Freedom

Jan'14

Voo doo funk

afro electro, funk & disco

AfroFunk

funk

VoodooFunk

Afro

ATFA

We managed to track down Los Issifu himself in Kumasi, Ghana and are releasing this killer 45 licensed directly from the artist himself. This clip has not been restored, the 45 will sound much, much better!

Los Issifu & His Moslems - Idarga Bidi

One of the hottest and most consistent Funk albums ever to be recorded in Nigeria. The whole album is just one killer track after the other and the liner notes are a piece of cultural history that's not to be missed. Vinyl Lp comes with free digital download.

The Freedom Family -Ayentsoo

Soundway present a very limited vinyl-only re-issue of an obscure LP by the enigmatic Nigerian artist Easy Kabaka Brown. The LP was originally released and recorded by Philips / Phonogram in 1976 and only sold in very small numbers. Musically it's a intriguing mix of mostly Nigerian highlife with a bit of afro-jazz sung in the language of Kalabari from the Delta region of Southern Nigeria.  From the bouncy good times of Belema to the deeper extended afro workout of Agboho this unique album stands out from thousands of others of it's time with a sound of its own that draws on many influences, with Congolese and latin touches to jazz trumpet and psychedelic organ lines.

Easy Kabaka Brown (Opotopo was his nickname) was a versatile and eccentric musician who recorded two full length albums (this is the first) and only a couple of 45s. We at Soundway have deemed this record way too sweet  to be forgotten, only to gradually ebb away and disappear with time. It's a record that will give you a golden, warm feeling. Your toes will tap, your face should smile and it certainly deserves to be heard by far more than only the few hundred people who bought it nearly 40 years ago. Strictly limited to 1000 x 180g vinyl copies and released in a rigid paste-on sleeve, these will not last long so don't sleep!

Pre-order

Easy Kabaka Brown - Belema

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 - OUT 17th MARCH

iTunes: smarturl.it/y860kf
Piccadilly Records: ow.ly/sPLXP 
Amazon UK: ow.ly/sPLtn 
FNAC: ow.ly/sPMdz 
Norman Records: ow.ly/sPMrg
www.soundwayrecords.com/
www.facebook.com/IbibioSoundMachine?fref=ts

Let's Dance (Yak Inek Unek)

Follow @edoheart @batida

About the EP: http://www.akwaabamusic.com/countries/nigeria-countries/edoheart-sosomoneycockplease-ep/

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/album/sosomoneycockplease-ep/id717276799
Spotify: https://play.spotify.com/album/7bWR3AxSiWQoqqaTaMuFWM
Beatport: https://pro.beatport.com/release/sosomoneycockplease/1169315
Deezer: http://www.deezer.com/album/6983905
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FGSJC4G/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp
Traxsource: http://www.traxsource.com/title/249267/sosomoneycockplease

iTunes

Edoheart - Sosomoneycockplease (Mpula's Cuca And Castrol Oil Can Remix)

Milá Melo & Conjunto Dipanda
Kwacha/UNITA
date unknown 
no ref# 
seconda track from the b-side
(a-side is "Kapalandanda" & "Ouo";
first track from b-side is 'Lomué Ondendela')
Composer: Milá Melo

angola45.wordpress.com

Quem Quer a Paz? (Milá Melo & Conjunto Dipanda)

"Teya Teya"
Tchinina feat. Os Bongos
Rebita
1975
Ref# R. 1250
(b-side; a-side is the heart wrenching "Mãe Angola", both tracks written by Tchinina)

angola45.wordpress.com

Teya Teya (Tchinina feat. Os Bongos, Rebita, 1975)

Emotion II Emotion ft. Ryann - Night & Day (Jacques Renault's Get Higher Dub)

ASS-001 Limited Edition 45 1.000 copies only

Stoneface & Life Everlasting -Agawalam Mba

Sunny Grooves

http://www.discogs.com/Daniel-Grau-El-Sonido-Magico-De-Daniel-Grau/release/2847966

Tren Del Espacio (El Sonido Magico De Daniel Grau, 1978)

http://www.discogs.com/Daniel-Grau-El-Leon-Bailarin/release/2915547

El Leon Bailarin (El Leon Bailarin, 1980)

ASS-003 Limited Edition 45 1.000 copies only

The Apostles -Onye Akpa

ASS-004 Limited Edition 45 1.000 copies only

Tex Soul & The Bayonets -uto nwa

An instrumental funk track lifted from Ghanian album "Ayentsoo" by Freedom Family released on EMI in 1977. I assumed that the title is a misprint and is actually meant to be "Holy Worship."  

Freedom Family - Holly Worship (Ghana)

African music featuring musicians from West, Central and East Africa! Many of these rare tracks can only be found digitally via the blog http://awesometapesfromafrica.blogspot.com/

Awesome Tapes from Africa

Spotify: 
https://open.spotify.com/album/5eQRVzAkDr7BgX3MlE9cnw?si=FKhQ22znR9619dpHgRuPhQ

iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1445614453?ls=1&app=itunes

All parts written, produced and recorded by Stefan Vincent.

Duck House — Flaw

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

Dur-Dur Band "Volume 5" (ATFA004), out March 19, 2013

Buy album https://dur-durband.bandcamp.com/album/volume-5

Vol. 5

Dur-Dur Band - Dooyo

Freedom Family - 04 Good Times

Over the past few months I've been making some music that is a little different from what I'm known for. Some stuff in a more house/disco direction. I've teamed up with follow Sydney based Nicc Johnson & this is the first of our offerings...

Check Nicc out here (he'a a super talented DJ & producer): 
https://www.facebook.com/djniccjohnson
http://soundcloud.com/niccjohnson

I'm not putting this music out under my D-Funk guise, but as my real name. Hope there isn't too much confusion as there is more material under this guise on the way soon, both as collaborations & on my own. 

Be great to hear people thoughts... If ya like/download please leave a comment & become a fan of both Nicc & myself!

Website: www.dfunk.co.uk 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dfunkbreaks 
Instagram: www.instagram.com/dfunkbreaks 
Bandcamp: d-funk.bandcamp.com/music
Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/6ZUH9yUJI74EASFVjviNVg
Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/dfunkgritsngravy

Check out my labels:
@grits-n-gray
www.facebook.com/gritsngravymusic
@up-start-music
www.facebook.com/weareupstartmusic

Full release

Nicc Johnson & Doug Masters - 'Never Knew' [Free Download]

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)

Foals - Late Night (Solomun Remix)

ASS-005 Limited Edition 45 1.000 copies only

Stoneface & Life Everlasting -Agawalam Mba

Voodoo Funk