A Caribbean group, but one with a much heavier groove than most – much more of a West African vibe overall, with a very heady mix of percussion, bass, and other heady elements! There's a mixed-up, dubby approach to the music that almost recalls Cymande at times – core musical ideas taken nicely far from their roots – not in a way to make them more commercial, but just to shake things up, recombine then, and come up with a sound that's wonderfully unique! The whole thing is every bit as funky as you might expect, and really criss-crosses scenes and styles with a blend of percussion, guitars, flute, kalimba, keyboards, and Arp. The production is great – nice and moody, with just the right current of echo – and all titles were penned by lead singer Oluko Imo, with tracks that include "Ifetayo", "You People", "Saved Musician", "Kilimanjaro", "Aspire", and "Umbala". This edition also features the bonus track "Imo". LP, Vinyl record album

Sublime spiritual jazz from a really great contemporary group – a combo that features key players on the New Zealand scene, all working together in a set of modal jazz numbers with a very soulful vibe! Bassist Ben Turua may be the star of the set – as the tone and pacing of his instrument really guides the group on most numbers – and allows very free flights from other players, who include Cameron Allen on tenor and alto, Guy Harrison on piano and Fender Rhodes, Finn Scholes on trumpet and vibes, Julien Dyne on drums, and Jong Yun Lee on soprano, tenor, alto, and flute! There's a warm glow throughout, and a depth that's somewhere in the early 70s handling of this sort of material by labels like Impulse or Flying Dutchman – save for the fact that the tunes are all original too. Cory Champion adds some cool Buchla Modular synth on most tracks – and there's also a bit of harp on the record too – on titles that include "Spirits (part 2)", "Bliss", "Plume", "Veneer", "Kohan", and "Bones". LP, Vinyl record album

A really unique record, one that seems to mix some of the spacey sounds of the electronic ambient world of the early 80s underground with more tuneful, song-based modes of the post-punk generation – all at a level that seems to move effortlessly between both sorts of styles! There's certainly plenty of 80s keyboards on the set, and plenty of drum machine percussion – but the mood shifts from upbeat and catchy to more laidback and spacey – sometimes with vocals, sometimes all instrumental with a very cosmic vibe! Titles include "I Wash My Hair With Limes", "Entrance Of The Deacon", "She Dreams Of Golden Gloves Dancing", "Big Buck Meets The Perpendicular Fish", and "The Surface Of The Water". 2LP reissue features a full album of bonus unreleased tracks! LP, Vinyl record album

A really unique project from the Serbian underground of the 80s – a record that mixes together global elements, electronics, and some other live instrumentation – all in a way that's as tuneful as it is experimental, and which has a nice sort of post-punk sense of freedom throughout! The music reminds us a lot of some of our favorite work from farther up on the European scene – particularly records on the Crammed label, as this set shares a similar sense of wider sensibilities coming into play with new technologies of the time, yet handled in a way that's very personal and poetic. The duo bring a bit of vocals to the record, but most of the music comes from the interplay between acoustic and electronic elements – on titles that include "Gitanes", "Gajeiro", "Rhinoceros II, "Sometimes At Nine", "In The Sky", and "Rumba Balcana". LP, Vinyl record album

A set with a large date range in the title, but one that actually just features work from two different albums, each recorded seven years apart – one in Nigeria, the other cooked up in San Francisco – both working together here as the fantastic but too-small 80s legacy of Ayo Manuel Ajisebutu! There's plenty of 80s groove in the music, often a lean approach that's heavy on basslines and keyboards, but warmed up with elements that nod back to older Nigerian funk modes, with a more contemporary vibe – yet one that's also not trying for the thinner or more commercial styles that sometimes marked the growth of world music at the time. Side one features titles from the Love Candidate album – including the instrumental "Song Of Love", plus "Fun Time" and "Don't Stop" – and side two features work from the Party Zone album, including "Sojourn", "Gboro Mi Ro", and "Do Good". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful debut from Pedro Ricardo – an artist with a name that sounds like a contemporary of the MPB scene in 70s Brazil – and one who works here with a rock-solid sound that might easily place him in that legacy! Pedro's music is definitely contemporary, and he's Portuguese, not Brazilian – but shares the same language, and the same sort of temporal spanning of some of our current favorites from the Brazilian underground – effortlessly blending elements of jazz and more rootsy expressions, sometimes with modern inflections, sometimes a lot more earthy overall! There's plenty of wonderfulness happening here – a truly individual statement from an artist we'll be keeping our ears on for years to come – on titles that include "Soprem Bons Ventos", "Entre O Vale E O Eco", "Tema 2", "Deheba", "Ode Ao Gato", "A Marcha Que O Monte Parou", and "Cantar Das Kandakinhas". LP, Vinyl record album

The world of Dexter Story just keeps getting bigger and bigger – not just because he's a richly collaborative player, but also because he's got this musical style that really opens up to so many different elements – but without ever sounding like he's trying to crash them together in any sort of inorganic way! Instead, Dexter draws evenly from spiritual jazz, Ethiopian rhythms, underground soul, and some of the best strands of 21st Century grooves – opening up the door for his own wonderful lead lyrics, while creating and exploring a planet of his own. Guests on the record include Carlos Nino on percussion, Te'Amir Sweeney on drums, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson on strings, and Randal Fischer on tenor – and the set features guest vocals from Haile Supreme, Marie Daulne, Endeguena Mulu, Sudan Archives, Jimetta Rose, and Kibrom Birhane – although Dexter gets plenty of time in the lead too. Titles include "Mamdooh", "Buna Be Chow", "Gold", "Techawit", "Shuruba Song", "Bahir", "Abebaye", and "Jijiga Jijiya". CD features the Japanese only bonus track "Wejene Aolo" – which features work from Kamasi Washington! CD

A really cool record by a very unique group – a set of singers from Guyana, working together in chorus formation – but with an approach that's nicely suited to the funkier modes of the instrumentation! The approach is a bit hard to describe – this isn't soul or jazz choral work, and the structure is often loose at points too – which means that there's almost a casual sense of collaboration as the vocals come together in all these really great ways – adding a heck of a lot of spirit to the percussion, guitar, and other elements that keep things nice and funky! Titles include "Ojinga's Own", "Stay Away", "Neighbor Jean", "Massacura Man", "Go Go", "Woman A Dead Ya Fuhn Man", "No Intention", "Ka Duma", and "I've Got To Be Somebody". LP, Vinyl record album

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A mindblowing look at a really stunning musical moment in Indonesia – a postwar period when older sounds from the nation were updated with more western-styled instrumentation – yet often at a level that still retained all of the charm of their roots! If you dig Indonesian gamelan or vocal performances, you'll find plenty to love here – as rhythmic and melodic elements from those worlds are mixed with jazz instrumentation, electric guitar, and plenty of percussion that often seems to draw a bit from Latin inspirations as much as it does from larger local ensembles and their musical legacy. The style is maybe a bit like musical shifts that were taking place in other Southeast Asian nations at the time – but the results are far less slavish to western pop, and still really retain all the cultural care of earlier years – sometimes in ways that are a lot more lean and personal, with extremely beautiful sounds throughout. Maybe one of the best collections the Soundway label has ever given us – with the usual detailed notes, and tracks by artists who include Orkes Kelana Ria, Mus DS, Zaenal Combo, Yanti Bersuadara, Band Nada Kentjana, Orkes Tropicana, Nada Kantjana, and Chris Byantoro. LP, Vinyl record album

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 sounds from the left side of the Peruvian scene – still with plenty of Latin elements at the core, especially in the grooves – but done with some really cool keyboards, tape tricks, and other nice bits! Titles include "Fiesta", "Guarach UFO", "Desesperanza", "Salsa Caliente", and "Salsa Del Zombie". CD

A hip group from Sierra Leone – but one who recorded these tracks in the US during the late 70s – which makes for a very unusual hybrid of sounds! The group's original approach was to update regional sounds from their nation, and avoid some of the more commercial cover versions of Anglo hits on the market – but over the years they played a fair bit on the Canary Islands, and then on the west coast of the US – and seemed to pick up a range of funky influences in the process! The result is a sound that's rooted in Africa, but peppered with lots of skittish rhythms and fast instrumental riffing – a bit like some of the post-colonial work on the London and Paris scenes of the time, but a bit different too. The cuts here were all originally issued in the US on the Makossa label – that hotbed of cross-cultural creativity – and titles include "Bi Loko", "Yamba Sowe", "Wali Bena", "Be Patient", and "Ben Ben Bee". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the coolest Afro Funk groups of the 70s – and an outfit who definitely earn the "poly rhythmic" in their name! TP Orchestre have a jagged, jaunty sound that's totally great – really playfully rhythmic, in a way that breaks from the mold of most of their 70s contemporaries on the African scene – in a mad mix of beats and guitars that changes up heavily – often in the same song! The work here has a very fluid quality – pulled together in the Soundway mode with a focus on tracks that will appeal to overall fans of 70s funk, but also done with a real thought for displaying the true range of the group's mighty talents. Titles include "Angelina II", "Aihe Ni Kpe We", "Gbeto Vivi", "Agnon Djidjo", "Ne Te Faches Pas", "Kokoriko", "Hwe Towe Hun", "Gendamou Na Wili We Gnannin", "Mi Si Ba To", and "Medida". CD

Damn great work from the early 80s Nigerian scene – music that's evolved strongly past the Afro Funk of the 70s, and often has the same electro soul sound as work from the US at the time! These cuts are unabashedly upbeat, and aimed at the dancefloor – full of the kind of basslines and keyboard lines that folks treasure in rare American boogie singles – and topped with English language lyrics that give these tunes a really universal appeal! There's a nicely offbeat vibe to the cuts at times – almost a P&P club sort of style – which makes the whole thing a real treasure for any fan of funky club music, not just Nigerian sounds. Titles include "Only You" by Steve Monite, "Don't You Know" by Peter Abdul, "Fellas Doing It In Lagos" by Hotline, "Too Hot" by Rick Asikpo & Afro Fusion, "Funk With Me" by Danny Offia & The Friks, "Don't Give Up" by Willy Roy, "Groove I Like" by Veno, "Don't Stop That Music" by Sony Enang, "Where Is The Answer" by Burnis Moleme, and "Enjoy Your Life" by Oby Onyioha. The LP version includes detailed booklet and bonus 45 with "On The Air (rap mix)" by Lexy Mella and "Burning Jungle" by Ofege! LP, Vinyl record album

A second volume from one of our favorite compilation series of 70s African music ever – Nigeria Special Volume 2 from the rare Afrobeat treasure diggers at Soundway Records! This deeper delve into the well of hard-to-find early to mid 70s material sticks is just as wonderful – chronicling rare singles, A-sides and B-sides, as well as lesser known album tracks that wonderful fuse styles of African funk, soul & jazz, highlife and more. Heavy rhythms and passionate sounds galore, from the first half dozen years of the decade in this second, and purportedly final installment of the flagship Nigerian Special series! It's very exciting that researcher and compiler Miles Cleret puts together compilations of such top caliber material, on a level that it's mindboggling that so much has languished largely unheard for so many years! 19 tracks : "Psychedelic Baby" by Fubura Sekibo, "Shango Oba Onina" by Black's Zenith, "Omohupa" by The Otarus, "The Lord's Prayer"m by The Don Isaac Ezekiel Combination, "Jeka Subu" by Bola Johnson & His Easy Life Top Beats", "Motako" by Fidel Sax Bateke & The Voices Of Darkness and more. CD

A jazz group at the core, but one with lots of nicely warm touches around the edges – a mix of percussion and vibes from group leader Cory Champion, who also brings in plenty of Fender Rhodes, guitar, and other keyboards as well! At times, there's a nicely cosmic vibe to the music – almost an evolution of the 70s sound of Lonnie Liston Smith – but there's also a lot more going on too, including cool use of bass clarinet, cello, harp, and other elements from other players to complicate the sound – plus occasional Buchla electronics from Champion, which creates a nicely spooky vibe – a bit like when Pat Gleeson might drop in a few sounds on a 70s jazz funk album. Titles include "Sunrise Motif", "Absolvo", "Revolutions", "Kihi", "Drumatix", "Plazma Plaza", and "Talking To Water". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet Nigerian boogie from Steve Monite – a set that mixes together bass-heavy funk and more guitar-driven numbers – kind of criss-crossing styles of the Lagos scene at the time, while also making a nod to the New York dancefloors as well! The tracks are all long, and although Steve sings on the record, there's also a strong overall sense of groove – one that really takes over on the two "disco jam" titles on the set – which are both instrumental groovers with some really cool moogy moments! Titles include "Only You", "I Had A Dream", "Things Fall Apart", and "Welcome My Love". LP, Vinyl record album

The second album from Ghanaian funk singer, composer and arranger Rob – issued for the first time ever outside of Ghana, thanks to the deep diggers at Soundway! Rob sings in English throughout – and there's a slinky, slow-cooking, kinda strange groove on most of the numbers – a mix of funk with lots of offbeat, oddball touches – of the sort that some folks these days might dub Afro Psych – but which was just pretty darn experimental back in the day! Rhythms are heavy on guitar, bass, and drums – and plenty of offbeat percussion – all topped with some great heavy horns too. The memorable title track is one of the most unique Afro Funk songs you could ever hope to hear – , with dexterous opening horn blasts, clattering bell-like percussion, and undeniably carnal English vocals – and the rest of the album's pretty darn amazing too! Other titles include "Loose Up Yourself" "Not The End", "I've Got To See You Again Lord", "He Shall Live In You", "But You", "Bargain" and "Back On You". LP, Vinyl record album