‘Rhythme Congolais From Africa To The Antilles, 1963-77.’

Utterly beautiful contemporary recordings.

Ceremonial music from villages in south-west Turkey, featuring a range of saz lutes, violin, and sipsi (a small oboe).

A liturgy and feast headquartered in the mountains of Antalya, with semah sacred dancing and sung poetry accompanied on the saz lute. Six instrumentalists, two vocal lineups here: from 2004 and 2011.

Two heart-breaking songs and a clutch of rug-cutters from the Taurus mountains in southern Turkey. With accompaniment by Hayri Dev on the uçtelli, or lute. Terrific.

Lest we forget.
Torsten Profrock’s occult homage to UK garage is one of the gems in the HJ label catalogue. It’s one of our own handful of favourites.
Two-step waylaid in the scuffed, churning, sub-heavy terrain running from his Chain Reaction days to Monolake; mysteriously entangled with the distressed tracks of old Ugandan 78s.

The Chain Reaction classic.

Now available on vinyl at long last, a crucial retrieval from the revered Chain Reaction imprint, run by Basic Channel.
Originally out in 1999, on CD only, dedicated to the memory of Stephen Lawrence, this is an utterly assured, engrossing, deep blend of dubwise techno and Detroit-schooled ambient.
Beautifully presented, Basic Channel style, in a debossed sleeve constructed from recycled grey board, printed black on both sides. With a card for digital download. Remastered by Rashad Becker.
Warmly recommended.

Marvellous Boy is the West African counterpart of the 1950s Soho scene of our series London Is The Place For Me. Calypso, highlife and jazz, brimming over with lust for life, topicality, and extravagant creativity.