Pop & Rock Vinyl New Releases - News

The latest signing to Parisian label No Format! (home to Oumou Sangaré, Blick Bassy and Mélissa Laveaux), Soweto-based 4 piece band Urban Village will release their debut album "Udondolo". Marrying the day-to-day experiences of black South Africans with ebullient elements from traditional Zulu music, Urban Village is the alias of four experimental musicians all born & raised in the township of Soweto at the tail end of apartheid; Urban Village release music under a name which specifically references the blend of cultures, music & rites which were assimilated into the now 1 million strong population of Soweto, when black South Africans from multiple provinces were brought to the area during the establishment of apartheid, under strict segregation from Johannesburg's white suburbs. Born for the most part in the last years of apartheid, whilst growing up the band plunged happily into house and dance music that turned the page of a heavy past. Guitarist Lerato came across older Zulu musicians and their style of maskandi playing. Lerato has since mixed styles from homelands and rural areas, sharpened in club jam sessions (where he went on to meet Tubatsi and form Urban Village) during which spoken word, hip-hop and jazz rub shoulders freely. "Udondolo" - partially recorded at legendary Downtown Studios in the heart of Johannesburg and at Figure of 8 studios in the leafy suburbs of Randburg - is a journey through all the colours of Soweto. This is where it draws its consistency, strength & identity. That of Soweto itself - a dormitory town designed to monitor those who were sent there, it has become a laboratory of music where the hopes of an entire people resonate, even today.

Repress of the 2017 album on green & cloudy clear vinyl. Within the songs of Laetitia Tamko there are infinite worlds: emotional spaces that grow wider with time, songs within songs that reveal themselves on each listen. Tamko is a multi-instrumentalist and a producer, recording since 2014 as Vagabon. Her forthcoming debut, Infinite Worlds, builds upon Tamko’s stripped-down demos that have been circulating online and throughout the independent music community for the past two years. Tamko’s songs are embedded with her own story and personal history: growing up in Cameroon, her family’s move to New York and adjusting to culture shock. She grew up around music and loved it, but finishing engineering school was a priority before music could start to feel like a real possibility. To date, Tamko mostly listens to East and West African music nostalgic of her childhood, styles of music that influence her own in subtle ways.

Just as Duster's landmark debut album Stratosphere was making its first orbit, Clay Parton, Dove Amber, and Jason Albertini tracked a largely improvised companion capsule under their Valium Aggelein alter ego. An ode to '70s Kosmische, Hier Kommt Der Schwartze Mond is a skeletal space nap for the prozac generation. Remixed and remastered from the original 16 track analog tapes, the 1998 album has been adjoined by 15 period-appropriate bonus tracks. A fuzzy masterpiece, hidden in plain sight, by the most important slowcore band of all time.

Das erste Live-Album von Van Halen - das Doppel-Platin-Album Live von 1993: Right Here, Right Now - feierte sein Vinyl-Debüt am Record Store Day als 4-LP-Set in limitierter Auflage. Aufgenommen im Mai 1992, als die Band ihre große Welttournee zur Unterstützung ihres klassischen, mit dreifachem Platin ausgezeichneten Albums For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge beendete, liefern Sänger Sammy Hagar, Gitarrist Eddie Van Halen, Schlagzeuger Alex Van Halen und Bassist Michael Anthony über zwei Stunden lang die typischen Van Halen-Hits.

”Dieses Album ist nur ein kleiner Teil der riesigen Menge an unveröffentlichtem Material, das wir hoffentlich in naher Zukunft veröffentlichen werden, anstatt es in irgendeinem Archiv verstauben zu lassen.
Die Bigband-Stücke wurden 2014 aufgenommen, die Duette erst kürzlich. Chris White und Paul Moran
haben die Songs, für die sie neue Bandarrangements machen wollten, individuell ausgewählt. Die Stücke
von Willie Nelson und Kurt Elling wurden 2018 und 2019 aufgenommen, die von Curtis Stigers und Joss
Stone 2018.” (Van Morrison)
Van Morrison, zu gleichen Teilen blauäugiger Soul-Shouter und wildblütiger Poet-Zauberer, gehört zu
den wahren Erneuerern der populären Musik, ein rastlos Suchender, dessen beschwörender Gesang und alchemistische Verschmelzung von R&B, Jazz, Blues und keltischem Folk das vielleicht spirituellste Werk im
Rock & Roll-Kanon hervorgebracht hat. Seine Aufnahmen, die nur den Launen seiner eigenen Muse unterworfen sind, decken ein außerordentliches stilistisches Terrain ab und bewahren dennoch eine Konsistenz und
Reinheit, die unter seinen Zeitgenossen praktisch unerreicht ist. Sie sind verbunden durch die mythische
Kraft seiner einzigartigen musikalischen Vision und seines feurigen Gesangs: spiralförmige Wiederholungen von Wehklagen und Flüstern, die die Grenzen der Sprache umgehen, um emotionale Wahrheiten zu
artikulieren, die weit über den Rahmen der wörtlichen Bedeutung hinausgehen.

”Dieses Album ist nur ein kleiner Teil der riesigen Menge an unveröffentlichtem Material, das wir hoffentlich in naher Zukunft veröffentlichen werden, anstatt es in irgendeinem Archiv verstauben zu lassen.
Die Bigband-Stücke wurden 2014 aufgenommen, die Duette erst kürzlich. Chris White und Paul Moran
haben die Songs, für die sie neue Bandarrangements machen wollten, individuell ausgewählt. Die Stücke
von Willie Nelson und Kurt Elling wurden 2018 und 2019 aufgenommen, die von Curtis Stigers und Joss
Stone 2018.” (Van Morrison)
Van Morrison, zu gleichen Teilen blauäugiger Soul-Shouter und wildblütiger Poet-Zauberer, gehört zu
den wahren Erneuerern der populären Musik, ein rastlos Suchender, dessen beschwörender Gesang und alchemistische Verschmelzung von R&B, Jazz, Blues und keltischem Folk das vielleicht spirituellste Werk im
Rock & Roll-Kanon hervorgebracht hat. Seine Aufnahmen, die nur den Launen seiner eigenen Muse unterworfen sind, decken ein außerordentliches stilistisches Terrain ab und bewahren dennoch eine Konsistenz und
Reinheit, die unter seinen Zeitgenossen praktisch unerreicht ist. Sie sind verbunden durch die mythische
Kraft seiner einzigartigen musikalischen Vision und seines feurigen Gesangs: spiralförmige Wiederholungen von Wehklagen und Flüstern, die die Grenzen der Sprache umgehen, um emotionale Wahrheiten zu
artikulieren, die weit über den Rahmen der wörtlichen Bedeutung hinausgehen.

D: Mit „Le retour des beaux jours“ feiert Vanessa Paradis ihr grosses Comeback in der Musikszene.
Dieses achte Studioalbum ist das Ergebnis ihrer engen Zusammenarbeit mit Étienne Daho und Jean-Louis
Piérot. Es wurde in Paris (Motorbass Studio) und London (Abbey Road) aufgenommen, abgemischt und
produziert. Die erste Single „Bouquet final“, einer der Hits des Sommers 2025, kündigt ein mit Spannung
erwartetes Pop-Soul-Album an... Vanessa wird ab März 2026 auf Tournee sein. Live Schweiz: 23.04.26,
Arena Genf
F: ’Avec « Le retour des beaux jours », Vanessa Paradis fait son grand retour à la musique.
Ce 8ème album studio est le fruit de son étroite collaboration avec Étienne Daho et Jean-Louis Piérot. Il
a été enregistré, mixé et réalisé à Paris (Motorbass Studio) et Londres (Abbey Road). Le premier single «
Bouquet final », l’un des hits de l’été 2025, annonce un album pop soul très attendu... Vanessa sera en
tournée à partir de mars 2026. Live Suisse : 23.04.26, Arena Genève.

It has been said that Richard 'Nappy' Mayers (1951-1993), the copiously gifted musician, composer, arranger, producer and singer began his earthly sojourn in an era inappropriate for the fullest exploitation of his creative potential.
From his teenage years he exhibited an innate impulse to craft melodies that were distinctive and enticing yet reflecting his attraction to the dominant influences of the period particularly American, Jamaican and homeland Trinidad and Tobago. Charismatic and a natural leader, Nappy's enduring passion for creating, performing and producing singularly progressive music so fired initial band members comprising relatives and close friends, that their loyalty and willingness to co-create with him proved key to its extensive popularity.
From teenaged music-makers styled The Tornadoes, his group evolved through several personnel shifts into Embryo to enjoy their most productive and successful phase from the early '70s to 1980 as a trailblazing recording and stage performance outfit.
Nappy's ever-fertile mind originated a continuous stream of unique creations with lyrical content ranging from his 1975 premier release 'Cash In Calypso/Breakaway' through the 1977 all-time best seller Wanna Make Love To You with sultry frontline songstress Nadie La Fond, down to his bittersweet plea in 1991's Bring Back The Ole Time Days.
After he was so unexpectedly taken from us in 1993, it was beyond doubt that Trinidad and Tobago and the world of popular music he too briefly inhabited had lost a phenomenal talent in Richard 'Nappy' Mayers.
The main focus of this compilation is layed on Nappy's early recording years with his own band Embryo and on artist such like Nadie La Fond, Felix Ceasar or Colin Lucas.
Dave Elcock.

Single:
01. Nadie La Fond: Hot For Your Love
02. Embryo: Love Is New

A sleeve with the most iconic photography of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, « Guerillo Heroico » in La Havana, Cuba in 5th March 1960 by Alberto Diaz Guttierez, known as “Korda”.

A selection of engaged songs with a track listing which includes traditional tracks such as Hasta Siempre and Bandiera Rossa… As well as tribute songs to revolutionary Icones with Que Viva Fidel and Che Comandante.

When, a few years ago, we started planning on compiling 60's and 70's songs influenced by Jamaican rhythms by different artists from the Latin/american continent, and published the first two volumes of "Latinameriska", we didn't think we would be able to continue with the series. However, this period of time has allowed us to continue with the "archaeologic work" of search and capture that every collector has in its blood. There's no bigger pleasure for any of us than being on a trip and going through a flea market, shop or just exploring the web and coming across a gem to thicken your record collection. Likewise, it's also a big satisfaction showing those discoveries and making them available to other collectors (so they can start their own hunt) or to the general public which would simply dance and enjoy them.which is enough. Thus this record is the fruit of that passion and has no different goal to the previous volumes> that you listen, dance and enjoy this "piece" of Jamaica born in latin american territory. You'll find artists you'll already know from previous volumes and such as "Las Cuatro Monedas" or "Conjunto Habana", together with real rarities such as "Aristides Paz" or "The King's Trials"... with covers of Jamaican classics ("Ritmo del Alma") and original tracks ("Cuando tú me quieras), from vintage Ska ("Lucky Lucky") to Reggae with skinhead roots ("Doble Barril"),... but always with the same essence. And not to loose a good habit we close with a new ghost track, from Colombia in this case and merging a Jamaican music classic with other classic rhythms. Enjoy it one more time!!!

The journey of latin american artists from the 60-s and 70-s with a Jamaican style has a new stop> "Latinameriska"'s fourth volume. And even though it may sound like a cliché we have to say this is the best installment of the series without a doubt. Here's why? Because you'll get to learn about unknown bands (from out of the Jamaican scene like "Los Creyentes de BC" or studio ones like "The Stars"), get almost impossible to find tunes ("Rosario" or "Los Costeños") or listen to covers as good as the original (hurray for "Los Robbin's"!!!).or with sounds that enrich the cover (those amazing Calypso touches of René Santos or the cumbia flavour of Carmen Rivero). We have realized the richness of "Latin Jamaica" has no limits, and from north to south and east to west our treasure chest keeps growing with gems of all kind. This precious stones are all different and all highly valuable> from Jamaican Beat to Early Reggae or Calypso< with covers that range not only from Jamaican scene classics to Jazz and Soul. With such good raw materials and our culinary expertise it was impossible not to cook a delicatessen to be consumed with the ears. And once again we have a ghost track at the end< from Panamá this time and giving an Antillean flavor to another Jamaican classic. Enjoy this new installment.and be calm, it won't be the last one!!!

High lonesome sounds from Zimbabwe, Kenya and South Africa, 1948-1959: Gorgeous fingerpicked guitar ballads, yodeling, slide guitar, and haunting travel-weary songs by troubadours with a penchant for the fabled American cowboy lifestyle. A stunning fusion of neo-traditional African melodies and early American country-western music. 14 lost classics by George Sibanda, Josaya Hadebe, Sabelo Mathe, Sammy Ngaku, and more, all reissued for the first time from original 78 rpm discs. Co-released with Olvido Records. Includes liner notes with lyrics and old school tip-on covers.

Celebrating the photography of Robert Doisneau, 25 years after his death. Discover the new Esprit Robert Doisneau Collection, associating songs with his famous images of Paris.

Famous all over the world, the photographer’s work accurately represents the soul of Paris. This collection of ten LPs are all pressed on 180g coloured vinyl.

8 years, 20 artists and 43 releases, the Parisian label La Belle Records has quickly established itself by its unique style; trailblazer of electronic candies across the world and whose graphic direction's singularity is as sublime as undeniable. Today, they present the One Night Stands series.

Not an umpteenth compilation but a unique collection of unreleased tracks, dug and selected with all the experience and the appetite of Antoine Harispuru (Golden Bug), co-founder of the label.

From London to Tel Aviv via Madrid and Paris, One Night Stands mixes well-established projects such as Golden Bug, In Fields, In Flagranti, Akkan and DESTIINO (Yuksek's side project), as well as new promises in the making such as Sebastopol, Youkounkoun, Ozzy and many others.

1950s country music from Zimbabwe, South Africa and Kenya - American influenced but distinctly African - like nothing else out there!!

Strut continues its essential compilation series of Indian Ocean sounds with ‘Alefa Madagascar’, the first compilation to document the unique culture of salegy, soukous and soul on the island during the ‘70s and ‘80s. Originating as far back as the 15th Century through folkloric ceremonial music and an a cappella chanting style called antsa, salegy emerged as a fast-tempoed local dance style based on 6/8 and 12/8 rhythms. By the ‘60s, radio was bringing in new sounds from the Congo, Mozambique, South Africa and Kenya and Jean Francois de Comarmond’s Discomad label championed a new generation of artists breaking the mould with their own new fusions of styles as electric instruments replaced the traditional. The strong call-and-response dialogues, rich vocal choruses and rolling triplet feel in the rhythm sections all boasted a unique Malagasy sensibility and singles started selling tens of thousands of copies, rivalling any foreign music at the time. Local pop was sometimes referred to as tapany maintso (half-green) a reference to the stickers on singles from the other key label in Madagascar, Kaïamba, many of them produced by Charles Maurin Poty whose work was crucial in shaping the emerging genre.

‘Alefa Madagascar’ showcases the rich variety of sounds during this heyday of Malagasy music: Roger Georges’ ‘Mama’ and Jean Kely et Basth’s ‘Andosy Mora’ bring the raw energy of salegy, influential band Los Matadores drop military drums and Hammond soul in the classic ‘Andeha Hanarato’; Mahaleo’s ‘Izahay Mpamita’ showcases the band’s powerful folk sound, a crucial voice emerging from the Rotaka farmer and student protests of 1972, while Terak’Anosy Group work around a stomping Congolese guitar groove. The era paved the way for many of the household names of Malagasy music today including Jaojoby, D’Gary and Lego. Mastered by The Carvery and featuring cover artwork by top illustrator Lewis Heriz, ‘Alefa Madagascar’ is released on 16th August 2019 and is compiled by Réunionese DJs La Basse Tropicale and Percy Yip Tong (Mauritius). Physical formats feature sleeve notes by influential producer Charles Maurin Poty and Banning Eyre of Afropop Worldwide.First ever compilation documenting the heyday of Malagasy music during the 1970s and 1980s.
All tracks officially licensed in conjunction with the Discomad and Kaïamba labels.
Includes sleeve notes by legendary producer Charles Maurin Poty and writer Banning Eyre.
Latest instalment in Strut’s ongoing series documenting some of the best original music from the Indian Ocean region.

Cultural phenomena streak through popular consciousness like meteorites. There’s a significant, even life-changing, impact made somewhere, but for many it’s only a moment that flickers by, soon to be swallowed back into the cosmos. Chicha might have been like that. Instead, a once-obscure music that enjoyed a fanatic embrace in the Peruvian slums of the 1970s has become a full-fledged global occasion – thanks to the stunning success of a 2007 CD called The Roots of Chicha. The album, released by the Brooklyn-based Barbès Records, was a passionate act of cultural appreciation: a heart-strong effort to turn the world on its ear with something it had never expected to hear. It took listeners back to the late 1960’s, when a number of Peruvian guitarists from Lima and the Amazon created a new electric hybrid, which mixed cumbia, surf, Cuban guaracha, rock, Peruvian folklore, and psychedelic touches. This new wave of Peruvian cumbia came to be known as chicha. Scorned by the middle-class and the official tastemakers, chicha remained mostly associated with the slums of Lima, where the ever-growing population of Andean migrants embraced the music and its players as their own. When Olivier Conan released the first volume of Roots of Chicha in September 2007, he couldn’t have foreseen the kind of impact it would have. The musician, who co-owns the club Barbès in Brooklyn and owns the label of the same name, had fallen in love with the music on a trip to Peru in the summer of 2006. Back in New York, he started his own band, Chicha Libre, as an attempt to share his enthusiasm. Then, he released a compilation of some of the best chicha tracks from the ‘70s. The music quickly found an audience in the US and in Europe. Musicians and DJs embraced it as a lost link between rock and Latin cultures. Accolades flowed from the New York Times, NPR, Le Monde, El Comercio and the BBC. One of its songs was covered by the band Franz Ferdinand, actor Elijah Wood praised it profusely in an interview to Paste magazine. Chilean rock group Los Tres gave a copy of the record to then-president Bachelet, which somehow became national news

From the beating heart of the capital city Bamako to the rich musical soils of Niafunk , Mali has become synonymous with the raw desert blues

sound. Featuring the likes of the legendary Tuareg band Tartit as well as Songhai bluesman Samba Toure (protege of the legendary Ali Farka Toure), this Rough Guide

also includes tracks by other unsung heroes, all of whom share the same goal of preserving a culture under serious threat. There are tracks from artists who

speak out about the huge social issues present in Malian society. It follows on from the success of other Malian albums in the Rough Guide range.

»Hier ist Berlin . . . !«
Die raue, ach so vertraute Stimme Dieter Thomas Hecks klingt einem heute noch im Ohr, wenn man an die »ZDF-Hitparade« denkt. Nach dem Startschuss am 18. Januar 1969 avancierte die Sendung schnell zum Publikumsliebling und war gar nicht mehr wegzudenken aus der deutschen Fernsehlandschaft: Das Bonmot »Nach dem Bade - Hitparade!« wurde gleichermaßen zum geflügelten Wort wie zum samstäglichen Ritual, auch wenn der Sendeplatz im Laufe der Jahrzehnte noch mehrmals den Wochentag wechseln sollte.

So ist es nicht verwunderlich, dass sich sofort ein heimeliges Gefühl einstellt, sobald man an die »ZDF-Hitparade« denkt: Die ganze Familie von Oma bis Enkel traf sich vor dem Fernsehgerät, um die neuesten Platzierungen der Stars zu erfahren, ihren Hits zu lauschen und gar lauthals mitzusingen sowie bei den Abstimmungen mit zu fiebern.

Dass die »Hitparade« auch heute noch Kult ist, daran besteht wahrlich kein Zweifel - prägte sie doch über 30 Jahre lang den gesamtdeutschen Musikmarkt. Zudem wurde sie für ganze Generationen von Schlagerstars zum Karrieresprungbrett.

Jetzt feiert das ZDF - 50 Jahre Hitparade mit einem bunten Strauß an Produkten. Von Peter Maffay bis Wolfgang Petry. Der Kult lebt – und wie!

From the guitar artistry of jazz-fusion legend John McLaughlin to Skandijazz innovators the Karl Stromme Quintet, this Rough Guide showcases

some of today’s pioneering artists who share the same goal of pushing the boundaries of jazz with truly remarkable results.

Highlighting how jazz continues to evolve and be reinvented in the hands of musical innovators far and wide, the album includes a track by the legendary

guitarists John McLaughlin and Debashish Bhattacharya. These are artists who share the same musical vision of journeying between cultures, it’s the perfect

way to explore some of the best jazz you’ve never heard.

Absolutely brilliant 20 track compilation of kitsch French cha-cha, mambo and other Latin and tropical styles. Featuring absurd lyrics, unusual arrangements

and crazy cover songs. CD Digipak includes a 16 page booklet and the LP includes printed inner sleeve + download code.

Tropical music and France go way back. Just think of the period between both world wars, when the Paris of the roaring twenties fluttered to the sound of

Latin-American orchestras. The influential Brazilian musician Pixinguinha came through in 1922, the charismatic Cuban singer Rita Montaner triumphed a few

years later at the famed Palace and the brilliant clarinettist Stellio from Martinique had everyone dancing through the night to the beguine (a dance

style from Martinique). The record starts out with an esoteric organ, a guitar straight out of a western,

a vibey rhythm section, a speeding saxophone, a glamorous voice, a curious keyboard, a slightly panicky tempo... “Please Mr Hitchock!” calls out a voice

from the unknown, on an arrangement that’s about to lose control. The tone is set. “Eins Zwei Drei”, cries out Spartaco Andreoli, creator of the Chachacha

for tunas, lyrics that are absurd accompanying music that isn’t so much so. And this is just the beginning...

As you'd expect from its position and history, the eastern African nation of Somalia is rich in cultural influences. Wrapped part way around Ethiopia, it forms the sea coast of the Horn of Africa. Kenya borders it to the south, and its north coast faces the southern shore of the Arabian peninsula, only a couple of hundred miles away.

Unsurprisingly, given this last fact, Somalia was one of the first African countries converted to Islam, in the 8th and 9th centuries. During the 18th and 19th century, the Somali ports were controlled by Arabs and by the Ottoman Empire. During the European colonial period, the north was a British, and the south an Italian, colony. Independent Somalia still shows varying effects of these influences (Arabic, English and Italian are all used for teaching). Musically speaking, Somalia forms part of an eastern African Islamic continuum that includes the coast of Kenya and Tanzania as well as Sudan, and is more loosely linked with North and Muslim West Africa. (Kismayu, in the south of Somalia, is in fact the most northerly frontier of the Swahili music called 'taarab' or 'tarabu'). But like all the other idioms in this general Afro-Islamic nexus, Somalia's music retains a quite individual flavor.

The main traditional instrument of Somalia is the 'ud', imported from Egypt or Lebanon and known locally as the 'kaban'. Another common instrument is the 'taruumbo', or flute. The one heard on several of these tracks was a homemade, end-blown version cut from a piece of plastic tubing.

As is true for the whole of Africa, the standard six-string acoustic guitar has been taken over by Somali musicians and played in a wide range of styles. Small keyboard instruments have also long been a feature of East African coastal music. In the old days, portable harmoniums were popular. These were presumably imported from India, where they are very popular. In Somalia, the market has been captured by Japanese-made organs with built-in rhythm, like the one heard on four tracks here.

The music on this album was all recorded in one town, Baraawe (usually called Brava on the maps). Baraawe, which is on the Somali coast about 120 miles south of the capital, Mogadishu, has a population of around 10,000. Like all African towns of any size it is something of a melting pot. The original inhabitants, like the Swahili to their south, are of mixed Arab and Bantu African heritage, and speak a Bantu language called Chimina. Somalis from various other areas, speaking standard Somali and several dialects of it, also live in Baraawe.

The musicians heard here play regularly together in various combinations. Like almost all African musicians, they are part-timers. Some are shoemakers. Two are soldiers (Africa has long had an amazing number of fine dance bands made up of police or army personnel). All the pieces they perform on this recording are love songs.

The fifth volume of An’archives’ Enka Mood Collection split 10” series, two trios explore the possibilities of enka (Japanese popular torch song, or blues) in typically expansive fashion. Side one features four songs performed by the trio of Mineko Itakura, Shin’ichi Isohata and Michel Henritzi. All musicians with impressive histories, Itakura was a member of downer psych group Angel’In Heavy Syrup and Slapp Happy Humphrey; Isohata has worked with Otomo Yoshihide, and composed a soundtrack for Tadasuke Kotani’s film, The Legacy Of Frida Kahlo. Michel Henritzi is also a known quantity: over the years, he’s been a tireless supporter of Japanese underground music, a writer, critic and record label owner who’s also recorded with Junko, Tetuzi Akiyama, Rinji Fukuoka, Masayuki Urabe, and Á Qui Avec Gabriel, among others.

The trio takes on four enka songs, extracting the bittersweet tang from each melody, comfortable in the space that enka inhabits, a world of longing and nostalgia that sits somewhere between tradition, folk and blues.

Flip the 10” over, and RQRQ - Yuka Ijichi, Doronco and Mitsuru Tabata stretch out across three songs. They’ve plenty of prior form for this – Tabata’s history includes time with Acid Mothers Temple, Boredoms, Zeni Geva, Green Flames, and 20 Guilders; Doronco goes further back, a one-time member of Les Rallizes Denudes. Ijichi is a relatively new presence, but she’s released two gorgeous cassettes of acid folk on Selection Records. There’s an immediately sympathy to their playing, and a preternatural ability to grasp the core of the material; it’s beautifully performed.

In the 1950s, a few young men, known as Badius, embarked on a nearly 2,500-mile (4000 km) journey from the northern rural interior of Cabo Verde’s Santiago Island to the island of São Tomé off the Atlantic coast of central Africa. They made the arduous journey and worked for years not to earn a better living or send money back home — but to simply buy an accordion, locally known as a gaita. Returning home, they slowly formed an elite class of self-taught gaita players. The gaita became the maximum expression of Badiu identity, one defined over centuries by a persistent culture of revolt and rebellion against domination and injustice. In a land lacking electricity, the acoustic instrument is king. Mastery of a hard-won instrument gave birth to raw Funaná music, undoubtedly a sibling of Cumbia. Hypnotic notes on aged accordions tuned and flavored in ways found nowhere but Santiago infused with inviting baselines, raucous rhythms, blade-on-iron percussion, and the bubbling lyricism and lament of the island’s finest ambassadors. Their music was outlawed under colonial rule, with strict curfews to prevent large, potentially subversive gatherings since Funaná was dance music meant for large crowds, centered on one of the many star gaiteiros. Yet, naturally defiant, Badiu Funaná continued unfazed at the risk of arrest and detention. Funaná remained an isolated style, largely an affair for Badiu ears only. But in 1991, Cabo Verde had its first democratic election. Elections are tricky business anywhere, let alone a country divided into several islands, each needing a tailored approach. Political parties found a novel solution to successfully get their campaign messages out to large audiences with ears wide open: music festivals. Till today, Cabo Verde plays host to dozens of festivals a year, some sponsored by the government. The music of the proud African interior became the soundtrack of choice at campaign rallies. It drew large crowds, engaged the youth, kept people content, and undoubtedly won votes, setting the stage for traditional Funaná’s entry into the mainstream, catching the attention of successful Cabo Verdean record label bosses living in Europe. This compilation distills eight tracks from a short period in the late ‘90s when cherished pioneers, who risked everything give their proud culture a sound, got their one chance in a recording studio. Pour yourself a grog, Cabo Verde’s local moonshine made from sugarcane crushed by bulls, imbibe responsibly, listen carefully, and dance recklessly.

A marvelous compilation of Ghanaian dance Music recorded between 1950's and 1970's. Highlife was one of the results of the unprecedented blend between the West African music tradition and various sounds and styles from the new world, especially Jazz from America and Calypso from the Caribbean. Highly energetic addictive music based on the combination of ancestral rhythms and modern arrangements as direct expression of the strong spirit of Independence of the period. An incredible cast of stars including astonishing sets by E.T. Mensah And The Tempos, acknowledged as the king of Highlife, and the Ramblers International, a highly individual dance band mixing Highlife with Soul and Latin materials.

Subtitled '21 songs of Afro-Colombian Music from the Pacific Coast'. The music of the Colombian Pacific is one of the greatest treasures of Colombia and its African past, but not many people remember the songs recorded on anthologies, which are largely a forgotten chapter of Colombia´s musical history. It comprises genres such as currulao and chirimía and many others that are yet to be discovered by most Latin music lovers. Heavy drumming combines with hypnotic vocals and the sounds of the marimba, clarinet and euphonium in this selection of Afro-Colombian music from the Pacific Coast.
This compilation includes recordings by artists like: Gertrudis Bonilla, Peregoyo y su Combo Vacaná, Markitos Micolta, La Sonora del Pacífico de Cachito Vidal, Julián y su Combo, Buscajá… in an outstanding selection of songs that covers the early 70s through the 00s and are reissued here for the first time. Compiled by Colombian music experts Lucas Silva and Philippe Noel.

Playful, fun and exuberant 22-track compilation of French bossa nova from the early 60s and 70s. Includes tracks by Isabelle Aubret, Christiane Legrand, Jean Constantin, Marpessa Dawn and actress/singer Sophia Loren.

Available on CD digipack with 24-page booklet and double LP with printed inner sleeves + download code. The liner notes are in French and English. Ever since the late 1950s bossa nova revolution, Brazil’s influence on French music has been undeniable. Pierre Barouh, Georges Moustaki and a vast array of lesser known artists, all made the Musica Popular Brasileira (MPB). Some were seduced by the poetic languor’s of the bossa, some were looking for fun, and others just loved the American hybridization of jazzbossa, jazz-samba.
What is bossa nova? One of its creators, Joao Gilberto said: “Its style, cadence, everything is samba. At the very start, we didn’t call it bossa nova, we sang a little samba made up of a single note - Samba de uma nota so .... The discussion around the origins of bossa nova is therefore useless”. It is nevertheless useful to remember that these
magnificent Brazilian songs, which the guitarist describes as samba, were shifted and balanced around improbable chords. With emotion, arrangements for violin and supple guitar licks, bossa nova rapidly changed.

Funky and kitsch 16-track compilation of French cha-cha-cha played in a Middle Eastern style.

This collection of the French equivalent of exotica (think Les Baxter, Yma Sumac, Martin Denny etc.) from the early 1960s, is part of Born Bad’s ever-expending series of essential collections. Available on CD digipack with 12-page booklet and single LP with printed inner sleeves + download code. The liner notes are in French and English.
Sit back and relax in your lawn chair, smoke a hookah and discover ‘Cha-Cha au Harem - Orientica-France 1960-1964’.

How The River Ganges Flows is a transcendent collection of Carnatic violin performances captured on 78 rpm disc between 1933 and 1952. Most of these sublime recordings have not been heard since they were first etched in shellac decades ago. These melodies are ethereal and transporting: meditative. The rhythms undulate from despair to ecstasy, often within the same phrase. Remastered from the collection of Christopher King along with a set of deep notes, this music is unlike anything you’ve ever experienced.

About a hundred kilometers south-west of Bamako, on the left bank of the Niger River, the Malian village of Kela is known to be home to a large community of griot musicians (jeliw) mostly belonging to the Diabaté family. Their art is recognised throughout West Africa and many griots come from all over the world to stay there, sometimes for several years, in the hope of becoming immersed in it. The six pieces for voice accompanied by guitar or traditional koni lutes were recorded in 1978 (tracks 3 to 6) and in 2019 (tracks 1 to 3), in the same traditional dwelling, which still serves as a "studio". The accompanying booklet contains the testimonies of several important musicians who took part in the recording, and evoke key elements of their universe

Points of interests

- For the fans of the traditional repertoires of Mali's famous griot musicians.

- For music lovers who love the voices accompanied by the guitar and the traditional lutes of the griots.

- Recordings made 40 years apart in the same "studio": a dwelling located in the village of Kela (Mali), from where famous lineages of griots originate.

- Original sound archive on magnetic tapes, digitised and restored in 2019.

- Fourteen colour photographs, taken in 1978 and 2019 at the same time as the sound recordings.

These are the historical recordings by the great ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracy. The fruit of his researches in southern Congo and in northern Zambia between 1957 and 1958. That was the time when the guitar became a popular instrument and slowly achieved the status of cultural symbol. This collection stands as an important document of the emergence of a totally new sound in African music. A unique blend of African roots and Pop music imported from the West. A must for all guitar music fans around the globe.

If you are in search of the origins of Jamaican music this is a great album to start with. Mento was the original Jamaican folk music that predates Ska and Reggae. Played Exclusively on acoustic instruments Mento was based on both African and European elements. The 1950s was Mento’s golden age, as many artists recorded songs using a variety of rhythms and styles. It was the peak of Mento’s creativity and popularity and the birth of Jamaica’s recording industry.

14 of the top salsa hits by Edddie Palmieri,Ray Baretto, Celia Cruz...