared like a mad professor with his Joromi
studio. Uwaifo took the skeletal structure of Edo music and
relentless began fusing them with synthesizers, electric guitars and
80 ́s effect racks which resulted in some of the most outstanding Edo
recordings ever made. An explosive spiced up brew with an odd
psychedelic note dubbed "Edo Funk".

That's the sound you'll be discovering in the first volume of the
Edo Funk Explosion series which focusses on the genre’s greatest
originators; Osayomore Joseph, Akaba Man, and Sir Victor Uwaifo:

Osayomore Joseph was one of the first musicians to bring the sound
of the flute into the horn-dominated world of highlife, and his
skills as a performer made him a fixture on the Lagos scene. When he
returned to settle in Benin City in the mid 1970s – at the
invitation of the royal family – he devoted himself to the
modernisation and electrification of Edo music, using funk and Afro-
beat as the building blocks for songs that weren’t afraid to call
out government corruption or confront the dark legacy of Nigeria’s
colonial past.

Akaba Man was the philosopher king of Edo funk. Less overtly
political than Osayomore Joseph and less psychedelic than Victor
Uwaifo, he found the perfect medium for his message in the trance-
like grooves of Edo funk. With pulsating rhythms awash in cosmic
synth-fields and lyrics that express a deep personal vision, he
found great success at the dawn of the 1980s as one of Benin City’s
most persuasive ambassadors of funky highlife.

Victor Uwaifo was already a star in Nigeria when he built the
legendary Joromi studios in his hometown of Benin City in 1978.
Using his unique guitar style as the mediating force between West-
African highlife and the traditional rhythms and melodies of Edo
music, he had scored several hits in the early seventies, but once
he had his own sixteen-track facility he was able to pursue his
obsession with the synesthetic possibilities of pure sound, adding
squelchy synths, swirling organs and studio effects to hypnotic
basslines and raw grooves. Between his own records and his
production for other musicians, he quickly established himself as
the godfather of Edo funk.

What unites these diverse musicians is their ability to strip funk
down to its primal essence and use it as the foundation for their
own excursions inward to the heart of Edo culture and outward to the
furthest limits of sonic alchemy. The twelve tracks on Edo Funk
Explosion Volume 1 pulse with raw inspiration, mixing highlife
horns, driving rhythms, day-glo keyboards and tripped-out guitars
into a funk experience unlike any other.
Double LP pressed on 140g virgin vinyl comes with a full color 20-pages booklet

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Don Pascal

The Dakar Experiment

Release: 2020 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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7" | 2020 | EU | Original (Lokalophon)

Olando

Tenan Wu

K. Frimpong & Super Complex Sounds

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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North-Ghanaian singer Olando lives as a Frafra in the diaspora of Kumasi, the 2.5 million metropole and capital of the Ashanti people. Living there turned his style into a unique mixture of his rural heritage combined with some portion of urban insanity.
Both songs are with its 163 bpm the perfect climax in any afro-futuristic DJ set. While the A-side Tenan Wu has a playful bass which jumps around the driving Hip-Life beat, the B-side Be Han To'ora Ho Sina is chracterized by its hypnotic ostinato. Both songs are produced by Big Solo, one of Kumasi's most outstanding producer personalities.

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Ahyewa Special

LP | 1975 | EU | Reissue (Hot Casa)

7" | 2019 | EU | Original (Lokalophon)

Release: 1975 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Hi-Life & Afro-Funk essential from Ghana! The legendary K. Frimpong's fantastic rare second album recorded in 1975 at Ghana Films Studio.
K .Frimpong was born on July 22nd 1939 at Ofoase in the Ashanti-Akim district and entered right into music after elementary school by joining "Star de Republic" and later “Oko's Band” after which he left to K. Gyasy's band where he worked for more than 6 years.
As a prolific songwriter and singer, here's the reissue of his 2nd album, a modern fusion of Hi-life and the traditional beat called "Ahyewa".The excellent background is given by the Super Complex Sounds band which makes the Ahyewa beat abundantly, dancable, and colourful.
Originally produced on “Ofo Bros”, label of the Ofori brothers in Kumasi, this two long sides recording were divided in 6 themes each sides, and make a deep 16 minutes long hi-life trance.
A must have vinyl of percussive Afro-Funk & modern Hi-life for all the music connoisseurs.
Remastered by Frank Merritt at The Carvery / Pressed on Deluxe Replika format / Fully licensed to the Alhadji Kwame Frimpong Family

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Chris De Wise Shepherd

Nera Wo'o Soke

Rebujo Colored Vinyl Edition

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Lokalophon is the newly established sub-label of Philophon, which is designed to release local specialities from potentially all around the world. The first 7" is by Ghanaian Frafra-Gospel singer Chris De Wise Shepherd.

Born in Bolgatanga, he moved as a young man from the rural north of Ghana to its coastal capital Accra. Consequentially, his style became more urban. That you can clearly hear on his 2012 release Nera Wo'o Soke, which sounds in some ways as if Grandmaster Flash himself were operating the production knobs. Atune Anya'alima on the other hand is pure Frafra-Gospel as it is usually performed in Northern Ghana.

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Dona Onete

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Mais Um Discos)

Lee Dodou & The Polyversal Souls

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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On the eve of her 80th birthday, Dona Onete - "the grande dame of Amazonian song" - returns with Rebujo, a love letter to her hometown of Belém, situated deep in the Amazon. Rebujo brims with two music styles born in Belém: carimbós, influenced by African grooves, and bangues, a ska-type rhythm, plus there's a cumbia, brega ('romantic' music) and samba. Since the release of her 2017 album Banzeiro, Onete has become a superstar in Brazil - she composed and sung the theme song for one of Brazil's biggest soap operas (A Força do Querer), been awarded the Brazilian Ordem do Mérito Cultural in recognition for her contribution to Brazilian culture + her video for 'No Meio do Pitiu' has an impressive 9.2m views on Youtube Outside of Brazil she's performed at Roskilde, Womad (UK, NZ & AUS), Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Festival and TFF Rudolstadt and is a global spokesperson for indigenous cultures.

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Basa Basa

7" | 2018 | EU | Original (Philophon)

10,99 €*

Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids

Release: 2018 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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As the lead singer of George Darko's legendary Burger-Highlife hit-band, Lee Dodou became the number one voice of 80's Highlife. Born in Kumasi, the epicenter of Ghanaian Highlife, he came to Berlin in the late 70's - by then the uprising epicenter of Burger-Highlife - to work as a back-up-singer for Pat Thomas. After joining and leaving Georg Darko and running his own band "Kantata", he stopped releasing music in the early 90's. Now, Philophon is proud to present new recordings of his soulful genius to the world of 2018.
Basa Basa is a song in the classic "concert party" style, as it was played in the glorious 60's. After a firey horn introduction Lee takes over in that funny and entertaining manner typical for "concert party" music. Buzz Duncker joins Lee's phrases with some gentle clarinet. Highlife at its best!
Sahara Akwantuo is anything but a classic: it's the start of a kind of philophonic Highlife, labeled as Kraut-Life. Ghanaian love of life meets German romantic melancholy. Happy rhythms meet mysterious synth landscapes. Eternal summertime and mangos are meeting a wet winter world and roast apples. Kraut-Life at its best!

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Tinoge Ya Ta'a Ba, Part 1 & 2

7" | 2017 | EU | Original (Philophon)

Release: 2017 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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2016 was the year for Idris Ackamoor & the Pyramids: their album "We Be All Africans" (produced by Philophon and released on Strut Rec.) vaulted them among the global top acts of the current Spiritual Jazz renaissance. The strengh of the group is its deep connection to Africa: not just that their music is inspired by the spirit of Africa, they actually founded themselves on an extended trip to the Motherland in 1972.

On that trip Idris Ackamoor visited the tiny town Bolgatanga in Northern Ghana to play with local Frafra musicians - an experiance which changed his life. Now, after 45 years, Idris dives once more into the magical music of the Frafra people by teaming up with master musician Guy One, the no. 1 Kologo artist of the vital music scene of Bolgatanga. On "Tinoge Ya Ta'a Ba" Guy One sings about the power of unity - a unity you hear clearly on this Afro-Euro-American cooperation: a driving rhythm, a eulogizing saxophone, a gripping voice and in total a journey into another dimension.

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Togo Soul 70: Selected Rare Togolese Recordings From 1971 To 1981

2LP | 2016 | EU | Original (Hot Casa)

LP | 1977 | EU | Reissue (Hot Casa)

Release: 2016 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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TOGO SOUL 70 project, is the collaboration between Julien Lebrun, label Manager and Liz Gomis, journalist and director. Two friends that are combining their skills to relate the process of pressing a compilation of rare grooves in Africa

From the original quest, searching for vinyls and right holders in adventurous conditions (sometimes) to the contract final signature, we'll travel throughout Togo to witness the post-colonial story of the country by the prism of its soundtrack

More than a digging session, we'll highlight togolese culture through music. Music that you'll be able to listen in May 2016 on the double vinyl compilation TOGO SOUL 70 (Hot Casa Records gatefold)

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Francis The Great

Ravissante Baby

7" | 2014 | EU | Original (Hot Casa)

Release: 1977 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Rare funk & Avant-Garde soul from a seven years old kid singer featuring the best of French and Cameroonian musicians diaspora, recorded in Paris in 1977.

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Vaudou Game

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