Global Grooves — In Stock  

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

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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A lost chapter from the late 60s/early 70s Ghana scene – a great mix of African rhythms & melodies with the raw grit of garage rock, the heavy groove of funk and soul, the swirling and fuzzed out guitars and organ of psychedelia – the Psycho African Beat of The Psychedelic Aliens! ... 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

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

One of the recent comeback albums cut by Ranglin – the famous Jamaican guitarist who worked heavily early reggae sides, on Monty Alexander's 70s releases for MPS, and who's been getting quite a bit of well deserved recognition these days. The album's got a number of different grooves –... 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

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

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

Amazing sounds from Rocket Juice & The Moon – a cut that features the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble working some incredible horn magic over the tune's dubby groove! The approach is almost like Kingston meets Lagos – with an instrumental vibe that's really wonderful! The flipside... read more

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The first-ever recording from this legendary Senegalese band – unissued for years, and finally brought to light in this beautiful package! The set was recorded live in 1979 as a night club performance – and because of that, it's got a really cooking sound right from the start – a... read more

A dreamlike flow of elemental sounds and masterful mood from Adam Rudolph & Ralph James – conceived and performed as a dialogue between multi-instrumentalists Adam Rudolph and Ralph Jones on a date at Michigan's Delta College Theatre in 2009! Rudolph works with African percussion and... read more

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The group's second album for Jive, and a batch of 80s African tracks that have a surprisingly jazzy edge to them. The sound here is quite different from the Celluloid approach to New African grooves – a bit more soulful and standard, but with strong use of instruments in a fusiony way, one... read more

Incredible! This is a stunning set of African-inspired jazzy percussion tracks – similar to some of the work done by Art Blakey on his Orgy In Rhythm albums, but with a lot better horn work, and with an overall conception that's much more unified! AK Salim did some sleepier work for Savoy... read more

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A unique set by the great Ravi Shankar – one of his trippiest albums ever, and originally recorded as a soundtrack for the film Viola! There's plenty of elements that resonate with some of Shankar's other studio work of the 60s – but there's also a much darker feel overall –... read more

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Ragas and disco – an amazing little combination, with results that are greater than the sum of its parts! This album's hardly the cheesy affair you might expect – and instead of just adding a few typical Indian flourishes to disco music, Charanjit Singh comes up with a unique new... read more

Unusual stuff – a spoken word document on Haitian culture, presented entirely in French! Maurice Sixtoo has a pretty compelling speaking style – and the album features one long recitation, which takes up both sides of the record!... read more

The collected mid 70s psych/prog/funk rock of Benny Soebardja – a beacon from the Indonesian scene and for underground rock the world over – with nearly all of the material from his 3 great albums with his Lizard group! The Lizard Years is made up of tracks from the albums Lizard, Gut... read more

Some mighty dubby funk from Solo Hit – recorded at a time when he was still working with Victor Uwaifo, and in a style that feels like Nigerian grooves recorded at King Tubby's! There's a mighty echo to the music – so that the rhythms kind of blast up from the bassy bottom, and feel... read more

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We've always loved these guys – but they really blow us away with this smoking album – a set that has them funkier than ever, yet also reaching out to embrace some great new styles too! The Afro Funk of their core is still firmly in place – yet there's also wider echoes of global... read more

The cover may look a bit goofy, but the music is completely sublime – strong tenor sax lines from Momo Wandel Soumah, mixed with light instrumentation that includes balafon, kora, djembe, and guitar! Soumah doesn't exactly play jazz, but he does have an inventive, personal touch on the... read more

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Groovy steel band cuts – sweet takes on "Aquarius", "Everybody's Talkin", "Popi", and "Oh Calcutta"!... read more

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Groovy groovy sitar pop – played by Big Jim Sullivan, also known as Lord Sitar! This set is a great session of 60s pop tunes, turned Eastern, in the mode of work by Ananda Shankar or Vince Bell – with a blend of original compositions, mixing sitar, tabla, and all manner of baroque 60s... read more

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Astralasia Swordfish mix, Phil Kirby Radio, Guy Called Gerald Carnatic mix, Guy Called Gerald Kirk's Garage mix, Graham Massey 808 mix, Guy Called Gerald Jailbit... read more

Sublime sounds from the scene in 70s Mali – music that's an amazing hybrid of styles, and which has made this album a collector's treasure for years! There's echoes of familiar Mali modes in the music – especially in the group's use of blue notes – both in the guitar lines, and... read more

Sublime sounds from the scene in 70s Mali – music that's an amazing hybrid of styles, and which has made this album a collector's treasure for years! There's echoes of familiar Mali modes in the music – especially in the group's use of blue notes – both in the guitar lines, and... read more

Funky and trippy at the same time – a wonderful batch of grooves from Super Borgou De Parakou – an overlooked group from Benin with a very unique sound! The rhythms are tight, and production often has these crispy little edges that make for some nice touches of fuzz where you might not... read more

Driving rhythms, heavy percussion, funk and psychedelia filtered through native Haitian and more Caribbean-inflected music - the great Respect LP by the Tabou Combo de Petion-Ville! The handful of records we've been lucky enough to hear over the years by the group have all been exceptional –... read more

Ten years in for the Tabou Combo – and the group's sounding funkier than ever! The album's got a groove that's even tighter than some of their earliest records – and there's a definite funky feel to the music at times – not just Haitian styles, but a nice US influence too –... read more

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An even fuller sound than before from Taraf De Haidouks – as their string-heavy approach is mixed with lots of bold horns from the Kocani Orkestar! The two great Balkan bands merge together here – working together in an extended set that somehow takes all their best elements to create... read more

Proof that Afro Funk never dies – as long as you know where to look! This set by Ebo Taylor is a contemporary recording, but it's got a damn sharp groove – and hits as hard as any dusty old gem you might find from the 70s – with just the right production to make all the core... read more

Ebo Taylor at his finest – stepping out here in a wicked set of work from the 70s – filled with upbeat rhythms, sweet instrumental touches, and a heck of a lot of soul! There's a bubbling undercurrent in the rhythms that's almost Caribbean at times, yet the overall groove is a lot... read more

A brilliant new album from legendary Ghanaian performer Ebo Taylor – recorded in Berlin and backed by members of Poets Of Rhythm and others from that city's loose collective of international players dubbed the Afrobeat Academy – and the set itself is a great mix of classic Ghana grooves... read more

An early gem from Ghana legend Ebo Taylor – a smoking little set with a really hypnotic feel overall! The tracks here are all nice and long – and build energy with kind of a minimal layering of sound – an approach that's different than some of the longer Nigerian jams you might... read more

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Afro-psychedelia from Chrissy Zebby Tembo – a set recorded in the Zambian scene of the early 70s, and served up in a blend of fuzzy guitar, funky drums, and some really unusual vocals! At times, Chrissy's voice almost sounds like it's being processed – filtered down nicely amidst the... read more

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Brilliant work from Jimi Tenor and his Kabu Kabu group – an incredibly righteous set that's easily the best we've heard so far from the soulful ensemble! In addition to the spiritual jazz vibe of before, the group's also picked up some influences from African soul and jazz too – not... read more

Breaking drums, popping organ, and fuzzy guitar – all exploding at the start of this rare funky nugget – and setting fire to the tune right from the beginning! There's a nervous, jumpy sort of energy to "Uto Nwa" – one that not only sets it apart from other Afro funk... read more

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Beautiful sounds from Makan Badje Tounkara – a Malian griot who works here on a small-stringed lute with a really evocative style! The recording is contemporary, but the core instrument has a really ancient feel – not surprising, given that its origins go back to ancient Egypt –... read more

Great sounds from Sidi Toure – a record that's deep in Malian roots, but which has a slightly different feel than some of the more mainstream artists you might know from the scene! Toure's definitely got an ear for the bluesy elements you'd find in Mali, but he also plays with this lightly... read more

A beautiful set of Sahel Folk from guitarist Sidi Toure & friends – certainly as beautiful sounding as anything we've heard from Sidi! Toure is on guitar and lead vocal swith varying guitar and vocal accompaniment from song-to-song – with guests including Dourra Cisse, Douma Maiga,... read more

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A contemporary record, but one with a wonderfully ancient sound – unique interplay between Greek instrumentation and acoustic bass – used in ways that make the record feel like some lost bit of Balkan genius from years back! The trio features guitar, upright bass, and tzouras –... read more

A pretty cool little group from Cyprus – one who work here in a hypnotically stripped-down sound! The trio claim their style as "Greek blues" – but the overall sound is much more exotic – and the only bluesy element may well be in the way the music is recorded –... read more

A tropical combo, but one with a definite Haitian bent – from the French-language lyrics, right down to the warm rhythms at the core! The album's got a really great blend of trumpet, guitar, and accordion – the last of which is used more like an organ, in ways that are slow-paced,... read more

One of the greatest steel band records ever – and a hip hop sample classic from way back! Sure, there were other hip steel bands back in the 70s – but nobody else ever got as far as 20th Century – ending up on a major label, cutting some key funky covers, and crossing over with... read more

Not jazz in any American sense of the music – but some wonderful Tanzanian grooves from the late 70s, often inflected with some really freewheeling work on guitar! The music here is heavy on percussion at the bottom, but has a really sprightly feel overall – perfect for the dancefloor,... read more

Incredible late work from the great West African dance band Vis-A-Vis – a brilliant set from 1977 that demonstrates good and well why the band were so greatly in demand both live and in the studio! The group had spent quite a bit of time backing the great Ghanaian singer K. Frimpong in the... read more

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Amazing music from the legendary Barney Wilen – previously unreleased African recordings, done around the same time as his classic Moshi album! Although Wilen was best known as a hardbop giant in both his later and early years, the late 60s also marked a period of really rich experimentation... read more

Amazing music from the legendary Barney Wilen – previously unreleased African recordings, done around the same time as his classic Moshi album! Although Wilen was best known as a hardbop giant in both his later and early years, the late 60s also marked a period of really rich experimentation... read more

A landmark record – and most likely the best of the late 60s Jazz Meets The World series on MPS! The album features a unique ensemble comprised of a few core parts – The Indian Trio of Dewan Mothihar on sitar and vocal, Keshave Sathe on tabla, and Kusum Thakur on tambura; the Irene... read more

Tripped-out and wonderful sounds from Witch – served up in this excellent early record from the Zamrock kings of the 70s! Lyrics are in English, and have these dark tones that work perfectly with the group's offbeat guitar and organ lines – sometimes mixed here with acoustic guitar... read more

A mightily grooving Introduction to Witch – the legendary Zambian group whose name also means We Intend To Cause Havok! The group work here with a wicked blend of rock influences from the UK, plus a heavy dose of African rhythms – all blended together with loads of fuzzy guitar and... read more

Global psychedelic grooves from Zambia – the tripped out sounds of Witch! Witch works in a killer rock groove on Lazy Bones, with furious rhythms, heavy drums and fuzzed out guitars. It's all nice and raw and done with a really heady and fierce sense of groove – but there's some more... read more

The fourth album from Zambian psych-prog-funk greats Witch! Lukombo Vibes finds the group conjuring up more African sounds than on their earlier records – but it's still stirring it up from a globally flavored cauldron. The keyboards as spacey and out there as ever – done with a proggy... read more