Taken from @Norsicaa 's compilation: "Ayo Ke Disco: Boogie, Pop & Funk from the South China Sea (1974-88)" out 25 October. More at lnk.to/ayo-ke-disco

Dubbed "the most recorded drummer in the Philippines", Jun Regalado’s career has spanned nearly 60 years. His work can be heard on over 400 albums, including those of the most renowned Filipino artists such as VST & Co and Celeste Legaspi. This track comes from the 1977 recordings he made with famed jazz musician Eddie Munji III. It’s a heavy funk instrumental, driven by the trumpet section and percussion including the traditional Filipino racked gong chime kulintang.

Ayo Ke Disco

Pinoy Funk

Buy or Stream

Regalado - Pinoy Funk

Ibibio Sound Machine are set to release their debut LP through Soundway Records. Fronted by British / Nigerian vocalist Eno Williams, they combine elements of West African highlife, disco, post-punk & psychedelic electro soul. Preceded by the pulsating first single 'Let's Dance', ‘Ibibio Sound Machine’ will be released 17th March.

Folk stories, recounted to Eno by her family as a child in her mother's South-Eastern Nigerian Ibibio language form the creative lyrical fabric of the album. A large dose of electronic elements and an approach as influenced by London as much as by West Africa, give the vocals and guitar lines space to breath without being overwhelmed.

From the banging sub-bass of 'Lets Dance' to the spiritual, gospel-tinged notes of the album's opening track 'Voice of the Bird', the band have turned in a dynamic and, at times, beautiful take on modern afro-soul music.

The 8-piece live band made their official live debut at this year's Transmusicales in France and will be a name to look out for in 2014

Pre-order

Ibibio Sound Machine - The Talking Fish (Asem Usem Iyak)

PRE-ORDER FROM THE SOUNDWAY STORE AND GET AN INSTANT FREE DOWNLOAD OF 'TEOY SALAP PAMAA' 

Soundway’s second foray into South East Asia is focused on North-East Thailand, the epicentre of Molam and Luk Thung Isan music. Hypnotic phin & khaen riffs, pulsing, electrified country rhythms and heartfelt vocals punctuate another journey into the lesser known reaches of 1970s Thai music. 

The first volume of The Sound of Siam, released in 2011, was the first introduction for many to the artistry and innovations of modern Thai music. One of the most popular compilations on Soundway Records the music even made it onto the big screen with ‘Mae Jom Ka Lon’ by Dao Bandon featured on the soundtrack of ‘The Hangover Part II’.  In an interview with LA Times Mick Jagger spoke of discovering the collection that “some nutter put together” after hearing the riff from Jumpin’ Jack Flash on one of the tracks from the compilation.

In this second volume of The Sound of Siam the focus is firmly on the music the sounds of north-east Thailand, or Isan and attempts to show how a genre evolved and developed from essentially an acoustic tradition with specific geographic roots, to one that started to incorporate other instruments and influences that reached out to the Isan diaspora around the country.

The term molam is actually two separate words pushed together: Mo meaning ‘expert’ or ‘doctor’ and lam meaning ‘to sing’. Hence the literal translation means ‘singing expert’. Many molam records have extended intros that allow a vocalist to establish the theme of the song, as well as flex their improvisational muscles.

Luk thung (literally ‘song of the countryside’)is a much broader, rural style that had a bigger impact nationally. Artists like Saksiam Petchompu began fusing this style with molam, a move which propelled him to national fame. You can hear the influence of western funk, as well as Thai arrangements, on the luk thung Isan (as the hybrid became known) smash Jeb Jin Jeb Jai included here.

The Sound of Siam 2 - Molam & Luk Thung Isan from North-East Thailand 1970 - 1982’ features 19 tracks, many appearing outside of Thailand for the first time. Both CD and double LP & is accompanied with detailed liner notes written by compilers Chris Menist and Maft Sai.

PRE-ORDER:  http://www.soundwayrecords.com/product/sndwcd058-the-sound-of-siam-2---molam--luk-thung-isan-from-north-east-thailand-1970---1982

Always a peak record at any Paradise Bangkok event, 'Teoy Salap Pamaa' is another melodic mode. Pamaa is actually the Thai (and Isan) word for Burma, implying that this teoy might have taken its lead from a Burmese rhythm or melody. There is frenetic interplay between the khaen and cymbals creating an urgency tempered only by Kunchai’s ever-authoritative performance with her post- Ubon Pattana Band group, Mueng Dok Bua. Once again, she has the relationship blues as she decries men as being perennially untrustworthy liars.

Angkanang Kunchai - Teoy Salap Pamaa

From the compilation "Ghana Special 2: Electronic Highlife & Afro Sounds In The Diaspora, 1980-93"
lnk.to/GhanaSpecial2

Ghana Special 2: Electronic Highlife & Afro Sounds In The Diaspora, 1980-93

Gye Wani

Pat Thomas - Gye Wani

Soundway Records present a special summer tribute double a-side 12" with two tracks from African musicians that both passed away within a couple of months of each other at the end of 2013 / start of 2014. Both tracks are perfect summer tropical DJ fodder for the dancefloor.

On the first side South African singer Shaluza Max's massive Mashkandi / house anthem from 2002 gets a first release on vinyl. This track was a huge hit in South Africa and around the world on its release. With a soaring Zulu vocal and big sound it's a fitting reminder of a very talented musician who worked as a very well respected producer, composer and arranger. He died tragically young at the age of 47 in January of 2014.

On the flip we drop a fairly unknown track from the mid 1980s from one of the biggest names in African music, Tabu Ley Rochereau. A kind of almost balearic proto-house congolese pop cut with drum machines and trademark sweet congo horn section, Hafi Deo is a beautiful track that fell into obscurity outside The Congo by perhaps being too smooth for the 'world music' crowd in the mid 80s. Tabu Ley passed away in November 2013 in his late 70s with over 250 albums and 3000 songs to his name. A true pioneer of the congolese soukous sound, he was also one of the most influential African musicians of his generation.

Tabu Ley Rochereau - Hafi Deo (Extract)

Borombon

Soundway Records presents a collection of Nigerian music chronicling a time when drum machines, synthesisers, imported pop, reggae, disco and soul collided with highlife, juju and cultural music.

The late 70s saw a period of political turbulence and prompted change across the country. Following suit, musicians and producers entered a period of experimentation, adaptation, modification and innovation, using new technology to renew and refresh cultural traditions. Nigerians formed their own unique approach to the limitless creativity these new instruments offered, to reveal a distinct sound which would dominate local airwaves for the decade to come. Nigeria Special Volume 3 celebrates the rich diversity of culture and musical styles of the nation, showcasing eighteen tracks across various genres which laid foundations for the innovation of Afrobeats artists of today.

Nigeria Special Vol. 3

Edue Ukot Akpa Itong

Sammy Obot - Edue Ukot Akpa Itong

From the debut self-titled album by Dar Disku.

'Dbayli' is a modern day disco/raï anthem that evokes the heady discotheques of 70s North Africa and speaks to the next generation of multicultural, multilingual club goers. The track features soaring vocals from Algerian singer Yacine El Khaldi.

Dar Disku

Dbayli feat. Yacine El Khaldi

Dar Disku - Dbayli feat. Yacine Elkhaldi

In conjunction with compiler and highlife researcher Dr. Markus Coester, Soundway Records present a very special release. Double CD & triple 180g gatefold vinyl (with a bonus 7 inch).

This 45 includes the two first ever recordings by a certain Fela Ransome Kuti with his band The Highlife Rakers. Recorded by Melodisc in London in 1960 both tracks have been unearthed after more than fifty years in hiding.

In many ways this compilation is a prequel of sorts to Soundway's groundbreaking Nigeria & Ghana Special compilations, telling the early story of modern highlife's foundation & formulation. It traces the music from West Africa to London, adding elements of jazz, mambo and calypso along the way and paving the way for the afro sounds of the 1970s.

Accompanied by a 44 page CD booklet and 12 page vinyl booklet, the notes by Dr. Coester include rare photographs, labels and advert reproductions alongside some stunning and very rare recordings. 

Pre-order: 

Fela Ransome-Kuti & The Highlife Rakers - Fela’s Special

Taken from the La Yegros album Magnetisimo available on Soundway Records. 

http://smarturl.it/MagnetismoDirect
http://smarturl.it/MagnetismoiTunes

La Yegros - Chicha Roja

'Rhama' is taken from the forthcoming Flamingods album 'Majesty'. 

Pre-order here and receive Rhama right now: http://smarturl.it/MajestyDirect 

www.facebook.com/flamingodsmusic
https://twitter.com/Flamingods
www.soundwayrecords.com

Flamingods on tour 2016

30 April 	STOCKTON, Sonic Union
06 May 	BRISTOL, The Exchange
11 May 	LONDON, Oslo
18 May 	LEEDS, Headrow House
19 May 	MANCHESTER, Soup Kitchen
21 May   BRIGHTON, The Great Escape

29 May 	CARDIFF, The Full Moon
04 June  NOTTINGHAM, The Chameleon
08 July   BRIGHTON, The Hope & Ruin

Flamingods - Rhama

The Latin Brothers - Las Caleñas Son Como Las Flores

Los Corraleros de Majagual - El Mondongo

El Pholy Combo - El Porro es Hermano De La Cumbia

The Conservation Of Energy is taken from the forthcoming Vanishing Twin album on Soundway Records. 

Vanishing Twin - The Conservation Of Energy

Kenya Special : Volume Two is available to pre order on Soundway Records now. 

Direct: http://smarturl.it/KenyaSpecial2Direct
Digital: http://smarturl.it/KenyaSpecial2

Lulus Band - I Can Feel It

Keira will be available on Soundway Records Sept 2016. Pre-order here http://smarturl.it/SussoDirect

Susso - Ansumana

Agua Viva is taken from the debut album by Lisbon based DJ and producer iZem.  'Hafa' is available to pre-order from Soundway Records here http://smarturl.it/HafaDirect

Hafa

iZem - Agua Viva

Taken from the new Soundway compilation 'Doing It In Lagos' out now: http://smarturl.it/LagosDirect

www.soundwayrecords.com

Toby Foyeh - Ore Mi

Just Do You 

Lord Echo - Just Do You ft Mara TK

Harmonies  

Woah! There's No Limit

Made Of The Sun is the first track to be taken from the new Heliocentrics album 'A World Of Masks'. Out June 9th on Soundway Records. https://TheHeliocentrics.lnk.to/AWOM

A World Of Masks

The Heliocentrics - Made Of The Sun

‘’Steve Monite / Tabu Ley Rochereau Edits” are available on 12" vinyl via Soundway Records on August 25th 2017

Pre-Order: https://Soundway.lnk.to/MoniteRochereau

Steve Monite "Only You" (Frankie Francis Disco Jam Edit)

From the sweltering tropical depths of Cali, Colombia Will ‘Quantic’ Holland’s studio band Los Miticos Del Ritmo (The Mythics of Rhythm) return with an album of hip shaking, dancefloor quaking instrumental cumbias. Released on CD, LP and download on the 30th April. The LP is 100% analogue and comes with an original screen-printed front cover designed by the London based artist Lewis Heriz.

Assembled using vallenato and cumbia musicians living in Cali, Los Miticos del Ritmo are a 7 piece studio band put together by British musician, producer and now Colombian resident Will ‘Quantic’ Holland.

Covers of Queen’s ‘Another One Bites The Dust’, Michael Jackson’s ‘Don’t Stop’, The Abyssinians reggae classic 'Satta Massagana'  and Gildardo Montoya’s ‘Fabiola’ (as featured on Soundway’s ‘The Original Sound of Cumbia’ sit along side original cumbias on this feel good, house party cumbia LP.

Recorded in Will’s home studio in Cali, his approach was to produce an album with the aesthetics of 1960s tropical recordings made in Colombia and the Caribbean. Careful attention made to preserve the analogue quality of the recording at every stage.

‘The idea of the record was to record something that sounded like a lost cumbia classic,’ said Will in a recent interview with Soundway ‘Like something dug out of a Barranquilla basement after decades of humidity and dust. In a modern climate of mashups and sampling, it seemed refreshing to record something with musicians doing covers and approaching new ideas for cumbia, rather than rehashing old tricks.’

The record was recorded entirely on 4 track tape, using a process of overdubs and tape transfers to record multiple sessions at different times with different musicians. As Holland began to play the dub plates of the project in his DJ sets around the world, tracks like ‘Cumbia de Mochilla’ and ‘Another one Bites the Dust’ slowly became sure-fire dancefloor winners.

Los Mitcios Del Ritmo first saw the light of day on Quantic’s vinyl only EP ‘Hip Hop En Cumbia’, released last year through Tru Thoughts. The group includes Ancer Rada (percussion) grandson of the great Colombian accordionist Franscisco Pacho Rada, one of very first Colombian troubadours to tour unaccompanied with just his voice and accordion. The band is also compromised of Combo Barbaro regulars Fernando Silva (bass) and Freddy Colorado (percussion).

Since moving to Colombia in 2007 Will has slowly immersed himself in the musical history of the country. The much acclaimed ‘The Original Sound of Cumbia’, a 55 track compilation of Colombian cumbia and porro released on Soundway in 2011, was the result of five years of field research from Will. Simply finding and compiling old records is not however in Will’s DNA. The research is more an education for Quantic the musician who has been learning accordion for close to five years now, even taking lessons from Colombian and Panamanian accordion masters such as Anibal Velasquez and Papi Brandao.

Los Miticos Del Ritmo sees Will as an accordionist for an entire long player for the first time and must be the first traditional cumbia record recorded on tape in Colombia for many years.

Los Miticos Del Ritmo - Otro Muerde El Polvo (Another One Bites The Dust)

Breakthrough by The Funkees taken from the new Soundway album The World Ends: Afro Rock &amp; Psychedelia in 1970s Nigeria. 

Featuring 32 electrifying and funk laden grooves, this is the sound of a generation attempting to pick up the pieces after the devastation of the Nigerian civil war.

CD Double Digi Pack with 44 page booklet
Triple Gatefold Vinyl (Version 1 &amp; 2) – BONUS TRACKS 

www.soundwayrecords.com


Breakthrough by The Funkees

Hot off the heels of the recent Gumba Fire compilation, Soundway selects more sure-fire disco burners: with a 4-track, dancefloor-orientated EP drawing from the short-lived Heads label out of South Africa.

Heads Records - South African Disco-Dub Edits

Buy Now

William & The Young Five - You Turn Me On (JKriv Rework)

Soundway presents its next compilation: "Onda De Amor: Synthesized Brazilian Hits That Never Were (1984-94)".
Millos Kaiser, one half of Brazil's Selvagem: a fanatical DJ and digging duo that organise some of São Paulo and Rio's best parties, selects 16 personal favourite cuts from the 1980s & 90s. From electro, balearic and vapour-wave to samba boogie and even a cover of Sade's Sweetest Taboo, Onda De Amor (Wave of Love) is that rarest of things: a Brazilian compilation compiled by a Brazilian.

Onda De Amor: Synthesized Brazilian Hits That Never Were (1984-94)

Dodô Da Bahia & As Virgens De Porto Seguro - Africamerica

Bogota’s Meridian Brothers release their delightfully surreal and playful album ‘Deseperanza’ on 24th September on Soundway Records. Traditional instruments, electronics and distorted vocals are dragged through an array of influences to create a world that is as original as it is unclassifiable. 

Straddling the line between new and old, Meridian Brothers’ mischievous blend of Latin rhythms and psychedelic grooves is the creation of Eblis Álvarez, one of the key figures of the experimental music scene in Bogota. As with all of the Meridian Brother’s releases, every instrument on ‘Deseperanza’ was played and recorded by Eblis himself.

A true avant-garde guitar player and composer he also plays in Mario Galeano’s band Frente Cumbiero and was one of the 42 musicians involved in the recording of Ondatrópica, released this summer through Soundway Records.

Meridian Brothers started back in 1998 with Eblis experimenting with alternative ways of playing instruments and electronic media. Heavily influenced by Latin rock (Argentinian in particular) these early recordings were distributed by cassette on the underground music market in Bogota. It was in 1999, after joining Mario Galeano’s Ensamble Polifónico Vallenato that Eblis first became interested in the tropical music of Colombia and began working these new influences it in to the Meridian Brothers. 

Another key period is his development was his time spent in Denmark at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and the DIEM (Danish Institute of Electronic Music). It was during this stage Eblis started using more sophisticated and intricate techniques in both electronics and signal processing. 

Eblis returned to Bogota in 2008, joining a burgeoning music scene with cumbia, salsa and currulao all being explored by a new generation of Colombian musicians. 2009’s "Meridian Brothers VI” goes deep into tropical sounds of the 60s and 70s in Colombia and integrates other influences such as highlife, Ethiopian music, surf and Peruvian and Colombian cumbia.

It was around this stage that Meridian Brothers made their first appearances as a live band with Damien Ponce (Percussion), Maria Valencia (clarinet, saxophone and synthesizers), Alejandro Forero (Keyboards), Cesar Quevedo (bass) and Eblis Alvarez (vocals, guitar and electronics). 

In 2011 "Meridian Brothers VII" was released. The sound of this album returns to Latin American rock influences as well as champeta experiments, jazz, cumbia and tropical. Distorted sounds, electronic changes in voice, obscure surf guitar and randomly changed sampled percussion all collide head on. Two tracks from this record were released on 7” by New York label Names You Can Trust in 2012. 

Which bring us to ‘Desesperanza’ (meaning hopelessness in English) Recorded in 2012 the album is dedicated exclusively to salsa and tropical music, twisting it through a dark and theatrical soundscape but never abandoning the traditional aesthetics. 

A real musical maverick, labelled a genius by his contemporaries in Colombia, Eblis Álvarez’s latest Meridian Brothers album finally gets a full, worldwide release. 


Meridian Brothers - Salsa Caliente (Versión Aumentada)

Soundway Records present ’24 Hours in A Disco 1978 - 82’, 7 cuts of relentless disco grooves from the sublimely gifted Kiki Gyan. Hailed as Africa’s answer to Stevie Wonder, Ghanaian multi-instrumentalist Kiki Gyan was a musical wunderkind who by 1975 had risen from the lowly status of high school dropout to being ranked eighth in a poll of the greatest keyboardists in the world (occupying the rarefied air of the top ten with heavyweights like Steve Winwood, Billy Preston, and Stevie Wonder) as well as becoming an in-demand session player in the top recording studios of London - all before his twenty-first birthday. 

Out on his own, he produced a series of highly ambitious disco records aimed at positioning him as an international star, but weighed down by the excesses of the era, Gyan saw his meteoric rise matched by an equally swift fall back into obscurity. 

Loved dearly by his contemporaries and sorely missed since his death in 2005 the story of the life of Kofi Kwarko ‘Kiki’ Gyan is one often told with warning by his friends to the new generation of aspiring Ghanaian popstars.

Soundway Records now collects the best of Gyan’s work as a frontman and solo artist, featuring an array of electrifying disco grooves that still sound contemporary (and in some cases futuristic) decades after their initial release.

Released on CD and 2xLP both formats are accompanied with detailed liner notes written by Uchenna Ikonne. LP version comes with a free MP3 download of the release. 

Kiki Gyan - Disco Dancer

Up and coming Dutch DJ, Masalo, delivers a bold arpeggiated number drawing on Italo-Disco influences, and featuring the vocals of Guineo-Malian singer Doussou Koulibaly. 
Taken from the release "Esa Presents Amandla: Music To The People", an electronic compilation put together by South African DJ and producer Esa Williams.
Full release available from 6 September. "Yera" is available to download on Bandcamp now: https://soundwayrecords.bandcamp.com/album/esa-presents-amandla-music-to-the-people

Esa Presents Amandla: Music To The People

Yera

Masalo - Yera (ft. Doussou Koulibaly)

Thailand means different things to different people. Beyond the beaches and tourist spots lies a world of music still waiting to be discovered. Be it spaced out jazz, raw funk or the meditative sounds of the North East, Soundway has dug deep into the country’s vinyl archives to present a broad range of vintage sounds that underlines Thailand’s status as one of South East Asia’s musical hot spots.

As Soundway’s entry point into the Asian music world, The Sound of Siam CD and double LP offers a unique vantage point to the most experimental period in Thai musical history. The 19 tracks reflect the outcome of a twentieth century journey from Thai classical to Luk Krung and Luk Thung – music that incorporated western influences such as jazz, surf guitar, ballroom and even Latin and African.

The music maps changing social demographics, the movement of people, culture and language from countryside to city and all during a period when the record labels were at their most experimental.

My favourite comp of the year, really well sequenced & very entertaining – thumbs up all round. Mr Scruff

This is funky garage rock topped with idiosyncratic Thai vocals. If you want to know what an oriental Stone Roses would sound like, check out The Petch Phin Thong Band. Uncut 4/5

A fascinating trip through an alternate musical universe of Bangkok funk, traditional sounds and even reggae lilting nodders. Clash Music

Possibly my favourite retro release of the year but I would expect no less from Soundway. Congratulations again, and again, and again…Mary-Anne Kennedy (World on 3)

Chaweewan Dumnern – Lam Tung Wai

The Petch Phin Thong Band – Soul Lam Plearn

Soundway Records present Kenya Special: Selected East African Recordings from the 1970s & ‘80s - a treasure-trove of rare and unusual recordings from East Africa. Spread out over two CDs and one triple LP, Kenya Special is accompanied by detailed liner notes, original artwork and photographs.It follows on from Soundway’s much acclaimed African ‘Special’ series that to date has focused on the highlife and afrobeat output from 1970s Nigeria and Ghana.

Kenya Special is a collection of 32 recordings (most of which were only ever released on small-run 45rpm 7" singles) that stand out as being different or unique as well as some classic genre standards. From Kikuyu language ‘liquid soul’, Luo benga and Swahili afrobeat to genre-bending Congolese and Tanzanian tracks recorded in Nairobi, Kenya Special sees Soundway yet again taking the less trodden path. Many of the tracks featured here are peppered with innovation and experimentation highlighting how diverse the music scene in Kenya was at the time. 

In 1970s Kenya the two threads of rumba and benga loosely dominated the music scene. Benga quickly became Kenya’s unique contribution to afro-pop; spreading like wildfire through the interior countryside with it’s fast, 4/4 machine-gun beat and intricate electric guitar layers. The Congolese take on Afro-Cuban rumba was introduced by touring bands many of whom settled in East Africa - influencing bands from Kenya and Tanzania to come up with their own take on this popular style. Alongside these styles were small ensembles and hotel-sponsored bands, playing a blend of music that often included rock ‘n’ roll riffs, elements of ‘afro’ music (influenced by West African musicians like Fela Kuti), and multiple other combinations from South African and Zambian guitar styles to disco, funk and Swahili coastal rhythms like chakacha.

Painstakingly compiled, assembled and researched over two years by a team of five people from five countries (Kenya included), Kenya Special is a collection that looks beyond the mainstream and brings new life and recognition to some little known gems and forgotten classics of Kenya’s past. 

The Rift Valley Brothers - Mu Africa (Kenya Special)

MUSIC FROM PLANET EARTH: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE

Soundway Records

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