Topesa Esengo Na Motema (Let Us Give Joy To The Heart) is the lead single from the forthcoming album Esengo), which means Joy in Lingala.

Sung by lead vocalist Juanita Euka, the song is an intoxicating blend of afrobeat, funk and rumba (as channeled from Juanita Euka's heritage, being the niece of the famous Congolese musician, best known simply as Franco). Topesa Esengo Na Motema is upbeat and powerful, yet light, playful and joyfully digestible, guaranteed to light a fire under you and get you off your seat!

Produced by Sonny Johns (Tony Allen and Hugh Masekela, Ali Farka Toure) the track finds the band in lighter mood, celebrating the joy of living, reconnecting and getting back on the road once more.

The single is accompanied by a remix from producer and DJ Bosq that gives the song a unique afro-latin disco twist.

Topesa Esengo Na Motema

Topesa Esengo Na Motema (Bosq Remix) (Low Res)

This is a preview of a track created at Rift Valley Festival, August 2014. 
Made as a collaboration between Santuri Safari and Makadem.

Makadem- vocals and Nyatiti
Production - Esa and Ambrose
Backing vocals - Ife
Guitar - Giscard

Mixed at Ketebul Studios, Nairobi by Esa and Ambrose.

Mastered by The Revenge. 

With thanks to Ketebul music, Abubilla and Singing Wells for providing the mobile studio.

Versions forthcoming on the Esa affiliated label Highlife. 

More info : www.santurisafari.org

Salaam - Makadem

Another volume dedicated to the golden period of contemporary Cape Verdian music of the diaspora, when a young generation of musicians spread across the cities of Rotterdam, Lisbon, Paris and Boston revisited the (until then) neglected rural musical roots of their land and by doing so, set a new standard of how Cape Verdian would sound like for the next generations. 
The focus on this second effort is on the synthesizer, an immensely popular instrument at that time, that they ended up using in an unprecedented way. 
Enjoy and share! 
All tracks selected from original vinyl records.

FEBRI DI FUNANÁ VOL 2 - Cabo Verde Recordings 1980-1988 (selected by Alex Figueira).

Purveyors of all things tropical - Sofrito are currently readying the release of the ninth instalment in their Sofrito Super Singles Series. For this outing Basel's Alma Negra deliver three percussion heavy tracks at the crossroads between organic & electronic sounds, inspired by the Carnival celebrations on the Cape Verdean island of Santiago.

The A-side, "Mageko", sets it's foundation on a rolling bassline peppered with manic chants, sounding like a long-lost Afro Disco dub. A surefire weapon on any dance floor, especially considering we're in the depths various different culture's carnival season right now.

Preorder 

Alma Negra "Mageko" - Boiler Room Debuts

"Fully remastered percussion and drum machine workouts from late 80s and early 90s Guadeloupe".
The second installment in the Sofrito Percussions Series: an EP showcasing tracks from pivotal Guadeloupean singer and percussionist Erick Cosaque and his group Voltage 8, combining virtuoso percussion ane drum machine experiments.

Format: 12" Vinyl
Release date: early September 2017


SSS017 Kaloukera Percussions EP

Erick Cosaque & Voltage 8 // Bazouka (B2)

Erick Cosaque & Voltage 8 // Banbou La (A2)

Out Now : http://oumousangare.lnk.to/MogoyaRemixed

Mogoya

Oumou Sangaré - Kamelemba (Pouvoir Magique Remix)

"Pamparida." Adapted from a children's play song, this infectious track made the band a West African sensation. DJs would often make sure they had two copies of the album, so they could play the song over and over without stopping. It is said that when "Pamparida" came on the radio during lunch, people would get up and dance the song, then return to their meal. It was "Pamparida" that filled a stadium in Senegal to capacity, where a then-unknown Youssou N'Dour opened for the orchestra. When the music started, the crowds outside literally broke down the doors to hear them play. 

Now benefiting from a lovingly crafted 'Racubah Edit', this legendary track is all set to keep filling dancefloors and inspire random acts of lunchtime dancing for many more years to come. The new arrangement makes the most of the killer breaks and uplifting vocals, with an added hint of dubby delays. Spacey Soukous anyone? Enjoy Racubah!

Super Mama Djombo - Pamparida ** Racubah Edit**

Founded in 2018 by dj and producer Deni-Shain – the man behind acclaimed compilations Space Echo and Pop Makossa -, Atangana Records is the logical follow-up to more than 20 years of travel, constantly on the look out for new artists and music around the world. As a « tropicalist globetrotter », in this new project Deni-Shain, in partnership with Thomas Vicente, co-owner of the french restaurant Le Verre Volé aims to dig, reproduce & transmit cross-cultural music, usually unreachable and/or less known by the public.
The goal is simple : to share the love of music and to rediscover the pleasure of voicings, percussions and sadly forgotten harmonies, whether you find yourself in a jam packed club or the intimacy of your home.
Atangana’s first releases will be looking at the Caribbean’s Islands, especially into Haiti with the reissue (on may 4th) – highly expected by various diggers – of the acclaimed single « Divizion » by singer Fedia Laguerre. Originally released in 1981, this first 12" will come with a Voilaaa remix and an instrumental cut exclusively based on the additional work by the french afro collective.


Antangana Records 2018
Artwork by : Mona - Lumir Fabiani & Koltcha Mastered by : MB mastering
Distributed by › The Pusher Distribution

Pre-Order : https://atanganarecords.bandcamp.com/ 
Promotion › Atangana.records@gmail.com

[PREMIERE] Fedia Laguerre - Divizion

For its seventh offering, Sol Power Sound taps into the pulse of the French Antilles for Tambours de Martinique, a blistering EP of original and remixed versions of rare, drum-centric dance floor workouts. Licensed directly from the legendary Martiniquan label Hibiscus Records, the EP features cuts by Eugène Mona and Max Ransay, two of Martinique’s most storied musicians. With reworks by Spanish DJ and producer Kiko Navarro and the Sol Power All-Stars, this one will be in the record bags of discerning DJs all summer long.

The A side features ‘Lizo’ by Eugène Mona, an essential figure in the folkloric music of Martinique based on the bamboo flute, bèlè drums, and the island's specific variant of Antillean creole.  Lizo was originally released in 1990 on Mona’s Blanc Mangé Blan Manjé? LP and is anchored by frenetic percussion, a driving bassline, and house-evocative key stabs. Mona's flute kicks off the tune which then jumps right into a call-and response vocal barrage. In the lyrics, Mona warns a local political figure to watch his back because he's surrounded by an untrustworthy crew. Kiko Navarro’s remix takes an already dynamic cut to deep Afro-space with thumping drums and a bubbling synth-bass groove that will put dancers through their paces.

With its powerful combo of urgent brass and ensemble vocals, Max Ransay’s 1988 recording of the traditional Martiniquan folk song ‘Ti Kanno’ fills the B-side. 'Ti Kanno' was previously recorded by Ti Émile, Ransay and Mona’s legendary forebear. Full of surprises, Ransay's version is a sonic melting pot of hand percussion, horns, unexpected synth lines, and bass. The Sol Power All-Stars edit fills out the low-end thump and teases out the groove for maximum impact.

LISTEN ON YOUTUBE

PREMIERE : Max Ransay - Ti Kanno (Sol Power All - Stars Edit)

Esnard Boisdur - Mizik Bel
Cat Number: FVR156
Format : Vinyl 12" & Digital
Release date: 16th September 2019
Order here: https://favoriterecordings.bandcamp.com/album/mizik-bel

“You don’t need to be a fan of Gwoka or even Antillean music in general to fall in love with the deep, expressive voices of the singers of the genre. Artists like COSACK, ANZALA and ESNARD BOISDUR have fascinated music lovers around the globe for decades. It’s not only the drumming style accompanied by their beautiful melodic intonation, but also the revolutionary spirit of these songs that make them a unique and powerful document of the culture and the history of the Antilles and the Caribbean.

I remember the first time I listened to this type of drumming and signing, live at the re-enactment of the slave riots, and being completely emotionally overwhelmed by it. Some of my record collector/DJ colleagues and friends – first and foremost Hugo Mendez and Émile Omar – shared the same fascination for the genre and kept inspiring me, and countless others, by their DJ sets at Tropical Discoteq in Paris, where I have had the pleasure to be one of the residents for five years and counting. At one of those nights, I met my friend Pascal Rioux from Favorite Recordings and told him about an amazing unreleased track I received months before, on a home-burned CD, from ESNARD BOISDUR. Among other beautiful songs, it contained one outstanding track, a mix of modern Gwoka and Zouk called “MIZIK BEL”.

When I started playing that track out, there were fierce reactions on both ends. The crowds loved it and after a while you could hear people cheer when they heard the first notes. Many DJs and labels wanted it, demanded it, and would even go as far as to block or unfriend me if I refused to comply. It became clear to me that the track had to be released on vinyl for the first time and made accessible to people who wanted to play it, while giving the original artist full credit. At the same time, I knew a remix version of the track that would pay respect to the original could only be created by getting the original stems, and not by editing the main track and pressing it into an “electronic dance corset.” Pascal agreed to the idea and started the licensing work and the search for the stems, which resulted in an ongoing three-year quest that was crowned by the finding of the ADAT containing the original tracks.

As AFRICAINE 808, Dirk Leyers and I spent considerable time trying to re-create the composition of the original, respectfully slicing and re-arranging it, adding new instrumentation, and recording additional percussion and talking drum with our percussionist ERIC OWUSU (Pat Thomas/Ebo Taylor). We stretched it, adding a krauty synth part without losing the focus of Esnard’s beautiful voice and lyrics, describing Caribbean music in all its diversity and beauty.

With this in mind, I hope you can now enjoy the beauty of “MIZIK BEL” as much as we have so far.” 

– (DJ NOMAD, June 2019).

Esnard Boisdur - B. Mizik Bel (Africaine 808 Remix)

Sofrito Super Singles // Island Series // Percussions  // DJ mixes & sessions

Erick Cosaque & Voltage 8 // Bazouka (B2)

Sofrito

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