Global Grooves — All Formats  

A far reaching triple platter of Afro Colombian grooves from the late 60s & 70s – propulsive percussion, bursts of brass, hot and heavy Afro Latin funk & soul, with some surprisingly heady and otherworldly sounds permeating some of material – all culled from the vaults of Colombia's Discos Fuentes label! Afrosound Of Colombia Vol 1 is one of best compilations yet from Vampi Soul – shining a much needed light on Discos Fuentes, but on top of that it's simply a great collection of funky Afro Latin sounds you may not have heard before! The numbers cover a lot of territory – salsa, cumbia, boogaloo, tropical funk, and chicha recordings abound – but the shared elements of killer percussion and feverish vibes overall make for a cohesive flow throughout. Excellent! 43 tracks on 3LPs plus excellent liner notes, photos and artwork. Titles include "El Abanico" By Wganda Kenya, "Cumbia De Sal" by Cumbia En Moog", "Caliventura" by Afrosound, " El Ascensor" by Los Corraleros De Majagual, "La Negra Celina" by Los Golden Boys, "El Caminante" by Fruko Y Sus Tesos, "Nostalgia Campesina" by Rodolfo Con Los Idolos, "Rosalia" by Wganda Kenya, " Salsa Boogaloo" by Sexteto Miramar and much more!

A wonderful follow up to one of our favorite compilations in recent years! London Is The Place For Me compiles the stylistically varied music coming from the emergent West Indian and African communities of 50s and 60s London – far more than just the topical, and often quite whimsical calypso tunes of the era! Calypso is well represented, but the set includes strains of jazz, percussive instrumentals that veer towards native Tridad and Nigeria, and loads of Caribbean grooves! It's all exceptionally bright – with some lovingly, and knowingly, naive vocals that are as sweet as they are wise. A truly wonderful compilation. Essential! 20 tracks in all: "Calypso Be" by Young Tiger, "Yolanda" by Ambrose Campbell, "Calypso Blues" by Mona Baptiste, "My Wife's Nightie" by Lord Kitchener, "Ominara" by West African Rhythm Brothers, "Gerrard Street" by King Timothy, "ET Mensah's Rolling Ball" by West African Swing Stars, "West Indian Drums" by Russ Henderson, "Gbonimawo" by Rans Boi's Ghana Highlife Band and more!

A wonderful follow up to one of our favorite compilations in recent years! London Is The Place For Me compiles the stylistically varied music coming from the emergent West Indian and African communities of 50s and 60s London – far more than just the topical, and often quite whimsical calypso tunes of the era! Calypso is well represented, but the set includes strains of jazz, percussive instrumentals that veer towards native Trinidad and Nigeria, and loads of Caribbean grooves! It's all exceptionally bright – with some lovingly, and knowingly, naive vocals that are as sweet as they are wise. A truly wonderful compilation. Essential! 20 tracks in all: "Calypso Be" by Young Tiger, "Yolanda" by Ambrose Campbell, "Calypso Blues" by Mona Baptiste, "My Wife's Nightie" by Lord Kitchener, "Ominara" by West African Rhythm Brothers, "Gerrard Street" by King Timothy, "ET Mensah's Rolling Ball" by West African Swing Stars, "West Indian Drums" by Russ Henderson, "Gbonimawo" by Rans Boi's Ghana Highlife Band and more!

One of our favorite volumes in the London Is The Place For Me collection – and a brilliant batch of work that criss-crosses West African, West Indian, and postwar jazz styles! Most of the recordings here were done under the leadership of Ambrose Adekoya Campbell – a transplant to London from Lagos in the postwar year, and an artist who had a huge influence on the changing rhythms of his scene. Campbell mixed styles of his roots with those of the larger London community around him – in a way that let in more Latin and Caribbean influences to more traditional African styles – often using guitar in a high-life styled way, but also bringing in some key jazz phrasings as well. As usual with Honest Jons' reissues, the notes are quite detailed, but ultimately a bit unspecific about the actual recordings in the set – although we can say that Campbell's on nearly all of these, and they were all done as 50s 78rpm singles for the Melodisc label. Titles include "We Have It In Africa", "Iku Koni Payin", "I Am A Stranger", "Lagos Mambo", "Ela Da Awa", "and "Calabar-O" by West African Rhythm Brothers; "The Wind In A Frolic" and "Unity" by Nigerian Union Rhythm Group; "Ibikunle Alakija" by Ayinde Bakare & His Meranda Orchestra; and "Late Ojo Davies" and "Geneva Conference" by West African Rhythm Stars.

The first two volumes in this legendary series – back to back in one set! Volume 1 is an amazing collection – and one that really helped completely revise our understanding of Caribbean music! The collection features a fair bit of artists with roots in the West Indies, but who made a huge impact on London's postwar immigrant population – the new rise of non-native residents who were swelling the ranks of the city in the years after the way – bringing with them new cultures, new sounds, and new traditions – with all the requisite ideas and politics that might imply! The work here often has a subtle social agenda – working through themes important to these new Londoners, yet still echoing modes of the homeland as well – often with great musical backings that's heavy on percussion, jazzy instrumentation, and very upbeat rhythms. Titles include "London Is The Place For Me" by Lord Kitchener, "I Was There" by Young Tiger, "Some Girl Something" by The Lion, "No Carnival In Britain" by Mighty Terror, "Jamaica Hurricane" by Lord Beginner, "Birth Of Ghana" by Lord Kitchener, "Victory Test Match" by Lord Beginner, "Spanish Calypso" by The Lion, "Bulldog Don't Bite Me" by Timothy, "My Landlady" by Lord Kitchener, "If You're Not White You're Black" by Lord Kitchener, and "Aguiti" by Lord Invader. Volume 2 compiles the stylistically varied music coming from the emergent West Indian and African communities of 50s and 60s London – far more than just the topical, and often quite whimsical calypso tunes of the era! Calypso is well represented, but the set includes strains of jazz, percussive instrumentals that veer towards native Trinidad and Nigeria, and loads of Caribbean grooves! It's all exceptionally bright – with some lovingly, and knowingly, naive vocals that are as sweet as they are wise. A truly wonderful compilation. Essential! 20 tracks in all: "Calypso Be" by Young Tiger, "Yolanda" by Ambrose Campbell, "Calypso Blues" by Mona Baptiste, "My Wife's Nightie" by Lord Kitchener, "Ominara" by West African Rhythm Brothers, "Gerrard Street" by King Timothy, "ET Mensah's Rolling Ball" by West African Swing Stars, "West Indian Drums" by Russ Henderson, "Gbonimawo" by Rans Boi's Ghana Highlife Band and more!

A wild and wonderful double-header – two rare Pakistani soundtracks on a single CD! First up is Dekha Jaye Ga – a totally cool little soundtrack that's filled with weird electronics and lots of funky grooves! The style's almost like taking familiar Bollywood moods into outer space – as the rhythms are somewhat like those you might find in 70s Indian cinema, but the added electronics and offbeat instrumentation has a really otherworldly-feel – especially given the use of production techniques to further abstract elements like keyboards and guitar – almost like you might find in the space age 60s work of German maestro Peter Thomas! There's plenty of fuzz on the guitar at times, which makes for a great mix with the earthy beats in the rhythms – and given how wild the music sounds, we can only imagine the way the film looks on the screen in the cinema. Titles include "Music", "Too Ney Kaha", "Mahkey Hain Yeh", "Too Bhi Piala Chum", and "Pyar Kabhi Karna". Uf Yeh Beevian features killer 70s grooves from Pakistan – one of the weirdest soundtracks you'll ever hope to hear – and an unusual blend of Indian influences, space-age electronics, and more! Most of the cuts here are heavy on guitar – sometimes fuzzy and freaked out, sometimes played with a bit more of a sprightly feel – and always mixed up with some really offbeat rhythms – which themselves are often tricked up in weird ways – echoey production, flattened decay, and other odd touches that really make all things sound strange and wonderful! There's vocals on the record too, but these fit in perfectly next to the offbeat instrumentation – further increasing the spaced-out qualities in the music. A real treasure from the Finders Keepers camp – with titles that include "Aesi Chalo Na", "Mera Mehbob Hai", "Zinda Rahe", "Per Kahin Ankh", "Dilbar Dilbra", and "Mere Hote Howe".

A far reaching triple platter of Afro Colombian grooves from the late 60s & 70s – propulsive percussion, bursts of brass, hot and heavy Afro Latin funk & soul, with some surprisingly heady and otherworldly sounds permeating some of material – all culled from the vaults of Colombia's Discos Fuentes label! Afrosound Of Colombia Vol 1 is one of best compilations yet from Vampi Soul – shining a much needed light on Discos Fuentes, but on top of that it's simply a great collection of funky Afro Latin sounds you may not have heard before! The numbers cover a lot of territory – salsa, cumbia, boogaloo, tropical funk, and chicha recordings abound – but the shared elements of killer percussion and feverish vibes overall make for a cohesive flow throughout. Excellent! 43 tracks on 2 CDs plus excellent liner notes, photos and artwork. Titles include "El Abanico" By Wganda Kenya, "Cumbia De Sal" by Cumbia En Moog", "Caliventura" by Afrosound, " El Ascensor" by Los Corraleros De Majagual, "La Negra Celina" by Los Golden Boys, "El Caminante" by Fruko Y Sus Tesos, "Nostalgia Campesina" by Rodolfo Con Los Idolos, "Rosalia" by Wganda Kenya, " Salsa Boogaloo" by Sexteto Miramar and much more!

Two groundbreaking collections in one cool package! Volume 3 is one of our favorite volumes in the London Is The Place For Me collection – and a brilliant batch of work that criss-crosses West African, West Indian, and postwar jazz styles! Most of the recordings here were done under the leadership of Ambrose Adekoya Campbell – a transplant to London from Lagos in the postwar year, and an artist who had a huge influence on the changing rhythms of his scene. Campbell mixed styles of his roots with those of the larger London community around him – in a way that let in more Latin and Caribbean influences to more traditional African styles – often using guitar in a high-life styled way, but also bringing in some key jazz phrasings as well. Titles include "We Have It In Africa", "Iku Koni Payin", "I Am A Stranger", "Lagos Mambo", "Ela Da Awa", "and "Calabar-O" by West African Rhythm Brothers; "The Wind In A Frolic" and "Unity" by Nigerian Union Rhythm Group; "Ibikunle Alakija" by Ayinde Bakare & His Meranda Orchestra; and "Late Ojo Davies" and "Geneva Conference" by West African Rhythm Stars. Volume 4 features a collection of incredible work from the postwar, post-colonial years in the UK! As with other volumes, there's an array of Carribean and African influences at work here – often highly rhythmic and performed with lots of percussion, but also served up in ways that has the original modes coming into contact with more contemporary UK styles! Most of the work here was recorded in London, but overflowing with global styles that include mentos, high life, calypso, Latin, and even a bit of jazz – played by an array of artists who all found new means of expression in the capital. Titles include "Mambo Indio" by Shake Keane, "Alphonso In Town" by Lord Kitchener, "Give Her The No 1" by Eric Hayden, "Khauleza" by Dorothy Masuka, "Chicken & Rice" by Young Tiger, "Egyptian Bint Al Cha Cha" by Ginger Johnson, "Don't You Go Away" by Cab Kaye, "Highlife Piccadilly" by The African Messengers, "Darling Don't Say No" by Nat Akins, "African Jazz Cha Cha" by Ginger Johnson, "Piccadilly Folk" by Lord Kitchener, and "Ilu Oyinbo Dara" by Victor Coker.