I remember the day clearly. I was searching for treasures in a record shop in Yaoundé, the Capital city of Cameroon, when suddenly I came across a 7-inch record with a picture of a young man wearing a traditional hat and bearing the marks of several imposing vertical scars on the side of his face, carved when he was just a boy as a reminder of his heritage in the Musgum tribe of the northern part of the country.

The record contained two songs – ‘Gandjal Kessoum’ and ‘Touflé’ – by an artist I had never heard of before named Hamad Kalkaba. Both cuts were raw classics of fuzzed-out bass, pin-sharp horns, built upon the unshakable foundation of Northern Cameroon’s mightiest rhythm: the Gandjal. The shop owner - who noticed that I was listening to the same record over and over again - mentioned that ‘There is another single with a green cover of the same artist, if I am not mistaken’.

Over the next six years I searched for that ‘green cover’ and finally found it in a record collection belonging to an old bar in Parakou in northern Benin. While most of the records had been beaten and worn by a life spent in the jukebox, this one had been sitting in its paper sleeve for forty years, untouched and unplayed, seemingly waiting for us to pick it up and rip the two soulful Gandjal tunes from it, the masterpieces ‘Fouh Sei Allah’ and ‘Tchakoulaté’.

These two records, plus a third simply named ‘Nord Cameroon Rythms’ constitute the entire discography of Hamad Kalkaba. Neglected for decades by all but the most devoted collectors of Afro music, Hamad Kalkaba and the Golden Sounds at long last gathers together the body of work of one of Cameroon’s forgotten geniuses.

But unlike many musicians who emerged from nowhere, recorded a few singles and vanished again, Kalkaba hadn’t disappeared. Far from it. He was a distinguished public figure, a retired Colonel in the army of Cameroon, and a former member of Cameroon’s Olympic Selection Committee. When we tracked him down he was serving as president of the Confederation of African Athletics. And Although Kalkaba’s job kept him busy, and he seemed initially dismissive of the music he’d made as a young man, he turned out to be an enthusiastic ally in this project. He arranged interviews, helped fill in the blanks and, when we finally met him in Yaoundé in 2016, provided us with photographs, lyric sheets and notes.

During the interview Kalkaba explained how the songs recorded in the mid 1970s were part of a movement, a movement initiated by musicians from all around Cameroon who, with the help of keyboards, drum kits and electric guitars, had started to modernise the traditional rhythms of their regions. For Kalkaba it was no different and backed by his band the Golden Sounds, devoted himself to the promotion of the sounds of northern Cameroon.

One of the aims of Analog Africa is to showcase the colourful diversity of styles that exist in Africa and its diaspora and today we are very proud to be able to give these Gandjal tunes their first worldwide release.

Hamad Kalkaba and the Golden Sounds 1974 - 1975

Get the Record here:

Hamad Kalkaba - Astadjam Dada Saré(Leave a comment, tell kalkaba how much you love his song!)

I'm gonna put a hole in my T.V. set
I don't want to grow up
Open up the medicine chest
I don't want to grow up

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DJ, Record Collector & Music Curator w/ wide tastes across the sound spectrum 🌏 Running @ecoutesauvert (EAV) + Music for Indoors (MFI) Mix series:  www.tinyurl.com/43ndn5ef 

ALL MIXES > www.mixcloud.com/cobeia
SC hides mixes when not paying PRO account 🤬

Bookings / Promos: cobeia@gmx.net 

If you enjoy my Mixes & Playlists, please consider SUPPORTING my DJ/Selector work. Paypal link in box above (Send as Friends & Family). 👆🏼❤️

@Cobeia is a sonic enthusiast with an extensive Vinyl, CD, Digi... collection. 💥 Keen to explore an array of genres, he digs up high-quality gems. Music w/ instruments, synths, drum machines & a warm analog sound in a computer world. :)

ON THE DANCEFLOOR:

Cosmic/ Italo/ Wave/ Acid/ Boogie/ Disco/ Edits 

LISTENING SETS for: Mix Series, Radios, Bars... Museums & Festivals

Jazz/ Soul/ Funk/ Balearic/ African/ Reggae/Dub / Oriental/ Alt Pop/ Indie Rock/ Folk/ Post-Punk/No Wave / Electronic/ Ambient/ Experimental... 

BERLIN 2024
💄 SA 07-12 OTB 9pm
💄 FR 16-11 HEINERS 9pm
💄 SA 09-11 SCHANKI 9pm
💄 FR 02-07 HEINERS 9pm
💄 SA 22-06 HEINERS 9pm
💄 FR 19-04 SCHANKI 9pm
💄 FR 12-04 HEINERS 9pm
💄 FR 23-02 HEINERS 9pm
💄 FR 08-03 PETITE REINE (Geneva) 10pm
💄 SU 18-02 Berlinale Film Premiere Party
💄 TH 15-02 EAV & 8MM Live! 8pm
8MM Bar - 177 B Schönhauser Allee 
w/ @bandit-voyage (@cheptel-records - Geneva) Live! www.banditvoyage.bandcamp.com

🚨 PAST REPRESENTS THE FUTURE 🚨

BERLIN / Griessmühle, Homopatik, @about-blank-berlin, Schrippe Hawaïi, @Sameheads, Zw/Heiners, Atelier, Rummelsbucht, Jonny Knüppel, OTB, Loophole, ACUD, Trickster, @menschmeier_berlin, Klunkerkranisch, Antje Oeklesund, 8mm, Paloma, Bar 25 & more... 

GENEVA: Underground spaces (Duplex, Walden, Cave12, Artamis, Falaises…); Bars (Canal 54, La Petite Reine...), Special Places (Bains des Pâquis, L'Orangerie, A la Pointe...); Clubs (@motelcampo, @le-zoo-usine, La Gravière, KZRN, La Jonquille, 360° LGBTQ+ Party) 

Around SWITZERLAND : @zukunft, Le Bourg, Dachstock, Fri-Son, Case à Choc, Mouton Noir, @kashemezurich, Bad Bonn, @klubkegelbahn, Neubad, @trnstnradio ... Festivals (Fête de la Musique, Electron, Festival de la Cité, Montreux Jazz Festival...)

ASIA / DJed in 2019 at a Festival in Koh Phangan Thailand & @theobservatory-hcmc Vietnam

@Cobeia was part of the Wet Delights cosmic crew 12 hours underground Parties in Berlin w/ Albion @big-muffle, @Hysteric, Rune Lindbæk, @Chris_Korda, @soFAholic... 

💄 SHORT BIO 💄

Since his teens, Cobeia's been an avid listener collecting music on Vinyl, CDs, MDs, Tapes & Digital. Growing up in a multicultural family & environment in Geneva, he enjoyed the vibrant local squats and Swiss alternative scenes; studied filmmaking in London from 96 to 99 before regular stays in Berlin during the 00s. 

Among other trips, he traveled extensively throughout Eastern and Southern Europe, North & East Africa, as well as Southeast Asia, further expanding his Music appreciation. ✨

He has been continuously curious about life & art, passionately exploring underground culture ever since. Since 2001 he's been a dedicated DJ, record collector, cultural actor & curator/promoter. 

🚨 PROMOTING CONCERTS & PARTIES 🚨

Since 2001 Cobeia has organized many electro-acoustic, alt-pop, indie rock and electronic music events... before focusing on his main project:

💄 ECOUTES AU VERT (Est. 2006) 💄 

EAV originated as an outdoor summer series with great music in parks & by lakes/riversides + indoor parties in GENEVA. Nowadays, events with Concerts & DJs take also place throughout the year. 

2009 - 2015, EAV put up parties at @motelcampo with ace international & local guests. 

Events also took place in BERLIN since 2015 at Urban Spree, @klunkerkranich, @sameheads, Internet Explorer, Ziegra11, gART.n, Zenner, Loophole, Heiners...

Among many, COBEIA booked these great artists and often played along them:

LIVE: Shackleton, @Legowelt-official, @BlackMeteoricStar, @theEmperorMachine, OVAL, Mapstation, @LuckyDragons, Tevo Howard, Jan Jelinek & Masayoshi Fujita, Lichens/Robert Lowe, @JuliaHolter, Volcano the Bear, @colleenplays, @co_la, @LucreciaDalt, Rhys Chatham, @Hyperculte, Massicot, @JohnMoods, @CV-Vision, @bandit-voyage, @world_wild_web, @marlais, @killy44... 

AFRICAN & OUTERNATIONAL BANDS: Les Filles d'illighadad, @DeryaYildirimofficial & Grup Simsek, Imperial Tiger Orchestra, @MdouMoctar, @MeridianBrothers, Hailu Mergia, BKO Quintet, Nahawa Doumbia, ROB, Orchestra of Spheres, The Pyramids, Sahra Halgan, Fendika, Les Pythons de la Fournaise, OTPMD, @Cyril-Cyril-Music, L'Eclair, Onom Agemo & @AhmedAgKaedy...

DJs: I-F, @PrinsThomas, @Solarsf, @Helena-hauff, @Analog-Africa, Darshan Jesrani (Metro Area), ATA, @BeautifulSwimmers, @Svengalisghost,
@AwesomeTapesFromAfrica, @Appleblim, @HodgeBristol, @AndrePahl, Daniel Wang, @Franz-Scala, @mark-grusane...

🚨 IN THE PAST 🚨
 
2001 - 06: Part of a collective, Cobeia ran ace alternative Art space DUPLEX in Geneva, where he booked electronic, experimental pop & folk-rock live acts: SO (Oval), Goodiepal, @planningtorock, Hermann Düne, Julie Doiron, @modeselektor... + DJs of various genres, while working in 2003 & 04 at FORDE Art Space at L'Usine. 

During the 2010s, he put up the JUKEBOX nights at @MotelCampo, Letage, Artamis, Falaises... w/ @andrew-weatherall, Mr. Ties, @Boris, @tevohowardrecordings, @kodenine, @djrupture, @thebugofficial, Shadetek, @glasscandy, Desire, @chromaticsofficial...

Videographer, camera operator and editor.  

P/O Intro_vertpeeps and Flagging Lilac For Grace.

 'Scouting for dance moves'

- Ronan The Sea Lion,probably 

@Intro_vertpeeps @mensakle/ Flagginglilacforgrace
I.G 