That Leap Year Feeling

Tracks that have been doing the rotations at matsuli headquarters over the past month, and including:
1. Kwa Kungasa (feat. Simphiwe Dana):: Aaron Jerome
2. Mother Africa:: Hal Singer & Jeff Gilson
3. Go up Moses:: Roberta Flack
4. Heal Yourself:: Ruthie Foster
5. Right As Rain:: Adele
6. More News From Nowhere:: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
7. Rockferry:: Duffy
8. Oya Ka Jojo (edit):: Les Volcans De La Capital
9. I Got That Feeling:: Chollo
10. Reine Nyepou:: Les Amazones De Guinee
11. Yelema Yelemaso:: Bembeya Jazz National
12. Elyne Road :: Toumani Diabate
13. Shine:: Laura Marling
14. You Don't Have To Say You Love Me:: Shelby Lynne
15. Do What You're Doin':: Rising Sun
100 DOWNLOADS ONLY/now deleted

EDIT (3 March 08): Sendspace have deleted the file due to copyright holder complaints. All the free publicity and promotion for labels...and they don't get it.

Shout it out!

“I travel to Africa to meet the artists, to ask for permission to use their music, pay for the rights and to ask them to share their story - that to me is fundamental. I also spend a huge amount of time searching for pictures, old posters, documents and obviously for original vinyl, reel tapes, matrices, acetates and so on. To get a better picture of the general music scene during the 70s, I try to locate the people who worked in the music industry at the time, sound engineers, sales managers, club owners, label founders. All this is Analog Africa’s DNA if you like” -
Samy Ben Redjeb

We can thank intrepid modern explorer Samy, founder of Analog Africa, along with fellow excavators Miles Cleret (Soundway Records), Duncan Brooker (Kona Records), Quinton Scott (Strut), Mark Ainley (Honest Jons) and others who continue to rescue music and hidden histories from seventies Africa and elsewhere.

The latest release from Analog Africa is African Scream Contest - Raw and Psychedelic Afro Sounds from Benin and Togo 70s. I'm not sure how Samy sifted through more than 3000 tracks to select just 14. Maybe it was his stint as a DJ at a hotel south of Dakar in the 90s. Whatever the case he is on the right track with the right tunes.

Ouinsou Corneille & Black Santiagos
And the music is only half the story - I get as much joy from reading the detailed notes on making connections with the original musicians and background to the music scene in Benin and Togo.

Roger Damawuzan
But in case you're wondering here are some samples:
El Rego et ses commandos - SeNa Min
Gabo Brown & Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo - It´s a Vanity
Les Volcans de la Capital - Oya Ka Jojo


Its out in stores by mid March on CD and a little later on vinyl. Pre-orders are already available from Sounds of the Universe and other online stores.

Samy, Miles and others make it seem so effortless when these fantastic reissues hit the stores in glorious colour with highly detailed notes and background information. I know it's not. Add to that the pressures of downloading and online blogs providing out of print material and reducing demand for reissues its remarkable that labels like Analog Africa and Soundway continue to survive on the niche markets they have. So whatever you do, do make the effort to buy their products and keep them digging. They are doing a fantastic job.


For further adventures in African musical excavation check out Duncan Booker's story over at the Guardian:
"If I didn't save it no-one else would"

Happy Happy Make It Snappy

Some time back I used this cassette-only compilation as the basis for an African Serenades volume, adding in a few extra tracks.
Someone really should put together a decent compilation of these early rock and roll and marabi jive 78s to CD for official release. (Jon Ward are you listening?).

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Two from the Heart

I was lucky enough to catch Abdel Aziz el Mubarak at the Hackney Empire in the summer of 1989. A recording of the show later landed up as the World Circuit release Straight from the Heart. But it was the self-titled recording on Globestyle records a few years earlier that first got me. To be honest I wasn't sure what to expect when I arrived at the Empire but soon enough he appeared on stage dressed to kill in a black suit and bow tie. The formality seemed to suited the Empire and its slightly distressed interiors but it seemed slightly off-putting and a touch cold. But it wasn't long before he had most of us in the palm of his hand. Seriously swinging. Seriously Sudan. Not for the weakhearted.

Ahla Eyyoun LTD DOWNLOAD
Ah'la Jarah LTD DOWNLOAD

Cross Your Fingers!

60 random minutes of January
1. Baretta -- Brownout
2. Clima Quente -- Carlinhos Brown
3. Ramblin' Woman -- Cat Power
4. When you wish upon a star -- Petra Haden & Bill Frisell
5. Hardshoe (7/4) Ray Malone -- Moondog
6. Yerro Mama -- Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara
7. Cross Your Fingers -- Laura Marling
8. Trumpet Woman -- Kutiman
9. Mallate -- Bedouin Jerry Can Band
10. Musica De La Pelicula Del Mismo Nombre --El Kinto
11. Renaissance -- Radio Kalahari Orkes
12. Right As Rain -- Adele
13. The Mountain --PJ Harvey
14. Good Thing Pt 2 -- Frank Williams And The Rocketeers
15. River run -- Build An Ark
16. Ngwana O Ya Lela -- Philip Tabane And Malombo
17. Voodoo chile -- Phil Upchurch
18. Smooth Jazz - Evangelista
19. Eu Quero Paz Feat Azymuth -- Arthur Verocai

Plenty juju but not much afro funk or dub! Enjoy.
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