Wakeup

From the compilation:
Afrobeat Airways 2 - Return Flight to Ghana 1974-1983
Release Date: September 17th, 2013
(click below for promotional pictures and additonal information)

http://bit.ly/15AR6bg

From the coastal cities of Accra and Cape Coast, basked in a tropical sound heavily influenced by highlife, to the semi-Saharan cities of Tamalé and Bolgatanga (part of a self-proclaimed ‘Islamic Funk Belt’) via the central city of Kumasi, Analog Africa (http://analogafrica.blogspot.com/) has criss-crossed Ghana in search of rare tracks, part of its ongoing, hard-grooving mission to bring the soul, funk, and vintage local pop out of obscurity and into its deserved international place.

Building on the success of the first installment in 2009, Afrobeat Airways 2 (Analog Africa; release: September 17, 2013) is a selection of 13 ultra-rare tracks by some of the musical giants who had created a movement that rocked the West African nation throughout the ‘70s: legendary singer K. Frimpong; Nana Ampedu (leader of the mighty African Brothers Band); Gyedu-Blay Ambolley and his superb guest appearance with The Complex Sounds; afrobeat star Ebo Taylor, backing his son in an unreleased track called ‘Children Don’t Cry’; the enigmatic Rob and his unique blend of twisted afrofunk; innovative drummer De Frank; and Uppers International, with their raw Islamic funk style. More obscure artists such as Los Issufu and his Moslems, Waza Afrika 76 and Tony Sarfo and his Funky Afrosibi make northern hemisphere debuts, adding to a rich list of Ghanaian artists whose music could be transferred seamlessly to any dancefloor in the world.

As with all Analog Africa releases, this is about more than just the sounds. It’s about the place, time, and people who shaped the scene. To document this, the accompanying 44-page booklet of Afrobeat Airways 2 features an introductory essay written by Afropop Worldwide editor Banning Eyre, exploring the development of soul, funk and afrobeat during the ‘60s and ‘70s in Ghana. The remaining 30 pages are packed with interviews and biographies of the artists and producers involved in the creation of this wonderful music.

Additionally, the Analog Africa team have managed to track down the photographers of the famous Modern Photo studios, located at the front of Accra’s legendary TipToe, a venue notorious for organizing unforgettable dance competitions, ‘Miss Tip Toe’ contests and the most in-demand highlife and afrobeat gigs of the day. 400 negatives have been lent to the Analog Africa team. Samy Ben Redjeb selected 50 of the most expressive pictures to document this little-known but striking musical scene.

AJA WONDO - Uppers International

From the compilation:
Afrobeat Airways 2 - Return Flight to Ghana 1974-1983
Release Date: September 17th, 2013
(click below for promotional pictures and additonal information)

bit.ly/15AR6bg

From the coastal cities of Accra and Cape Coast, basked in a tropical sound heavily influenced by highlife, to the semi-Saharan cities of Tamalé and Bolgatanga (part of a self-proclaimed ‘Islamic Funk Belt’) via the central city of Kumasi, Analog Africa (analogafrica.blogspot.com/) has criss-crossed Ghana in search of rare tracks, part of its ongoing, hard-grooving mission to bring the soul, funk, and vintage local pop out of obscurity and into its deserved international place.

Building on the success of the first installment in 2009, Afrobeat Airways 2 (Analog Africa; release: September 17, 2013) is a selection of 13 ultra-rare tracks by some of the musical giants who had created a movement that rocked the West African nation throughout the ‘70s: legendary singer K. Frimpong; Nana Ampedu (leader of the mighty African Brothers Band); Gyedu-Blay Ambolley and his superb guest appearance with The Complex Sounds; afrobeat star Ebo Taylor, backing his son in an unreleased track called ‘Children Don’t Cry’; the enigmatic Rob and his unique blend of twisted afrofunk; innovative drummer De Frank; and Uppers International, with their raw Islamic funk style. More obscure artists such as Los Issufu and his Moslems, Waza Afrika 76 and Tony Sarfo and his Funky Afrosibi make northern hemisphere debuts, adding to a rich list of Ghanaian artists whose music could be transferred seamlessly to any dancefloor in the world.

As with all Analog Africa releases, this is about more than just the sounds. It’s about the place, time, and people who shaped the scene. To document this, the accompanying 44-page booklet of Afrobeat Airways 2 features an introductory essay written by Afropop Worldwide editor Banning Eyre, exploring the development of soul, funk and afrobeat during the ‘60s and ‘70s in Ghana. The remaining 30 pages are packed with interviews and biographies of the artists and producers involved in the creation of this wonderful music.

Additionally, the Analog Africa team have managed to track down the photographers of the famous Modern Photo studios, located at the front of Accra’s legendary TipToe, a venue notorious for organizing unforgettable dance competitions, ‘Miss Tip Toe’ contests and the most in-demand highlife and afrobeat gigs of the day. 400 negatives have been lent to the Analog Africa team. Samy Ben Redjeb selected 50 of the most expressive pictures to document this little-known but striking musical scene.

SAY MIN SY SOH - Pierre Antoine & Vis-a-Vis (dedicated to Hidehito Morimoto and Vik Sohonie)

DO YOUR OWN THING - De Frank

From the liner notes of our 2-disc Ebo Taylor retrospective, Life Stories:

Ebo acknowledges the influence of US jazz rockers Blood Sweat & Tears and
– less obviously, perhaps – Deep Purple on this easy going mid-tempo
piece, written a few years before it was recorded, when Osibisa and
various ‘blaxploitation’ themes were hip. “I was trying to fuse rock and jazz together with highlife,” Ebo recalls. “This kind of music was ahead of its time – not very popular when we recorded it!”

Life Stories

Peace On Earth

Ebo Taylor- Peace On Earth

Compilation of Highlife Music from Ghana..1960-1980

14 - African Brothers Band - Kofi nkrabea

Fantastic mix made by my friend DJ/Producer Déni Shain, currently based in Mexico....spreading good vibes and excellent music. 

The songs used here were taken mainly from mastertapes found in Ghana, the others were recorded from obscure vinyls. Needless to say that half of these songs have never been heard before....feel free to download it, share it, play it...just funk it up !!!!! 

Enjoy it and spread the word !!
ps: Abraços and big love to Brasil...Saudades !!!

Buy Analog Africa here

Analog Africa Selection Vol.4 (2014) I Ghana Soundtrack  - Previously unreleased & Obscure tracks

Download it, Share it, Forward it....
Thank you for the love and support!!

A bit more then a year ago I received a message from Déni Shain, a french music producer based in Lisbon. In that mail he asked me if I would be interested in releasing music from Cabo Verde since he was close to Chico and Wilson, the 2 DJs behind Celeste Mariposa (an excellent portuguese/angolan soundsystem specialised in lusophone music). 'I can convince them to make their record collection available to you' he added. I asked him if he could send me a selection, not knowing the amount of work my request would represent. I only later found out that the three-men-team had spent a whole week to pick and choose what they thought was adequate and another few days to wash the record and digitise the music.

I received that selection in March 2013 and I haven't stopped listening to it since. I clearly remember having that wonderful feeling when songs keep growing on you the more you listen. 'Very good sign' I thought! The collection of songs I had received became the base for a whole concept and we all started criss crossing Europe and Cabo Verde looking for more music and looking for the Cap-Verdien artists we loved. Déni Shain became an important asset for the Analog Africa label, supporting us with remixes and mixes but more importantly with an addictive positive energy.

After his first mix for us, the amazing 'Ghana Soundtrack' made out of unreleased and rare tracks from the small west african musical powerhouse, here is his second instalment made of handpicked dancefloor filler. A huge shout goes to legendary african music connoisseur John Beatle, to Carlo Xavier for letting us use his fantastic edit of "O Anel"  and to my close friend Keith Slater for offering us some of the fantastic music included here.

Tracklisting :
01. Vincent Ahehehinnou & Orchestre Poly-Rythmo - Yeye We Nou Mi
(from 'The 1st Album' LP, 1973 / Analog Africa reissue 2011)
02. Iftin Band - Haka Yeelin Nacabkeenna
(from 'Gabar ii Noquee' tape, 1980s / special thanks to John Beadle)
03. Solo Hit - Imoikeme
(from 'Imoikeme' 7 inch, 2013 reissue / Analog Africa)
04. N’Draman Blintch - I First U Last
(from 'Cosmic Sounds' LP, 1980 / Cosmic Sounds)
05. Dina Santos - O Anel (Carlo Xavier Edit)
(from 'In London' LP, 1983 / Dacapo)
06. Victor Uwaifo And The Titibitis - Ohue
(From 'I Wanna Be Your No.1', 1980s / Taretone)
07. África Negra - Carambola
(from 'Africa Negra 83' LP, 1983 / IEFE)
08. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou - Moulon Devia
(from 'Réveil Disco Dubain' LP, available soon on a forthcoming Analog Africa release)
09. Ondeno - Mayolye
(from 'Ondeno' LP, 1980 / Disque Ledoux - Special thanks to Keith Slater)
Total time : 37mn 35s

 

Analog Africa Selection Vol.5 (2014) by Déni Shain | Past & Future Analog Africa Tracks

From the upcoming album 'Jaiyede Afro' by Orlando Julius and The Heliocentrics, out September 8th on Strut. 
Pre-order now via iTunes and receive "Buje Buje" instantly: http://geni.us/JaiyedeAfro

Jake Ferguson of The Heliocentrics on "In The Middle:"
"We’ve all been big fans of James Brown since we’ve been involved in music and have played ‘In The Middle’ regularly on our live tours. It felt like a natural fit for the Orlando project, particularly as we have added an Afro swing to the track. We first played the track with Orlando at a London gig last year and he got into it in the studio straight away – his sax solo here was the very first take. James Brown and his band loved Orlando when they saw him play in Ibadan back in the ‘60s and the two of them met up and talked at J.B.’s hotel. So, for lots of reasons, this felt like a natural one to include.”

More from Strut:
https://www.facebook.com/StrutRecords
https://www.youtube.com/user/strutrecords
http://strut-records.com

More from Orlando Julius:
https://www.facebook.com/OrlandoJuliusOfficial

More from The Heliocentrics:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Heliocentrics/159461737458324

Jaiyede Afro

In The Middle

Orlando Julius & The Heliocentrics - "In The Middle"

Release date 02.12.2014
"On his visit to Kinshasa James Brown dubbed him *Mister Dynamite*"

It has been a struggle to lay hands on Verckys, although the man doesn´t go unnoticed. Notorious for being one of Congo´s most ruthless business men, the legendary musician had build a whole imperium in Kinshasa, the capital city of the central african power house (arguably one of the toughest places in the world) and has a whole building with his name, in the very heart of the city.

So I travelled to the Congo in June of 2013 to find Verckys only to find out that he headed in opposite direction to sort out his health issues. But I did meet his manager who gave me his phone number, so I called:  "Oh Monsieur Samy, we need to met, lets talk business", he said, probably not knowing that I was an independent record label, with all it represents.  But the more I spoke to the men the more I realised that he was genuinely interested in music more then anything else. The following message I received few weeks ago, confirmed my feeling:

"Samy, I am writing to you because I´m a little worried. I´ve been thinking about your selection and I now wonder if your compilation will do well due to the fact that the chosen songs had little impact in Kinshasa. Others had much more success"
I was surprised but pleased to see that he cared about the project although I had already paid him in full. But why wouldn't he? Its his music after all.

"Most of the songs you´ve selected were recorded in Nairobi, for the Kenyan market. These songs did very well there, also in Zambia, but here in the Congo they flopped...except for "Ya Nini", that was a monster hit. Still, I am very surprised you´ve mentioned it has become a legendary track in Colombia, positively surprised"

This compilation was supposed to be released in October as a limited edition of 2000 copies, but after a few Skype chats with Verckys, seeing that he has come to terms with his health issues, and pushing for a European tour come next summer, we´ve decided to release this as Analog Africa No.17 which is now going to see light of day first week of December.

In the mean time enjoy this imperial slice of Congolese Afrobeat. "Bassala Hot" is doomed to  cast a spell on each and every dancefloor that dares to spin its bewitching sound. Beware!!!

Thank you for reading. Samy (Analog Africa)

Listen and Buy here

Bassala Hot - Verckys et l´Orchestre Vévé

Fela Kuti & Africa 70 - "Everything Scatter" 
LP to be reissued by Knitting Factory Records on 16 October 2015 (KFR2013-1)
Original year of release: 1975
More info: http://fela.net/

Fela Kuti - Everything Scatter

In partnership with Teranga beat, the current leading label for Senegalese music, Analog Africa proudly offer an insight into the musical adventures that were taking place in the major Senegalese cities during the 60s and 70s. 

It all started in 2009 when Adamantios Kafetzis travelled from Greece to Senegal with a brand new tape machine that he used to digitise the musical treasures he had discovered in the city of Thiés. These treasures took the form of reel tapes, and had been recorded by sound engineer Moussa Diallo, who had spent the previous four decades immortalising, onto magnetic tape, the bands that would later perform in his club, the legendary Sangomar. 

300 Senegalese songs that nobody had ever heard before were discovered - Five of them were selected for this compilation. 

Thanks to its history of outside influences, Senegal – the western point of Africa - had become a musical melting pot.  
Cuban and American sailors had brought Son Montuno from Cuba, Jazz from New Orleans and American soul tunes: sounds that were swiftly embraced and adopted by urban dance bands and intuitively merged with local music styles.

One band in particular excelled at this fusion. 1960 marks the formation of Le Star Band de Dakar, a milestone that left an indelible imprint on Dakar’s musical landscape. Indeed, the whole country was soon grooving to their intoxicating mixture of Afro Cuban rhythms and Wolof-language lyrics. 

The 1970s brought a new generation of stellar bands like Le Sahel, Orchestre Laye Thiam, Number One de Dakar, Orchestra Baobab, Dieuf Dieul de Thies, Xalam 1 who fused traditional Senegalese percussion instruments such Sabra, Tama and Bougarabou with organs and keyboards, giving birth to new hybrids. Merging the folkloric and the experimental, these sounds, embraced by the youth, took centre stage and gave the previously dominant Cuban music a run for its money.

With this burst of musical and artistic creativity, driven predominantly by the modern vision of President Senghor, Dakar began attracting international stars. The Jackson Five, James Brown, Tabou Combo (Haiti), Celia Cruz (Cuba) and an array of African stars like Tabu Ley Rochereau (Congo), Manu Dibango (Cameroon) and Bembeya Jazz (Guinée) joined in with the local scene, improvising jam sessions and bringing new flavours to a music scene that was always open to new inspirations and influences. Johnny Pacheco immortalised his passion for the city with a song called “Dakar, Punto Final”.

4 years in the making, this compilation, reflects the unique fusion of Funk, Mbalax, Cuban Son and Mandingue sounds that helped transform Dakar into West Africa´s most vibrant city. 

The comprehensive booklet that comes with the CD - 44 pages or with the 2xLP - 12 pages LP size booklet - are a precious document attesting to the decades of transformation that led to modern Senegalese music. Featuring biographies of music producers and a legendary record cover designer, as well as the life stories of all the groups represented here, the booklet also includes a fantastic selection of photos that have never seen before.


Mariama - Orchestre Fangóól (Leave a comment for Max Dia  - Singer/Composer - I will forward)

For Record Store Day 2016, Knitting Factory Records will release a limited edition 10” vinyl single of “I Go Shout Plenty”, backed with “Frustration”. Make sure you get one of just 1,000 copies from a participating record shop on 16 April 2016.

Fela Kuti
Website: http://fela.net/
Twitter: @felakuti
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/felakuti
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/Fela

Fela Kuti and Afrika '70 - I Go Shout Plenty

From the album 'We Be All Africans'
Out 27th May 2016 on Strut
Pre-Order: https://strut.lnk.to/AllAfricansSo

West Coast jazz mavericks, The Pyramids, led by their inspirational bandleader, Idris Ackamoor, return with a new album on Strut. The band met while in school in Ohio in the 1970s, where one of their teachers was renowned pianist, Cecil Taylor. Having disbanded in 1977, the group re-united in the 2010s following acclaim for their three independently released 1970s LPs from jazz aficionados and record collectors. 

Recorded in Max Weissenfeldt’s analogue Philophon studio in Berlin, 'We Be All Africans' is a sparkling set of Afro- jazz-funk fusions, from the infectious chants of the title track to the reflective “Epiphany” and the yearning, mournful future single, “Silent Days” featuring the brilliant vocals of Bajka. The album is released 27th May 2016 on Strut Records.

The Pyramids have been hand-picked by Floating Points to open the West Coast leg of their live tour. Dates below:

April 27th – Santa Ana, CA: Constellation Room
April 28th – Santa Cruz, CA: The Catalyst Club
April 29th – San Francisco, CA: Mezzanine
May 1st – Portland, OR: Doug Fir Lounge
May 3rd – Seattle, WA: Neumos
May 4th – Vancouver, BC: Celebrities Nightclub

For more info:
http://www.strut-records.com/

We Be All Africans

Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids - "We Be All Africans"

Fela Kuti Black Man s Cry

A musician since the age of six, Ebo Taylor is one of the most achingly honest voices in African music.  His songs have a timeless quality to them, and continue to reach new audiences worldwide.  His album Love And Death on Strut will be his first internationally distributed solo album.  Backed by Berlin's Afrobeat Academy, the album is packed with pure fire from a true original.  Enjoy the title track.  More info at http://www.ebotaylor-loveanddeath.com

Love & Death

Love and Death

Ebo Taylor- Love And Death

Our First 7inch single comes from Benin City in Nigeria. Solo Hit an Obscure artist with a very twisted and funky sound, discovered and produced by the legendary musician Victor Uwaifo. The record comes in a beautiful cover made in Thailand, hand stamped and numbered. Strictly limited to 1500 copies. Price 7,50€ - You can pre-order your copy directly with us at montanez@analogafrica.com or info@analogafrica.com. Release date is end of February. Thanks for your support!

Solo Hit - Imoikeme (Limited to 1500 copies)

Available on Analog Africa No.13 - The Skeletal Essences of Afro Funk
Release date: April 30th

Ecoute ma Melodie - Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou

A OO IDA - Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou

Min We Tun So

Taken from Analog Africa No.11 - the Bariba Sound, hailed from the northern city of Parakou in Benin. Twisted afrobeat of a different kind....finally!!

Wakeup

OliverWeldon