Global Grooves — Recently Added

Pascal Atangana is a hell of a singer – one who can move quickly, but with lots of deft changes – over the very dynamic rhythms provided by his excellent backing group! The set was originally issued as a part of a series to showcase the music of Cameroon in the 70s – but it's got ... LP, Vinyl record album

A great combination of Congo grooves and Nigerian 70s – served up here by vocalist Ondigui and his Bota Tabansi ensemble! Ondigui already has a fantastic sound himself – this vocal range and ability to inflect his notes that has the singer cascading up and down the spectrum – in ... LP, Vinyl record album

Catchy, clubby grooves from the team of Zack Roberts and Gebah Swary – a Liberian duo who issued this very catchy record at the start of the 80s! The pair have an 80s look on the cover, and definitely bring that into their music too – with early electro touches used in very spare ways, ... LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent sounds from Ojo Balingo – a Nigerian juju artist from the same stretch as King Sunny Ade – but one whose music is much more obscure to audiences on this side of the Atlantic! Balingo's group here has the loose, spontaneous vibe that characterizes juju at its best – this ... LP, Vinyl record album

A pair of albums from this Guyana group – both recorded overseas, and with a really unique sort of vibe! Young Ones Of Guyana On Tour was recorded in 1970, while the group was in London – at the legendary Landsdowne Studios, home to some really groundbreaking jazz at the time – a ... LP, Vinyl record album

The debut album from the Mauskovic Dance Band – a compelling combo who bring together rhythms from around the globe, then fuse them together in a dark and moody sort of way – often with the kind of early 80s elements you might expect to hear from ESG or Quando Quango! The production is ... LP, Vinyl record album

A great companion to the Togo Soul 70 compilation – one that features two more rare tracks from back in the day, and two new remixes that offer up a contemporary take on a pair of other rare cuts! If you missed the core volume, it's definitely well worth checking out – and is a ... LP, Vinyl record album

An album that's every bit as cool as you might expect – a set that's very much in the same Indo-jazz experiments as saxophonist Joe Harriott, but with a slightly different approach overall! Although sitar is part of the instrumentation, there's also a fair bit of conventional jazz phrasing ... LP, Vinyl record album

Not the Hitsville of Motown fame – but instead a fantastic album of upbeat, hard-grooving highlife – served up by the collaborative efforts of Ebo Taylor, Pat Thomas, and Uhuru Yenzu! Taylor is kind of the guiding force here – as he handles arrangements, and uses his guitar to ... LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing look at the Iraqi musical scene of the 20s – pulled from a treasure trove of rare work recorded in Baghdad by EMI! The music is hardly what you might expect from any past cliches of Middle Eastern music, or from current portrayals of the city – as most of it has a deeply ... LP, Vinyl record album

Luka Productions is a showcase for the fantastic voice of Luka Guindo – a singer with this raspy charm that grabs you right away and really conveys the power of the tunes – so much so, you hardly need the English translations of the lyrics in the notes! The music is a blend of acoustic ... LP, Vinyl record album

A revelatory selection of tracks recorded on a Nairobi music scene that was really overflowing with creative energy – so much so that the music here doesn't just come from Kenyan talents, but from Tanzania and the Congo as well! There's a positive spirit that imbues most of the grooves ... LP, Vinyl record album

A treasure trove of rare singles recorded in Nairobi – easily one of the most welcoming scenes in East Africa during the 80s – especially in comparison to more restrictive cultural territory to the west! At the time, Nairobi really opened up its door to new sounds and ideas – ... LP, Vinyl record album

Mad grooves from the Ethiopian scene of the 70s – featuring work by the enigmatic Mulatu, plus some of the other extra-cool artists on that country's groundbreaking soul and funk scene! Mulatu plays Fender Rhodes and organ on his tracks – grooving with a slow, snakey approach that's ... LP, Vinyl record album

Quick-stepping grooves from Grupo Pilon – one of the key groups who migrated from Cabo Verde to Lisbon in the early 90s – creating almost their own wave of a musical diaspora in the process! The sounds here are a more electrified version of island styles – often with some sort of ... LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful sounds from the short-lived musical legacy of Salum Abdallah and his Cuban Marimba Band – a group from Tanzania, but one who play with lots of influence from Latin Music – as you might guess from their name! And yet, unlike some of the larger, fuller Latin-influenced groups ... LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet Soweto group from the start of the 80s – one who have a nice current of funk in their mix, but who also serve up some well-crafted solos on both guitar and flute! The vocals are often warmly in that more familiar South African style of the period – but the record's nicely ... CD

Really driving percussion, and some great horns as well – the former served up by KOG, who also delivers some fantastic vocals on the set – the latter from The Zongo Brigade, who work in a great mix of funky rhythms, jazzy horns, and some sweet keyboards too! The set's very different ... CD

Funky genius from a mighty unique group – one who've drunk deep on the classic steel band sounds of the 70s, but who've also refined that groove with a contemporary funk approach too! The group's the brainchild of Bjorn Wagner – who you might know from The Mighty Mocambos – and ... CD

A great combination of Congo grooves and Nigerian 70s – served up here by vocalist Ondigui and his Bota Tabansi ensemble! Ondigui already has a fantastic sound himself – this vocal range and ability to inflect his notes that has the singer cascading up and down the spectrum – in ... CD

Catchy, clubby grooves from the team of Zack Roberts and Gebah Swary – a Liberian duo who issued this very catchy record at the start of the 80s! The pair have an 80s look on the cover, and definitely bring that into their music too – with early electro touches used in very spare ways, ... CD

Excellent sounds from Ojo Balingo – a Nigerian juju artist from the same stretch as King Sunny Ade – but one whose music is much more obscure to audiences on this side of the Atlantic! Balingo's group here has the loose, spontaneous vibe that characterizes juju at its best – this ... CD

A blistering batch of live tracks from the amazing Geraldo Pino – super-tight Afro Funk with a groove to rival some of James Brown's funkiest work! Pino clearly takes a lot of cues from The Godfather in the way he leads the band – working with an MC who starts the set and calls him to ... CD

One of the only albums ever recorded by Djarama – a group with roots in Cape Verde, but who rocked the Dutch scene of the mid 80s – where their highly rhythmic style must have been a huge hit! The approach here is a bit like some of the post-colonial acts recording in Paris around the ... LP, Vinyl record album

An interesting turning point for this funky Nigerian group of the 70s – as the set's still got the chunky rhythms of previous efforts, but also shows a touch of influence from reggae on some of the grooves – as well as some very cool use of keyboard touches that give the whole thing ... LP, Vinyl record album

General Franco is alive and well – at least General Franco Lee Ezute, as the sound of his work on this record is so vibrant, it will keep his legacy alive for decades! The rhythms move fast, the guitar dances along at a similar speed, and Franco works with his Harmony Kings International ... LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark of Afro-centric jazz in the 70s – 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 ... CD

A set that's maybe a bit different than other Nigerian grooves you might know from the early 80s – as Hycento Junior has a strong influence from American hip hop, and also a bit of reggae as well! Side one of the album feels almost as if it was lifted from the same scene as Grandmaster Flash ... LP, Vinyl record album

Luka Productions is a showcase for the fantastic voice of Luka Guindo – a singer with this raspy charm that grabs you right away and really conveys the power of the tunes – so much so, you hardly need the English translations of the lyrics in the notes! The music is a blend of acoustic ... CD

Wonderfully fuzzy work from Amanaz – one of the trippiest, headiest groups of the Zamrock scene of the 70s! The guitars here are very full and present – not at a hit you over the head jamming label, but with this rich sonic element that has lots of bassy undercurrents – at a ... LP, Vinyl record album