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A bonkers, irrepressible amalgam of highlife, Twi rap, funk and disco, put over with the passion of a Prince record and the lo-fi charm of early Chicago house music.
The original cassette — self-released in Ghana and Canada in 1994 — was the inaugural post on the ATFA blog.
‘After the afro-beat fury of Juguya, this second album combines a potent mix of traditional roots and modern Burkinabe funk with a reverent revival of the iconic Mandingue guitar music of the 1970s.’
Searing Sahelian dance music, recorded in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in February 2018.
Warmly welcome, expertly recorded, new saze music from southern Albania, upholding its traditional, stunning mix of drones, in-your-face a cappella, and rootsy, virtuosic instrumentalism — in this case, violin, clarinet, lute and percussion. Produced by Joe Boyd.
Try searching out Albanian Village Music (78s from 1930 reissued by Heritage). Other-worldly and heart-stopping; totally knockout.
Wholesome digi-roots bumper from 1990; rinsed by Shaka in the day.
The first-round-knockout is an inspired elaboration of Everybody Loves The Sunshine. (You can hear singer Kenny Stover’s years with Marvin Gaye, too.) Plus terrific original versions of I’m Back For More and Madame Butterfly, as smashed by Al Johnson and Tavares.
The great boneman’s 1974 masterwork, with highlights like the ten-minute work-out I’m Payin’ Taxes, What Am I Buyin’, the party-hearty If You Don’t Get It The First Time, the grooving, fist-in-the-air Same Beat (with that sample of Jesse Jackson), and the stunning out-funk of Blow Your Head.
With a 22” x 22” poster featuring the original cover art, as well as a 7-inch flexidisc of the rare Unrubbed Version (without Moog) of Blow Your Head, only available previously on the compilation James Brown’s Funky People Part 3.
Evocative, engaging considerations of close relationships, a bit like a family portrait, centred on the German town of Ravensburg (home of the trumpeter’s grandmother), by a sextet including affective violin and two drummers, involving African percussion, homemade cymbals and bundles of brushwood, with ‘driving rhythm at the bottom end and soaring melody at the top.’
Infectious, party-hearty, yes yes y’all rapping, from deep in the early-80s.
Peter Brown’s in-house Land Of Hits Orchestra gives up the instrumental, on the flip.