Global Grooves — All Formats  

A holy grail of 70s African Funk – and not just for the unusual look of the cover! The set's a really unique one – almost rootsier than most of the better-known Ghanian grooves of the time, but funkier too – with a brilliant blend of raw percussion, quirky basslines, and some smoking horn parts that are a lot more American soul and funk than the usual 70s African groove! The whole thing's stunning all the way through – a record that totally informs an understanding of its generation, yet in ways that no other record can touch. Wonderful all the way through, with not a bit of filler – and all cuts are right on the money for any fan of African funk! Titles include "Toffie", "Fa No Dem Ara", "This Hustling World", "Kwaakwaa", and "Akoko Ba".

A holy grail of 70s African Funk – and not just for the unusual look of the cover! The set's a really unique one – almost rootsier than most of the better-known Ghanian grooves of the time, but funkier too – with a brilliant blend of raw percussion, quirky basslines, and some smoking horn parts that are a lot more American soul and funk than the usual 70s African groove! The whole thing's stunning all the way through – a record that totally informs an understanding of its generation, yet in ways that no other record can touch. Wonderful all the way through, with not a bit of filler – and all cuts are right on the money for any fan of African funk! Titles include "Toffie", "Fa No Dem Ara", "This Hustling World", "Kwaakwaa", and "Akoko Ba".

The second wonderful project from this cool collaboration – one that features Arnaldo Antunes, Antonio Pinto, Taciana Barros, Edgard Scandurra, and others – all working together on some completely charming songs for children! These aren't really kids songs – and are more tunes that have a sense of charming naivete, and lots of spare yet playful instrumental touches – almost little messages to the younger generation, but never too prescriptive, and always filled with a great sense of play. Some vocals are by youngsters, others by members of the project – and the whole thing's surprisingly captivating, way more so musically than we can really put into words. Titles include "Todo Dia", "Galaxia", "Mamae Tamo Chegando", "Os Moveis Da Minha Casa", "Lingua Do P", "De Noitinha", and "Fim De Semana".

Early 70s Afro Funk treasures by the Apostles on a stunning 45 – material mined in a joint effort by Academy & Voodoo Funk – both among of the most reverent and respectful diggers of rare African recordings around these days! The Apostles have a unique vibe of their own, though they carry the influences of, and a love for, the global funk and soul of their time. "Onye Akpa" pulls us right in with loose-limbed, yet walloping drums and a relentless rhythm. Punctuated with woozy organ and sweet guitar lines under shout soul vocals, this one kills all the way! "Oshi Onwu" on the other side is cut from the same sweaty cloth, begging you to shout along with the vocals and then slays you with a funky drum break and limber guitar solo. Top notch all the way down to the picture sleeve. Don't miss out!

A mixing of modes – although basically music that has a bouncy Batida touch on all tracks! "Ncongo J'Ami" is an older groove, remixed by Batida – and given a jumpy finish that's mighty nice – almost a 70s African vibe, filtered through contemporary Columbia – with just a few twists and turns along the way! The group's own "Yumbala" is reworked by AJ Holmes in an equally bouncy version – one that's got plenty of great basslines that move things along!

One of the rarer Ethiopian recordings we've heard from the 70s – and one of the most compelling, too! The sounds here are just as haunting as more familiar Ethiopian music, but also have a nicely unbridled feel too – almost a bit rough at times, especially in the way the rhythms unfurl – followed by snakey guitar lines, and these vocals that are richly expressive, but in a way that's quite different from the emotion of Anglo pop! The set's a great discovery of these rare sides from 1976 – and titles include "Siin Baarbaada", "Ishururuu", "Silaa Murtii Beeke", "Kophaa Koo", and "Ammalele".

A record with a really timeless feel, and a great mix of classic and contemporary – rootsy Ghanaian instrumentation, modern production, and just a touch of electronics – all wrapped up in a mix that's mighty nice – and one that's a lot more earthy than you might expect! Bola's not exactly in Konono territory, but his approach isn't that far off, either – as there's a core element to the music that relies strongly on older traditions – and an execution that just makes slight use of contemporary electronics – often used very sparely, just to underscore the key aspects of the music – in ways that almost make the acoustic elements sound even more fragile and crisp! The set's hardly a remix-type project, and has a gritty appeal that goes way beyond any of the too-sweetly recorded sessions of recent years – almost more in an Analogue Africa mode overall. Titles include "Yine Mmema", "Abayetidu Ma", "Hoyenbesa Nini", "Makamiba", and "Burilbunbol Suma".

A massive set from Nigeria's CS Crew – and a set that definitely lives up to its title! The bass is super-heavy on these grooves – way more so than on other Afro Funk records of the time, and in ways that easily match, if not beat, the early best by Fatback Band and Kool & The Gang – grooves that have amazing dexterity that few others could match, yet which always come through right on the money every time! The bass dips, turns, soars, and drops magically on each number – setting things up strongly for the group's riffing guitar, sweet keyboard lines (including a big of moog!), and few horn moments – which themselves often come across more like an American group than a Nigerian one. Vocals have this rough approach – often part of the rhythm more than anything else – and titles include "Love Is Peace", "Freaky Funkyfied Fix", "Bread Power", "Doin The Good Thing", "I've Found Love", "Last Day", and "Dig In With Time".

One of the greatest grooves from the legendary Desco Records years – a brilliant album of modern Afro Funk done by The Daktaris – in a groove that's just as hard-hitting as any of Fela's work from the 70s! The album was one of the first to bring back an older African style to current funk – and even years later, it's still one of the best examples of the sound – a razor-sharp session that helped set the stage for better-known Antibalas work to come! Percussion and guitar is super-heavy throughout – produced with that bare-bones Desco style, and handled in a way that makes you think the record might be some treasure from mid 70s Nigeria – a trick the label tried to pull when it was released! Cuts include a cover of Fela's "Upside Down", James Brown's "Give It Up Or Turn It Loose", and the originals "Super Afro-Beat", "Daktari Walk", "Voodoo Soul Stew", and "Quiet Man Is A Dead Man".

One of the greatest grooves from the legendary Desco Records years – a brilliant album of modern Afro Funk done by The Daktaris – in a groove that's just as hard-hitting as any of Fela's work from the 70s! The album was one of the first to bring back an older African style to current funk – and even years later, it's still one of the best examples of the sound – a razor-sharp session that helped set the stage for better-known Antibalas work to come! Percussion and guitar is super-heavy throughout – produced with that bare-bones Desco style, and handled in a way that makes you think the record might be some treasure from mid 70s Nigeria – a trick the label tried to pull when it was released! Cuts include a cover of Fela's "Upside Down", James Brown's "Give It Up Or Turn It Loose", and the originals "Super Afro-Beat", "Daktari Walk", "Voodoo Soul Stew", and "Quiet Man Is A Dead Man".

Wow! Straight up incredible Afro Funk from Benin's El Rego Et Ses Commandos – the pummeling, yet soulful "Vimado Wingnan" and the slower, more hypnotic "E Nan Mian Nuku" – rare early 70s numbers on Daptone! "Vimado Wingnan" is one of those tracks that's so incredible that it should be an Afro Funk staple, yet we have to admit we were just recently hipped to it. The drums and percussion are amazing and it's got a wild organ in the mix that gives it something of a psych funk feel. Some flute lightens things up just a bit and the vocals are nice and funky, too. The flip isn't as intense, but it's got a rhythm that's just as insistent in it's less perspiring way. The material was brought to Daptone by Frank Gossner of Voodoo Funk and a full album is promised. We cannot wait!

Incredible work from one of the most important Ethiopian artists of the 70s – a smoking set of vintage recordings from Alemayehu Eshete – some of them plenty darn funky too! As you'd guess from his picture on the cover, guitar is Eshete's main instrument – used in these twangy modes over more exotic Ethiopian instrumentation, and a perfect accompaniment to his richly-inflected vocals – sung with a sense of soul than goes way beyond language, and which will draw you in right away! The music here is really amazing – and the cuts, which are pulled from Ethiopiques CD volumes, really demonstrate the lasting power of work from this generation of the Ethio scene – served up here on tracks that include "Tenageri", "Hode Fera", "Tequr Gessela", "Kenoru Lebetchahe", "Ambassel", and "Tesegenedaye".

Hard to go wrong with a set like this – because in our opinion, just about every track recorded by Fela is a "best" – which makes the collection a massive batch of goodness all the way through! Every track here is presented in its original extended version – a dozen massive slices of Afro Funk, which packaged together equal the equivalent of at least 5 or 6 separate albums by Fela – another factor that makes the collection a great one! The 2CD set is filled with gems that helped redefine the sound of funk, soul, and world music back in the 70s – titles that include "Monkey Banana", "Everything Scatter", "Expensive Sh*t", "Trouble Sleep Yanga Wake Am", "Underground System (part 2)", "Sorry Tears & Blood", "Colonial Mentality", "Yellow Fever", "He Miss Road", "Black Man's Cry", "Mr Follow Follow", and "Na Poi". Also features a bonus DVD – with Fela's 1984 performance at the Glastonbury Festival, and an interview too!

Fierce funky grooves from the legendary Nico Gomez – a set cooked up in Europe, but heavy with influences from the other side of the Atlantic – from Havana all the way up to New York! There's definitely a Latin groove to the record – one that's similar to other Gomez productions – but there's also lots of heavy funk at the bottom – with basslines that drive most numbers along boldly, really raw percussion played with a nice sense of spontaneity, and these super-tight keyboards and guitars that you might find in American funk! The mix of modes is very much in the best spirit of contemporary groups like Chakachas or Lafayette Afro Rock Band – and titles include "Caballo Negro", "Lupita", "Baila Chibiquiban", "Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!", "One Note Samba", "Cuba Libre", and "El Condor Pasa".

Fierce funky grooves from the legendary Nico Gomez – a set cooked up in Europe, but heavy with influences from the other side of the Atlantic – from Havana all the way up to New York! There's definitely a Latin groove to the record – one that's similar to other Gomez productions – but there's also lots of heavy funk at the bottom – with basslines that drive most numbers along boldly, really raw percussion played with a nice sense of spontaneity, and these super-tight keyboards and guitars that you might find in American funk! The mix of modes is very much in the best spirit of contemporary groups like Chakachas or Lafayette Afro Rock Band – and titles include "Caballo Negro", "Lupita", "Baila Chibiquiban", "Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!", "One Note Samba", "Cuba Libre", and "El Condor Pasa".

Surprisingly fantastic bit of funky sitar tracks! The project's a recent one, but it's got a classic 70s global crossover funk sound that's very much in the vein of the weird Indian-funk work of Ananda Shankar or The Dave Pike set. The record's got a raw Meters-esque groove at the base – which makes for a very tight funky sound – and Ravi plays these cool sitar licks over the top, in some very tasty riffs! Includes a bunch of great originals, like "Funky Sitar Man", "Path of the Blazing Sarong", and "Ravi's Thing" – plus great covers like "Look A Py Py", "Same Beat", and "Pass the Peas". Really good stuff, and way better than we expected it to sound!

One of the most starkly beautiful recordings in Paul Horn's career – with spiritually resonant, almost spine tingling solo flute and some chants, all recorded in the Taj Majal one day in April of 1968! It's really all about the atmosphere, as it would have to be given the location – with Horn playing of the amazing echo in a completely wonderful way, never feeling anything less than wholly authentic and genuinely inspired! Titles include "Vibrations", "Akasha", "Jumna", "Shah Jahan", "Mantra II/Duality", and "Unity".

A fuzzy, freaky little set – and one that shows the Zambian scene really moving into some heady sounds for the second half of the 70s! The set's a standout effort from singer Rikki Ililonga – an artist who's now much more of a fully-fledged rocker than in previous years – singing with a bold style, and hitting lots of heavy notes along the way – thanks to backing by lots of fuzzy guitar that feels like it was lifted from some lost indie psych album from the late 60s US scene. There's much more darkness on the set than the sunshiney title would imply – and the haunting mix of modes is a perfect illustration of the strength of Zamrock at its best! Titles include "Working On The Wrong Thing", "Lovely Woman", "Lock Mice Elf Away", "Ulemu", and "Angel Black".

The sound of Zambia, circa 1975 – a heady brew of psychedelic styles and deeper African roots – served up in the unique blend of modes that would come to be known as Zamrock! The album's got a dark feel right from the start – one of those records where it feels like something's a bit off, psychically – but in a great way that really keeps things compelling throughout – and which makes the music way more interesting than some of the other 70s African hybrids that were aiming for a much more mainstream market. Instead, the sounds of Rikki Ililonga and group are very much their own thing – sticking to territory that's very sharp and bracing – as you'll hear on cuts that include "The Hole", "Shebeen Queen", "Zambia", "Hot Fingers", "The Nature Of Man", and "Sansa Kuwa".

A pretty compelling little quartet – a jazz combo from Zimbabwe, and one who play with a lot of spiritual jazz overtones – yet also throw in some occasional vocals in English! Instrumentation is pretty unique – like some of the hipper experiments on Strata East in the 70s – with a mix of piano, mbira, cello, alto sax, percussion, and marimba – all used in shifting rhythmic passages that have a really hypnotic feel – almost the same sort of slow-building energy of some of Phil Cohran's classic recordings, but with a bit more focus on the vocal tunes. Singer Vimbai Mukarati is great – with a voice that makes his lyrics way more than just an afterthought – and titles include "Let You Go", "Thirty Five", "September Sun", "Kunakirwa", "Moonlight", "Free Fall", "Coming Home", and "Underwater Subway".

A pretty compelling little quartet – a jazz combo from Zimbabwe, and one who play with a lot of spiritual jazz overtones – yet also throw in some occasional vocals in English! Instrumentation is pretty unique – like some of the hipper experiments on Strata East in the 70s – with a mix of piano, mbira, cello, alto sax, percussion, and marimba – all used in shifting rhythmic passages that have a really hypnotic feel – almost the same sort of slow-building energy of some of Phil Cohran's classic recordings, but with a bit more focus on the vocal tunes. Singer Vimbai Mukarati is great – with a voice that makes his lyrics way more than just an afterthought – and titles include "Let You Go", "Thirty Five", "September Sun", "Kunakirwa", "Moonlight", "Free Fall", "Coming Home", and "Underwater Subway".

A very dubby remix of this tune by Tony Allen – one that features plenty of brooding basslines amidst the percussion! The track almost takes us back to some of the first few Tony Allen singles during his Comet Records comeback years in the 90s – and Moritz Von Oswald brings a nicely abstracted feel to the music. "Ise Nla" is fairly dubby too – but in a very different way, and one that has all the Jamaican flavors you might guess from the title – including a bit of echoey horns over the top!

A massive set from Nigeria's CS Crew – and a set that definitely lives up to its title! The bass is super-heavy on these grooves – way more so than on other Afro Funk records of the time, and in ways that easily match, if not beat, the early best by Fatback Band and Kool & The Gang – grooves that have amazing dexterity that few others could match, yet which always come through right on the money every time! The bass dips, turns, soars, and drops magically on each number – setting things up strongly for the group's riffing guitar, sweet keyboard lines (including a big of moog!), and few horn moments – which themselves often come across more like an American group than a Nigerian one. Vocals have this rough approach – often part of the rhythm more than anything else – and titles include "Love Is Peace", "Freaky Funkyfied Fix", "Bread Power", "Doin The Good Thing", "I've Found Love", "Last Day", and "Dig In With Time".