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"We're proud to introduce the new Superfly reissue of ultra-rare '70s Nigerian collection of some of their best 45s, full of funky psych killers, check 'Wodeka Roe' or the hit 'Gbeti Madjro' (though every single track is dynamite!) As usual, beautiful quality repress with paste on covers made in Japan, obi and 180 gram vinyl,... -
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Acid Jazz Records continue their exclusive licensing agreement with Albarika Store, the legendary record label that defined the sound of Benin and influenced the entire region of West Africa and beyond Recorded and issued in 1974, Le Sato is one of the earliest releases on the Albarika label and it is also one of the... -
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To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Fela Kuti's classic Open and Close, Partisan release the first vinyl pressing since the 1980s This edition features a return to the original gatefold... -
OF SURBOUM AFRICAN JAZZ 1960-1963' - After the two previous OK Jazz compilation releases, Planet Ilunga continues its mission to uncover and highlight the overlooked yet epic achievements in the world of Congolese rumba This time to tell the most spectacular story of all This is the story of the creation of Surboum African Jazz,... -
Legendary psychedelic guitar music from the Islamic Republic of Mauritania finally available on vinyl! Originally released as a double CD in 2010, Wallahi Le Zein! has persisted as a cult classic, a collection of a rarely heard and utterly unique underground music scene, raw and unfiltered The LP version we now present is... -
A superb release on Social Joy Records, the debut album of the band Burkina Azza 'Wari bô' takes us to the very soul of Burkina Faso, giving us a taste of the deep connection of the artists to the beauty and culture of the country A hypnotic beauty of an album, big... -
DARKSIDE is an American rock band formed in Providence, Rhode Island in 2011 The group consists of Chilean electronic musician & vocalist Nicolás Jaar and American multi-instrumentalist Dave Harrington Jaar and Harrington first met while studying in Providence through their com- mon friend and saxophonist Will Epstein In the... -
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The title track, “Yellow Fever”, is a scathing criticism of post-colonial Nigerians who cannot shake their “colonial mentality” Fela rails on women who bleach their skin as an act of beauty, contemptuously adding that, despite what they think, it only makes them less attractive The second track of the album is the... -
Zorro Five were a South African studio band comprising Johnny Boshoff (bass), Archie van der Ploeg (guitar), Tony Moore (drums), Johnny Fourie (guitar) and Zane Cronje (keyboard and organ) They won the “Best Beat Group” at the 1971 South African Recording Industry Award for the album Jump Uptight The single Reggae Shhh! b/w... -
Album recording at Maseru Holiday Inn Theatre before a small invited audience on a Tascam 8-track through a Raindirk mini mixer All mics and monitors used were Electro-Voice The recording was totally unrehearsed and is a genuine “live” sound Recording team: Prosound South Africa (Terry Acres, Simon Oates & Tony... -
“Pat Kalla & Le Super Mojo propel us into a whirlwind métisse of African groove and Caribbean funk, Afro-disco, Afrobeat, Makossa (Their music) dances with the musicality of political poetry, all expressed through a storyteller's Creole" (Fip) Hymne à la Vie Pat Kalla's second full-length LP out on Heavenly Sweetness... -
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The roots of Angolan popular music explored in the meticulous guitar studies of Mário Rui Silva 1980s albums Whether on mesmerising acoustic ballads or hypnotic groove-led tracks, the music of Angolan guitarist, researcher and intellectual Mário Rui Silva has a beguiling, melancholy quality, woven into the dynamics of his... -
Les Filles de Illighadad comes from the village of Illighadad in a remote region of central Niger Like many of the villages in the area, its borders are loosely defined, owing to the largely pastoral population It rests on the shore of a seasonal pond that swells during the rainy season The center of town has a well, some small... -
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Kalita Records announce the first ever official re-release of Mpharanyana & The Peddler's 1979 South African disco and funk recordings "Disco" and "Freak Out With Botsotso", backed by a devastating extended edit of "Disco" courtesy of Amsterdam-based DJ and producer Jamie 3:26 Born on November 15th, 1949 in Kattlehong, South... -
Double LP version Cameroonian musician Francis Bebey is truly one of a kind He entered the music scene with his African compositions for classical guitar He gave recitals while pursuing a career in journalism and then as an international civil servant The same creative impulse also led him to write pop songs, some of which (based... -
Performed by Fela and his Afrika 70 at the renowned Berlin Jazz Festival in 1978, this live recording of VIP is possibly Fela’s most profound vilification of the Nigerian government In his very public address to the European crowd, Fela explains that VIP, in this context, stands for “vagabonds in power”, a direct jab... -
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“Any other singer can sing a love song and the audience will think about lovers lost and found When I sing a love song it is a metaphor for the yearning of a subjugated people to be free” Miriam Makeba’s ‘Keep Me In Mind’ was her last album for Reprise and reflected major changes in both her own personal life and... -
Field recordings of Lobi traditional xylophone (gyil) music recorded by Hisham Mayet on location in Ghana's Upper West Region, West Africa in 2019 Featuring Aaron Bebe Sukura, considered one of the gyil's master musicians from this area Long form trance music with acoustic instruments sounding like several minimalist orchestras... -
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These are the indigenous Afro-Jazz Sounds of the Genius, Philip Tabane – the original Malombo Jazzman It started in 1964 at Orlando Stadium when Philip went on stage, leading his group – “The Malombo Jazzmen” On that Saturday afternoon, South Africa was staging its third Jazz Festival Philip and his group walked away with... -
The Western world was in the throes of peace, love and flower power as Nigeria descended into Civil War in 1967 The rock scene that developed during the following three years of bloodshed and destruction would come to heal the country, propagate the world-wide ideal of the Modern Nigerian, and propel Fela to stardom after... -
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Reissue for 1967 debut album of the iconic South African jazz singer Letta Mbulu Letta started touring very early in her teens, before moving to the United States in 1965 due to apartheid She is also known for the the Swahili chant in Michael Jackson's single, 'Liberian Girl' Producer Quincy Jones said about her: "Mbulu is the... -
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Zulu brings the slow burning dancefloor energy of 1980s South Africa into sharp focus Comprised of Sello Mmutung and Keith Hutchinson, the original six track album Zulu Disco was laid down in Johannesburg circa 1983 Quite likely the first pressing to vinyl, ‘Zulu’ carries the mystical original recording mastered from... -
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Hassan Wargui is a self taught musician, composer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and an expert in the songcraft and poetry of the Tachelhit speaking Amazigh tribes of the Anti-Atlas mountains in the south of Morocco He was born in 1985 in the rural community of Issafen, which lies between Taroudant and Tafraoute in the... -
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Following on from the Lagos Chop Up album, this lavishly packaged second LP of afrobeat, juju, apala, afrofunk, highlife and funk is a superb expose of the rich tapestry of Nigerian music that has long been obscured by the Fela Kuti's success in the West Ranging across styles from the mid-sixties to the early eighties this is an... -
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About a year or two ago we started talking to Sharhabeel, one of our favorite Sudanese musicians, with the help of his son and our colleague in Khartoum, Larissa, about re-releasing some of his old music I had never been to Sudan before and despite some great help in making the release happen we figured it would be a good idea to... -
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“Fela wrote 'Sorrow Tears and Blood' as a response to the Soweto Uprising of 1976 in which thousands of South African students protested the forced teaching of Afrikaans, the colonial language of Apartheid During the uprising and the ensuing riots, hundreds of students were killed The song calls out killings that have gone on in... -
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Originally made in 1977, 'Fear Not For Man' features two inimitably extended and largely instrumental grooves from the king of Afro Beat and his Afrika 70 ensemble including Tony Allen at the drummers stool 'Fear Not For Man' features an inspirationla opening speech from Fela but the rest of the side is pure groove with some... -
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On the title track Fela and the backup singers ridicule the mindset of men in uniform over an urgent, quick-march accompaniment from Afrika 70 The album was a scathing attack on Nigerian soldiers using the zombie metaphor to describe the methods of the Nigerian military Zombie was a smash hit with the people and infuriated the... -
Spellbinding Afro-beat classics, reissued with full colour artwork on fresh vinyl cut 'Everything Scatter' is a stone cold hit, fourteen minutes of the tightest instrumental instincts woven into one dynamite dancefloor mover, all with a strong message of African identity and an unshakable energy 'Who No Know Go Know' features a... -
Knitting Factory Records reissue Fela Kuti’s ‘Army Arrangement’ on vinyl, previously only available as part of the Box Set series ‘Army Arrangement’ is about Nigeria’s attempt at ‘democracy’ in 1979 after more than a decade of military... -
Knitting Factory Records reissue ‘Music Of Many Colours’ on black 140g vinyl with digital download code "‘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... -
Knitting Factory Records reissue Fela Kuti’s ‘Johnny Just Drop (JJD)’ on vinyl, previously only available as part of the Box Set series The reissue features original album artwork designed by Lemi Ghariokwu, who created the cover art for around half of Fela’s albums Originally released in 1977, ‘Johnny Just... -
Fela’s poetic use of broken English helped in resonating his message throughout Anglophone Africa The lyrics of ‘Roforo Fight’ illustrate Fela’s frustration at intolerant, violent human behaviour by depicting a fight that breaks out in the streets in Lagos ‘Go Slow’ is a 17:22 minute groove of... -
‘ITT’ (International Thief Thief) was recorded following Afrika 70’s disintegration and the formation of Egypt 80 At the time of its release, the name of this album would have been recognized by any Nigerian as the acronym for International Telephone & Telegraph, Nigeria’s biggest telecommunications... -
The “Na Poi” EP contains a later version of Fela’s scandalous hit “Na Poi”, in which Fela details what happens between a man and a woman behind closed doors Originally banned by the Nigerian Broadcasting Company for its taboo sexual lyrics, the version on this eponymous album interchanges spoken word and sung... -
Vinyl release of this 1975 album The massed horns, relentless grooves, and bold improvising that would come to define Fela's aesthetic sound positively revolutionary on these essential early recordingsThis album heralds a series of increasingly politically-charged LPs Fela would release over the next three years It was the...
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In the beginning of the 1970’s, Guinea-Bissau was a country broken up into many ethnic groups and at the heart of a war for independence By reviving traditional musical genres as Gumbé and singing in guinean Kriol, José Carlos Schwarz & Cobiana Djazz established an immediate affective bond with their audiences Through its... -
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From their genesis as members of the Venus club in-house band in the early 70s, The Walias were at the forefront of the musical revolution during an era where modern instruments and foreign styles superseded the traditional fare to become the staple sound of Ethiopia No one would argue that The Walias were the trailblazing... -
The rich sounds of Maloya and Séga music, originating from the Réunion island (as well as Mauritius and Seychelles for Séga), have recently been brought to the ears of the Northern hemisphere's music lovers Hailing from the French Alps, where Réunion-natives and young "metropolitan" French youngsters have been sharing parties,... -
These are the historical recordings by the great ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey The fruit of his researches in southern Congo and in northern Zambia between 1957 and 1958 That was the time when the guitar became a popular instrument and slowly achieved the status of cultural symbol This collection stands as an important document of... -
Cap'tain Créole - formerly known as Trenchtown Meditation - was a band formed in 1984 by Clément, José, Jean-Pierre and SergeCap'tain Créole was a pioneering creole-speaking French reggae band with the aim of exploring new musical horizons With the help of 3 new members - among them a sax player and a trumpet player, both... -
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Tony Allen’s first 4 solo albums, recorded with Afrika 70 at the height of their power as Fela Kuti’s band, are seminal recordings in the pantheon of afrobeat history With Comet Records’ new reissues of these records, we have the opportunity to shine a light on the sheer musicality and originality of the humble drumming... -
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Reissue of one of the first of three of Tony Allen's solo albums produced by Fela Kuti! Originally released on the private imprint Soundworkshop Records Arguably one of this best albums with these two killer funky afro-beat gems 'Jealousy' and...
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