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The amazing second album from the Lijadu Sisters – and even more amazing than the first! Like their debut, there's a sound here that's unlike anything else we can think of from the 70s African scene – but the groove is even more complex, and has a truly unique quality that's almost... read more

The amazing second album from the Lijadu Sisters – and even more amazing than the first! Like their debut, there's a sound here that's unlike anything else we can think of from the 70s African scene – but the groove is even more complex, and has a truly unique quality that's almost... read more

A sweet step forward for the Lijadu Sisters – a record that's filled with a lot more keyboards than before, used in a way that creates this great spacey feeling in their sound! There's still some nice groovers here, but there's also some wicked tunes that have this laidback vibe that's... read more

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Do yourself a favor, and buy this album – you won't be disappointed! The record is a gem all the way through – a really unique mixture of LA soul jazz and African rhythms, with a sound that's almost like Hugh Masekela sitting in with the Jazz Crusaders! Of course, there's a lot of... read more

Do yourself a favor, and splurge on this album – you won't be disappointed! The record is a gem all the way through – a really unique mixture of LA soul jazz and African rhythms, with a sound that's almost like Hugh Masekela sitting in with the Jazz Crusaders! Of course, there's a lot... read more

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A contemporary set, but one that's unlike any other recent Brazilian recording we can think of – given the very unique vibe that Mauricio Maestro is going for! You might know Mauricio from his mid 70s work with Joyce on Visions Of Dawn – and although this set is a recent recording, it... read more

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One of Miriam's first albums in the US – issued under the supervision of Harry Belafonte, and recorded with only guitar backing on most cuts, plus some additional vocal help from the Belafonte Folk Singers. Tracks include "Olili", "The Retreat Song", "Umhome",... read more

Although South African vocalist Miriam Makeba had been cracking the American scene for the better part of the 60s, this was the album that really put her on the map – as her hit version of the song "Pata Pata" forever guaranteed that African-tinged grooves would have a place in the... read more

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Funky, freaky, and freewheeling – a killer 70s set from Baris Manco – and quite possibly the greatest realization of his unique blend of sounds! Some tunes are short, while others are much longer – and Manco seems really set free to experiment here – still using the cool... read more

The last album ever issued by the enigmatic studio collective Mandigo – a batch of British musicians, but recording here in the best Afro Rock mode of the 70s sound library scene! As with some of the best British projects of this nature, there's a lot of different elements at play in the mix... read more

An obscure bit of Afro-soul from Chicago – recorded by a group that includes a young Hamid Drake on percussion, Jali Foday Musa Soso on vocals, kora, and shaker, and some guest trumpet work by Don Cherry. Cherry's kind of buried in the mix here, but the overall sound is similar to some of... read more

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Brilliant modern jazz from German trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff – recording here in 1964, but sounding years ahead of his time, with an amazing a blend of jazz and Asian styles! The album's one of Mangelsdorff's best ever – a set of rhythmic tunes that seem clearly informed by the... read more

A sweet mix of Spanish and Cuban styles – as Pedrito Martinez takes on some older flamenco tunes, but in ways that have a really old school Havana sort of sound! Pedrito's vocals are served up with plenty of soul – and backed with tight guitar from Nino Josele, whose dexterity on the... read more

Sweet South African soul from Hugh Masekela – a set that shows that Hugh's greatness certainly hasn't dimmed with time! There's a warm, captivating sound to the record that draws us in right away – a maturity to Masekela's approach – a depth that not only stretches back to his... read more

Overall, the sound on this album's very 80s, with lots of electro and synth moments poking through, and a very disco base to the rhythm. The best example of that is the big single, "Don't Go Lose It Baby", an awesome club track, popular with the deep house heads and loft scene here in... read more

A compelling combination of Brazilian forro and jazz, with a touch of American roots thrown in for good measure – all served up in a style that's pretty darn unique! Bold accordion lines are at the lead on most numbers – much more Brazilian than any sort of US or European use of the... read more

One of the hippest albums ever cut by Letta Mbulu – a perfect mix of her Soweto roots and the funky styles of her adopted California home! The album's the only one that Mbulu ever recorded for Fantasy Records – and the style brings together those great sing-song vocal modes perfected... read more

Funky sitar work – but recorded in pre-revolution Iran – a really amazing blends of scenes and sounds from the legendary Abbas Mehrpouya! Abbas' music has hardly been heard outside of his own nation – especially given the cultural crackdown of the past 30 years – and this... read more

Funky sitar work – but recorded in pre-revolution Iran – a really amazing blends of scenes and sounds from the legendary Abbas Mehrpouya! Abbas' music has hardly been heard outside of his own nation – especially given the cultural crackdown of the past 30 years – and this... read more

Weird and wild sounds from contemporary Bogota – music that's got a very old school quality at its core, yet which also mixes in plenty of experimentation with the rhythms! Think of this as an old Colombian record with analogue electronics and sound samples – or some other-worldly... read more

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This is definitely not your father's calypso – no living room limbo or Harry Belafonte cliches – and instead, a smoking batch of Caribbean grooves from The Mighty Sparrow! Sparrow was very much on the edge of the best styles in the 60s and early 70s – and although his basic... read more

This is definitely not your father's calypso – no living room limbo or Harry Belafonte cliches – and instead, a smoking batch of Caribbean grooves from The Mighty Sparrow! Sparrow was very much on the edge of the best styles in the 60s and early 70s – and although his basic... read more

Music from Mozambique by two acts – Mil Quinhento 1500 & Conjunto Popombo De Nampula and Conjunto Nimala De Lalauah.... read more

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Turkish folk meets fuzzier rock – in a unique cross-crossing of styles that comes off beautifully! From the cover and the start of the record, you might think it's just a bunch of traditional numbers – but as the set moves on, things get a bit weirder – and some unexpected... read more

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The second album from Mombasa – and possibly even better than the first! The group have really come into their own by the time of this date – mixing together jazz and African roots with a sound that's unlike anyone else we can think of – quite unique in its approach to rhythms,... read more

Seminal Afro Funk from Monomono – a killer combo from singer/percussionist Joni Haastrup, with a groove that's right up there with the best acts on the Lagos scene of the 70s! There's a nice degree of warmth in the music – thanks to some complicated guitar and basslines, which don't... read more

Massive music from Monomono – and a set of Afro Funk put together with a wonderful criss-crossing of sounds! The style here isn't just the familiar grooves you might expect – and instead, there's almost a post-colonial vibe going on – an ear towards London, and another towards... read more

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Pure insanity from the mighty Mulatu – one of his few American albums from the 60s! The record's an incredible blend of New York Latin and some of the more Afro-styled grooves Mulatu explored more freely on his Ethiopian recordings – served up in a jazzy style that has plenty of vibes... read more

One of the most compelling albums we've heard from Luaka Bop in awhile – a set of tracks that draws from Sierra Leone roots and 70s African psych – all recorded with an intensity and urgency that really drives the album along, right from the get-go! Rhythms are fast, but never out of... read more

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Nice wife!... read more

A rare Turkish groove – and a totally cool little tune – really unlike most of the other Turkish work we've heard from the time! "Kiriakos" moves along at a pretty quick kind of pace – fast rhythms leaping around strongly, peppered with fast organ lines too, all driven... read more

Early work from a group who later grew into the famous Ikenga Super Stars Of Africa – recording here in London with a great raw sound – and an unusual mix of modes that's part Afro Funk, part something else entirely! The set's got that unique post-colonial vibe of some of the other... read more

Pan-African rhythms from Ray Stephen Oche – topped with some great jazzy elements as well! The set's one of Ray's classics from the Paris scene – a set that draws heavily from his Nigerian roots, yet also takes full advantage of the wider cultural vibe going on in France at the time... read more

A blistering set of Afro-Funk from the 70s – the debut of Ofege, a band of high school students at the time! There's a really trippy sound to the set, as the guitars figure strongly in the groove, and are often recorded with some slightly psychedelic touches – similar to Blo or some of... read more

US issue of some of Sonny's African recordings from the early 80s. The groove here is afro-pop, with crisp guitars and a lighter beat than Fela's style of afrobeat, but with similar cascading horn parts. The production's a bit slicker too, with the vocals pushed way forward in the mix. Titles... read more

Easily one of the greatest albums recorded by Olatunji in the 60s – a set that's even more hard-driving than his classic records for Columbia, with an incredibly percussive groove all the way through! The group features an assortment of percussionists all driving along with Olatunji –... read more

A classic session of pounding percussion – quite possibly the most successful entry into this earthy genre that hit the recording scene at the end of the 50s! Babatunde Olatunji is joined here by a great assemblage of players – including Montego Joe and Baba Hawthorne Bey on percussion... read more

Babatunde Olatunji's two classic percussion ensemble albums for Columbia collected in one set. The first LP was recorded in New York with a mix of drums, chants, and afro grooves. Olatunji's joined by Montego Joe and Baba Hawthorne Bey on percussion, and they're backed by a large group of... read more

A killer album of Afro Funky tracks, and certainly one of Olatunji's best! The record was recorded in the early 70s, and it features Olatunji breaking past his usual heavy blend of African percussion, into a vein that's a lot more tinged with jazz and soul touches. He gets some great help on the... read more

Colombian music, both classic and contemporary – as a group of older all-star players comes into contact with Will "Quantic" Holland! The set's easily one of the most smoking Latin-styled projects we've heard from Quantic so far – recorded in Colombia with work from Fruko,... read more

A landmark of 70s Afro-styled jazz – and the first album by this famous underground collective! Oneness of Juju were a Washington DC-based group that grew out of the ashes of the Juju avant jazz ensemble – formed in the culturally rich African-American community of DC in the 70s, with... read more

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A reissue of their 1982 release Agwaya, plus bonus tracks.... read more

The first record in years from these Afro Funk giants – but don't hold it against them, as the whole thing's pretty darn wonderful! There's a rich, vibrant sound here that really lives up to the group's legacy from years back – and production is right on the money to keep things right... read more

The title gets it perfectly right on this sweet little set – as the grooves are raw and stripped down – often just to the core elements of Afro Funk! The music may be the most hard-hitting we've ever heard from this legendary combo – and it's served up beautifully in this well-sel... read more

The title gets it perfectly right on this sweet little set – as the grooves are raw and stripped down – often just to the core elements of Afro Funk! The music may be the most hard-hitting we've ever heard from this legendary combo – and it's served up beautifully in this well-sel... read more

One of the most incredible African collections we've ever heard – almost more amazing than the African Scream Contest set from the same label! The package focuses on work by Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou – a group who really live up to their name, by bringing in a host of... read more

We'd never come across Orient Express before, one of the rare rock-oriented acts on the Mainsteam jazz label in the late 60s and 70s – but after a spin of this super rare hybrid of heavy psychedelic rock, HUGE percussion and electric Eastern string effects we're hooked! The group mixes heavy... read more

A really wonderful third album from Osibisa – and a record that really crystallizes the group's sound into a trademark blend of African roots and more progressive-styled jamming! There's a mode here that's perfect for the cross-cultural London of the post-colonial 70s – a style that... read more

An album that definitely packs a powerful punch – thanks to a compelling blend of sounds from both London and Kenya, brought together in a whole new formation of African groove! The album's a wicked reworking of an older aesthetic – in a spirit that's similar to the really inventive... read more

A motherlode of music from the legendary Tunji Oyelana – a key figure in Nigerian music from the late 60s onward – with an influence that's almost as important as Fela's! Tunji's style is pretty darn funky, but different too – almost a pan-African sort of range that encompasses... read more

A motherlode of music from the legendary Tunji Oyelana – a key figure in Nigerian music from the late 60s onward – with an influence that's almost as important as Fela's! Tunji's style is pretty darn funky, but different too – almost a pan-African sort of range that encompasses... read more

A groovy little set – one that mixes up Afro Funk influences with bits of Italian sound library grooving – but all with a contemporary twist that's mighty nice! Guglielmo Pagnozzi handles alto sax, farfisa, and even some percussion – and his horn really dominates the sound on... read more

The UK hit "Beware Of The Boys" is a pretty irresistible club track that fuses a Punjabi born bhangra groove with hip hop beats and clever pop culture samples, most notably the theme of the cheesy Night Rider show from 80s television. Here, power remixer Switch "garridges" the... read more

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A weird little record from the Nigerian scene of the 70s – much more laidback than you might expect, and a set with a definite Jamaican influence too! At times, some of these tracks are almost more reggae than Afro Funk – although at other points, there's definitely the fierce energy... read more

Mostly a funk track, but with some nice Afro-styled horns on top – a rapid-fire blur of guitar riffs, basslines, and drums – all sewn together with an instrumental tightness that's impeccable! "Moon Cabbage" is mighty cool too – a slow funky stepper, with almost a "... read more

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An excellent set from Tito – very funky, unlike most of his other work from the time! The record has a great electric vibe to it – thanks to a hip bass player in the group, to Charlie Palmieri, who plays organ and electric piano on the record, and to Tito himself, who's never sounded... read more

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A Spanish group, but one with a sound that's heavy on Afro Funk – served up here in a culturally criss-crossing way that really lives up to the enigmatic title! There's some exotic moments that definitely echo the ancient strains you'd hear in Ethiopian and Egyptian funk – mixed with... read more

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Amazing grooves like you've never heard before – the seminal sides by Salah Ragab and his Cairo Jazz Band! As you can probably guess from their name, the ensemble was an Egyptian one – working at the end of the 60s in an incredible blend of jazz and more traditional Egyptian-styled... read more

A pivotal piece of Mali music history – the first LP by The Rail Band – the Orchestre Rail-Band D Bamako album from 1970! This legendary material comes from their early days from their time at the Station Hotel of Bamako and were sponsored by Mali's Ministry Of Information –... read more

Dramatic funk from 70s Iran – some really compelling grooves, set to rich vocals by the lovely Ramesh! The approach here definitely borrows bits from Western culture – some rhythms and elements that echo American mainstream soul and funk of the time, with moogy touches too – but... read more

Dramatic funk from 70s Iran – some really compelling grooves, set to rich vocals by the lovely Ramesh! The approach here definitely borrows bits from Western culture – some rhythms and elements that echo American mainstream soul and funk of the time, with moogy touches too – but... read more

A mix of jazzy modes and rootsy percussion – put together on the Paris scene of the 90s, at a time when genres were really getting a lot of chance to cross over in styles! Some tunes are more electric than others, but the instrumentation changes throughout – and makes for a nice set of... read more

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Raw percussion, brass and party-ready global grooves from Brooklyn combo Red Baraat! Eclecticism is a big part of the picture here – with diverse strains of styles from around the world – with a bit of an emphasis on Eastern percussive funk, thanks to the dhol drum being such a key... read more

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Kind of an amazing collaboration – a core group that features Tony Allen, Damon Albarn, and Flea – with guest appearances by Erykah Badu, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Fatoumata Diawara, M.anifest, Cheick Tidiane Seck, and Thundercat! The sound of the set is surprisingly wonderful –... read more