[engl] Soul Patrol Records present a reissue of I Like Woman. This is an album comprised of two super-rare Afro-beat disco/funk tracks from Lagos by the band Afro Super-Feelings, led the by artist/musician Segun Okeji. Segun Okeji was the tenor sax player in Fela Kuti's Koola Lobitos band in Nigeria in the late 1960s before changing their name to Africa 70, and this record, originally released in the late 1970s, uses that first-hand experience and influence to maximum effect with a pair of devastating sidelong saxophone-led jams. Up-tempo, chugging drums and a crack horn section, bass, guitar, organ, and backing vocals coordinate to achieve the hypnotic call/refrain/chant crescendo that was Fela's hallmark in his peak years. Players include Tunde Daudu on drums (The Benders), E. Ngomalloh on organ (Fela Kuti), Tutu Shoronmu on guitar (Fela Kuti), and others that played on releases by the C.S. Crew, Sonny Okosun, Orlando Julius, and Tony Allen. Edition of 500.

[engl] Tallawit Timbouctou are champions of takamba, a hypnotic traditional music from Northern Mali. Built around the tehardent, the four stringed lute and pre-cursor to the American banjo, takamba's droning distortion comes from signature handmade mics and blown out amplifiers. Accompanied by percussion pounded out onto an overturned calabash with mind boggling time signatures, the combined effect is trance inducing. This is the music that long ruled the North of Mali, performed at festivities, blasting out of dusty boomboxes, and beaming out from village radio stations. Its origin is shrouded in mystery, and though purportedly dating back to the Songhai Empire of the 15th century, takamba's heyday was in the 1980s, with the introduction of amplification. Musicians found a lucrative circuit, performing in elegant weddings, creating cassettes on demand, and writing songs for their wealthy patrons. Today takamba has fallen out of popular fashion with the youth, but continues to thrive in a small network of die-hard traditionalists. Band leader Aghaly Ag Amoumine is one of the remaining renowned takamba musicians. Descended from a long line of praise singers, he spent decades traveling across the Sahel, performing in remote nomad camps and crowded West African capitals. His compositions continue to circulate today and have become part of the folk repertoire. His group Tallawit Timbouctou, based in the city of the same name, continues in the family tradition, and has featured both his brother and nephew as accompanying members. Recorded at home in Timbouctou, "Hali Diallo" is a relentless and nonstop recording, true to the form of takamba. Tracks blend seamlessly into one another, instruments are tuned mid-song, and Aghaly only pauses singing long enough for the occasional shout-out or dedication. Unfiltered and direct as it's meant to be heard, Tallawit Timbouctou is a shining example of one of the last great takamba bands.

[engl] The past five years have seen amapiano, South Africa’s electronic music movement born in the townships of the country’s Gauteng province, evolve from an underground sound to a nationwide mainstream staple. Even with its commercial success though, amapiano’s DIY ethos has continued to disrupt music creation and distribution in the country. Most amapiano commercial successes today began their careers on cracked versions of production software like FL Studio, distributed their work through file sharing platforms like datafilehost and marketed it using social media pages they controlled and influenced. Amapiano is partly a tasting menu of South Africa’s musical history, a lineage that has been as much a backdrop to the times as it has been a catalyst for change in the country. South African jazz has thrived pre and post-democracy, contributing international stalwarts of the genre, notably Miriam Makeba, Abdullah Ibrahim and Hugh Masekela. Kwaito music—which itself borrowed from other genres like marabi, kwela, mbaqanga, maskandi, bubblegum and others—was created and proliferated in the 90s partly because of the newly accessible House music imported into the country. In the early 2000s, Deep and Afro House dominated, to be followed by the rise of diBacardi, a percussion—heavy electronic music genre most popular in the city of Pretoria and its surrounding townships. Amapiano Selections, the debut album by DJ and producer Teno Afrika, gives listeners outside the movement’s online release economy an insight into the high-burn nature of amapiano that has spawned a distinct typology under its larger umbrella. 21-year-old Lutendo Raduvha has spent the bulk of his life moving between different townships on the outskirts of Johannesburg and Pretoria in the Gauteng province. The palette of amapiano styles on the album reflect these influences. But at first, South Africa’s youngest electronic music movement lived underground with a small, loyal following. “Amapiano is a genre that I chose because I have a passion for it,” says Teno “I started following amapiano in 2016 because I wanted to explore how it’s produced. It was not taken seriously in our country.” The record’s opening track, poignantly named “Ambassadors,” is the sound de jour in this current moment of amapiano’s evolution. Here organ solos riff over demure drums, bass and percussion for a sophisticated sound that is palatable to both seasoned and uninitiated ears. Teno Afrika does something similar on Conka, but this time referencing the Kwaito-influenced Amapiano popularised by DJ Sumbody and Cassper Nyovest’s collaborations and Focalistic’s lyrical dribbling which earned him the nickname Pitori Maradona (Maradona of Pretoria). The next two tracks, “Storytellers” and “8 Ubers" as well as tracks 6 and 7 (“Lerato La Bass” and “Trip to Vlakas”) are Teno Afrika’s hat tip to the sound evolving in the townships on the outskirts of Pretoria (Pitori to the hip) known locally as gong gong amapiano. From the home of diBicardi, the percussion and groove of the latter two especially are distinct for their almost off-tempo stride, an identifying feature of diBacardi. The high-pitched keyboard builds to a delayed break; once there, the drum is almost turned inside out to create a bass-line that becomes the driving force behind the track. As a counterpoint to the unrefined, chest rattling coarseness, fifth in the line-up “Smooth Criminal” is carried by the melody, given ample breathing space and balances the heavy bass on its back. Teno Afrika is referencing Harvard amapiano, named after the Ivy League US university for its supposedly more educated approach to production. Interestingly, Teno Afrika only gives vocals prominence on the closing track “Chants of Africa.” As a way of making their music recognizable and relatable for broadcast, amapiano producers have sometimes overly relied on vocals in the form of singing, catch-phrases and party refrains for the purpose. “It was my decision not to use vocals on this project,” says Teno “The reason is I wanted people to feel my instrumentals and style because this is my first album.” On his closing track the young producer gives a glimpse of the considered approach to music which buoys anticipation for greater things from his future releases.

[engl] Strut continues its essential compilation series of Indian Ocean sounds with 'Alefa Madagascar', the first compilation to document the unique culture of salegy, soukous and soul on the island during the '70s and '80s. 'Alefa Madagascar' showcases the rich variety of sounds during this heyday of Malagasy music: Roger Georges' 'Mama' and Jean Kely et Basth's 'Andosy Mora' bring the raw energy of salegy, influential band Los Matadores drop military drums and Hammond soul in the classic 'Andeha Hanarato'; Mahaleo's 'Izahay Mpamita' showcases the band's powerful folk sound, a crucial voice emerging from the Rotaka farmer and student protests of 1972, while Terak'Anosy Group work around a stomping Congolese guitar groove. The era paved the way for many of the household names of Malagasy music today including Jaojoby, D'Gary and Lego.

[engl] A collection of beautiful Country-Western inspired music from 1950s Zimbabwe, South Africa and Kenya. Fingerpicking "omasiganda" troubadours, train car yodels, raw slide guitar, and haunting travel-weary ballads, all reissued for the first time from rare 78s. A heavy duty document of a nearly lost scene, and all the songs are all stunners to boot. Featuring George Sibanda, Josaya Hadebe, Sabelo Mathe, Petrus Mntambo and more, with a 12" booklet of deep research and full lyrics, packaged in old school tip-on covers. Co-released by our friends Olvido Records (A. Kostis, The White Birds, George Mukabi). Audio restoration and transfers by Michael Kieffer.

[engl] A compilation of uniquely Kenyan acoustic guitar songs, recorded in the homes and yards of Luhya musicians. In 2016, we set out to learn the origins of Omutibo, a playing style invented by George Mukabi and adapted by his neighbors in a region that proved to be truly fertile for guitarists. These are the songs and stories of a golden era Kenya on the brink of independence, beautifully resurrected by the songwriters themselves over 50 years later. LP comes packaged in a deluxe metallic spot-color jacket, with an 8-page full color booklet featuring interviews, photographs, and lyrics in English and Luhya. Co-released by Raw Music International and Olvido Records.

[engl] With a mix of modern and traditional instruments these fourteen songs go through the progression of an Ethiopian Amhara wedding sung in Amharic. With the trio of singers, Lemma G. Hiwot, Zenebech Tesfaye, and Selamawit G. Selassie, alternating turns at the microphone, and sharing call and response duties, a relentless frenzy of hand clapping incites dancing and smiles. The consumption of tedj (honeywine) and the swirling love of a wedding was captured in the studio with euphoric energy to take away to play over and over again when the festivities are over. With hand screened covers and an insert of wedding photos accompanying the liner notes, this is the next best thing to an invitation to the real thing. Originally released on Philips Ethiopia in 1973. A co-release between Domino Sound in New Orleans and Mitmitta Musika of Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.

[engl] Mono Egypt is a compilation of field recordings of various musical cultures from contemporary Egypt. It is the result of several years of work with musicians from the Eastern Desert, Nubia, the Nile Delta, Cairo and the port cities of the Suez Canal. This album is the fruit of dozens of recording sessions conducted in private homes and gardens, on riverbanks and rooftops, at the back of bars, in the desert, and in many other unusual places. Professional artists form one of the last functioning guilds in Egypt in which the oral tradition still enables the transfer of knowledge and skills from father to son, mother to daughter. Many of them still make their own instruments by hand, and they all tell stories of unique communities. The compilation is a musical journey through this region at the junction of Africa and Asia, which is characterised by a surprising diversity of instruments, cultures and dialects. Mono Egypt is the first production of independent micro-label JuJu Sounds. The project focuses on building bridges between musicians from marginalised communities and niche audiences from around the world. The mission of JuJu Sounds is to revive valuable musical ecosystems, not just to sell exotic products. The Mono Egypt compilation is released in limited edition of 150 copies on yellow cassette.

[engl] As part of their 20th Anniversary celebrations, Strut present the first new volume in their pioneering 'Nigeria 70' series for over 8 years, bringing together rare highlife, Afro-funk and juju from the '70s and early '80s. Compiled by collector and DJ Duncan Brooker, this new selection of tracks is receiving its first international release outside of Nigeria. The compilation returns to a fertile heyday in Nigerian music when established styles like highlife and juju became infused with elements of Western jazz, soul and funk and musicians brought a proud new message post-independence. Brooker places the spotlight particularly on some of the incredible Ukwuani musicians from the Delta State region as guitarist Rogana Ottah and Steady Arobby's International Brothers Band forged their own fluid brand of highlife and soulman Don Bruce drew on the US R&B greats for a series of great albums and explosive stage shows at his residency at Hilton Hotel in Abuja. Elsewhere, the album explores the close connection between Nigeria and Benin's music, most famously through Sir Victor Uwaifo, appearing here with a killer mid-'80s ekassa jam, as well as highlife hitmaker Osayamore Joseph on 'Obonogbozu' (Joseph made headlines in Nigeria for very different reasons in 2017, surviving a one month kidnapping ordeal). Other tracks include 'Sickness' a 1979 lament on how all countries share troubles by Prince Nico Mbarga, the Nigerian / Camerounian star behind the smash hit 'Sweet Mother'; reggae singer Felixson Ngasia switches to funk and disco for a heavy workout with potent lyrics around black identity; another major highlife great Etubom Rex Williams unleashes a punchy psych funk gem with 'Psychedelic Shoes' and Africa 70 member Pax Nicholas vocals a simmering Afrobeat groove from Jacob Lee's Saxon Lee & The Shadows International Band.