urban ethiopian music stands out within the african continent thanks to its creativity and originality. whatever the shade - pop, blues, jazz or soul - it comes from a fusion of local musical traditions mixed with an echo of western music. it bewitched ethiopia during the swinging addis decade before recently winning the favours of a well-informed audience all over the world. this first vinyl volume of *ethiopian urban modern music* presents a selection of the more funkier ethiopian tracks, drawn from the essential ethiopiques cd series directed by francis falceto and published by buda music.

the chisa years: 1965–1975 (rare and unreleased) is a compilation album by south african jazz trumpeter hugh masekela. the album consists of 14 rare or forgotten tracks recorded by stewart levine and hugh masekela from 1965 to 1975 when they ran their own chisa records label. thom jurek of allmusic wrote “in sum, there isn’t a weak moment on this entire collection. it’s appeal is wide and deep and one can only hope this is the first of many volumes of this material to appear. bbe records has done a stellar job in making this slab available.” dan nishimoto of the prefix magazine stated “the compilation focuses on masekela’s original idea of “african american music.” from the early experiments of the zulus (a group featuring m’bulu) in mixing doo-wop, rhythm & blues and south african gospel and the mbaqanga/”grazing in the grass”-style work of the generically named johannesburg street band to the clearly fela-influenced ojah (masekela’s band in the mid-’70s, consisting of players from ghana and nigeria) and the readyfor-primetime belting of m’bulu, each track reveals a multi-pronged effort to find and challenge the notion(s) of how african and american cultural forms could interact.”

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cole williams heißt der mann, dessen stimme uns sowohl in den intensiven höhen als auch in den souligen mittelparts seiner songs ergreift. zugleich tief melancholisch, irre groovig und wenn er will, sogar ein bisschen prollig. es ist aber nicht nur wie er es sagt, sondern vor allem was er sagt: die explizit durchdachten und bedeutungsstarken lyrics erhalten gepaart mit der wow-stimme von cole williams und den belebenden beats echten tiefgang. auf diese art transformiert the child of lov den häufig recht verstaubten soul ins 21. jahrhundert.
pressung auf 180 gramm virgin-vinyl, mp3-download inklusive.

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.

quintessenz der staten island souls: the budos band! ihr frischer, afro beeinflusster sound zwischen soulful & psychedelic? begeistert in den usa & uk bereits plattenliebhaber und fans starker live performances. james brown & fela kuti stehen pate für ihre musik. the budos band have soul, on the inside. and its strong!

reissue coming soon!

.. late 80s influenced

die vielgepriesenen multiinstrumentalisten der menahan street band veröffentlichen ihr zweites album the crossing auf dem daptone records-ableger dunham records. der titeltrack des albums hatte seine premiere am 1. august auf rollingstone.com.
neben ihrer rolle als offizielle hausband des brooklyner labels dunham records hat die menahan street band bereits 2008 ein erstes album veröffentlicht, dass nicht nur von den kritikern bejubelt wurde sondern auch deshalb von sich reden macht, weil es so oft gesampelt wurde, wie kaum eine andere zeitgenössische funk- oder soul-platte. samples von made the road by walking finden sich unter anderem in songs von weltbekannten kollegen wie jay-z, 50 cent, kid cudi und vielen anderen. 2011 spielte die band no time for dreaming, das debüt-album der soul-sensation charles bradley ein den sie auf seiner welt-tournee auch als backingband begleiteten. das album wurde co-komponiert und produziert von mbs-gründungsmitglied thomas brenneck.

re-release , 180gr black vinyl , gatefold

another new signature on heavenly sweetness, the leftfield duet baron retif & concepcion perez. they already released 3 eps on musique large label and did remixes for laurent garnier or jacaranda muse, and produced some beats for french rapper roce or coeff.

a wonderful funk journey!!

featuring the woody guthrie classic this land is your land , the title track of the new george clooney film up in the air !!! sophomore album from contemporary vintage soul queen sharon jones on brooklyn s daptone imprint bringing us back to the 1970s with sincerity, integrity, melody, and an unwavering loyalty to rhythm! gatefold sleeve!

reissue

reissue

reissue ! gatefold lp, pressed on 180 g vinyl

reissue, black vinyl