Introducing the next release on Highlife – our secret weapons by the mysterious Tanzania Sound System. If you’ve caught us playing anywhere this year, you’ll have heard at least one of these. Now it’s time to share the goodness…
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Sory Bamba Du Mali – Sory Bamba Du Mali [ASVN035]
In 1979 Sorry produced his third LP for the Paris based Sonafric group. Long out of print Africa Seven is pleased to be re-issuing the LP with the authorization of the newly reformed Sonafric group. The re-issue benefits from extensive restoration and re-mastering to a spectral analysis level, bringing and polishing long lost and distorted sounds. The six track masterpiece opens with ”Mayel”. It blends Afro-space grooves, cowbell and swirling organ with psych guitar and punchy horns. ”Kanaga 78” was named after his band of the time. Sounding as fresh (if not more so) in 2016 as it did in 1979 the hypnotic bass, expansive drums, twisting organ and snakelike fuzz-guitar all combine to create a masterpiece of African psychedelia. ”Bayadjourou” closes off Side A of the LP with its pulsating, incessant organ hook-line and driving tom drums while adding in layers of Malian vocal from a female chorus and Sorry himself. Side B opens up with ”Tjamantie Kolo” which is powered by driving conga and drums layered with traditional vocals and distorted picked electric guitar lines. ”N’Nebakaidi” focuses on the song writing skill and delivery of Sorry who delivers a masterful vocal over grooves which somehow manage to sound melancholy but somehow also forlornly uplifting at the same time. The LP closes with ”Nani Nani” which is a brass driven wall of African sound.
EKO – Funky Disco Music [FBNM014]
The latest vinyl slice from Fly by Night Music sees us head to the depths of central Africa via Paris to track down a feast of rare seventies afro funky jams from Cameroonian master musician EKO. We’ve brought FBNM favourite Riccio along for the journey too, who has provided us with a fantastic Rerub coaxing out some modern dancefloor sensibilities and production sparkle. Eko Roosevelt Louis has had a music career spanning over forty years, born the grandson of a Kribi tribal chief, his musical persuasion beginning humbly with his village’s local church before his formal education at the Senegal conservatoire and Paris’ École Normale de Musique. EKO made a number of jazz funk and disco records in the mid seventies during a stint recording and touring in and around France before returning to Cameroon to take over his grandfather’s tribal chieftaincy, a role he still holds today! Alongside this position of office EKO has continued to work with music, performing, teaching and even leading Cameroon’s national orchestra! The tracks we have selected for reissue are all taken from EKO’s third album, Funky Disco Music which was recorded in Paris and released on his own Dragon Phenix imprint. Sung in a combination of English and EKO’s native tongue we’ve lined up a real excursion in feel good afro-jazz, funk and soul made purely for dancing feet and boogying butts.
VA – Surinam Funk Force [RHMC002]
A compilation of highly collectable and rare Surinamese 45’s and LP cuts. Compiled by Antal Heitlager & Thomas Gesthuizen this is the follow up to the Kindred Spirits released Surinam! compilation. This volume goes even deeper into the field of 70ties and 80ties funk music from the Surinamese dance floors.
Big Mean Sound Machine – Blank Slate 014 [BS014]
Big Mean Sound Machine is a twelve-piece Afrobeat band native to Ithaca, New York. They tour 150 days a year and have a large and dedicated following up and down the East coast. Still, it is a crime that Big Mean Sound Machine is not well known elsewhere. The band’s tremendous sound combines a big band aesthetic while channeling a global sense of musicality. Their shows leave fans drenched in sweat from dancing as audiences absorb the West African, Caribbean, Jazz and Funk traditions that Big Mean Sound Machine carries forward.
VA – Tanbou Toujou Lou: Meringue Kompa Kreyol Vodou Jazz & Electric Folklore From Haiti 1960-1981 [OSTP001]
Between the 1960s and 1980s, experimentation and electric reinterpretation of traditional rhythms was rife, along with the sophisticated balancing of a host of influences. There’s the jazz-era instrumentation, brought during the early 20th century American occupation, which introduced horn sections to Haitian ensembles. Cuba, cultural imperator of the Afro-Atlantic and perennial ally of Haiti, imbued Meringue, Mambo, Son, Guajira, Charanga, and a slew of Afro-Cuban styles into the Haitian repertoire. Accordion-driven Colombian Cumbia and Dominican Merengue left their mark. A melting pot of sound was all held together by the countless rhythms, drum patterns, and percussion brought across the Atlantic from Africa, surviving slavery’s violent cultural repression. New York City label Ostinato Records make their impressive debut with this compilation of Haitian Jazz and Electric Folklore spanning two decades from the sixties onwards. Allegedly compiled from an array of private collections and radio archives in Brooklyn and several digging trips throughout Haiti, this 20-track selection offers an intriguing overview of the country’s musical diversity in this period.
Les Pythons de la Fournaise – SLP! [CATALP022]
Exquisit Franco-Creole supergroup Les Pythons de la Fournaise (named after the great volcano on the Reunion island) are rewarding us with their 2nd effort, ”Salut Les Pythons !”. More songs, more groove, more emotion in this exciting long-player where the band show they not only can compose amazing tracks and develop their interpretation of classic Sega-Lontan (typical music genre from Reunion, Mauritius and surrounding islands); but also open their sound to broader, yet specific influences, ranging from 60’s/70’s psychedelia to Eastern harmonies or African rhythms. In this LP the work on vocals is stunning; the 2-female duet in ”Maloya Ton Tisane” is a delight, as well as Reunion-native Rene Cadet’s emotion in songs like ”Pardon” . The combination between percussion and drums is extremely tight, yet supple and true to the unique groove of Sega music. Tracks like ”Ton Ti Gueul Rose” are a pure expression of the band’s inventivity – merciless Arp synthesizer and electric guitar galopping through a frenetic rhythm. Produced by the Catapulte team, this LP also benefits from a beautiful screen-printed artwork with a hand- glued photograph, different for each Vinyl copy – a unique object!
Jacob Mafuleni & Gary Gritness – Atuka Mondhoro 808 [NNR004]
The new 12’’ release from Nyami Nyami records teams up mbira maestro Jacob Mafuleni from Zimbabwe and electro-funk producer Gary Gritness from Franc. Jacob Mafuleni was Chiwoniso’s sideman on vocals and mbira on the label’s acclaimed first release ‘Zvichapera’. He recorded two new tracks in Harare with his wife Martha Thom on vocals and the traditional percussion ocho. Gary Gritness added 808 rhythms and sounds keeping the natural flow of the songs without cutting or sampling the original music. He intuitively produced the talent of Jacob’s mbira ceremonies rhythmic patterns on his TR 808 drum machine. This natural and respectful collaboration resulted in two already classic ‘afro techno’ tracks Atuka Mondhoro 808 and Chiconi 808.
Xoa – Aiye Le [SHAKE003]
XOA is an exciting new project fusing sounds from the golden era of 70s Afrobeat with contemporary electronica and modern production. The debut release Aiye Le, features the vocals of former Fela Kuti musical director and afrobeat royalty Dele Sosimi. Label boss Dan Shake steps up for the remix on the B side, bringing his signature Detroit house aesthetic.
Outernational Days @ Bucharest 1-3.07.2016
The Attic Magazine presents the first edition of OUTERNATIONAL DAYS, a new music festival happening in the heart of Bucharest, in July 1-3.
Continue reading “Outernational Days @ Bucharest 1-3.07.2016”
Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids – We Be All Africans [STRUT144]
Those turned on by Spiritual Jazz should already be aware of West Coast combo Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids. They’ve been playing and recording together since the 1970s, though We Be All Africans is only their sixth full-length outing. Predictably, it’s a fine set, effortlessly fusing their spiritual roots with elements of jazz-funk, soul and, of course, Afro-jazz. Highlights are plentiful, from the swinging, Tony Allen style rhythms, swirling vocals and punchy horns of “Rhapsody In Berlin”, and the clarinet-sporting sweetness of the brilliantly percussive “Epiphany”, to the stretched-out drum workout “Traponga”, which sounds like the work of three drummers and a whole troupe of percussionists.
Decent International 01 – Leaving You / When Koaa [DC001]
From the Going Good camp. The drums smack. The bass is too loud. Liberia, Ghana, all the way across to Uganda. 1970’s tinpot dictatorships birth colourful sounds. Magnetic tape, Linn drums and Bucket Brigade delay units confuse the mix. Sub-cultural colonialism to destroy the dance. Still, it sounds good. And it looks nice as well!
Ahmed Malek – Musique Original De Films [HABIBI003]
Ahmed Malek was one of the most important musicians of the Algerian scene of the 1970s. His sountrack works that were composed for various Algerian movies of the time fuse Arabic influences with jazz, psych and funk influences. Dark cineastic soundscapes meet african Jazz at times reminicent of Mulatu. Original copies of his vinyl releases have been sold for enormous amounts. For this release we combined the strongest tracks from his releases with a selection of unreleased material straight from the families archive. The vinyl edition comes with a 8 page 12” size booklet, the cd version with a 16 page booklet with lot of unseen photos, an interview with the artist from 1978 and an introduction to Algerian cinema.
Philou Louzolo – Alkebulan Republic [LIH017]
Philou has a combination of Congolese, Nigerian and Sierra Leonean heritage and it is in these roots that he has built his sound. This EP is a dedication to the Amsterdam based Alkebulan Project, the project brings artists from Africa & African Diaspora together. This time with Nigerian artist Villy and his group ”Villy & The Xtreme Volumes.”
Orchestre Rail Band – Moko-Diolo [GG7004EU]
Reissue of ultra rare 7” from the cult, Orchestre Rail Band of Bamako, one of the most prolific bands in all of West Africa. This legendary orchestra has launched, among others, the careers of Salif Keita, Mory Kanté and Djélimady Tounkara and has bequeathed in just fifteen years one of the most important work in Malian and West African music.
Candido – Dancin’ & Prancin’ [SA8520]
Candido Cameron was a Cuban percussion maestro who had played with luminaries such as Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Rich and Count Basie throughout his illustrious musical career which started in 1952. Fast forward to 1979 and Candido finds himself caught up in the Disco boom that had engulfed his adopted New York City. Feeling he could add his trademark quick-fire Conga and Bongo playing to Disco’s straight 4 x 4 syncopated rhythm he cut some records with legendary NYC label Salsoul. The fruits of this partnership were 2 full length LP’s and a handful of 12″ singles that changed the face of underground Disco. The first of these two LP’s made for Salsoul was the truly epic “Dancin’ & Prancin” containing the all time classic “Jingo” which has been sampled, edited, re-configured and coveted by too many names to mention! It’s a killer funky Disco version of master Nigerian drummer Olatunji’s 1969 percussion suite of the same name, Salsoul style. The LP also contains one of the deepest Disco records of all time; “Thousand Finger Man” a testament to Candido’s percussion prowess and a spacey, beautiful voyage that has left more than an indelible mark on modern House music, often being cited as a huge influence by artists such as Masters At Work and more.
VA – Koute Jazz: A Collection Of Rare Jazz From The French West Indies [HS134VL]
First compilation exploring abundant french West Indies jazz scene of the 70s and 80s. 12 little known songs, only known by collectors of vinyl, which mix the jazz and the West Indies rhythms for the best of the Creole Jazz.
William Onyeabor – World Psychedelic Classics 5: Who is William Onyeabor [9900791]
In the early 21st century, a shadowy figure rose from the dust that settled atop forgotten record collections throughout Africa, leaving behind a trail of clues in what seemed like a wild good chase, but in October 2013, Luaka Bop will unmask a phantom: the great William Onyeabor. 13 tracks from Nigerian electro-funk originator, a mystery man of epic proportions, and an elusive master of synth & good vibes.
Grazia – Grazia LP [FTNLP01]
The crown jewel of Koliphone Records, Grazia’s debut album is by far one of the most intriguing pieces of music to ever be recorded in Israel. Jaffa in the late sixties and early seventies had an exciting and exotic sound to offer, where folk musicians performed live at its taverns seven nights a week. It was far from the mainstream hit-parade of swinging Tel-Aviv but close enough geographically to attract listeners from across the Tel-Aviv-Jaffa metropolis.
Analog Players Society – Coule’Ba [DSCVRY004]
Discovery Recordings is proud to release Coule’Ba by Analog Players Society, a collective melting pot of musicians lead by Amon. Coule’Ba draws from West African influences and features the incredible Missia Saran Diabate of Guinea on lead vocals.
