Stunning stuff from the early 70s – one of the richest moments in the history of Ethiopian popular music! Haile Sellassie's reign was nearing its end, and the country was in the grip of a new renaissance of modernist ideas. To the rest of us, this means that the music scene was absorbing and mixing in a lot of strong influences from around the globe – and on this CD you'll hear funky rhythms, reggae bits, soulful vocals, and lots of other influences, all filtered through a strange sensibility that makes the results come out sounding amazingly otherworldly! There's 17 cuts on this first volume, and work is performed by Mahmoud Ahmed, Mulugen Mellesse, Getachew Kassa, Teshome Meteku, and Seyfu Yohannes. Also includes a few great instrumentals by lost artists! CD

Mid 80s recordings from Hugh Masekela – one set recorded live at the Glastonbury Festival in 1985, the other recorded at a Nelson Mandela concert in 1988. Hugh's style here is greatly expanded from his work of the late 60s – more vocal-oriented, still with African roots, but also stretching out in kind of a pan-global pop sound. The overall feel isn't bad, although the work as a whole lacks the edge of Masekela at his better moments. Titles include "Tonight", "Politician", "Serhasa", "Zulu Wedding", "Stimela", "Amampondo", and "Soweto Blues". CD