Arabian

Arabian (Mang & Trujillo Long Version)

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)

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

Buy or Stream

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

This show is a mix of powerful ambient music, poems, and breathing and meditation exercises. It is a call for peace and for freedom in Palestine. 

It is with an aching heart that I reach out to my books that speak about love, peace and freedom. The majority of them are from a Buddhist tradition but they are pertinent and inspiring — I want to share some of those passages with you today. There are also some meditation exercises that maybe one or two of you could follow with me.

I am yoga teacher and student of Buddhism and of course there's the music bit. So I am combining all my tools in my tool- kit for it. Hoping it to work as a space for meditation and reflection.

I'll remain praying for a cease of fire and for those mothers that have lost a child. This too shall pass. There will be freedom, there will be life and after this darkness will come the light.

Paula Juana

A Mix And Words for Peace and Freedom

Pick up a copy of Highlife On The Move direct from:
Soundway Store: smarturl.it/highlifedirect
iTunes: smarturl.it/highlifeonthemove
Amazon: smarturl.it/HOTMAmazon

Chris Ajilo & His Cubanos - Afro Mood

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)

12" Vinyl (4 tracks) released 16 March 2018.

Soundway Records presents the debut EP from The Mauskovic Dance Band – a heady, tropical blend of cumbia, Afro-Caribbean rhythms and space disco, culminating in a vibrant hypnotic groove destined for bustling dancefloors.

With each band member of varying heritage, the group draws inspiration from diverse genres: primarily Afro-Colombian styles such as champeta, palenque, cumbia and the picó soundsystem culture, as well as the Afro-Disco and No-Wave scenes in their current base of Amsterdam. The city’s hotbed of underground producers has also brought an electronic edge to the band, with vintage drum machines and synthesisers effortlessly melding with Afro-Latin rhythms and slick guitar riffs to create a contemporary sound rich with cultural influence.

Down In The Basement EP

The Mauskovic Dance Band - Down In the Basement

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

New York City Born and New Jersey City based Chico Mann (aka Marcos Garcia), a multi instrumentalist and guitarist with the afrobeat orchestra Antibalas  is to release his solo ‘Manifest Tone EP’ through Soundway Records on 12th November. 

The EP represents four of the choicest cuts from Chico Mann’s ‘Manifest Tone’ Volumes 2&3 that until now were only available digitally. It signals the end of one phase and the start of a new chapter in Chico Mann’s career with a brand new album signed to Soundway Records for release in early 2013. 

The Manifest Tone journey began in 2004. During breaks from touring with Antibalas Marcos began crafting a more personal sound in his basement studio. A hybrid beast of culture and tone where Fela Kuti and Willie Colon meet Stevie B, Lisa Lisa, Afrika Bambaata and Kraftwerk, it lives in a landscape shaped by Africa, Cuba, New York and Miami.

These unique experimentations led to the release of ‘Manifest Tone Volume 1’ in 2006 and eventually morphed into Volumes 2 & 3 that were finished in 2008 and 2010 respectively. What sounds on paper like a meeting of styles past in reality emerges sounding incredibly fresh and original.

Over the three volumes Chico Mann’s own unique style has emerged and evolved (something he has dubbed 'Afro-Freestyle') and in 2010 he released the critically acclaimed 'Analogue Drift' album for Wax Poetics records. 

All of this paves the way for the arrival of his most accomplished and polished sound yet that will touch down in early 2013.

Chico Mann will also add to his list of remixes for the likes of Little Dragon and Hess is More by remixing Soundway's London based Ghanaian afro band Konkoma in December 2012.

Tracklisting: 

A1. Dilo Como Yo (Te Están Llamando)
A2. Luz

B1. El Paragua (2010 edit)
B2. His Favourite Thing

Chico Mann - Dilo Como Yo (Te Están Llamando)

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)

Elegancia Tropical the third album from Bomba Estéreo is set for release via Soundway Records on February 4, 2013. 

The follow up to 2009’s Blow Up, was recorded in their native Colombia, near the coastal city of Barranquilla. Elegancia Tropical has been greeted with critical acclaim in the US - glowing reviews have come from the New York Times, Rolling Stone, NPR and the Washington Post. 

Lead singer and MC, Li Saumet’s fiery vocals are underpinned by Colombian rhythms and contemporary electronica as supplied by Julián Salazar and Kike Egurrola. Originally formed by visual artist Simón Mejía in 2005, Rolling Stone Magazine has hailed Bomba Estereo as leaders of a Latin American scene that is “fusing old school folk sounds with more modern and electronic rap style.” 

Since their debut performance at Roskilde (Denmark, 2010) Bomba Estéreo has received international acclaim for an eye popping live show, with over 250 shows in more than 100 different cities. Bomba Estéreo have performed at some of the most prestigious festivals around the world including Coachella, Bonnaroo and Lovebox.

Starting at SXSW, Bomba Estéreo will be supporting their new album with a full US tour followed by UK and European dates in April / May. 
“Represents a major step forward for Bomba Estéreo, as it thoughtfully builds on its success and promise.” KCRW


Bomba Estéreo - Pajaros

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)

Buy on iTunes

Ondatrópica - Tiene Sabor, Tiene Sazón (DJ iZem Remix)

MUSIC FROM PLANET EARTH: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE

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