Supa production, LOVE......BIG TIME......Wonderful!

Been playing this in my recent sets (i've added a beat & extra percussions & re-arranged a bit), an absolute gem from Francis Bebey, if you dont know his music please check it out...

F R E E Download

Francis Bebey Senza Tristess (Simbad EDIT)

We are happy to announce the first in an occasional series of fully licensed 12" releases on Autonomous Africa exploring the influence of music from Africa across the globe.

The first release comes from Colombia's Wganda Kenya with three tracks recorded in the mid 70s. The Caribbean coast of Colombia has a long relationship with Africa stretching back hundreds of years. Strong trading links and migration from West Africa to Colombia led to a distinct African influence on the music in cities such as Cartagena and the local music (cumbia and champeta) absorbed these influences. This was  particularly notable in the 70s as records by Fela Kuti amongst others arrived in Colombia. One of the leading practitioners of this Afro Sound were the mighty Wganda Kenya who were huge there in the 70s and 80s and whose music is still highly regarded to this day. 

While their music has appeared on compilations, there hasn't been a big fat 12" vinyl release since Island Records offshoot, Mango put "Shakalode" out as a 12" way back in 1989.

"Shakalode" on the A side is a powerful reworking of the Fela Kuti classic "Shakara" which was much covered in Colombia in the mid 1970s. It's a transcendental Afro Colombian funk bomb.

On the other side are two other Wganda Kenya gems; the call and response percussive and organ grooving "Pim Pom" and the more traditional Colombian cumbia singalong anthem "La Botellita".

Originally this was going to be a 2 x 12" featuring some other Wganda Kenya magic but sadly the masters to many of their tracks have been lost. There are plans to put out a second 12" of reworkings of these tracks aimed at djs who won't play records unless they can mix them, but of course, these 40 year old tracks will still rock any open minded dancefloor just as they are.

All proceeds will once again go to the Mtandika mission in Tanzania - www.actioninafrica.org/about-mtandika.php

Release date April 2015. Distributed by Above Board.

Autonomous Africa is a collaborative project run by JD Twitch, Midland and Auntie Flo.

Autonomous Africa Vintage  01 - Wganda Kenya - Afro Colombia 12" EP (sampler)

After the success of their previous albums Owiny Sigoma Band’s forthcoming long player “Nyanza" continues to bring eclectic and intriguing musical ideas to the table.

Following from the release of "Changaa Attack", Owiny Sigoma Band bring fresh perspectives to cross-cultural collaborations. To make this record, master Luo musicians Joseph Nyamungu and Charles Owoko, invited the London contingent of the band to the Nyanza province of Kenya in the heart of a region called Luoland, to discover the roots of Luo Music. Travelling with a suitcase full of recording equipment the band set up studios on the fly. Louis Hackett the bands bass player produced this hypnotic response after a 12 hour changaa fueled session of hard Nyatiti soundclash. Utilising Owoko’s fierce Nyiduongue drumming and a one take vocal workout from Nyamungu, “Luo Land" is another wayward dancefloor workout for the late night freaks. 

Luo Land and Changaa Attack are available now as instant downloads with pre-orders on “Nyanza” which gets a full release on the 28th August. 

pre-order link
smarturl.it/owinynyanza

Owiny Sigoma Band - Luo Land

Been working all day? Been sweating all week? Time to throw down the hammer and have a dansi time! 

In the spotlights: The irresistible dance music coming out of East Africa! Kenyan Benga, Congolese Rumba's, Muziki Wa Dansi from Tanzania, they all have something in common: Untamable Hi-hat samurai's, tireless guitar terriers, scattering songbirds forming a tidal wave of uplifting dance music. 

Umoja picked some their favorite songs & elements and went for a session to add some Umoja flavours. Keeping a wide range of tempo's and moods, there should be something for all your moves and moments. Put on your brightest socks, sprinkle some glitters and join the Dansi! 

Much love, 
Umoja

Download & Support

Les Mangelepa - N'kimba (Umoja Edit)

The Sofrito Island series continues with a 7" single featuring two heavy-hitting 70s cadence rarities from Martinique.

Vinyl Available here:
http://sofrito.bigcartel.com/product/island-series-martinique-7

The curiously-named Hamsters jump straight out of the starting blocks with a  ferocious carnival-style Cadence that never fails to get things moving. Thumping bass, insistent drums and a heavy dose of Haitian-influenced guitars add up to sure-fire party starter.



Island Series // Les Hamsters // Hamsters Frappé (Excerpt)

Taken from the Promo 12" for the Sofrito: Tropical Discotheque album on Strut Records

Sweet Music (Sofrito Soundsystem Edit)

Cameroon, 1978: it’s like any good western movie. A man drifts through the plains at the furthest edge of the country in search of two former gunslingers, hoping to coax them out of retirement for one last showdown. Except this time, the weapons are guitars and the gunslingers are Jean Gabari and Messi Martin – the calm sheriff and his hot-headed deputy – who had led the band Los Camaroes to superstardom at the beginning of the decade.

Los Camaroes emerged at the end of the 1960s from the town of Maroua in the northern, predominantly Islamic area of Cameroon. After changes in name, in lineup and in management, they worked their way south to the capital to make a name for themselves; in the span of only a few years they changed Cameroon’s music scene forever, leaving a trail of sold-out nightclubs and monster radio hits in their wake. Then, at the height of their popularity, they broke up. 

The band had been led from the beginning by Jean Gabari, whose level-headedness and even-handedness inspired the respect and devotion of his musicians. But it was Gabari’s alchemical collaborations with guitarist Messi Martin that drove the band to its greatest heights. Martin had developed an innovation that would earn him fame throughout Cameroon as the “king of Bikutsi”, as Johnny Cosmos explains: 

“The primary instrument in Bikutsi is the balafon, and Messi came up with a trick that consisted of chewing small pieces of paper until they reached the right consistency and then stuck them between the strings of the guitar. This trick, which made a guitar sound like a balafon, catapulted him to stardom and turned him into the founder of Modern Bikutsi.” (Check the song “Bezimbi” to hear Messi Martin´s wizardry on a Bikutsi tune)

Martin’s extraordinary talents were matched by a character of great unpredictability. He had been lured away from the band before by the promise of success and, in 1975, when Los Camaroes were at the peak of their power, he left them once again. Gabari tried to keep the band going, but his own longstanding battles with ill health eventually forced him to return to his hometown. With Gabari and Martin gone, the rest of the musicians drifted away in search of other gigs. By 1978, Los Camaroes were no more than a rapidly fading memory.

But then came the resurrection.

From out of nowhere, a businessman named Atangana Joseph appeared in northern Cameroon. His goal: to track down the original members of Los Camaroes and get them back together for their one final shot at immortality. The musicians reconvened at the legendary Mango Bar in the capital city of Yaoundé, the very place where, years earlier, they had established their reputation as one of Cameroon’s most fearsome live bands.

Producer Nicolas Mongué and engineer Emmanuel Guyssot were called in from Douala to record what was being billed as a comeback album. There was talk of going into a studio, but Los Camaroes had always thrived on the energy of the nightclub scene; they decided instead to record it live to two-track in the Mango Bar.

The album, Resurrection Los Vol. 1, was completed in only a few days. There would be no Volume 2. The music that emerged during the Mango Bar sessions was the culmination of a fifteen year musical bond between Gabari and Martin, and what was supposed to be a comeback album ended up being a last testament — Gabari would die only a few years later and Martin, without his foil, would never find the same level of musical success. Even at the time, these two titans of Cameroon’s music scene seemed to realise it would be the last time they would ever work together. The resurrection of Los Camaroes was short-lived … but it produced a masterpiece.

Resurrection lOS

Resurrection Los - Los Camaroes

Taken from release FLEE 001 "Benga Music - A signature genre from Kenya" out now.

Order on www.fleeproject.com

Rapar Wuon Osimbo (Jaakko Eino Kalevi edit) - C.K. Jazz Band

Andrea Benini - Drumphilia Vol. 1
"a journey inspired by early African Electronic music and modern beats"

Written, Performed, Arranged and Produced by Andrea Benini 
Mixed by Andrea Benini and Andrea Scardovi at Duna Studio (RA) Italy
Mastered by Kelly Hibbert
Andrea Benini plays: electronic drums, analog drum machines, drum synthesizers, bass synthesizers, syncussion, percussions, log drum, marimbula, kalimba, sansula 
*Danilo Mineo plays Jew's harp on Marranzanu 
*Max Castlunger plays balafon, kalimba, percussions on Jawa

Out June 22nd - Cristalline a division of Agogo Records

A1 Jawa (03:31)
A2 Maharaja (05:30)
B1 The Juggler (02:31)
B2 El Guerrero (04:22)
B3 The Forbidden Tale (03:48)
C1 Marranzanu (04:16)
C2 Pink Twirl (04:22)
D1 Paramour (02:24)
D2 Blue Drop (02:59)
D3 Bacio Rubato (02:32)
D4 Cosmonomade (03:30)

bonus track CD/digi : Syncussion (06:51)

All tracks written by Andrea Benini
www.andreabenini.com

This Album is dedicated to all the *Rhythm Diggers* around the Globe.
A big *Grazie" to my lovely Family (Patrizia, Gualtiero, Giulia) for constantly supporting me. 
Andrea Benini

https://andreabenini.bandcamp.com/album/drumphilia-vol-1

Drumphilia

El Guerrero

NEW RELEASE NEW RELEASE NEW RELEASE NEW RELEASE NEW RELEASE 

“CUMBANCHERO” – JUAN LAYA & JORGE MONTIEL FEAT: GRAHAM MUSHNIK.

Take a journey into the Afro-Latin psychedelia of the Venezuelan producers Juan Laya & Jorge Montiel who have teamed up this time with the infamous Graham Mushnik (Guess What) bringing on a brand new hybrid of Afro-Latin-Cumbia for all those who like the eclectic thing.

Catalogue nr IMAGENES023
Release name: CUMBANCHERO
Artist: Juan Laya & Jorge Montiel Feat: Graham Mushnik 
Label: Imagenes Recordings
Format: 7” LTD & Digital Download
Release date: Monday 2nd April 2012 from the usual record stores and all digital outlets.


 "Enormous track! Love the fusion and it's 100% killer dancefloor material"
Quinton Scott (Strut Records)

"Definitely it's spot on. Especially that modern Latin infectious
percussion which has become a trademark for Juan & Jorge since the great
Sexmachina'  track" DJ Boo (Electric Ballroom)




Cumbanchero - Juan Laya & Jorge Montiel Feat: Graham Mushnik

CR001CD | CR001VL 
ANDREA BENINI "Drumphilia - Vol. 1" 
DLP | CD digipack | digital 
CRISTALLINE is a division of Agogo Records
Buy album here https://bit.ly/2HQ5hF7

"a journey inspired by early African electronic music and modern beats" 

Drumphilia volume 1 is a rhythmic experiment that sits on the fault line between traditional instrumentation and analogue electronics. 
The project is a response to many years spent working with, learning about and listening to African and Caribbean percussion. Traditional rhythmic influences are combined with analogue drum machines and drum synths to create a hybrid sound that continues in the tradition of artists like Frances Bebey. 
There are no traditional harmonic instruments on the recordings - the aim was to create melody and texture using only carefully tuned percussion instruments, whether organic or electronic. Basslines were created by blending drum synth tones with the acoustic marimbula, a traditional Caribbean instrument that was often used in place of a bass guitar. 
Melodies were created with everything from log drums and thumb pianos to early Soviet drum modules and the trailblazing Pearl Syncussion SY-1. 
Various time signatures and textures are used across the album to produce melody out of rhythm - hypnotic, evolving tracks that celebrate and highlight the importance of rhythm in modern music. 

Liner notes by Hugo Mendez 

All the sessions were recorded at the Mop Mop studio in Berlin between September and December, 2016. Instruments featured include 
log drum, marimbula, kalimba, sansula, krabebs. Pearl Syncussion SY-1, Vermona DRM1, MFB Tanzbär, MFB Tanzmaus RMIF Elsita, assorted drum machines and talkboxes. 

Written, performed, arranged and produced by Andrea Benini 
Mixed by Andrea Benini and Andrea Scardovi at Duna Studio (RA) Italy 
Andrea Benini plays electronic drums, analog drum machines, drum synthesizers, bass synthesizers, syncussion, percussions, log drum, marimbula, kalimba, sansula. 

*Danilo Mineo plays Jew's harp on marranzanu 
*Max Castlunger plays balafon, kalimba, percussions on jawa 

Artwork by Gianni Rossi. 
Mastered by Kelly Hibbert. 

This Album is dedicated to all the *Rhythm Diggers* around the Globe. 
A big *Grazie" to my lovely Family (Patrizia, Gualtiero, Giulia). 

Andrea Benini 

released June 22, 2018

all rights reserved

Drumphillia Vol. 1

Pink Twirl

*Analog Africa - The Future Of Music Happened Decades Ago*

Resurrection Los - Los Camaroes

Analog Africa

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