Afro

Space Echo - The mystery behind the "Cosmic Sound" of Cabo Verde finally revealed! In the spring of 1968 a cargo ship was preparing to leave the port of Baltimore with an important shipment of musical instruments. Its final destination was Rio De Janeiro, where the EMSE Exhibition (Exposição Mundial Do Son Eletrônico) was going to be held.It was the first expo of its kind to take place in the Southern Hemisphere and many of the leading companies in the field of electronic music were involved. Rhodes, Moog, Farfisa, Hammond and Korg, just to name a few, were all eager to present their newest synthesisers and other gadgets to a growing and promising South American market, spearheaded by Brazil and Colombia.The ship with the goods set sail on the 20th of March on a calm morning and mysteriously disappeared from the radar on the very same day. One can only imagine the surprise of the villagers of Cachaço, on the Sao Nicolau island of Cabo Verde, when a few months later they woke up and found a ship stranded in their fields, in the middle of nowhere, 8 km from any coastline.After consulting with the village elders, the locals had decided to open the containers to see what was inside - however gossip as scintillating as this travels fast and colonial police had already arrived and secured the area. Portuguese scientists and physicians were ordered to the scene and after weeks of thorough studies and research, it was concluded that the ship had fallen from the sky. One of the less plausible theories was that it might have fallen from a Russian military air carrier. The locals joked that again the government had wasted their tax money on a useless exercise, as a simple look at the crater generated by the impact could explain the phenomena. "No need for Portuguese rocket scientists to explain this!" they laughed.What the villagers didn't know, was that traces of cosmic particles were discovered on the boat. The bow of the ship showed traces of extreme heat, very similar to traces found on meteors, suggesting that the ship had penetrated the hemisphere at high speed. That theory also didn't make sense as such an impact would have reduced the ship to dust. Mystery permeated the event.Finally, a team of welders arrived to open the containers and the whole village waited impatiently. The atmosphere, which had been filled with joy and excitement, quickly gave way to astonishment. Hundreds of boxes conjured, all containing keyboards and other instruments which they had never seen before: and all useless in an area devoid of electricity. Disappointment was palpable. The goods were temporarily stored in the local church and the women of the village had insisted a solution be found before Sunday mass. It is said that charismatic anti-colonial leader Amílcar Cabral had ordered for the instruments to be distributed equally in places that had access to electricity, which placed them mainly in schools.This distribution was best thing that could have happened - keyboards found fertile grounds in the hands of curious children, born with an innate sense of rhythm who picked up the ready-to-use instruments. This in turn facilitated the modernisation of local rhythms such as Mornas, Coladeras and the highly danceable music style called Funaná, which had been banned by the Portuguese colonial rulers until 1975 due to its sensuality!The observation was made that the children who came into contact with the instruments found on the ship inherited prodigious capabilities to understand music and learn instruments. One of them was the musical genius Paulino Vieira, who by the end of the 70s would become the country´s most important music arranger.8 out of the 15 songs presented in this compilation had been recorded with the backing of the band Voz de Cabo Verde, lead by Paulino Vieira, the mastermind behind the creation and promulgation of what is known today as "The Cosmic Sound of Cabo Verde".

Essential vinyl repress of the STRUT classic Nigeria 70: Sweet Times.“A landmark collection that remains a compelling journey into a time and place: Nigeria in the 1970s, when American soul and funk (along with Anglo-American blues-rock and psychedelia) infected the roots of traditional and popular West African musical styles like highlife, juju, fuji, and apala.” Dusted magazine Strut announce a brand new repress of the third instalment in the pioneering ‘Nigeria 70’ compilation series, compiled by series curator Duncan Brooker. Excavating another choice batch of rare grooves from Nigeria’s label archives, the new edition places the spotlight on some of the deeper fusions happening across the country during the 1970s as traditional guitar highlife blended with jazz and funk, hypnotic juju grooves became more progressive and young Nigerian bands came through with their own heavy West African take on U.S. soul, funk, disco and rock. As within much of the ‘Nigeria 70’ album series, all of the featured selections are previously unissued outside of Nigeria. Tracks range from the dynamite big band workout of Alex Ringo’s Moneyman & The Super 5 International to the Congolese guitar-drenched ‘Henrietta’ by the late Ali Chukwumah, former member of Stephen Osita Osadebe’s Sound Makers. Darker psych grooves from Don Isaac Ezekiel sit alongside a languorous highlife jam by the legendary Victor Olaiya and juju legend Ebenezer Obey cooks up a lilting, deeply beautiful mid-tempo groove from 1970 in a musical plea for peace. ‘Nigeria 70: Sweet Times’ is another essential celebration of the glut of incredible music that surfaced in post-independence Nigeria. This is the third edition in the acclaimed ‘Nigeria 70’ series. The first volume, released in 2001, was the first compilation of its kind to explore in depth the myriad of funk and soul fusions emerging from Nigeria during the 1970s. Strut followed this with a second edition, ‘Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump’, in 2008. ‘Nigeria 70” Sweet Times’ is compiled by Duncan Brooker and features extensive sleeve notes by writer and broadcaster Max Reinhardt.Limited new re-press of classic highlife, juju and afrobeat collection, 500 copies onlyDefinitive format: 2LP set including CD version as bonusOne of the most influential of all recent African music series which helped spawn a new market for African rare groovesAlbum fully remastered for this reissue

Limited new 15th anniversary repress of classic Afro-funk and afrobeat collection 500 copies only on a 3LP set including 2CD version and 1 CD audio documentary.Strut repress one of the all-time classic compilations of Afro-funk and Afrobeat for 2016, the first volume of the mighty Nigeria 70 series. Originally released in 2001, the album followed the death of Fela Kuti and a renewed interest in original Afrobeat among younger club-goers. Put together over a three-week trip to Lagos, it documented for the first time the explosive era when domestic bands fused traditional highlife and juju with funk, soul, rock and disco. Alongside two cuts by Fela Kuti, Nigeria 70 shone the spotlight on the incredible musicianship of artists like Segun Bucknor, Joni Haastrup and his Monomono band, Orlando Julius, saxophonist Peter King, “Guitar Boy” Victor Uwaifo, Lijadu Sisters and quirky keyboard wizard William Onyeabor among many others. Spread over 3LPs, the original edition also included a one-hour audio documentary featuring exclusive interviews with many original musicians and industry figures from the ‘70s scene, narrated by Wunmi. As well as being a valuable document of an under-rated era, Nigeria 70 was one of the first crossover albums to dig deep into the African music archives and effectively market the music to a new online audience hungry for rare grooves and unique dancefloor sounds. Since Nigeria 70, this market has widened hugely with labels like Soundway, Analog Africa and Hot Casa all working tirelessly to document rare African beats. This new pressing of the Nigeria 70 3LP set is limited to 500 copies and features the full CD version and CD audio documentary as a bonus within the package. Full artwork is also featured including John Armstrong’s extensive sleeve note history alongside rare photos.Limited new 15th Anniversary repress of classic Afro-funk and Afrobeat collection, 500 copies onlyDefinitive format: 3LP set including 2CD version and 1CD audio documentary as bonusone of the most influential of all recent African music collections which helped spawn a new market for African rare groovesalbum fully remastered for this reissue

Limited edition 500 copies. Comes with an insert.

Tee Mac is a Nigeria’s multi-talented maestro flutist with cross-cultural Itsekiri and Swiss roots. He combined his first degree in Economics from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, with a specialization in classical music concert performance and philharmonic composition University of Lausanne. During a rich career spanning over 40 years, Tee Mac formed numerous bands including Tee Mac & Afro Collection in the 1970s with notable Nigerian artists. With the agreement of the artist we decided to select the best of his repertoire .The long awaited Tee Mac “best of “ is here at last juicy hot , explosive and threatens to shatter all existings records . Omatshola combined his first degree in Economics from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, with a specialization in classical music concert performance and philharmonic composition of the University of Lausanne. During a rich career spanning over 40 years, Omatshola formed numerous bands, including Tee Mac & Afro Collection in the 1970s. He recorded his first LP, United, with Polydor International in Germany with his European band Tee Mac United, in the late seventies. Omatshola hit the global music charts with two songs: « Fly Robin Fly », and « Get Up & Boogie » (owns 50% of the copy right) and toured extensively with his third band, Silver Convention, in the mid seventies. In other not to bore you with tell tales , let’s get into the heart of the album : We selelected seven beautiful and rare tracks from his album “ Party Fever “1978, a track from the “Mixed Grill” combo ( 1979) “ Night Illusion ( 1980) . The top musicians team individually display their skill and collectively have delivered a hit repertoire. And we hope a bumper harvest for Tee Mac Omatshola Iseli for the next decade.