30 second previews of our latest album.

Listen more and pre-order: https://ostinatorecords.bandcamp.com/album/beja-power-electric-soul-brass-from-sudans-red-sea-coast

————————

A soundtrack of Sudan's revolution and the first ever international release of the Beja sound, performed by Noori and his Dorpa Band, an unheard outfit from Port Sudan, a city on the Red Sea coast in eastern Sudan and the heart of Beja culture.

Electric soul, blues, jazz, rock, surf, even hints of country, speak fluently to styles and chords that could be Tuareg, Ethiopian, Peruvian or Thai—all grounded by hypnotic Sudanese grooves, Naji's impeccable, haunting tenor sax, and of course, Noori's tambo-guitar, a self-made unique hybrid of an electric guitar and an electric tambour, a four-string instrument found across East Africa.

A truly ancient community, Beja trace their ancestry back millennia. Some say they are among the living descendants of Ancient Egypt and the Kingdom of Kush. Beja melodies—nostalgic, hopeful and sweet, ambiguous and honest—are thousands of years old.

The Beja community has been on the forefront of political change in Sudan for decades because successive Sudanese governments have turned a blind eye to their calls for recognition and access to the gold wealth of their own soil. Noori believes an unleashing of Beja music would form the most potent act of resistance in their quest for equity and justice.

BUY NOW!

BEJA POWER! Electric Soul & Brass from Sudan's Red Sea Coast (Preview)

A soundtrack of Sudan's revolution and the first ever international release of the Beja sound, performed by Noori and his Dorpa Band, an unheard outfit from Port Sudan, a city on the Red Sea coast in eastern Sudan and the heart of Beja culture.

Electric soul, blues, jazz, rock, surf, even hints of country, speak fluently to styles and chords that could be Tuareg, Ethiopian, Peruvian or Thai—all grounded by hypnotic Sudanese grooves, Naji's impeccable, airy tenor sax, and of course, Noori's tambo-guitar, a self-made unique hybrid of an electric guitar and an electric tambour, a four-string instrument found across East Africa.

A truly ancient community, Beja trace their ancestry back millennia. Some say they are among the living descendants of Ancient Egypt and the Kingdom of Kush. Beja melodies—nostalgic, hopeful and sweet, ambiguous and honest—are thousands of years old.

The Beja community has been on the forefront of political change in Sudan for decades because successive Sudanese governments have turned a blind eye to their calls for recognition and access to the gold wealth of their own soil. Noori believes an unleashing of Beja music would form the most potent act of resistance in their quest for equity and justice.

BEJA POWER! Electric Soul & Brass from Sudan's Red Sea Coast

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Daleb

Wondeeb

Jabana

Al Amal

Qwal

Saagama

A selection of rare and obscure tropical gems from both sides of the Black Atlantic. Cuban Son, Cape Verdean Coladiera, Senegalese Mbalax, Jamaican Dub, Dominican Merengue, Haitian Kompa, Antillean Biguine, Guinea-Bissau Gumbe, and Afro-Latin fare. Happy travels! 

Some of these tracks will be released exclusively on Ostinato Records in the near future. Stay tuned!

Catch Ostinato Records spinning the finest in vintage Black Atlantic rhythms at Canicule Tropicale in Montreal, Canada on November 22, 2014! https://www.facebook.com/events/356496084524439/

Afrophonia Vol. 2 1968 - 1982: Black Atlantic Rhythms from Cuba to Angola

OSTINATO RECORDS PROUDLY PRESENTS

OSTLP/CD001

TANBOU TOUJOU LOU: MERINGUE, KOMPA KREYOL, VODOU JAZZ, & ELECTRIC FOLKLORE FROM HAITI 1960 - 1981

COMPILED & CURATED by VIK SOHONIE

"What a superb compilation this is. This might be the most surprising compilation of 2016 yet." - Songlines Magazine

ORDER NOW: 

Bandcamp: http://bit.ly/1Oh3k6s

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2aEWE49

iTunes: http://apple.co/2apEMFT

Available on 2xLP Gatefold, CD, and Digital.

Selected from an array of private collections and radio archives in Brooklyn, New York, and multiple digging trips in Port-au-Prince, Jacmel, Gonaives, and St. Marc, Haiti, are twenty tracks that encompass the vast diversity of styles during the seminal years of musical innovation and percussive potency in Haiti. From the legendary, elegant big band dance parties in iconic nightclubs of Port-au-Prince to the rhythms of the countryside; from accordion-driven meringue and Vodou-derived drum patterns, to hypnotic tenor sax arrangements and psychedelic interpretations of folklore, the music of 1960's, '70's, & '80's Haiti enjoys a royal repute across the Caribbean, West Africa, and the Colombian coast. 

In the golden era of Haitian music, between the 1960s and 1980s, experimentation and electric reinterpretation of traditional rhythms was rife, along with the sophisticated balancing of a host of influences. There’s the jazz-era instrumentation, brought during the early 20th century American occupation, which introduced horn sections to Haitian ensembles. Cuba, cultural imperator of the Afro-Atlantic and perennial ally of Haiti, imbued Meringue, Mambo, Son, Guajira, Charanga, and a slew of Afro-Cuban styles into the Haitian repertoire. Accordion-driven Colombian Cumbia and Dominican Merengue left their mark. A melting pot of sound was all held together by the countless rhythms, drum patterns, and percussion brought across the Atlantic from Africa, surviving slavery’s violent cultural repression. 

Nago rhythms from what is today Nigeria and Benin, Kongo rhythms from Central Africa, and Petwo rhythms from the Vodou traditions of Guinea, among many others, were revived and given special importance in an age of black consciousness, driven by the Negritude and Noiriste philosophies of Afro-Caribbean intellectuals like Jamaica’s Marcus Garvey and Martinique’s Frantz Fanon and Aimé Césaire. 

The lasting result is a rich, layered terrine that spawned Haiti’s Cuban-inspired Meringue, the dominant Kompa Direct of Nemours Jean Baptiste, the silky tenor sax-led Cadence Rampa pioneered by Webert Sicot, psychedelic Mini Jazz, and the dancefloor-filling Vodou Jazz compositions of de-facto national orchestra, Super Jazz de Jeunes. At its peak, Haitian music was widely distributed, proliferating its unique blend of sound across the Francophone Caribbean and West Africa. 

Recordings capturing this vibrant laboratory of colliding influences were produced and pressed in Haiti, the United States, France, and elsewhere in the Caribbean. Huge catalogs from the heavyweight record labels of the time—IBO Records, Marc Records, and Mini Records—and the smaller, private presses have largely been gathering dust and bugs, left to warp in the damp humidity... until now.

"Aprè dans, tanbou toujou lou (After the dance, the drum is always heavy.)"

CREDITS: 
PRODUCTION, CURATION, RESEARCH, & LINER NOTES: Vik Sohonie / New York, NY
MASTERING ENGINEER: Michael Graves / Atlanta, GA 
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Pete White / London, EN
PHOTO RESTORATION: Artisan Photo Restoration/ New York, NY
CD COVER DESIGN: Kathi Remest / Berlin, GE
MANUFACTURING: AtoZ Media / New York, NY 
LEGAL: Savur Threadgold LLP Law / New York, NY 

SPECIAL THANKS to Samuel Merizema, my friend and guide in Haiti, whose resourcefulness and hard work made this compilation possible. 

 © & ℗ Ostinato Records 2016. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication or distribution of this sampler is prohibited.

Buy Now

TANBOU TOUJOU LOU: MERINGUE, KOMPA KREYOL, VODOU JAZZ, & ELECTRIC FOLKLORE FROM HAITI 1960 - 1981

HAITI CUMBIA - NEMOURS JEAN BAPTISTE (1969)

OSTLP/CD002

OUT NOW!  www.ostinatorecords.bandcamp.com

"Easily one of the most intriguing and ear-opening records I've heard in a long time" - Errol Nazareth, CBC Radio (Canada)

"An expertly curated experience of one of the late-20th Century’s most thrilling musical encounters" - The Playground UK

"A compilation to revel in" - The Arts Desk

"An energetic, enlightening listen... Two records in and Ostinato’s track record is downright sterling." - The Vinyl District 

"A beautiful case study in ideas hopping back and forth between the Cape Verde islands and mainland Europe." - Ink 19 Magazine

"An homage to the music of migrants of Cabo Verde." - VICE

Watch the trailer here: vimeo.com/195576843

CD/2XLP/Digital 
36-page CD Booklet
20-page LP Booklet

Through 18 diverse tracks, this compilation offers a timely revelation of how immigration to Europe and the United States from the Cape Verde Islands in the 1980s gave us an alternate history of electronic music, almost a decade ahead of its time, as traditional Funana rhythms met the synthesizer.

Synthesize the Soul: Astro-Atlantic Hypnotica from the Cape Verde Islands 1973 - 1988

OUT NOW!

Jelivrà Bo Situaçon - Manuel Gomes

É Bô Problema - Tchiss Lopes

OSTLP/CD002

OUT NOW!  www.ostinatorecords.bandcamp.com

"Easily one of the most intriguing and ear-opening records I've heard in a long time" - Errol Nazareth, CBC Radio (Canada)

"An expertly curated experience of one of the late-20th Century’s most thrilling musical encounters" - The Playground UK

"A compilation to revel in" - The Arts Desk

"An energetic, enlightening listen... Two records in and Ostinato’s track record is downright sterling." - The Vinyl District 

"Those of the caliber of Synthesize the Soul are rare." - RFI Musique

"An homage to the music of migrants of Cabo Verde." - VICE

Watch the trailer here: vimeo.com/195576843

CD/2XLP/Digital 
36-page CD Booklet
20-page LP Booklet

Through 18 diverse tracks, this compilation offers a timely revelation of how immigration to Europe and the United States from the Cape Verde Islands in the 1980s gave us an alternate history of electronic music, almost a decade ahead of its time, as traditional Funana rhythms met the synthesizer.

Chump Lopes - Elisio Gomes & Joachim Varela

OSTLP/CD002

OUT NOW! www.ostinatorecords.bandcamp.com

"Easily one of the most intriguing and ear-opening records I've heard in a long time" - Errol Nazareth, CBC Radio (Canada)

Watch the trailer here: vimeo.com/195576843

CD/2XLP/Digital 
36-page CD Booklet
20-page LP Booklet

Through 18 diverse tracks, this compilation offers a timely revelation of how immigration to Europe and the United States from the Cape Verde Islands in the 1980s gave us an alternate history of electronic music, almost a decade ahead of its time, as traditional Funana rhythms met the synthesizer.

Synthesize the Soul Review -- Metro Morning on CBC Toronto Radio with Errol Nazareth

A selection of lost sounds from a Somali archive, a teaser for the upcoming compilation "Sweet As Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa." Out Now! 

Travel with us to the Al Curuuba hotel in Mogadishu, the dusty streets of Hargeisa, and the shores of the Gulf of Tadjoura in Djibouti. 

We hope you enjoy!

Get it here: https://ostinato-records.lnk.to/sweetasbrokendates

★★★★ 
-- The Guardian

"A mega mixtape of Somali classics."
-- BBC

"Sparkles with superior voices, superb musicians and both familiar & refreshingly new sounds." 
-- Wall Street Journal

"This record is a miracle. A legacy of the past that blurs the trauma of the present." 
-- Le Monde

"Perhaps the most beautiful music in the world, finally rediscovered."
-- Radio Nova Paris

Read/Listen more here: 

— BBC bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05btd5h
— Wall Street Journal on.wsj.com/2wTYAzQ 
— Al Jazeera http://bit.ly/2vfgc4g
— Yahoo / AFP https://yhoo.it/2w2ofFe
— OkayAfrica http://bit.ly/2uNaGsn | http://bit.ly/2f0kaLB
— Music in Africa http://bit.ly/2hfMx9n
— Quartz Africa http://bit.ly/2hfWTpC
— Radio Nova Paris http://bit.ly/2ubY3U7
— Thump Germany http://bit.ly/2vkS708

Watch the TED talk about the project: http://bit.ly/2vleB1g

Somali Sounds from Mogadishu to Djibouti (Selected by Nicolas Sheikholeslami & Vik Sohonie)

Get it here: https://ostinato-records.lnk.to/sweetasbrokendates

★★★★ 
-- The Guardian

"A mega mixtape of Somali classics."
-- BBC

"Sparkles with superior voices, superb musicians and both familiar & refreshingly new sounds." 
-- Wall Street Journal

"This record is a miracle. A legacy of the past that blurs the trauma of the present." 
-- Le Monde

"Perhaps the most beautiful music in the world, finally rediscovered."
-- Radio Nova Paris

--- 

Snippet of one of the tracks in the upcoming compilation "Sweet As Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa". 

"Uur Hooyo" licensing courtesy of Cabdinaasir Macalin Caydiid in Hargeisa. 

Special thanks to Christina Woolner & Kenedid Hassan for helping us license this song. 

Read more about the project here:

— BBC bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05btd5h
— Wall Street Journal on.wsj.com/2wTYAzQ 
— AL JAZEERA http://bit.ly/2vfgc4g
— YAHOO / AFP https://yhoo.it/2w2ofFe
— OKAYAFRICA http://bit.ly/2uNaGsn | http://bit.ly/2f0kaLB
— MUSIC IN AFRICA http://bit.ly/2hfMx9n
— QUARTZ AFRICA http://bit.ly/2hfWTpC
— RADIO NOVA PARIS http://bit.ly/2ubY3U7
— THUMP GERMANY http://bit.ly/2vkS708

Watch the TED talk about the project: http://bit.ly/2vleB1g

Vocals -- Mohamed "Huro" Abdihashi 
Guitar -- Abdinaasir Macalin Aideed
Sax -- A man nicknamed 'Alto'
Organ/Synth -- Abdi Yare and Shacayb 
Drums -- Amiin

Sweet As Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa

Danan Hargeysa feat. Mohamed "Huro" Abdihashi — Uur Hooyo (Mother's Womb) (1987)

Get it here: https://ostinato-records.lnk.to/sweetasbrokendates

★★★★ 
-- The Guardian

"A mega mixtape of Somali classics."
-- BBC

"Sparkles with superior voices, superb musicians and both familiar & refreshingly new sounds." 
-- Wall Street Journal

"This record is a miracle. A legacy of the past that blurs the trauma of the present." 
-- Le Monde

"Perhaps the most beautiful music in the world, finally rediscovered."
-- Radio Nova Paris

Read/Listen more here: 

— BBC bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05btd5h
— Wall Street Journal on.wsj.com/2wTYAzQ 
— Al Jazeera http://bit.ly/2vfgc4g
— Yahoo / AFP https://yhoo.it/2w2ofFe
— OkayAfrica http://bit.ly/2uNaGsn | http://bit.ly/2f0kaLB
— Music in Africa http://bit.ly/2hfMx9n
— Quartz Africa http://bit.ly/2hfWTpC
— Radio Nova Paris http://bit.ly/2ubY3U7
— Thump Germany http://bit.ly/2vkS708

Watch the TED talk about the project: http://bit.ly/2vleB1g

http://www.okayafrica.com/sudan-sounds-mixtape-ostinato-records/

Take a sail down the Blue and White Nile as they pass through Khartoum, carrying with them an ancient history and a never-ending stream of poems and songs. Immerse in the endlessly gorgeous violin and accordion driven orchestral music of 1970’s Khartoum, and the synthesizer music of the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

We’re going to bring the enchanting violin harmonies, haunting synthesizer melodies, and relentless tum-tum rhythms of Khartoum’s golden cultural era, which captured the hearts and minds of post-colonial Africa and the Middle East, to the world later this year, fully remastered and licensed. 

As always, some of these songs will be included in the final cut. Enjoy!

Selected by Vik Sohonie & Nicolas Sheikholeslami (Caykh) 
Mastered & Mixed by Nicolas Sheikholeslami

Sudanese Sounds from Khartoum & Omdurman

Complex Nubian rhythms meet hypnotic tambour melodies and classic Sudanese call and response in a unique style unheard outside of Sudan, pioneered by a legendary figure of Shaigiya culture.

"Music with effortless swing" 
-- BBC Radio 3

"The world needs more tracks of Abu Obaida Hassan's" 
-- BBC Newsday

"A true revelation from Ostinato Records" 
-- Red Bull Radio

"Hypnotic, rootsy, soulful with a ratchet twist."
-- Alsarah

"One of the greatest representations of Sudanese music and a great gateway into the wonderful world of Sudan."
-- Sinkane

Abu Obaida Hassan & His Tambour: The Shaigiya Sound of Sudan

La...La (Don't Say I Am Betraying You)

The 2018 World Cup welcomes 5 African teams -- Tunisia, Egypt, Senegal, Morocco, and Nigeria -- that have waited for about a decade or more to compete again on the world's biggest football stage. Along with the good folks at Habibi Funk Records, Radio Martiko, Hive Mind Records, and Palmwine Records, we've put together a mixtape featuring sounds from across the 5 proud countries representing the African continent in Russia. This soundtrack to Africa's World Cup covers a majestic blend of Senegalese Mbalax, Nigerian Fuji, Moroccan Gnawa, Tunisian Disco, and Nubian sounds from Egypt. Here's hoping an African team finally takes the trophy home!

Artwork Copyright: Robert Slingsby's "The Midas Touch"

World Cup 2018 Mixtape: Africa Edition

The first single from our upcoming compilation "Two Niles to Sing a Melody: The Violins & Synths of Sudan"

Performed, written, and composed by Saied Khalifa. Licensing courtesy of Saied Khalifa’s son, Montasir Saied Khalifa. Recorded in the 1970s in Khartoum, Sudan.

"My father wandered all over Africa, all over Arabic speaking countries. I remember a trip he took to Ethiopia. There was Haile Selassie, the emperor at that time. There was a big celebration and Haile Selassie was sitting there and they announced my father to come sing. But they didn’t find him, and somebody else sang. Finally my father showed up. When they didn’t find him, it’s because he was trying to translate his songs into Amharic to sing for them! Even Haile Selassie smiled when my father sang. And this is a big thing — because he was known for being a tough character and he didn’t smile at all."

-- Saied Khalifa's son, Montasir Saied Khalifa (excerpt from the liner notes interview)

Read more here: 

Quartz: https://bit.ly/2n0d625
Okay Africa: https://bit.ly/2GjoMG5 | https://bit.ly/2McX7IU
Music in Africa: https://bit.ly/2Oyw3FP

Two Niles to Sing a Melody: The Violins & Synths of Sudan

Saied Khalifa - Igd Allooli (The Pearl Necklace)

"I call Mohammed Wardi "The Last King of Nubia." He is as ancient as civilization, the pharaohs, and the palm trees.

In West Africa, he sang in the stadium of Yaoundé to 60,000 people. They only spoke French, they didn't even speak Arabic, they didn't even know what was he singing. They came to his concert because they loved Wardi.

One time a guy from Mali came to me on foot because he didn't have enough money. He told me that he wanted to see Mohammed Wardi. I said, "Ok, Mohammed Wardi is not here, he's in Egypt, why do you want to meet him?"

He said, "I want to take a picture with him, and I want him to give me a cassette because I want to marry a girl, and the girl's father didn't want me, and he gave me very, very hard conditions: that if I go and meet Mohammed Wardi and bring his signature and his voice and a picture, then I will give you my daughter."

I gave him my father's number in Cairo. He took the train 'til Halfa, then the boat 'til Egypt and he found my father and took a picture with him. My father then gave him a plane ticket, and he went back home and got married. This is a person who doesn't even know Arabic. He came from Mali, traveling for three months on foot. My father was loved in West Africa, East Africa, and the middle of Africa.

In 1997, in exile, he released a cassette called Al Mursal (The Messenger). It was a song that he sang first in 1974. Sudan went crazy. This was the highest selling Sudanese album ever, until now, because he was the singer of the Sudanese people—the left and the right, the educated and the illiterate, the laborer, the farmer, everybody."

-- Abdulwahab Wardi, son of Mohammed Wardi

Mohammed Wardi - Al Mursal (The Messenger)

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, when the Cuban way won hearts, minds, and ears across Africa. This album is the soundtrack to a time when Cuban music was the future for 1970s Senegal. 

Led by a young Youssou N'Dour, Star Band achieved the finest gumbo of Cuban and Senegalese sounds: Changüí, Guajira, Salsa, and Son mingle with cosmic Mbalax guitars, Sabar rhythms, Afro-Latin horns, and Spanish vocals spiced with a Senegalese twang.

With just two microphones and a four-track tape recorder, Star Band recorded their entire catalog in Dakar's iconic Miami nightclub. Each album contained one stand-out Afro-Cuban tune. Six of Star Band's most psychedelic Afro-Cuban tracks, an ode to their finest hour, are selected here.

Star Band de Dakar - Psicodelia Afro-Cubana de Senegal

BUY NOW

Star Band de Dakar - Guajira Ven

Artwork, Selection & Mix by Nicolas Sheikholeslami
----
In 2017, “Sweet As Broken Dates", our Grammy-nominated compilation of stellar Somali music from before the country’s civil war, captured the entire world's imagination. The songs revived heartwarming memories of a lavish Mogadishu and Hargeisa not known to many non-Somalis, and in many ways allowed the Somali diaspora to reconnect with a time and place ransacked by the wicked fates of history.

All our due diligence and research led us to believe that some of finest music ever made firmly stopped when the war started. Hibo Nuura’s song on the compilation, “If the Artist Lets You Down”, added to this perception, as the widely respected Nuura chastised her fellow musicians for what she saw as a failure of their responsibility to keep the country’s rich music culture alive amid tragedy.

But we were wrong. The music did not stop. Both famous and obscure Somali musicians quietly kept their culture alive in the 1990s and 2000s on drum machines, synthesizers, and laptops. The Somali pentatonic sound melded perfectly with new digital equipment, almost exhibiting an even more authentic sound as analog western instrumentation vacated the repertoire. Most of these recordings were kept private or shared in small circles, never reaching the same audiences in luxurious venues as the music of the 70s and 80s.

This is Chapter 2 in the Somali music story, not Vol. 2. 

At Ostinato Records, we want to reimagine the sequel for music compilations. Too often, “Vol. 2” is filled with the choice cuts that simply did not qualify for the first volume. As storytellers and image-makers, this approach needs a rethink. We have a responsibility to carry the story forward, to not simply rehash what has already been available, and to give agency to the recent past rather than constantly hark back to the 70s and 80s.

“Import/Export Mogadishu” is the side A of a mixtape to announce that we are deeply immersed in producing "Sweet As Broken Dates Chapter 2" and to give fans who relished the first compilation a sneak peak into the direction we’re headed. Side B of the mixtape will be an insight into Chapter 3.

The selection begins with a slow-burning groover by the lively Xabib Shaarabi, a key Somali music figure in the 1990s whose digital disco style was celebrated in a short but viral documentary by The Guardian. We are also proud to announce that Xabib Shaarabi along with lifetime achievement award winner, Cabdinuur Alale, will be performing in Berlin on March 23 as part of the Find the File Festival (https://www.facebook.com/events/1142289929266253/)

These are the next stages in the Somali music revival: the advancement of a story with endless chapters and the resurrection of former greats and live bands, reunited to showcase what no war could vanquish: the resilience and adaptability of the Somali experience.

Import-Export Mogadishu: Up & Down the Pentatonic

At home, in the islands of Cabo Verde, there was grog, or grogu, a strong sugarcane moonshine not dissimilar to Colombian aguardiente, copiously consumed at Funaná parties. 

In the diaspora, in Europe, there was leite quente (hot milk). 

“I can still remember the taste of the first leite quente I drank in Lisbon,” says Antonino Furtado Gomes, Pilon’s drummer and current band leader. 

Synthesize the Soul, Ostinato Records’ second compilation, revealed chapter one of the Cabo Verde cultural story in Europe, zooming in on visionaries like Paulino Vieira who made Lisbon the headquarters spearheading the musical revolution taking place within Cape Verdean emigre communities across Europe in the 1980s. Musicians from across the diaspora would eagerly travel to the Portuguese capital to record. 

Grupo Pilon represents the second chapter of the Krioulu diaspora story. In smaller pockets, second generation musicians were independently contributing to one of the most lush periods of cultural innovation by immigrants in Europe. In Luxembourg, in 1986, a group of teenagers formed the largely unknown (outside of Cape Verdean circles) but consistently brilliant band named after the blunt instrument used in the islands to pound corn for Cabo Verde's national dish, cachupa. 

With only five members, Pilon combined searing estilo Krioulu drumming and the hybrid ColaZouk style with blissful synth work and rugged guitar licks, creating a stripped-down, addictive sound that masterfully straddled two worlds, a seductive electro-Funaná carnival born from the first few sips of hot milk. 

The band drew from the inspiring political changes of the day: the release of Nelson Mandela in South Africa and the fall of the Berlin Wall. The right to democracy became a constant theme in Pilon’s songs. 

With access to better opportunities than their parents’ generation, Pilon’s roster were part time musicians. Music was not part of their academic upbringing nor a full-time gig. Their rhythm and style were wonderfully imperfect, made out of rawer skills and inexperience. Pilon did not follow the templates established by revered Cabo Verde bands. Keyboard player Emilio Borges played off beat and the band preferred arranging their songs to start from the beat normally heard in the middle of a composition rather than the beginning. These two elements made Pilon’s music simple, unique, and inimitable. 

From 1997 to 2015, a lack of concerts and professional musicians proved near fatal. Today, Antonino and what remain of the original quintet are slowly piecing back together the puzzle of their once mighty outfit from an unlikely pocket of Europe. In its heyday in the 90s, Pilon serenaded audiences in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Lisbon, Rotterdam and Frankfurt, securing their reputation as a respected and unifying cultural force. 

This LP, drawing from the six most powerful songs from Pilon’s three-album catalog, is the serving of still fresh leite quente to spice the summer and maybe even fuel the next generation of musicians in the Krioulu corners of Europe. 

Pilon are back in the studio refining their sound to revive their journey that looked all but lost to the world's ears two decades ago. 

Produced by Ostinato Records 
Mastering & Lacquer by The Carvery 
Design by Pete 'Piwi' White 
Licensing courtesy of Antonino Furtado Gomes 
Interview translations & transcriptions by Alexandre Tondina

Leite Quente Funana de Cabo Verde

BUY THE LP

Grupo Pilon - Longi Di Bo

OSTLP/CD008 POUR ME A GROG: The Funaná Revolt in 1990s Cabo Verde

Bandcamp Release Date October 14, 2019
Official Release Date: October 25, 2019

Raw Funaná music, a sibling of Cumbia, distilled from the Badiu masters of the accordion. Crafted in the isolated northern heartlands of Cabo Verde’s Santiago Island, where revolt and rebellion against injustice course through its history’s veins. 

Hypnotic notes on aged accordions tuned and flavored in ways found nowhere but Santiago are infused with inviting baselines, raucous rhythms, blade-on-iron percussion, and the bubbling lyricism and lament of the island’s finest ambassadors. 

Best enjoyed with grog, Cabo Verde’s local moonshine made from sugarcane crushed by bulls. Imbibe responsibly, listen carefully, and dance recklessly.

Pour Me a Grog: The Funaná Revolt in 1990s Cabo Verde

PRE ORDER NOW!

Nha Boi - Tchota Suari e Chando Graciosa

💥PRE-ORDER NOW💥

The Dancing Devils of Djibouti. Out June 5.

2LP/CD ➡️ lnk.to/dancingdevils
Digital/Stream ➡️ lnk.to/8spABTID

A stunning collision of Somali funk, American jazz, Jamaican reggae, Indian Bollywood, and the synth melodies of the Red Sea by Groupe RTD, one of East Africa's best kept secrets.

Freshly pressed double LP cut at 45 RPM, housed in a reverse board printed gatefold sleeve, alongside a hardcover CD bookcase with a 12-page booklet.

Recorded in three days -- as per the strict limit set by Djibouti's national radio authorities -- with a state-of-the-art mobile recording studio replete with the very best audio interfaces and carefully positioned microphones around a less than soundproof room to achieve a vibrant, professional sound while maintaining the analog warmth of decades prior.

The Dancing Devils of Djibouti

Raga Kaan Ka’Eegtow (You Are The One I Love) / Asma Omar

A curated selection of rhythms from Africa and Latin America comprising Senegalese Afro-Soul, Brasilian Samba-Funk, northern Brasilian Carimbo, Ghanaian Highlife, Trinidadian Calypso, Haitian Konpa, Cape Verdean Coladeira, Angolan Semba, Afro-Cuban psychedelia, and deep Guinean Tentemba. 

Mélange Afrophonia 1968 - 1980

Given the recent violent upheaval and ongoing strife in Mali, those of us deeply entranced by Malian culture, and, in particular, the immense hypnotic beauty of Malian music, have put together a selection of songs encompassing the diverse rhythmic grandeur from across the country.  This is a concerted global effort to showcase the most vital cornerstone of Malian culture in an attempt to preserve its reputation in the face of its current, grim reality. We hope our highlights of Mali's rich history of musical innovation will serve as a starting point for reclaiming an image tainted by unnecessary conflict. May peace and music return to Mali soon. 

Selectors: 

Philippe Noël (Canicuale Tropicale, Montreal) | www.caniculetropicale.com 

Adam Isbell (Racubah, London)  | https://soundcloud.com/the-man-from-timbuktu

Gregoire de Villanova (Oriki, Paris) | http://gregdevillanova.com/orikimusic | www.diasporarecords.com  

Rickard Masip (Tropical Treats, Stockholm) 

Hidehito Morimoto (Soul Bonanza, Tokyo) | www.soulbonanza.com

Vik Sohonie (Ostinato, East Indies) | www.ostinatorecords.com

Artwork by: 
Hidehito Morimoto & Vik Sohonie

Sound Equalizing by: 
Hidehito Morimoto

Original Photo: 
Joe Penney, Reuters

Le Monde à Change: A Tribute to Mali 1970 - 1991

A delectably global and heavy selection of handpicked rare and beautiful tropical tracks from 1965-1981 comprising Caribbean Merengue, Brasilian Samba-Funk & Balanco, Angolan Semba*, Indian Cabaret Jazz, Funky Thai Luk-Thung, Cuban Cumbia, Afro-Antillean Tumbele, Funky Nassau Soul, Benin Vodoun Afro-Beat, Senegalese Afro-Latin, traditional Wassoulou of Mali, and ended with a melancholic, nationalist 70s Angolan melody that can still serve as a rallying cry for an afflicted Africa.  Compiled & mixed by yours truly.  Best enjoyed at a ferociously loud volume. Good (time) traveling! 



Rare & Obscure Tropical Gems 1965-1981

In 2019, Ostinato Records became the first label granted access to the grand Archives of Radiodiffusion-Télévision de Djibouti (RTD), a vault of secrets and stories from East Africa.

The first in our Djibouti Archives series is a seminal anthology of 4 Mars, a 40-member Somali supergroup behind the most streamed and downloaded track on our Grammy-nominated Sweet As Broken Dates compilation. The personal band of a political party, 4 Mars' sound reveals a brand new history of the world.

Turkish synths, Jamaican Reggae, American brass, Bollywood vocals, Egyptian and Yemeni rhythms, and Chinese and Mongolian flutes all rendezvous in a corner of East Africa that for centuries served as the world's most brisk trading hub, the midway point connecting Africa, Asia, and the Mediterranean. All roads led to the Gulf of Tadjoura, not Rome.

This is Somali music at its sassy, soulful, synthesized best.

Warmly restored and remastered from digitized master reels and cassettes housed in the RTD archives.

FULLY AUTHORIZED by RTD and Le Palais du Peuple (The Palace of the People), which created and oversees 4 Mars. Royalties paid directly to The Palace of the People.

Super Somali Sounds from the Gulf of Tadjoura

4 Mars: Super Somali Sounds from the Gulf of Tadjoura

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Dhulka Hooyo (Motherland)

Nominated for a Grammy and the German Record Critics Prize. Get BEJA POWER! Now —> https://ostlp.lnk.to/beja

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