limited edition remastered reissue with download code included.

nwe album by damily

first release of promising new label - heavy nigerian boogie lp with that raw characteristic lo-fi feel - nkono teles on keys and odion iruoje on the production. dope!!

a limited reissue of cheikh lô’s classic debut album né la thiass. produced by youssou n’dour in dakar in 1995. cheikh ranks the album as his favourite release. available for the first time on vinyl, with new artwork and mastered from the original cassette mixes. includes 2 bonus fully artworked postcards. 180g heavyweight. 16 page colour booklet. download code included. cheikh will be touring internationally throughout 2018.

mix righteous fuzz guitar, bad-ass keyboards and ecstatic african rhythms and what have you got? celebration by aktion - a slab of of heavy afro-funk-pysch-rock from the hardest working band in 70s nigeria.

baad john cross’s new revolution is a afro-electro-funk-boogie-disco banger that could only come from 1980s nigeria. bright, optimistic, with an unrelenting eye on the dance floor, it is regarded by many as a prototype of the electro rhythms that would become the signature sound of nigerian boogie.

search the name ‘burnis moleme and the returns are sparse. you’ll discover that his track ‘where is the answer’ appeared on soundway’s excellent nigerian disco compilation, doin’ it in lagos. and there are a few entries about this pmg re-issue of light my fire. but other than that, he seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. he’s not even a minister of religion, the career path most nigerian stars from the 80s chose to follow. thankfully, we still have light my fire. produced by former funkee jake sollo and backed by a hot team of session musos including friday pozo, nkono teles and joseph ‘jojo’ kuo, burnis delivered a slab of slick afro disco boogie for the ages.

first release in mr bongos new africa 45 series.

nigerian disco-funk from 1979 back on vinyl.

auf -ennanga vision- begleiten wir den londoner produzenten jesse hacke (owiny sigoma band, elmore judd, gorillaz) auf einer klangreise, die uns von der englischen kapitale nach uganda führt, und damit von der hauptstadt des pop mitten ins herz von afrika. co-steuermann und erster kollaborateur von hacke ist der ugandische sänger und multiinstrumentalist albert ssempeke. bei ihrer eigenwilligen, um nicht zu sagen abenteuerlichen unternehmung erhalten die beiden beistand durch eine reihe von gastsängern aus dem norden ugandas, die unter der dortigen bevölkerung einen legendären ruf genießen. damit setzt sich die formation aus einer runde von experten zusammen, welche die dj-ikone gilles -acid jazz- peterson zu den worten -one of the finest musicians, thinkers and world selectors in the uk- hinriss. sie sorgen für einen hypnotischen sound, der traditionelle ugandische folk-musik mit aktuellem pop der westlichen hemisphäre zu einem organischen ganzen verschmilzt. dabei findet die einsaitige, für afrika so typische geige genauso ihren platz wie eine 200 jahre alte mundharmonika. für das infektiöse klangbild bestimmend sind jedoch in erster linie elektronische instrumente aller art sowie parallel gespielte xylophone.

devil woman is an album designed to set young hearts aflutter and draw approving nods from seasoned musicians. it succeeds in both.

ofo the rock company (originally known as ofo the back company) were nigeria’s first acid-rock band. blending hendrix and deep purple with shamanism and a pro-black philosophy, they cut their teeth at fela kuti’s afrika shrine, developing a fearsome live reputation that intimidated every other band in lagos. no one wanted to follow the guys from ofo, not even fela himself.

at a time when bandleaders in nigeria used titles as an affectation, dr. adolf ahanotu was the real deal. he had a phd in music compilation and master’s degrees in education and communication. he also played a mean tenor sax, an instrument he mastered touring owerri with the mirabels.

in mid-seventies, nigerian bands came and went with alarming regularity, rising meteorically from the slums to stardom and falling back again just as quickly. masisi mass funk from anamara state was one such band. but during their brief moment in the stratosphere, they produced a funk gem in i want you girl.

it’s hard to get a handle on nigerian musicians nash dodoo, charlie cuul and jonas caulley. in 1980 they released an album of face-melting gospel boogie as the bml chapels. and in the same year, calling themselves the beta yama group, they put out free love, a belated love letter to san francisco’s summer of love and an album altogether focused on more worldly concerns. free love is a small slice of haight-ashbury transported to the polygram studios in lagos. ‘te revoir’ is mamas and papas jamming with sergeant pepper’s beatles. ‘free love’ offers a respectful nod towards je t’aime-era serge gainsbourg. sure, ‘revolution’ gets hard and funky and ‘rain’ flirts briefly with a calypso reggae sound, but the majority of the album is cheesecloth and flowers in your hair. insanely rare – and worth buying for the freaky cover art alone – free love is a funky, reverb heavy call for love, peace and sweet, sweet loving. what more could you want from an album?
(peter moore)

how do you follow up a stone-cold afro funk classic like village boogie? simple. gather together some of the hottest players in nigeria, take them down to the phonodisk studios in ijebu igbo and let them loose on a bunch dancefloor fillers you spent the last four years ‘road testing’ in kaduna. and don’t forget to get lady franka and mariam pledge in on backing vocals. those girls know how to fire up a party. it helps, of course, if you’re steve ‘dudu’ black. steve had a god-given knack for writing combustible dance tunes and the contacts in the industry to get the likes of willy nfor, willy roy and felix lebarty to make them explode. from the opening track, ‘osasuima’, the heat never stops. on ‘no stopping me now’ and ‘ololufe/ stay the night’, it’s almost too hot to handle. polished in a studio in london while musical youth recorded pass the dutchie in the next room, happy birthday to u is the gift that keeps on giving – an irresistible blend of highlife, afro beat and afro funk that is guaranteed to start a party on any dance floor.
(peter moore)

deep, storming salegy sounds from madagascar. salegy is the electrified updating of the traditional antsa style from the north-west of the island — 6/8 rhythms, layered with percussion and call-and-response vocals — and the vetson’ androy group one of its most popular proponents. from 1978, mavandeza has the heady urgency of killer fela — with two women singers out front, psychedelic organ and prowling-lion bass. the flip is from a decade later, by malagasy superstar eusebe jaojaby — rough and tough dancefloor worries, with a mazy string-line, mash-it-down percussion and lilting flute. another sizzler from sofrito.

fantasma, the latest project of south african innovator and creative pioneer spoek mathambo, is a five-man collective which weaves together electronica, hip-hop, traditional zulu maskandi music, shangaan electro, south african house, psych-rock and punk to form a unique, original and fresh hybrid. the godfather of bacardi house, producer dj spoko joins with former machineri guitarist andré geld- enhuys, drummer michael buchanan and maskandi multi-instrumentist bhekisenzo cele to complete the line up. fused by spoek mathambos futurist vision, fantasma pulls inspiration from all corners of south africa: the sounds and spirits of townships and cities as well as the rural countryside. it is diverse not only in its membership but also in its forward-looking music. the 2x12 inch vinyl includes 2 bonus tracks and download code.

sub-elevation is a new 12 inch afro-jazz hip hop vanguard straight from cuba, produced by kumar aka sublevao-beat.

bbe music celebrates the centenary of recorded ghana highlife music with a double album reissue of two rare 80s lps recorded by the late atakora manu, afro highlife and omintiminim.