The enigmatic Amara Touré from Guinée Conakry finally getting a well deserved compilation showcasing all of the 10 songs ever released between 1973 and 1980. Cuban influenced music of a different kind featuring amazing spaced-out guitar works!!

It is the late 50s, and Senegal is going crazy to the groove of Son Montuno and Patchanga. Brought to West Africa by Cuban sailors in the early 40s, these styles were immediately adopted by a flourishing music scene that did not hesitate to embrace the Caribbean sound, mixed it with their own Folklore, and, in the process, created something new. Through the unique cultural fusion of West African and Caribbean influences, Latin music took on a new and unique sound - the format was reinvented.

Producer Ibra Kassé and his Miami nightclub acted as the spearheads of this movement. They brought a breath of fresh air into Dakar’s nightlife, further energising one of West Africa’s most exciting cities. The demand for ballroom parties and live acts exploded, attracting numerous musicians from surrounding countries. One of the musicians who answered this call was percussionist and singer Amara Touré, from Guinea-Conakry. Spotted by Kassé while performing with Dexter Johnson, Touré was asked if he would like to be part of a new project. Little did he know that this project would become a phenomenon.

Immensely important for the development of Senegalese modern music, Le Star Band de Dakar, led by Mady Konaté, became a sort of musical incubator and workshop, where many musicians learned and practiced their trade before moving on to become stars in their own right. Touré’s talent on percussion was undeniable, but it was his powerful and raw voice that captivated the producer. The fascinating way Touré interpreted Cuban music was unparalleled, and it was this feature that encouraged Kassé to recruit the unknown artist. 

Although already brimming with incredible talent, Amara Touré’s joining of Le Star Band de Dakar in 1958 began the band’s meteoric rise to the top. The band quickly became Dakar’s number one orchestra, and it cemented the reputation of the Miami nightclub as the hottest spot in the country. The place was packed nightly, and Dakar was boiling.

Amara Touré’s Senegalese adventure lasted for ten years when he received an irrefutable offer and in 1968, joined by a few talented Senegalese musicians, headed to Cameroon and immediately formed the Black and White ensemble. Many live gigs later and it was time for the first songs to be recorded. A total of three singles were produced between 1973 and 1976. These singles, representing the first six songs on this compilation, fully epitomise and distill the essence of what Touré had learned during his career. His Mandingue roots fused with the Senegalese sound that he had mastered - the perfect foundation for the Touré’s Cuban interpretations.

If Touré’s intention was to create the most sensual music ever recorded in Africa, he might very well have reached this goal. The musicians on the recording sound like they are playing in a smokey, poorly lit juke joint, where dark rum was sipped ever so slowly, and the pulse of the music took up a life of its own. How many couples have danced, swayed, and melted together to the distinct sound of Amara Touré? Nobody can say for sure ...
Amara Touré’s success poured across the borders of Cameroon, and in 1980 he went to Libreville, Gabon, to team up with the powerful Orchestre Massako. Touré recorded an LP at that time which is hailed by many music aficionados as one of the very best African albums. The songs from that LP are the last four on this compilation.

TRACK LISTING

1. N'Nijo
2. Temedy
3. Lamento Cubano
4. Cuando Llegare
5. Fatou
6. N'ga Digne M'be
7. Salamouti
8. Afalago
9. Tela
10. Africa 

The 25 songs presented in 'Roots Rocking Zimbabwe - The Modern Sound of Harare' Townships 1975-1980' showcase the birth of the modern music industry in Zimbabwe and the explosion of creativity bands of the 1970s and 80s endlessly delivered.

It was a time of wild experimentation before established genres had crystallised. Rock, rumba, soul and traditional grooves all collide beautifully in this collection, which also includes never before released tracks by Thomas Mapfumo, Oliver Mtukudzi and many other Zimbabwean artists!

TRACK LISTING

1. Chiiko Chinotinetsa
2. Amai A Kwatu
3. Soweto Mujibha
4. Soul Scene
5. Anoshereketa
6. Nyaya Dzinonetsa
7. Hangaiwa
8. The Towering Inferno
9. Joburg Bound
10. Nyamutamba Naziwere
11. Engelina
12. Funky Reggae
13. Introduction
14. Yarira
15. Baby Please
16. Chistiuiti
17. Kwakaenda
18. No Delay
19. Kumalila Ngwenya
20. Shanga Yangu
21. Give It
22. Musikana
23. Taj Mahal
24. Viva Zimbabwe
25. Porter

A fascinating audio-visual glimpse into the little-known sonidero subculture of Mexico City's marginalized barrios, featuring a wild soundtrack of old-school tropical bootleg dance floor classics

TRACK LISTING

Afro Oriental
Cumbia De Los Bee Gees
El Tequilazo
Canelazo
Palenque
La Quinta Sinfonia De Beethoven
Venus
Lamento De Cumbia
Ritmo De Cumbia
La 3a De Los Toquecitos
La Noche
El Compae Nunes
La Luna Y El Pescador
Tanto Tienes, Tanto Vales 
A Bailar El Son Satanico
Cumbia Tropical
Hagan Ruedas
Eso Es Con Velas
Cumbia Del Amor
Malinga
Platico Chino
La China Maria
Te Gusta Como Azucar
Cumbia Candelosa

In its isolated cities, cut off from the fashions of the capital, a unique style of music began to develop, inspired equally by the sounds of the surrounding forests, the roll of the mighty Amazon and Ucayali Rivers, and the rhythms of cumbia picked up from distant stations on transistor radios. With the arrival of electricity, a new generation of young musicians started plugging in their guitars and trading in their accordions for synthesizers: Amazonian cumbia was born.Powered by fast-paced timbale rhythms, driven by spidery, treble-damaged guitar lines, and drenched in bright splashes of organ, Amazonian cumbia was like a hyperactive distant cousin of surf music crossed with an all- night dance party in the heart of the forest. While many of the genre's greatest tracks were instrumental, and others were simple celebrations of life in the jungle, the goal of every song was to keep the party going.

Radio stations in Lima remained unaware of the new electric sounds emanating from the jungle, but a handful of pioneering record producers ventured over the mountain passes to the cities of Tarapoto, Moyobamba, Pucallpa – even Iquitos, a city reachable only by boat or plane – and lured dozens of bands to the recording studios of the capital to lay down their best tracks. Although many became local hits, few were ever heard outside the Amazonian region … until now.

With eighteen tracks from some of the greatest names in Amazonian cumbia, Perú Selvatico is both the improbable soundtrack to a beach party on a banks of the Amazon and a psychedelic safari into the sylvan mysteries of the Peruvian jungle.

TRACK LISTING

Descarga Royal - Los Royal ´s De Pucallpa 03:30
La Cervecita - Sonido Verde De Moyobamba 02:09
Selva Virgen - Los Zheros 02:40
Moyobambina - Grupo Siglo XX De Rioja 02:43 
Humo En La Selva - Los Invasores De Progreso 02:58
La Hamaca - Los Cisnes 02:54
Cumbion Universal - Fresa Juvenil De Tarapoto 03:35
La Trochita - Los Rangers De Tingo Maria 02:40
La Bola Buche - Los Invasores De Progreso 03:21
Bailando En El Infinito - Ranil Y Su Conjunto Tropical 02:56
Safari En La Selva - Los Cisnes 02:52
Baila Bonito - Ranil Y Su Conjunto Tropical 02:55
Ali Baba - Los Zheros 02:43
La Palmerita - Fresa Juvenil De Tarapoto 02:57
Recordando A Aguaytia - Sonido Verde De Moyobamba 02:18
El Pasito De Miriam - Grupo Siglo XX De Rioja 02:51
Rio Mar - Los Cisnes 02:34
La Uñita - Los Zheros 02:22

It’s a special, but also a strange sensation to be releasing an album of one of your early musical heroes. I first discovered The Movers on my very first “record safari” in 1996. My destination was Bulawayo, in southern Zimbabwe, and to get there I had to travel via Jo’burg. While in town I stopped at a store called Kohinoor, in search of Mbaqanga – also known as Township Jive – and found a few tapes which I listened to non-stop on the bus that carried me to the land of Chimurenga Music. One of these cassettes included the songs “Hot Coffee” and “Phukeng Special” which instantly became part of my daily life. Twenty-five years later I’m still grooving to them.

What I didn't know at that time was that The Movers were hugely successful during the 1970s; so when it came time to release some of their music, I though it was going to be “a walk in the park” to track down information about them and write their biography. I was in for a rude awakening. Despite their legendary status, there was almost no information available on band or any of its members.

Fortunately Nicky Blumenfeld from Kaya Radio came to the rescue. A few days after I reached out to her, she had managed to get the phone number of Kenneth Siphayi, who is considered to be the founder of the band, as well as vocalist Blondie Makhene and saxophonist Lulu Masilela. Although we left no stone unturned, we were unable to find any of the four original members who seem to have passed away in total anonymity.

The story of The Movers began in 1967 when two unknown musicians – the brothers Norman and Oupa Hlongwane – approached Kenneth Siphayi a stylish and wealthy businessman from the Alexandra township to ask if he could buy them musical instruments. In return he would receive a cut from future life shows and record deals. Kenneth, ended up doing much more, becoming their manager, setting them up in a rehearsal space, and introducing them to an organist who would prove to be the missing link in the band’s skeletal sound. He also gave them their name: The Movers … because, as he said, their music was going to move you, whether you liked it or not.

The band exploded onto the country’s racially-segregated music scene at the dawn of the 1970s with a sound that applied the rolling organ grooves and elastic rhythms of American soul to songs that came straight from the heart of the townships. Rumours of the band started to spread throughout the country and soon the record labels were sending their talent scouts to the Alexandra township to hear it for themselves.

The Movers finally signed to Teal Records in 1969, and their first album, Crying Guitar, went on to sell 500,000 copies within the first three months, launching them into the front rank of South African bands. In their first year they went from local sensations to being the first band of black South Africans to have their music cross over to the country’s white radio stations.

Although the first record was entirely instrumental, The Movers started working with different singers soon after – scoring an early hit with 14 year old vocal prodigy Blondie Makhene – and enriched their sonic palette with horns, extra percussion and various keyboards. Their stylistic range also expanded, incorporating elements of Marabi, Mbaqanga, jazz, funk, and reggae into their soul-steeped sound. But the essence of their music came from the almost telepathic connection of its founding members: the simmering organ of Sankie Chounyane, the laid-back guitar lines of Oupa Hlongwane, the energetic bass grooves of Norman Hlongwane and the simmering rhythms of drummer of Sam Thabo.

The band reached their apex in the mid-1970s, and their hit ‘Soweto Inn’, sung by Sophie Thapedi, became inseparable from the student revolts that signalled a new resistance to the apartheid government. In 1976, however, their manager was forced out, and their producer started to play a more active role in the band’s direction. By the end of the decade there were no original members left. But at their height The Movers were titans of South African soul who left a legacy of over a dozen albums and countless singles of pure groove. On The Movers 1970–76, Analog Africa presents 14 of the finest tracks from the band’s undisputed peak. 

TRACK LISTING

Give Five Or More
Tau Special
Soweto Inn
Soul Crazy
Kudala Sithandana
Oupa Is Back
Balele
Hot Coffee
Gig Soul Party
Ku-ku-chi
2nd Avenue
Phukeng Special
Six Mabone
Plenty Time

Yaoundé, in the 1970´s, was a buzzing place with every neighbourhood of Cameroon´s capital, no matter how dodgy, filled with music spots but surprisingly there were no infrastructure to immortalise those musical riches. The country suffered from a serious lack of proper recording facilities, and the process of committing your song to tape could become a whole adventure unto itself. Of course, you could always book the national broadcasting company together with a sound engineer, but this was hardly an option for underground artists with no cash. But luckily an alternative option emerged in form of an Adventist church with some good recording equipment and many of the artists on this compilation recorded their first few songs, secretly, in these premises thanks to Monsieur Awono, the church engineer. He knew the schedule of the priests and, in exchange for some cash, he would arrange recording sessions. The artists still had to bring their own equipment, and since there was only one microphone, the amps and instruments had to be positioned perfectly. It was a risky business for everyone involved but since they knew they were making history, it was all worth it.

At the end of the recording, the master reel would be handed to whoever had paid for the session, usually the artist himself. And what happened next? With no distribution nor recording companies around this was a legitimate question. More often than not it was the French label Sonafric that would offer their manufacturing and distribution structure and many Cameroonian artist used that platform to kick-start their career. What is particularly surprising in the case of Sonafric was their willingness to take chances and judge music solely on their merit rather than their commercial viability.

The sheer amount of seriously crazy music released also spoke volumes about the openness of the people behind the label. But who exactly are these artists that recorded one or two songs before disappearing, never to be heard from again? Some of the names were so obscure that even the most seasoned veterans of the Cameroonian music scene had never heard of them. A few trips to the land of Makossa and many more hours of interviews were necessary to get enough insight to assemble the puzzle-pieces of Yaoundé's buzzing 1970s music scene. We learned that despite the myriad difficulties involved in the simple process of making and releasing a record, the musicians of Yaoundé's underground music scene left behind an extraordinary legacy of raw grooves and magnificent tunes. The songs may have been recorded in a church, with a single microphone in the span of only an hour or two, but the fact that we still pay attention to these great creations some 50 years later, only illustrates the timelessness of their music.

TRACK LISTING

1. Africa Iyo - Jean-Pierre Djeukam
2. Sie Tcheu - Joseph Kamga
3. Ma Wde Wa - Los Camaroes
4. Esele Mulema Moam - Los Camaroes
5. Yondja - Ndenga Andre Destin Et Les Golden Sounds
6. Odylife - Damas Swing Orchestra
7. Quiero Wapatcha - Charles Lembe Et Son Orchestra
8. Song Of Love - Louis Wasson Et L´Orchestre Kandem Irenée
9. Monde Moderne - Pierre Didy Tchakounte Et Les Tulipes Noires
10. Les Souffrances - Tsanga Dieudonne
11. Moni Ngan - Willie Songue Et Les Showmen
12. Mayi Bo Ya? - Johnny Black Et Les Jokers
13. Ma Fou Fou - Pierre Didy Tchakounte
14. Woman Be Fire - Lucas Tala
15. Ngamba - Ndenga Andre Destin Et Les Golden Sounds
16. Mezik Me Mema - Mballa Bony

It was in Benin City, in the heart of Nigeria, that a new hybrid of intoxicating highlife music known as Edo Funk was born. It first emerged in the late 1970s when a group of musicians began to experiment with different ways of integrating elements from their native Edo culture and fusing them with new sound effects coming from West Africa´s night-clubs. Unlike the rather polished 1980´s Nigerian disco productions coming out of the international metropolis of Lagos Edo Funk was raw and reduced to its bare minimum. Someone was needed to channel this energy into a distinctive sound and Sir Victor Uwaifo appeared like a mad professor with his Joromi studio. Uwaifo took the skeletal structure of Edo music and relentless began fusing them with synthesizers, electric guitars and 80´s effect racks which resulted in some of the most outstanding Edo recordings ever made. An explosive spiced up brew with an odd psychedelic note known as Edo Funk.

That's the sound you'll be discovering in the first volume of the Edo Funk Explosion series which focusses on the genre's greatest originators; Osayomore Joseph, Akaba Man, and Sir Victor Uwaifo: Osayomore Joseph was one of the first musicians to bring the sound of the flute into the horn-dominated world of highlife, and his skills as a performer made him a fixture on the Lagos scene. When he returned to settle in Benin City in the mid-1970s - at the invitation of the royal family - he devoted himself to the modernisation and electrification of Edo music, using funk and Afro-beat as the building blocks for songs that weren't afraid to call out government corruption or confront the dark legacy of Nigeria's colonial past. Akaba Man was the philosopher king of Edo funk. Less overtly political than Osayomore Joseph and less psychedelic than Victor Uwaifo, he found the perfect medium for his message in the trance-like grooves of Edo funk. With pulsating rhythms awash in cosmic synth-fields and lyrics that express a deep personal vision, he found great success at the dawn of the 1980s as one of Benin City's most persuasive ambassadors of funky highlife. Victor Uwaifo was already a star in Nigeria when he built the legendary Joromi studios in his hometown of Benin City in 1978. Using his unique guitar style as the mediating force between West-African highlife and the traditional rhythms and melodies of Edo music, he had scored several hits in the early seventies, but once he had his own sixteen-track facility he was able to pursue his obsession with the synesthetic possibilities of pure sound, adding squelchy synths, swirling organs and studio effects to hypnotic basslines and raw grooves.

Between his own records and his production for other musicians, he quickly established himself as the godfather of Edo funk. What unites these diverse musicians is their ability to strip funk down to its primal essence and use it as the foundation for their own excursions inward to the heart of Edo culture and outward to the furthest limits of sonic alchemy. The twelve tracks on Edo Funk Explosion Volume 1 pulse with raw inspiration, mixing highlife horns, driving rhythms, day-glo keyboards and tripped-out guitars into a funk experience unlike any other.

TRACK LISTING

1. Africa Is My Root - Osayomore Joseph And The Creative Seven
2. Ta Gha Hunsimwen - Akaba Man & The Nigie Rokets
3. Popular Side - Akaba Man And The African Pride
4. Iranm Iran - Sir Victor Uwaifo And His Titibitis
5. Sakpaide No.2 - Sir Victor Uwaifo And His Titibitis
6. Ta Ghi Rare - Akaba Man & The Nigie Rokets
7. My Name Is Money - Osayomore Joseph
8. Ogbov Omwan - Akaba Man & The Nigie Rokets
9. Aibalegbe - Sir Victor Uwaifo And His Titibitis
10. Who No Man - Osayomore Joseph And The Ulele Power Sound
11. Obviemama - Sir Victor Uwaifo And His Titibitis
12. Ororo No De Fade - Osayomore Joseph And The Ulele Power Sound

One night in 1975, a successful tax lawyer named Rafael Machuca had his mind blown in Barranquilla's 'Plaza de los Musicos'. Overnight he went from a high ranking position in the Columbian revenue authority to visionary production guru of the newly formed record label that bore his name, Discos Machuca, and for the next six years he devoted his life to releasing some of the strangest, most experimental Afro Psychedelia Cumbias ever produced. La Locura de Machuca is the story of one man's bizarre odyssey into Colombia's coastal music underground, and the wild, hypnotic sounds he helped bring up to the surface. The Colombian music industry was thriving in the mid-seventies, but while homegrown bolero and vallenato tunes were doing well on the charts, it was imported African records that were setting crowds on fire at the picos – the sound-systems that fuelled neighbourhood parties – and wherever those records were played there were always a handful of groups who were inspired to plug traditional Cumbia directly into the electric currents coming from across the Atlantic.

It was these obscure bands, who fused Colombian and African rhythms with the swirling organs and psychedelic guitars of underground rock, that fired Machuca's imagination. While the label made its money releasing popular hits by legends such as Alejandro Durán and Aníbal Velásquez, that money was poured back into a unique run of experimental releases by fringe artists such as La Banda Africana, King Somalie, Conjunto Barbacoa, and Abelardo Carbono, one of the godfathers of Champeta Criolla. When Machuca couldn't find groups to realise his particular vision, he simply created them himself. Drawing on a fearsome roster of musicians associated with the label, he assembled bands that lasted only as long as it took to record an album ,and unleashed the results – complete with arrestingly unusual album covers – under a series of different names such as Samba Negra or El Grupo Folclórico. This unorthodox approach led his long time recording engineer, Eduardo Dávila, to describes Machuca's productions as the "B-Movies of Colombian music."

The story of Doctor Machuca and his eccentric exploits tells of one of Colombia's most atypical and peculiar record companies; a defining pillar of Afro-Caribbean psychedelia. His productions have come to represent the roots of Champeta and set the pedigree standards for Afro and Costeño avant-garde. The seventeen tracks on La Locura de Machuca, harvested from the darkest, strangest corners of the Discos Machuca catalogue, sound like little else recorded before or since.

TRACK LISTING

1. Samba Negra - "Eberebijara"
2. King Somalie - "Monkey´s Dance"
3. El Grupo Folclórico - "Tamba"
4. Los Viajeros Siderales - "El Campanero"
5. Rio Latino - "Ayu"
6. Aníbal Velásquez - "La Mazamorra Del Diablo"
7. La Francachela - "Mosquita Muerta"
8. El Grupo Folclórico - "Juipiti"
9. King Somalie - "Le Mongui"
10. El Grupo Folclórico - "El Tornillito"
11. Samba Negra - "Long Life Africa"
12. La Banda Africana - "Te Clavo La...Mano"
13. Myrian Makenwa - "El Platano"
14. El Grupo Folclórico - "Tucutru"
15. Grupo Bola Roja - "Caracol"
16. El Grupo D'Abelard - "A Otro Perro Con Ese Hueso"
17. Conjunto Barbacoa - "Wabali"

After being blown away by a few tunes - probably just as you will be after listening to this - Samy Ben Redjeb travelled to the infamous capital city of Somalia in November of 2016, making Analog Africa the first music label to set foot in Mogadishu (Not sure Afro 7 would agree - Ed). On his arrival in Somalia Samy began rifling through piles of cassettes and listening to reel-to-reel tapes in the dusty archives of Radio Mogadishu, looking for music that ‘swam against the current’. The stars were aligned: an uncovered and unmarked pile of discarded recordings was discovered in a cluttered corner of the building. Colonel Abshir - the senior employee and protector of Radio Mogadishu’s archives - clarified that the pile consisted mostly of music nobody had manage to identify, or music he described as being ‘mainly instrumental and strange music’. At the words ‘strange music’ Samy was hooked, the return flight to Tunisia was cancelled.

The pile turned out to be a cornucopia of different sounds: radio jingles, background music and interludes for radio programmes, television shows and theatre plays. There were also a good number of disco tunes, some had been stripped of their lyrics, the interesting parts had been recorded multiple times then cut, taped together and spliced into a long groovy instrumental loop. Like everywhere in Africa during the 1970s, both men and women sported huge afros, bell-bottom trousers and platform shoes. James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and The Temptations’ funk were the talk of the town. In 1977, Iftin Band were invited to perform at the Festac festival in Lagos where they represented Somalia at the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture. Not only did they come back with an award but they also returned with Afrobeat. While Fela Kuti’s ‘Shakara’ had taken over the continent and was spreading like wildfire throughout Latin America, it was the track ‘Lady’ that would become the hit in Mogadishu.

Mogadisco was not Analog Africa’s easiest project. Tracking down the musicians - often in exile in the diaspora - to interview them and gather anecdotes of golden-era Mogadishu has been an undertaking that took three years. Tales of Dur-Dur Band’s kidnapping, movie soundtracks recorded in the basements of hotels, musicians getting electrocuted on stage, others jumping from one band to another under dramatic circumstances, and soul singers competing against each other, are all stories included in the massive booklet that accompanies the compilation - adorned with no less then 50 pictures from the ‘70s and ‘80s. As Colonel Abshir Hashi Ali, chief don at the Radio Mogadishu archive - someone who once wrestled a bomber wielding an unpinned hand-grenade to the floor - put it: ‘I have dedicated my life to this place. I’m doing this so it can get to the next generation; so that the culture, the heritage and the songs of Somalia don’t disappear.’

TRACK LISTING

Daradaa Muxibo (Because Of You Muxibo) - Dur-Dur Band (1991)
Hab Isii (Hug Me) - Omar Shooli (1986)
Check Up My Head - Mukhtar Ramadan Iidi (1988)
Geesiyada Halgamayow (Brave Fighters) - Bakaka Band (1984)
Waakaa Helaa (I Like You) - Fadumo Qassim & Shareero Band (1972)
Sirmaqabe (No Secrets) - Iftin Band (1985)
Baayo (Hey Woman) - Mukhtar Ramadan Iidi (1986)
Hoobeya (Somali Traditional Chant) - Shimaali & Killer (1990)
Shaleedayaa (By Myself) - Dur-Dur Band (1991)
Ladaney (Woman’s Name) - Dur-Dur Band (1991)
Gobonimada Jira (Choose Freedom) - Bakaka Band (1984)
Ii Ooy Aniga (Cry For Me) - Iftin Band (1985)

"Sweet Sweet Dreams" was recorded at the legendary SHARC studios, located on a hill in Chaguaramas (near Port of Spain) and despite a fantastic sound and monster Soca-boogie tunes like "Let's Get It Together", "Let's Make It Up" and "Way, Way Out" the album was a commercial flop, probably due to the fact that it didn't sound like anything else coming out of Trinidad & Tobago at the time. It fused a range of different rhythms and new sounds, primarily heavy synth riffs.
When it came out in 1984 "Sweet Sweet Dreams" was described as "way ahead of its time". Undeservedly it was panned by critics and, unable to reach markets, disappeared into the dusty record collections of a few music aficionados. Now, more than three decades later that cosmic dance-floor UFO is about to take off again, change all that and set the record straight. Remastered and cut by Frank Meritt at The Carvery the album is truly a masterpiece. But who is this Shadow behind "Sweet Sweet Dreams?" Shadow is a man of understated magnitude. A truly enigmatic artist, he first emerged in Trinidad and Tobago during the 1970s, becoming a part of the tapestry of Caribbean music and reinvigorating calypso at the time. Calypso, the indigenous folk music of Trinidad and Tobago, has roots in West African kaiso rhythms, French Creole influences, and the hardships endured by the African slaves brought to Trinbago, whose descendants still use it as a tool for satire, self-expression, and social commentary. Calypso has also given birth to several other music genres, including soca, with its uptempo beats and festival context. Shadow effortlessly moves between both. Shadow came from a humble but musical family and started writing songs as a youth while tending cattle in the fields. To his family's initial chagrin he chose calypso over church music but his talent and drive were undeniable. In the early days of his career Shadow's style was cramped when working with some of the more conservative music arrangers who felt that calypso and soca should fit a mould. But after a while Shadow teamed up with more innovative arrangers, including Arthur "Art"de Coteau, who followed their and Shadow's intuitions resulting in a long line of hits.

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: The lucky ones may have nabbed a copy of the 12", but everyone's still after more Shadow. This killer Caribbean disco LP is every bit as good as the single promised, boasting far out synth licks, irrestible grooves and more than a little of the power cosmic.

TRACK LISTING

Let's Make It Up
Let's Get It Together
Dreaming
Moon Walking
Without Love
Way Way Out
D'Hardest

Analog Africa's new release 'Siria' is a collection of carefully selected tracks drawn from the great Mestre Cupijo's six studio albums. Coming from the state of Para in Northern Brazil 'siria' is a cross pollination between the music of the inhabitants of the Quilombos, a Brazilian hinterland settlement founded by escaped slaves of African origins, and the indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest.

It is a breathing, pulsing, emphatic beat, and the modernised version of this local music, created by Mestre Cupijó, has been igniting street parties and traditional festivals across the state of Pará in Northern Brazil for decades.

To grasp the soul of this music, Cupijó went to its source and lived with the quilombolas (maroon) community of the Amazon. Upon his return, enriched by this life-changing experience, he founded the band Jazz Orquestra os Azes do Ritmo with the goal of reinventing siriá and modernising samba de cacete, banguê and other folkloric music of the state of Pará. Airwaves from the Caribbean and Latin America had also brought the cumbia sound of the mighty Colombian orchestras, merengue from the Dominican republic and Cuban music to the Amazon, all of which had an impact on the music of Northern Brazil, mambo especially! Mestre Cupijó took these influences and mixed them in with the ingredients he had studied in the Quilombos. That fusion - as we are witnessing on this record - had explosive effects.

Analog Africa are ferociously proud and honoured to have the chance to present these carefully selected tracks from Mestre Cupijó's six studio albums. They hope that his music captivates you with the magic and bewilderment and they recognise his compositions as true anthems of life and vitality, vibrantly encouraging all to drink and dance until sunrise! Let go of your inhibitions and immerse yourself in the wonderful world of Mestre Cupijó - Segura!

Take funk, soul, psychedelia and rumba, mix it up with a thick dose of heavy local rhythms and throw everything in a Benin grinder. The brew is then mixed up with hypnotic Farfisa solos, gritty guitar riffs, distorted bass lines, warm horns and the result, of exorcizing proportion, will lead to frenetic body movements. Some people bang their heads, others jerk their feet or feel an urgent need to get up and start shaking their hips. One thing is common, though, to everyone who submits their ears to a spinning record by the mighty Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou: you simply can't stand still. And this new collection is proof of that - here are 14 funky tracks by the legendary ensemble from Benin.

Starting in 2005, Samy Ben Redjeb, Analog Africa's founder and compiler, made several trips to Benin, where he dug up most of the Orchestra's output recorded between 1969 and 1983: hundreds of vinyl records and a few master tapes, in a total of 500 songs! With all that material in hands and the astonishing richness of the group's meterial, choosing the songs proved to be a tough task. Therefore, it seems only natural that it has taken a few years for this third volume to come out of Analog Africa's sonic treasure trove.

The 14 tracks presented here have never been issued outside of Africa and most of them follow the spirit and sound of the first volume, "The Vodoun Effec", which was a selection of songs released by small and obscure labels from this tiny country which was once known as Dahomey. Some of the songs presented here were recorded using a legendary piece of equipment, a Swiss made Nagra reel-to-reel recorder and one or two microphones, in private houses or open air gardens, mostly at night. And still, it would be somewhat difficult for contemporary musicians and engineers to achieve the stunning quality of raw sound and the atmosphere obtained in these recordings, even if they booked the most modern and expensive studios out there today.

One thing that immediately catches the attention listening to this album is the band's steamroller-like grooves employed by Gustave Bentho, the mythical bass master, and Leopold Yehouessi , the fantastic drummer of the band - for many, Africa's funkiest rhythm sections. The power lying in these tunes is phenomenal and shows true craftsmanship on both the composition and the production side, "Houton Kan Do Gome", composed by Bentho, would have made James Brown proud. "Ecoutes ma Melodie" is destined to become a classical late night tune for the many amazing tropical and afro parties taking place around the globe. "Pourquoi Pas?" and "A O O Ida" would be the kind of sound The Meters would have created were they born in Benin.