“Formed in Soweto by vocalist and bassist Tata “TNT” Sibeko, guitarist Robert “Doc” Mthalane (described as the Jimi Hendrix of South Africa) and percussionist Oupa Segwai, Kabasa recorded a trio of powerful albums in early-80s Johannesburg. Having been part of the iconic Afro-rock band Harari, the first ever local black pop band to appear on South African TV, Mthalane and Segwai decamped to team up with Sibeko for Kabasa’s eponymous debut in 1980.” Source: https://bbemusic.com/artist/kabasa
Liam Farrell, aka Doctor L, born Irish, raised Parisian, is a musician, composer and producer with a wide sonic palette, and an impressive score sheet that includes Assassin, FFF, Psycho on Da Bus, Tony Allen, Mbongwana Star, Babani Koné, Nneka, Les Amazones d’Afrique. Some of these videos have great animation, which is always best watched on full screen!
Ofege was formed in the early 1970s by a bunch of teenage hippies at the prestigious St. Gregory’s Catholic School in the Obalende area of Lagos Nigeria. Singing much of their songs in English, Ofege was largely influenced by the guitar solos of Carlos Santana, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Francis Rossi, and the criss-cross rhythms of Osibisa. – Discogs
Sinkane is a Sudanese musician who blends rock, electronica, jazz and funk with Sudanese pop. He is signed to City Slang Records. Born to college professors in London, he lived in Sudan, then moved to the US when he was five, and lived for some time in Ohio. Prior to embarking on his solo career, he worked with Eleanor Friedberger, Caribou, of Montreal, Born Ruffians, and Yeasayer as a session musician. He is also the vocalist and music director of the Atomic Bomb! Band which plays the music of Nigerian funk musician William Onyeabor. The group includes David Byrne , Money Mark (Beastie Boys), Damon Albarn (Blur and Gorillaz), Dev Hynes (aka Blood Orange and Lightspeed Champion), Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip), Charles Lloyd, Amadou and Mariam, Jamie Lidell, Pharoah Sanders, Joshua Redman, among many many others. – Wikipedia Photo: Tom Coyote
Discography
Sinisterals (2007)
Color Voice (2008) (Emergency Umbrella)
Sinkane (2009) (Emergency Umbrella)
Mars (2012) (DFA, City Slang) Engineered and Mixed by Albert Di Fiore
Mean Love (DFA, City Slang, 2014) Engineered and Mixed by Albert Di Fiore
Brought together by Luaka Bop, Atomic Bomb! is an ever-evolving line-up of artists who perform the futuristic, synth-heavy, electronic Afro-funk of this West African synth pioneer. A core band comprising Sinkane, Money Mark and Sarah Jones (Hot Chip) is complemented by vocals from David Byrne, Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip), and Mahotella Queens, with more special guests.
The debut album by Goatman, a new solo project by one of the mysterious members from the Swedish collective GOAT. The 6 tracks on Rhythms reveal a true collision of African Rock, Jazz, Reggae, Gospel and Psych, but all put through the famous GOAT filters. Rhythms is a very apt title for the album as each track is an exploration of the ‘groove’. From the Fela Kuti‘esqe drums and horns jam of Jaam Ak Salam, to the frantic gospel-jazz of Carry the Load. From the fuzzed Can via the ‘Bristol sound’ track of Hum Bebass Nahin, to the cinematic, Spacemen 3‘esqe drones of the album closer Baaneexu. The end result is quite an astonishing and very unique album, like what you would expect from an album made by a member of GOAT – an album that is hard to put your finger on, but one that you will keep revisiting, the more it’s sounds reveals itself. Goatman plays all the instruments on the album bar some additional drums by Hanna Östergren from fellow Swedish bands Hills and Träd, Gräs & Stenar, and an added horn section courtesy of Johan Asplund, David Byström. One of the standout highlights of the album though is the collection of great guest vocalists Goatman has enlisted. Tracks Jaam Ak Salam and Aduna feature the very special voice of Senegalese singer Seydi Mandoza. You will also hear the vocals of Swedish based singers Amanda Werne on Carry the Load and Amerykhan on Hum Bebass Nahin. Goatman’s passion for traditional and contemporary music from around the world can be clearly heard when listening to Rhythms. The level of authenticity and willingness for exploration that Goatman has captured truly shows a fanatical respect for the music he is greatly influenced by. But at the end of the day, Rhythms is an album that has a sole purpose, and that is for to you to enjoy, dance and have fun too!” Boomkat Records
One of the high points of his post-Fela catalog was in the 1999 record Black Voices, which crosses over so many musical boundaries that it is impossible to name them all. A group effort in every sense of the word, Tony Allen found himself surrounded with some of the most innovative, talented, and energetic musicians on the planet, and the sounds and moods they created as a group represent the pinnacle of what can happen when such talent is properly focused. Each of the tracks on Black Voices explodes with positive energy and irresistible grooves, yet there are also social criticisms and observations running underneath the stunning musical arrangements. – music_emporium
As a key member of Fela Kuti’s band Africa 70, Tony Allen single-handedly created some of the most propulsive and innovative rhythms of the 20th century. Homecooking finds him on scarily good form, laying down a foundation of the crispest, spikiest drum tracks. All the familiar Afro-beat elements are present and correct, including hard-riffing horns and righteous, mantra-like vocals. There is also more than a touch of Kuti in some of the lyrics, which address such concerns as war, the folly of taking advantage of other people’s kindness, and generally staying in touch with your roots. The album has an edgy, contemporary feel, courtesy of English rapper Ty and Damon Albarn, who appears on the lead-off single, Every Season. Albarn layers Allen’s loose, spacious groove with a catchy hook-line, although the rest of the album is stronger on hip-swivelling rhythms than hummable melodies. – The Guardian
Tony Allen played drums in Fela Kuti’s bands between 1964 and 1978, contributing a vital element to Afrobeat’s evolution. And while he’s been active as a bandleader for nearly three decades, Allen’s presence has intensified during the last five years. This set was recorded in Lagos, and manages to harness the rugged grit of that difficult city, whilst simultaneously presenting Allen’s signature sound with a slick production sheen. Intense horn riffs, choppy guitar, call-and-response vocals: all of these elements are interwoven with Allen’s detailed, cyclic beats, his taut tripping lending an elastic tension to the dancefloor. – BBC
The sticker affixed to the front of Tony Allen’s new album says it all, really. “Perhaps the greatest drummer ever,” reads a quote from Brian Eno; “Without Tony Allen, there’d be no Afrobeat,” reads a quote from the late Fela Kuti. Allen has never crossed over and become a name of wide renown, and oddly his Nonesuch debut could give the drummer his widest platform to date. Yet Secret Agent is only the latest step of a creative continuum set in motion over 40 years ago, beginning with Allen’s pioneering and prolific work in Fela Kuti’s band through his years as a solo act and bandleader and even, a few years back, as a quiet but important component of Damon Albarn’s the Good, the Bad & the Queen project. Allen’s particular genius has been his ability to lie just behind the beat, pushing and pulling the song without calling too much attention to himself. Secret Agent frequently directs your attention to the song’s component parts– the backing brass, Cameroonian guitarist Claude Dibongue’s jazzy licks, Rody Cereyon’s funky bass on tracks like “Ijo” or “Ayenlo”. (Those two feature R&B-like vocals from Orobiyi Adunni, one of several guest singers; Allen himself grumbles lead on the title track and album closer “Elewon Po”. In fact, it’s so easy to get lost in these elements that Allen almost blends into the background, camouflaged, his cymbal pings, rolls, and ghost strokes like rivets holding the whole construct together.Granted, Secret Agent doesn’t represent Afrobeat at its most fiery, but it does represent Allen (nearing 70) continuing his late career high, mellow in the way he swings songs like “Busybody” or “Pariwo” (the latter surprisingly strident nonetheless despite its gentle, accordion-laden gait) but never more confident. Leave it to Fela scions Seun and Femi (among other aspirants to the Afrobeat throne) to swagger like they’ve got something to prove. But Tony Allen? Allen as always lies back and waits for you to come to him. – Pitchfork
Film of Life doesn’t quite break new ground for Allen, but it does offer a pretty solid and succinct demonstration of Afrobeat’s adaptability to changing times. There are no side-long epics in the Fela mold here, but Allen packs quite a bit into each of these four-to-seven-minute-tracks, building up from his own drums grooves with hypnotic guitar and bass patterns, a richly arranged horn section, and an assortment of other sounds that are nearly all overwhelmed by the massive rhythm that dominates everything. Allen himself handles vocals on the first two tracks, mostly talking in his deep bass register and aided by a female chorus, narrating a personal history and thanking the listener for being there. His voice is appropriately situated well down in the mix; he does his best talking with his hands, and though he shows a little uncharacteristic flash here and there, the really impressive thing about Allen is the way he can take a simple, slow beat like the one on “Tiger’s Skip” and make it sing when a lot of drummers would have trouble just staying in time at that tempo. Comparing it to the much faster beat on the storming, spacey funk instrumental “Ewa” reveals a lot about what makes his playing so special; no matter what else is going on, Allen has an ability to stay steady and fill time with exactly as much embellishment as necessary. – Pitchfork
Since having moved to Cape Town in 2007, Jumping Back Slash has released a slew of music including 13 self released EPs along with releases on the likes of Pollinate, Loose Squares, Enchufada and Cotch International. With a sound that fuses South African influences such as gqom with a grimey and dark sonic palette he has worked with the artist such as Spoek Mathambo, Okmalumkoolkat, Fantasma, Batuk, Omo Frenchie and Loui Lvndn as a producer/ co-producer and mixing engineer – Red Bull Academy
Inner City Outer Space Present: Sound of Suid Tronica Jumping Back Slash – UK born but South African based since 2007, JBS captivates his audience with his high-energy, hypnotic and penetrating sounds which veers towards Gqom and a darker, grimier and more stripped down sonic palette. Having grown up in the 90s London rave scene, JBS got in touch with South African kwaito and house music when he arrived in Cape Town and has since released music with labels: Pollinate, Loose Squares, Enchufada and Cotch International as well 13 self-released EPs. Having collaborated on productions with local artists such a Hlasko, Nonku Phiri, Shane Cooper, Umlilo, Jackie Queens, Spoek Mathambo and Eve Rakow to name a few. With a heavyweight catalogue of music that has garnered support from international acts Auntie Flo, Esa and Mervin Granger, Scratcha DVA, Mosca, DJ Simbad, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Alexander Nut, LV, Chrissy Murderbot, Jackmaster, Teki Latex, Falty DL and Benji B to name a few. A philosopher of great brilliance, Gareth reminded us of his prowess as he laid down this bold and beautiful set. – Youtube
Underground System is a New York band comprised of a diverse group of musicians that count Afrobeat, Funk and Brazilian music as influences in their sound.
Soundcloud audio is generally much higher quality than Youtube.
Hot Casa Records presents Dans le Tchink Système, an Afro-soul treasure by Stanislas Tohon. Tohon was born in 1955 in Abomey, Benin, and, at the age of nine, began a musical career that would produce over thirty albums and many collaborations with such greats as Africando vocalist Gnonnas Pedro. Influenced by traditional tchinkoumé music, Tohon developed his own musical style called “Tchink Système,” a mix of modern soul and Beninese traditional rhythms. Tohon recorded Dans le Tchink Système in Kumasi, Ghana, in 1979, with the incredible Vis-à-Vis Band of Ghana. The album is presented here in full, along with “Africa,” the B-side of Tohon’s rare debut 7″, recorded the year before with Ghanaian band Les Satelites. Sung in Fon, Tohon’s native language, this album is a soulful call for peace and unity in Africa and an exemplary collection of Afro-soul music. This incredibly hard-to-find record is now available again, remastered and limited to 1000 copies. – Forced Exposure
Spoek Mathambo, b 1985, is a South African artist, producer, singer-songwriter and rapper who fuses traditional sounds of Africa with Rock, Hip Hop and House. A truly high ranking member of the Afro Futurism movement, he has coined his sound ‘Township Tech’, which sounds just perfect to me!
Wah Wah 45s present four remixes of Afrobeat legend Dele Sosimo to vinyl. A perfect document of the lessons Dele learned in Fela Kuti’s ranks during the 70s and 80s, but brought firmly up-to-date and with contemporary social comment as vital to the afrobeat genre as any rhythm or instrument. Wah Wah 45s commissioned these remixes from some of the UKs most interesting new production names. Four tracks of killer dancefloor fodder for pretty much every occasion. Soundcloud
Afro Funk – South London’s United Vibrations create astral-facing productions that feel as though they ascend into the highest realms. Influenced by funk, afrobeat, and electronica, the four-piece tread the tightrope between Fela Kuti and Sun Ra, and use the profits from their releases to support an initiative to build sustainable eco-homes in their south London borough. Their output is full of good energy and positive messages for the world – Boiler Room
Before setting foot in America, Hailu Mergia and the Walias Band had already spent a decade leading revolutionary Ethiopia’s nightclub scene. With raucous sets blending funk, traditional music, and prototypical Ethio-jazz, they played to upper-crust crowds in white tuxes and bowties, at hotels that swerved the country’s strict curfew with all-night lock-ins. But local acclaim left the Walias Band hungry, and in 1981, they plotted a U.S. tour to launch their courtship of discerning westerners. The shows promised much, but the audiences, discerning little, let them drift by; after a few more years’ touring, the group’s members were exhausted, their work unrecognized. Some went home, while others resigned themselves to quiet lives on American soil. Among them was Mergia, a keyboardist whose charisma, creative smarts, and fitful ambition had, by 1985, been made to fit in a silver taxicab, shuttling travellers to and from the airport in Washington, D.C. Anonymity suited him. When business was slow, he’d walk to his trunk, pull out a Yamaha keyboard, and slide into the backseat, where he’d skitter up and down Ethiopian scales over looping beat patterns. It wasn’t until 2013 that Hailu Mergia reissues began popping up in U.S. record stores. The first, Hailu Mergia & His Classical Instrument: Shemonmuanaye, was originally recorded in Washington in 1985, after the Walias Band’s dissolution. The work of a one-man band, this mirage of electric piano, mournful synth, pirouetting accordion, and repetitive drum machine felt accordingly dislocated and solitary, with unchanging tempos that felt like no tempo, a kind of astronomical drift. Its release sparked a wider rediscovery: Two livelier reissues from Mergia’s Ethiopia years followed via Awesome Tapes From Africa, along with the kind of international tour he’d been picturing when the Walias Band touched down three decades earlier. – Pitchfork
The Walias Band formed in the early 1970s in Addis Ababa where they were the house band for the upscale Hilton Hotel. A civilian curfew made it dangerous for clientele visiting the hotel lounge to leave after 11:00 PM, and Walias would end up playing two or three sets until 6:00 AM the next day. In 1981 Walias became the first modern Ethiopian band to travel to the United States, playing on a tour with singer Mahmoud Ahmed primarily to audiences of Ethiopian refugees. Rather than returning to Ethiopia under its dictatorship, four members of Walias—Girma Bèyènè, Mogès Habté, Mèlakè Gèbrè and Hailu Mergia—stayed in the U.S. and formed a new group called Zula Band.[3] Mergia took work in Washington DC driving a taxi cab, often practicing in his cab while waiting for fares at the airport, and released solo cassette tapes of traditional Ethiopian music played on analog synthesizer, electric piano and accordion. Meanwhile the members of Walias who returned to Ethiopia—Yohannes Tèkola and Tèmarè Harègou—continued to play together under the Derg dictatorship for another decade. – Wikipedia
The Brother Moves On (TBMO) – is a South African performance art ensemble from Johannesburg, Gauteng. The group was founded somewhere between the years 2008 and 2010 by broad-based artist Nkululeko Mthembu and his brother Siyabonga Mthembu. TBMO began as a self-proclaimed art movement mainly of graphic and fine artists and since began incorporating instrumentalists for the live performance environment. In its current configuration The Brother Moves On performs mainly as a band. Members include Siyabonga Mthembu aka Mr.Gold (storyteller, lead vocalist, performance artist), their first cousin on their father’s side Zelizwe Mthembu aka Makongela (vocalist, guitarist, flautist), Ayanda Zalekile (vocalist, bassist, multi-instrumentalist), Simphiwe Tshabalala (vocalist, drummer) and Molefi Kgware (saxophone). The band feature a variety of instrumentalists from bands in the Johannesburg live music scene namely Itai Hakim from poetry duo Children of the Wind, Malcolm Jiyane from the Malcolm Jiyane trio and Solethu Madasa from the Solethu Madasa quintet-Wikipedia
Here’s a 8 song playlist of mostly live performances.
Fresh from the mind of Renegades Of Jazz, Dem Juju Poets serve a bewitching brew: sharp with staccato Latin elements but rich, hazy and mystical with African and Cuban elements, it’s an alluring fusion across both sides; “Voodoo Jazz” lives up to its name with lolloping double bass bassline, warm horns and insistent rhythmic vocal. “Watusi Fever” sidesteps to the left with a more complex time signature, layers of subtle percussive texture and flutes that pepper with funk. Get on this. Juno Records
Nubiyan Twist are a Leeds born, London based musical collective. Orchestrated by guitarist/producer Tom Excell, they create a unique, infectious sound in an eclectic mix of styles, drawing on jazz, hip-hop, afrobeat, latin, soul, reggae and dance music.
Bixiga 70 is a 10-musician collective from Sao Paulo, whos music is a blend of Afrobeat, Ethio-jazz and funk with everything in Brazil’s rich African musical heritage.
Founded in 1998 by Martín Perna Antibalas is a Brooklyn-based afrobeat band that is modeled after Fela Kuti‘s Africa 70 band and Eddie Palmieri‘s Harlem River Drive Orchestra. Although their music generally follows the musical architecture and language of afrobeat, it incorporates elements of jazz, funk, dub, improvised music, and traditional drumming from Cuba and West Africa. WIkipedia
A pivotal figure in the history of Malian music, Sorry Bamba was a popular and influential musician whose work bridged the gap between Mali’s cultural traditions and the new freedoms of the post-Colonial era. Bamba was born in 1938 in Mopti, a city crossed by the Niger and Bani rivers and known for its cultural diversity. Bamba’s father was a distinguished veteran of Emperor Samory Touré’s military and a nobleman in Malian society; however, this meant young Sorry was forbidden to make music, as under the nation’s caste system, music was an art form reserved for the Griots. However, the death of Sorry’s parents was he was ten threw his life into chaos, and he found solace in music, initially teaching himself to play a simple six-holed flute. In his teens, he developed a taste for a rich variety of music — traditional Malian music, highlife from Ghana, local accordion master Toumani Touré, Corsican vocalist Tino Rossi, and Luis Mariano, a singer from Spain’s Basque country — who would influence his later work. In 1957, Bamba formed his first band, Group Goumbé, named for a dance style then popular along the Ivory Coast; the band featured Bamba on trumpet, an instrument he was still teaching himself to play, and a handful of percussionists. Group Goumbé developed a loyal youth following through aggressive self-promotion, and after Mali gained its independence from France, Bamba and his group benefited from a new openness toward local music on the state-run radio network Radio Mali. Group Goumbé evolved into a more sophisticated ensemble, Bani Jazz, whose ambitious music was married to lyrics influenced by folk tales of the Dogon people. As Mali established nation-wide Youth Week competitions to give music and dance troupes an opportunity to show their talents, Bani Jazz and Bamba’s later ensemble, the Kanaga Orchestra, won three biennial trophies as Mali’s best band (in 1976, 1978, and 1980), and their fusion of Latin jazz, Western R&B and funk, and traditional Malian styles made them a favorite across the nation. Bamba was also the director of a dance troupe in Mopti as well as a second group strictly devoted to traditional music. As Mail’s national support of music fell to the wayside, Bamba relocated to Paris in the ’90s, where he continues to write and record music. In 2011, the American independent label Thrill Jockey Records released Sorry Bamba, Vol. 1: 1970-1979, a collection of classic recordings from Bamba’s back catalog compiled with the participation of the artist himself.- Discogs
South Sudanese-Canadian musician, actor, and political activist Emmanuel Jal was only eight years old when he was kidnapped. Trained through the abuse of his rebel captors, by the age of ten he was a killer. He was a Sudanese child soldier, one of tens of thousands of kids taken from their families. Emmanuel Jals first music video, released in 2005, was for Gua. The symbolism of unity is expressed in the title of the song, meaning both “good” in Nuer and “power” in Sudanese Arabic. The lyrics illustrate the desires of the Sudanese people to return to a peaceful, independent homeland. Gua topped the music charts in Kenya and was played by BBC across Africa. It was Jal’s breakthrough to the international market.
A mostly uptempo playlist of African influenced Beat, Rock, Funk and Dance Music. Click on the image below to expand in Soundcloud and access features like shuffle
Jimi Bazzouka loves all sorts of music, and especially African and traditional music. For this 3rd episode of outstanding edits, Jimi goes Industrial + Synth Pop + Techno + African music
Shango is the name for the Yoruba ‘Thunder God’ in Nigeria and Ojo Okeji, the leader of the Shango Dance Band was all about injecting military power and warlike energy in his own strain of Nigerian highlife and afrobeat.
Born in Mali, Baba Sissoko is the master of the Tamani (talking drum), that he has played since he was a child, thanks to the teaching of his grand-father Djeli Baba Sissoko. Baba Sissoko also plays ngoni, kamalengoni, guitar, balaphon, calebasse, sildrum and of course he sings. He is from a great and ancient dynasty of griots from Mali. Bandcamp
In terms of being an afrobeat legend, Pasteur Lappe is Cameroon’s Fela Kuti, an unsung hero who was ahead of the game back in the 1970s and 1980s, and one whose been famous for burning the pockets of many diggers nowadays. Luckily, Africa Seven have compiled some of his best work onto a ten-track LP, ranging from the funky oddities of “More Sekele Movement” or “Na Real Seke Fo’ya”, to the future-zouk sound of “Sanaga Calypso”, and plenty of jazzy, popped-out, disgruntled soulfulness to satisfy anyone from Gilles Peterson to Cherrystones. Heavy and warmly recommended. Juno Records
Jimi Tenor is Finnish artist. His music is hard to pigeonhole, a strange blend of psychedelic pop, soul and jazz, plus his reggae and African collaborations. Just what you imagine when you think of Finland. That and Bjorks cousin. Click top left corner to expand the playlist.
Finland’s Jimi Tenor, a musician, composer and arranger known to constantly reinvent himself, has finished work on his latest album 4th Dimension, which is set for release in early 2009. On 4th Dimension, Jimi Tenor continues his exploration of Afrobeat music. The album also sees him reunite with Kabu Kabu, a group of West African musicians based in Germany, who debuted on Tenor’s 2007 album Joystone. 4th Dimension’s Afrobeat is highlighted with Tenor’s jazzy, bohemian touches and ability to write irresistible tunes. Tenor’s catchy-yet-challenging arrangements are reminiscent of the legendary Fela Kuti, and perhaps one can also sense the influence of the likes of Lalo Schifrin, Charlie Mingus and Sun Ra. Tenor’s trademark high-pitched vocals are heard less this time around as the maestro concentrates on tooting his tenor sax, playing the flute and synth. The album’s first single Mystery Spot is uplifting and uptempo Afrobeat. Global Party starts out moody but builds into a frenzied Disco groove. Grind! and Me I Say Yes are perhaps the album’s most traditional Afro-inspired songs with their loping basslines and heavy percussion. Mogadishu Ave. is a surprise number of Goblin-esque psychedelic prog rock. Mega Roots and Fast Legs are lo-fi percussion jams similar to the African field recordings released by legendary labels Folkways and Ocora. Kudos Records
Starting his career as a DJ in the 1990s dance music scene in Washington, DC, Thomas Blondet has infused just about every type of beat-oriented genre such as deep house, speed garage, drum’n’bass, hip-hop, reggae, and dub with Arab, Latin, Indian, Balkan, Kurdish and Caribbean influences. This musical aptitude has served him well both in the studio and the DJ booth as today he maintains a Sunday night residency at DC’s headquarters of everything organic, Eighteenth Street Lounge.
Through his label Rhythm & Culture, Thomas Blondet has released the FutureWorld and numerous other eclectic sounds. He has since released several hand-crafted remixes of music by Thievery Corporation, Balkan Beat Box, Nickodemus, Sola Rosa, Mr. Confuse and Fort Knox Five to name a few. Soundcloud
Italian producer DJ Khalab teams up with prolific Malian master musician and Griot singer Baba Sissoko for an exploration into deep, minimal experimental African/Electronic sounds. Soundcloud
The reach of Western monoculture, the end of apartheid, the Internet, mp3 file-sharing…we may never know what seismic historical shift to thank for the musical stew that is South Africa’s BLK JKS. But in the 21st century, this quartet has been loosed from history and geography. Rather than build upon Ladysmith Black Mambazo or Thomas Mapfumo (who defined South Africa’s Stateside musical influence in the 1980s) or attempt an East-West melding à la Graceland, BLK JKS emulate the grandiose rock gestures of their peers and contemporaries: TV on the Radio, Radiohead, U2. Already experiencing success at home when tastemaker Diplo encountered them, BLK JKS (guitarists Lindani Buthelezi and Mpumi Mcata, bassist Molefi Makananise, and drummer Tshepang Ramoba) soon were entering New York’s Electric Lady studio with Secret Machines’ Brandon Curtis as producer for their 2009 EP Mystery. Flashing all the (slight) overreach of a much-anticipated debut album, After Robots still exuberantly delivers. “Banna Ba Modimo” bests the Mars Volta at their own game: anthemic, knotty, horn-laced, explosive. “Skeleton” is a prog-dub concoction lanced by Buthelezi’s falsetto, which recalls TVOTR at their most eclectic, while “Lakeside” evokes them at their catchiest. And epic centerpiece “Kwa Nqingetje” reimagines OK Computer if it had been unwittingly downloaded by teens in a Johannesburg township. Let the mythologizing begin. – Spin
After the successful release of “Turtle Knight”, Hot Diamond Aces return with another fantastic 4 track EP, where the funk and afrobeat reign throughout. Combining infectious rhythms with a raw brass sound, Hot Diamond Aces’ live performances are backed up with energetic dance routines delivered by Angelina Abel, dancer/choreographer from Mulembas d’Africa. -Soundcloud
When Hugh Tracey (1903-1977) made 35,000 field recordings across Sub-Saharan Africa between the 1920s & 1970s, his intention was to reveal the beauty and complexity of the music to a world that saw little value in it. Today, almost 90 years later, Tracey’s bid to preserve the music of Africa for future generations’ lives on. Beating Heart has connected the archive at the International Library of African Music (ILAM) with contemporary producers, making fresh sounds for a modern audience. Building on Tracey’s vision, the income generated will be used to assist people in the areas where the music was originally recorded. This is the first instalment in the series. -Soundcloud
The Spy From Cairo returns after his well received “Arabadub” album with a new EP entitled “This Is Not Sparta” showcasing more of his signature middle eastern and arabic infected bass and dub music.
The original song “Soukura” gets a signature deep and entrancing Ancestral Soul remix by African house legend Boddhi Satva . Perennial Wonderwheel favorite The Spy From Cairo gives “Nuba Noutou” a dubby dancehall re-rub, and label head Nickodemus takes “Rennat” into late night house territory with his remix, letting only the slightest of vocals come through and build tension until the final moments of the tune.
Alsarah is a Sudanese born singer, songwriter and ethnomusicologist. Born in the capital city of Khartoum, where she spent the first 8 years of her life, she relocated to Taez, Yemen with her family to escape the ever stifling regime in her native country. She abruptly moved to the US in 1994, when a brief civil war broke out in Yemen. Now residing in Brooklyn, NY, she is a self-proclaimed practitioner of East-African retro-pop. Working on various projects, she most recently has been working with The Nile Project and was featured on their debut release, Aswan
Born in the northern woodlands of Sweden, his Cypriot mother and Swedish father encouraged Thor Partridges leanings at a young age. Partridge grew up in a household filled with traditional Greek, African and Caribbean music and in early childhood his family relocated to New York, a city whose cultural diversity further influenced his style and taste. Thor added to his rich musical palette by studying classical piano, jazz guitar and bluegrass banjo. He showed a penchant for the ‘art of remix’ at an early age when he couldn’t help tinkering with classical piano arrangements. Thornato’s track “Gaita Gaita” was featured in Shambhala’s “A Journey Home” 2014 Afterstory movie. His musical style is generally referred to as Global Bass.
For more than a decade, the Berlin-based Daniel Haaksman has put out urban sounds from Brazil via his compilations and releases on his label, Man Recordings. In 2012, he traveled to Angola for a DJ gig and plunged into the world of Kuduro, that specific Angolan high-speed dance style that originated in the late 1980s from hybridization of Euro house, American rap and Angolan semba. He then encountered various musical concepts for the future that are far from the nostalgic look of pop and club music in Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States, on a trip through the former Portuguese speaking colony Mozambique, as well as numerous visits to Lisbon.
Throughout and after those trips, Haaksman tells us, he found himself wondering, “What kind of sounds are associated with the African continent? How does Africa sound in the 21st century? What is ‘African’ music in the age of digital media and a frenzied globalization?”
He attempts to provide answers in his new album, African Fabrics.-Sound and Colours
Thomas Blondet is a Washington DC producer whose music infuses elements of downtempo, dub, Middle Eastern, African and House. This playlist covers everything but his house tracks.
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