In 1986, Uruguayan vocalist and musician Mariana Ingold took the advice of a storied Uruguayan composer and musicologist and recorded her first album (Todo Depende) for the now legendary label Ayuí/Tacuabé. In the early ’80s, the introduction of the synthesizer fostered an experimental new approach to traditional Candombe rhythms. Ingold’s influence on the scene looms large. Pairing elegant vocals and majestic harmonies with complex arrangements, she pushed the Montevideo-specific sound — loosely termed Candombe fusion — in new directions and thrived working collaboratively with artists including Eduardo Mateo, Jaime Roos, and Hugo Fattoruso.

With the assistance of Chris J. Morris, Left Ear Records has extracted a collection of tracks that encapsulate this period between 1986-1991, lifting from her albums Todo Depende, Cambio de Clima, and Haace Calor. Full liner notes translated in English and Spanish with archival photos included.

Extremely hard-to-find Ghanaian LP from legendary musician Gyedu-Blay Ambolley, originally released in 1980. Tough Highlife, funk and boogie moods with added synthesizer! Ambolley is still actively touring today, keeping these vibes alive - he will be touring Europe throughout 2019. This is the third Gyedu Blay Ambolley LP that we have reissued on Mr Bongo, following on from his seminal ‘Ambolley’ and ‘Simigwa’ recordings. Official Mr Bongo reissue licensed from Gyedu-Blay Ambolley.

BBE Music presents two back-to-back, impossibly scarce and NYC Afrodisco by Sidiku Buari & His Jambusters, originally released on short-lived and highly collectible imprint ‘Precious Records’. Accra funk, village-party, anthem-packed LPs from the prolific output of Alaji Sidiku Buari, gold-winning sprint athlete, dancer, singer, arranger, composer, cinema and club founder, award-winning music video producer – and, latterly, president of Ghana’s Musicians’ Union as well as recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award of the Pan- African Society. Sharp Club 54 production values "Music", "Feelings", "Karambani" - combine with Accra village-style party vibes "Yayo Papa", "Minsumobo" and Buari’s socially conscious lyrics "Anokwar", "Power To My People" to produce more than two hours’ worth of music that will have you stuttering for superlatives.

Nahawa Doumbia is one of Mali's defining vocalists of the last four decades. Her work journeys through progressive stages of musical evolution and sonic vogues, making it hard to summarize or even comprehend. She's played a part in popular music since the late '70s, as her version of Wassoulou music developed from vocals-and-guitar duo into full-scale touring bands packing a bombastic, electrified punch. As Doumbia puts it, "My music has changed multiple times to this day. The more I progressed in my musical career, the more instruments I have had accompany my songs." Awesome Tapes From Africa now releases Doumbia's debut recording “La Grande Cantatrice Malienne Vol 1”, building on the success of the label's first-ever reissue back in 2011, Doumbia's “La Grande Cantatrice Malienne Vol 3”.
This seminal classic, which is still sought-after in Mali today, is finally be available for the first time internationally with remastered audio on LP, CD, Tape and Digital formats. The recording looks back to the beginning of Doumbia's long career, when she was performing in a simple voice and acoustic guitar format. This was before she added bass and drums, and finally the electric guitar and synths for which she became known more recently. Released in 1981 by the excellent Cote d'Ivoire-based AS Records, the singer was barely 20 years old when it was recorded. She was accompanied by her future husband N'Gou Bagayoko on acoustic guitar, whose style echoes the nimble runs of traditional kamele n'goni players. The stark simplicity of this highly intimate recording-the audible room acoustics, the occasionally in-the-red vocals-do not obscure the mature strength of her voice.
On “Vol 1” Doumbia performs her songs with the tenacity and hunger of a young artist on the cusp. "When I think about it, first, I am reminded of how long ago it was. It's one of the albums that I love most because it reminds me of my youth. I was so young and my voice was light and joyful. I still listen to some of those songs today. I am really proud of that first album because that's where it all began. It shows me how far I've come in my personal and artistic life; it gives me the courage I need to keep going forward, and makes me appreciate all the years of dedication and hard work I put into my musical career." These early songs are rhythmically built around Bagayoko's sensitive guitar, as his fingers brush the fretboard and gently outline the melodies. Although this record predates the singer's use of percussion, the driving skeletal didadi rhythm is apparent in the songs. Later albums like Vol 3 further prioritize her hometown didadi beat and the result made her famous.

FORMAT INFORMATION

LP includes MP3 Download Code.

‘Broken Belief’ brings together a selection of recordings by Japanese multi-instrumentalist Toshfumi Hinata drawn from a body of work originally recorded between 1985-1987. Attending Berklee College of Music after spending time living in both the United States and the United Kingdom, Hinata would study under the tutelage of pianist Patricia Laliberte, graduating from the esteemed American school in 1982. Returning to Japan after becoming disillusioned with his classical training, Hinata experimented with many different forms of music. Moving away from depending simply on acoustic instruments, he would instead become entrenched in the possibilities of the latest analog synthesizers being developed at the time.

Toshifumi Hinata’s initial idea was to make his first album with just a Prophet 5 and Linn Drum Machine. Tweaking filters and creating intricate sequences, Hinata would record various sounds on analog tapes and overdub many different layers; recording violin, piano and other accompaniments separately later on. It would become a method of working for the musician which he would apply almost entirely throughout this period. A deeply submerged process; one in which he would seek, as he himself puts it, to "weave musical images".

Toshifumi Hinata would go on to record several more albums released only on CD throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, after which he focused mainly on music for TV dramas, commercials and documentaries. Now living in Tokyo he is almost exclusively focused on creating music for documentaries. The period of work released between 1985-1987 is one though that was not only a rich moment in the history of Hinata himself but of Japanese music and electronic music in general.

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: Music From Memory save you a lot of hard work and deep digging here, collecting the best bits of Toshifumi Hinata's "Sarah's Crime", "Chat D'Ete", "Reality In Love" and "Story" LPs onto one release. "Atarashi Yuhubokumin" has been a total favourite of mine since I picked up "Chat D'Ete" about five years ago, and gets the ID requests whenever it gets an outing. Japanese ambient with a Balearic twist...

PYJÆN is the reflection of 5 souls. Their joy, their happiness, their worries and experiences come together in one unified higher identity. PYJÆN’s story will be expressed not only musically but also with other visual arts. Consisting of guitarist Dani Diodato, trumpet player Dylan Jones, saxophonist Ben Vize, drummer Charlie Hutchinson and bass player Benjamin Crane, PYJÆN have been touring in the UK this year with dates at iconic venues such as the Jazz Cafe, Vortex Jazz Club and Ronnie Scott’s as well as playing Glastonbury,Love Supreme and BrainchildFestival. Described by Jazz Wise Review as having 'a groove propelled with dynamism and formidable technique', PYJÆN seamlessly meld funk, afro-beat and contemporary sounds with nods to hip-hop and disco, whilst acknowledging the traditional era of 1920s jazz and dance music.

Jatinder Singh Durhailay and David Edren released "Tea Notes" as a cassette back in April of 2018. London-based Jatinder Singh Durhailay is a painter and student of Indian Classical music. He has trained in both the sitar and the Hindi singing technique, Dhrupad. He also plays two traditional Sikh instruments; the bowed, stringed Dilruba and Taus. Poetic Pastel Press issued his solo debut, "The Last Ballad Of Mardana", in 2017. David Edren`s expertise lies with machines and modular synthesis. His Kosmische and New Age-Inspired electronics have featured on numerous cassettes, and compilations, produced for imprints from the current Belgian underground, such as JJ Funhouse, Social Harmony, and Ultra Eczema. These recordings have appeared since the turn of the millennium, either under his own name, or the moniker DSR Lines. Jatinder and David’s collaboration, "Tea Notes", is a celebration, a meditation, on both the beverage, and the communal time shared imbibing. The coming together to partake in its ritual.

Each of the six tracks represents a different infusion. The opening piece is a tribute to semi-oxidised Oolong, from China`s Wuyi Mountains, with hammered dulcimer-like glissando. Gongs shimmering, gently crashing, as if signaling a change in the weather. A calm of thin, stretched synths and Ai angels introduces Tulsi from India. The Holy Basil of Hinduism, used in the worship of Vishnu, Krishna, and Rama. A traditional herb of Ayurveda and Siddha medicine. Automated arpeggiated sequences raising a vibrating wall of hallucinatory sound. Pairing swooning strings with a racing robot heart. Ceylon is a modern twist on the classical raga. Serving to tell the story of a tea smuggled into Sri Lanka in the 19th century. Plants stolen from South West China, where the brew had been enjoyed since the days of the Shang Dynasty (1766 to 1122 BC). The contraband founding fresh industry in its new home when the indigenous coffee crops failed. Muted organ and sleepy, treated sine wave microtones describe Kava, the Polynesian fireweed root, whose extract serves as both sedative and euphoriant.Shincha are the first young leaves of the season. Picked in Southern Japan and steamed to prevent oxidization, retain their flavour and green / gold colour.

Their musical counterpart finds Edren establishing an ecclesiastical drone, while Durhailay`s strings chart an ancient romantic ache. Sonic stars shine. Singing out to the infinite, the universe, before dissolving into knots of Radiophonic Workshop noise.Melodies treated with subtle sustain and delay denote Pu-Ehr, from the Yunnan province. The only truly fermented black tea - made distinctive by the action of bacteria, moulds, and yeasts. Its musical themes hovering in the vapour trails, the atmospheres, they themselves create. Spiraling, soaring, reaching for the heavens, while pretty music box glitches - tiny chimes turned in on themselves. Catching, reflecting, like light at play on fresh running water. 

Tough, mid-tempo Ghanaian funk & Highlife grooves from Ebo Taylor Junior, son of the mighty Ebo Taylor. Originally released in 1978, this sunkissed set with Wuta Wazutu is now extremely difficult and expensive to find in its original form. Soulful and skanking with the classic Accra sound, the nine track set is infectious from head to toe, though never better than the mighty back-beat attack of the killer “Mondo Soul Funky”.

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: Autumn might have hit hard this year, but this groove heavy LP from Ebo Taylor Jnr and Wuta Wazutu is simply sunshine in vinyl from. Funky, soulful and skanking, this has had everyone smiling in the shop this afternoon.

Jazzy Couscous founder Alixkun comes back with a 2nd volume of "Kumo No Muko", 12 Japanese music gems from the 80s exploring Ambient & Synth-Pop atmospheres. It opens with Miwako Saito's "12 No Garnet", a soft, slow paced and dreamy piece of synth-pop. Following are Yoshio Suzuki's "Touch Of Rain" and Ayuo Takahashi's "Mizu Iro No Kagami", both flirting with Jazz, Ambient & New Age influences. Traces of YMO members can be found with Hosono produced Tomoko Yasuno's "Sur La Terra" & Flat Face's "Hibi No Awa", released on Sakamoto's related label. While going through more exotic vibes with Shi-Shonen's "Harvest (Long Size)", Alixkun doesn't forget more chill out ambiances: Toru Hatano's "Kanki" is a singular mind trip led by a guitar solo a la Pink Floyd. The project closes with Mio Fou's "Picasso No Ao", a moody track illustrated by a combination of acoustic guitar and solo piano.