Strut presents 'Nigeria 80', the next essential chapter in the legendary 'Nigeria 70' series, diving deep into the explosive sound world of 1980s Nigeria.

Following the global impact of 2001's 'Nigeria 70', which helped introduce rare Nigerian recordings to international audiences, 'Nigeria 80' continues the journey, unearthing a rich, restless, and wildly creative decade of music from Lagos to Enugu. Despite economic instability and restrictive political conditions in the 1980's, Nigeria’s music industry flourished, driven by a growing network of independent labels such as Tabansi and Phonodisk, which championed local artists and expanded creative freedom. The 1980s also marked a significant rise in visibility for female artists, with trailblazers like Onyeka Onwenu helping to reshape the landscape and open doors for a new generation of performers, writers, and producers.

'Nigeria 80' showcases the extraordinary breadth of this era, with all tracks reissued here for the first time. The compilation brings together essential recordings from across Nigeria’s musical spectrum: highlife greats Victor Uwaifo and Nico Mbarga appear alongside Paulson Kalu, whose personal favourite 'Akugbue Nwa Ewu' stands out as a prime example of the style. Prince David Bull’s 'Soko Soko' (later reinterpreted in Starboy’s Afrobeats hit 'Soco') features as a key touchpoint between eras. Segun Adewale delivers a driving juju workout, while Lekan Animashaun, longtime bandleader of Africa 70, contributes a late-era Afrobeat classic produced in collaboration with Fela Kuti.

The compilation also highlights more experimental and hybrid sounds, from I.C. Rock’s proto–hip hop gem 'Advice' to Evi-Edna Ogholi’s self-produced reggae statement 'The World'. The set closes with 'Apama' by Ibealaoke Chukwukeziri, the 'Apama Boy' from Achi in eastern Nigeria, featuring hypnotic vocals and percussion from his Anaedeonu band.

TRACK LISTING

LP Tracklisting:
1. Akugbue Nwa Ewu – Paulson Kalu & His Stars 25 International
2. Ocheme Mia – Prince Nico Mbarga & His New Rocafil Jazz
3. Ayubele – Sir Victor Uwaifo & His Titibitis
4. Advice / Oge Chi Kanma – I.C. Rock
5. We Have Got It – Mansour
6. The World – Evi-Edna Ogholi
7. Soko Soko – Prince David Bull & His Professional Seagulls Dance Band
8. Ije Love Pt. 2 – General Franco-Lee Ezute & His Harmony Kings International Band
9. Yo-Pop Music – Segun Adewale & His Superstars International
10. Se Rere – Lekan Animashaun
11. Apama – Ibealaoke Chukwukeziri & His Anaedeonu Band

CD Tracklisting:
1. Akugbue Nwa Ewu – Paulson Kalu & His Stars 25 International
2. Ocheme Mia – Prince Nico Mbarga & His New Rocafil Jazz
3. Ayubele – Sir Victor Uwaifo & His Titibitis
4. Eyi Yato – Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey & His Inter-Reformers Band
5. We Have Got It – Mansour
6. Advice / Oge Chi Kanma – I.C. Rock
7. The World – Evi-Edna Ogholi
8. Oke Mi Ye – Stella Monye
9. Se Rere – Lekan Animashaun
10. Apama – Ibealaoke Chukwukeziri & His Anaedeonu Band
11. Yo-Pop Music – Segun Adewale & His Superstars International
12. Soko Soko – Prince David Bull & His Professional Seagulls Dance Band
13. Ije Love Pt. 2 – General Franco-Lee Ezute & His Harmony Kings International Band

Houston/Denver's cumbia psicodélica architect reimagines two of the most loved songs in the global crate, Manu Chao's "Me Gustas Tú" (2001) and Childish Gambino's "Redbone" (2016), as a hypnotic dancefloor weapon spanning two eras in one groove. 

TRACK LISTING

A. Me Gustas Tú
B. Redbone

Scruniversal's LSD (Local Sugar Diggers) series continues its deeply satisfying mission of sending trusted diggers into the field and letting local talent reveal all. This time Los Protos heads to Brazil and resurfaces with DJ Elohim, a native digger and producer with the sharp editorial instinct the series is known for. Two edits, two sides, two jewels: 'Eu Quero Ver Voce Se Remexer' collides vintage Brazilian groove with funky heat, while 'E Congo' delivers the kind of free-flowing and sunny rhythmic energy that only comes from Latin America. Another impeccable entry.

TRACK LISTING

Eu Quero Ver Voce Se Remexer
E Congo

With the release of 'And So It Goes…' British-Brazilian singer-songwriter Liana Flores enters a new phase, taking in the life-changing experiences of recent years spent traveling the world as an artist and moving to London, and channelling the commotion through the easy-going nature of bossa nova. 

TRACK LISTING

1. So It Goes
2. Silvershoes
3. Gemini
4. So Mysterious
5. Here To Stay
6. The Way I Say Goodbye 

Haroumi Hosono, the pioneering Japanese musician, producer, composer, and founding member of Yellow Magic Orchestra and Happy End, has “found his voice in a late career renaissance," writes The Wire. His five-decade legacy continues to grow and attract new fans, and has been cited by an acclaimed list of artists, including Mac DeMarco, Cameron Winter, Ginger Root, Vampire Weekend, and Harry Styles. Shaped by mid-century American music, Hosono's work now reverberates back through a new generation of Western artists—a remarkable circular exchange.

'Yours Sincerely', his 23rd studio album and first collection of new music in over seven years, finds Hosono ever-pushing his exploratory songcraft: “I am now 78 years old, but from here on, I feel a growing curiosity toward the unknown music that my new self will create, while also embracing the music of my former self—as if I now carry two musical worlds within me.” Across arrangements that span tender psych-folk and bubbling avant pop, Hosono contemplates the concept of a maternal force that envelops the Earth, “humanity’s understanding of the unconditional love possessed by those who give us life,” he says. Songs tap into a collective current, engaging the “deeply buried instincts—maternal compassion and mercy, things we rarely engage with in our daily lives.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Note of Mothership
2. Sincerely
3. Ayurveda
4. M for Mandala
5. Rojiura (Walking Vibration)
6. Happy Holiday
7. To A Wild Rose
8. Humming "Dream Of Love"
9. Figlio Perdute
10. Anemo Wheel

'Chopping Mountain', the new record by Ibibio Sound Machine is the clearest rendering yet of the London collective’s longstanding mission to promote love, unity, and resistance through music. It is the band’s sixth full-length record, and the first to feature the band’s Max Grunhard as producer since 2019’s 'Doko Mien'. Following their Hot Chip-produced breakthrough 'Electricity' (2022) and the darker, clubbier inflection of the Ross Orton-produced 'Pull the Rope' (2024), 'Chopping Mountain' feels like it was pulled directly from the hearts and experiences of the Eno Williams and Grunhard-led band.

Williams, as always, is a siren — a once-in-a-generation frontwoman whose call, both to the dancefloor and for a better tomorrow, is impossible to resist. How she does it is a mystery. Take a song like 'Return to Sender', for instance. Inspired by a car accident in which she felt the steering wheel of her vehicle literally jump out of her hands — which she likened to “a spiritual attack by unseen forces” — the track is a sinewy, cathartic rager, a full-body workout and full-throated rejection of evil in multiple tongues, English and her native Ibibio.

She is, of course, hardly alone at the foot of 'Chopping Mountain'. Ibibio Sound Machine — Grunhard (saxophone, keyboards), Alfred Bannerman (guitar), PK Ambrose (bass, keyboards),Joseph Amoako (drums), Afla Sackey (percussion), Scott Baylis (trumpet, keyboards), and Tony Hayden (trombone, synth) — are supernaturally tight, drawing on their roots and inspirations in highlife, disco, afrobeat, funk, post-punk, and electropop to build towering cathedrals of sound around her voice.

Continuing on the path they first charted on 'Pull the Rope', many of 'Chopping Mountain's songs started out in jam sessions, locking in on a groove or an instrument or a lyric. This is, at its core, the spirit of 'Chopping Mountain'. Against the backdrop of a dispiriting world, Ibibio Sound Machine remain hopeful, seekers of consciousness and connection. On tracks like 'Concept of Love', they are direct and earnest, sculpting an Afro-disco song around Williams’ repeated question of “What is your concept of love?” They have their theory (“When you love someone / Let them love you back”) but the song passes the idea from member to member — a thrilling guitar solo from Bannerman, Baylis’ horn stings, vocoders, and precision drumfills — in a way that creates, almost paradoxically, a space in which one can meditate on the answer or move through it. Exploring the concept further on 'Love', they deliver an ethereal slice of highlife.

This heady brew of disparate styles and points of origin melds and pulls itself apart across the whole of 'Chopping Mountain', its songs united in that they are the sharpest tools Ibibio Sound Machine can bring to bear in the present moment. They present the struggle for freedom as a communal one, in which even the smallest movement contributes to the end game. As Williams sings in the title track, “When pebble disturbs the water / Ripples over yonder / Force of a sling shot hits you / Chopping mountain rock asunder.” The work of liberation is long and difficult, but it is not without joy — here is an album bursting with it.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Endlessly funky dancefloor afrobeat and highlife grooves from the tour-de-force that is Ibibio Sound Machine, returning for their most groove-led record yet. Motifs grow and spread outwards, with motifs seamlessly entering the mix, resulting in a funky but entirely coherent maelstrom. A proper party of a record.

TRACK LISTING

1. Burning in Lagos
2. Chopping Mountain
3. When You Want to Dance
4. Concept of Love
5. Return to Sender
6. Menso
7. Love
8. Kukuru
9. River Don’t Rush

Your favourite (probably) edits crew, Local Sugar Diggers, aka the trio of sonic sculptors that are Scruscru, Tony Lavrutz and Los Protos all come together here on a new 7" offshoot label from the Soul Service. The a-side cut 'Rave w Polsce' is a full-fat funker with deep cut grooves that roll on rubbery bass and soar with rasping wind leads. Plenty is going on wherever you listen and it all serves to get you moving. 'Otra Ritmo' is an immediate portal to a communal get down somewhere sun-baked and lush with green in South America. The horns, the freewheeling percussion and the loosely assembled rhythm are all irresistible invitations to cut loose.

TRACK LISTING

Rave w Polsce
Otra Ritmo

Intriguing Siberian B-Boy roots informed Anton LTF's first solo album last year and its mix of funk, hip-hop and early turntablism influences really worked. He's back now with a tidy two-tracker on Soul Service Sabrosura that leans into Latin funk. It's raw, direct and charged up tackle for once again getting under the skin of b-boys and girls thanks to the killer breaks. 'Garra' is lit up with shuffling percussive keys and rhythms and big brass horns, while 'Aroma Sunset' is more pared back and loose. There's a celebratory vibe that's smoother and more languorous, with sunny flutes leading the way and irresistible Latin charm in the ways the keys dance.

TRACK LISTING

Garra
Aroma Sunset

Os Tincoãs (named after a Brazilian species of the cuckoo bird) were a Brazilian band from Bahia primarily active in the 60s and 70s. Their music was heavily influenced by Candomblé, a Brazilian religion blending traditional West African spiritual beliefs with Roman Catholicism. This resulted in a visionary crossover between samba—plus other "música popular brasileira" styles—and the percussive grooves and vocal harmonies so fundamental to Candomblé. Despite their forward-thinking musical ideas they moved in relative obscurity compared to their peers and released only a handful of albums. Os Tincoãs from 1977 is their fourth record and includes the hauntingly beautiful "Cordeiro De Nanã". The album includes arrangements by the legendary bossa nova pianist João Donato and an original copy is very hard to find, fetching high prices on the second hand market. About time for a reissue, as it hasn't been available on vinyl since 1980 and should be part of any collection, really.

TRACK LISTING

1. Atabaque Chora
2. Lamento às Águas
3. Canto de Dor
4. Chão da Verdade
5. Romaria
6. Deixa a Baiana Sambar

Side B
1. Canto do Boiadeiro
2. Enterro de Iyalorixá
3. Chapeuzinho Vermelho
4. Arrasta a Cadeira
5. Cordeiro De Nanã
6. Acará

"Dance On", the latest single from Canopy continues the label's enthusiasm for re-issuing vintage Afro-tropical funk, reggae & disco, paired with modern remixes and remakes.

Two long out of print and previously un-reissued musical gems from Malian musician Nawari, get an overdue second life. Those gems being the eponymous "Dance On", an upbeat Afro-reggae-disco dancer originally self-released in 1987, and "Fanta Cini", originally released in 1989, which takes a deeper, tougher "proto-Afro-electro-funk" direction.

Sharing creative duties is Russian producer Valique, aka V from the best-selling "V's Edits" series, appearing on Canopy for the first time with a strong contribution to the label. Taking the title tune he reimagined & recreated it, building from Nawari's vocals and recording live horns, skanking guitars and percussion, blended with his signature classy production: crisp, warm, groovy & punchy.

Valique turns in 3 different mixes of "Dance On", ranging from reggae disco, to cosmic Afro beat, timbale percussion workouts and beyond.

The release spans a range of moods, segueing between the past & present, organic and electronic, proving itself to be well suited for many environments, from the kitchen party to the bars, clubs & festivals of the world.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Already big in the record bags of Lena C, Giles Peterson and Mr. Scruff; Valique & Nawari take turns on a piece of a overlooked Afro-reggae-disco dating back to 1989. With both original and contemporary versions. Very nice.

TRACK LISTING

Valique & Nawari - Dance On
Nawari - Dance On
Nawari - Fanta Cini
Valique & Nawari - Dance On (V's Space Dub)
Valique & Nawari - Dance On (V's Afro-Timbalero Dub)

"Los Totes 3" compiles more 'celebrated bangers and anthems' from the Colombian label TraTraTrax. This edition features Maoupa Mazzocchetti, Clara!, Wost, Anthony Naples, Dj Babatr, Aquarian and Entrañas. Remixes come from Pariah, Pangaea and Substance. It's a high speed romp brimming with intricate polyrhythms, incendiary NRG and plenty of swagger. Full fiesta, Full farra.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Fire for your farra (a wild night out if ya wondering..)! A upfront collection of modern Columbian dancefloor bangers and clangers that take no prisoners and leave you gasping for air. Send it in style..

TRACK LISTING

A1. Maoupa Mazzocchetti Feat. Clara! - Mantequilla (Pariah remix)
A2. WOST & Entrañas - Miniteca Selvática (Pangaea remix)
A3. Anthony Naples - Perk
B1. DJ Babatr - Cabo E (Substance remix)
B2. Aquarian - Kool Ranch FM