[ aquarius records — International ]

IMPORTANT (Please read to avoid confusion): Some items below may be tagged with a bold, red, all-caps OUT OF PRINT/UNAVAILABLE notice. This does NOT mean that all other items not so tagged are, in fact, in stock — or for that matter, in print and available, though there's a good chance they are. Some folks get confused on this point, and we can see why, so please read this for further clarification and other important before-you-order information. Unlike some mailorder websites, we don't have an electronic inventory system linked to our site, so you can't be sure of what we actually have or don't have in stock at any given moment without asking us — please email our mailorder department for availability status — or better yet, just go ahead and place your order using our shopping cart function and we'll get back to you with the status of each item. If you have general non-mailorder questions, email the store.

Showing results 1101 through 1150 of 1785.

A gorgeous record of African folk music from this legendary Malian singer, documenting a series of collaborations between friends, recorded casually, field recording style, at a family member's house. Toure would meet with each friend, hang out, drink tea and choose a song the first day, then the next day, the two would record the song, giving themselves only two takes, in order to capture the energy and spontaneity of the moment. Originally, the producer intended to mix these songs with the sounds of the street and various interviews, to create a more historical document of the music, the time and the place, but once the recordings were finished, they decided the songs were too good to mess with. And good is an understatement, the songs here are gorgeous, emotional, intimate, passionate, and quite simple, but so powerful, generally just two instruments and one or two voices, the instruments locked into looped cyclical melodies, super trancelike and hypnotic, while the vocals soar over the top. The opener is incredible, the two guitar wound into intricate harmonies and dizzying counterpoint, the vocals lush and soulful, and when the song shifts, and the guitars get even more tangled, and the second vocal comes in, it's so intense, we've listened to that first song about 20 times now. The other collaborations are just as moving, the vocal interplay incredible, and the various permutations of dueling guitars fantastic, the sound shifting from traditional African folk, to desert blues, to something more American influenced, but all infused with Toure's spirit and style. Anyone who's been digging the various African releases on Sublime Frequencies, or any of the Tinariwen records, will definitely dig this too.

MPEG stream: Bon Koum
MPEG stream: Adema
MPEG stream: Djarii Ber

Vieux Farka Toure's music resonates with a strength, power and wisdom well beyond his years. While the shoes he's had to fill being the son of the late great Ali Farka Toure are quite enormous he's done so with an equally gifted ability to create songs that ring with a universal truth and strength that anyone can understand no matter what language you speak. We were instant believers in after hearing his debut a couple years ago and our appreciation of him grew when we saw him live opening for Tinariwen at the Palace Of Fine Arts shortly after that record came out. There was no doubt that this was a man filled with passion, remarkable guitar playing skills and a voice that is both peaceful and commanding of attention. Fondo is further proof that we will be hearing great music from Vieux for many years to come. While continuing the great tradition of Mali music that his dad helped bring to the ears of many across the globe, he is carrying on that legacy with a richness all his own.

MPEG stream: Fafa
MPEG stream: Mali
MPEG stream: Sarama

Cheesy remixes, unfortunately.

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

Inarguably an all-time classic of sixties psych. Peru's Traffic Sound might not be the most famous band from the era, but those in the know, know. At long last we have a cd reissue of their second album, Virgin, a masterpiece recorded in 1969. It's brought to us by the Repsychled label from their homeland, responsible also for that Tarkus reish we raved over a not long ago. And it's about time. Maybe you saw our review last year of the Traffic Sound compilation Yellow Sea Years? It included only one track from this album (the hit single in Peru "Meshkalina") for reasons we can't fathom, except that you'd want the whole thing anyway, and here it is! Psychedelic pop/prog perfection, featuring both dreamy melodies and some freaked out, flutey jazz/krautrock sounding passages, including a dose of backwards weirdness and several tracks of acoustic beauty. They were contemporaneous with better-known American and British acts such as the Beatles, Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Pink Floyd, and Love, and influenced by the likes of them no doubt. But on Virgin, Traffic Sound make the case for their own spaced-out, groovy, early-prog creativity. And in fact this was the first album by a Peruvian rock band to feature all-original compositions. As albums of the era from Latin America go, this is one of the essentials, particularily if you've been digging, say, Mexico's La Revolucion De Emiliano Zapata, or any of those awesome psych titles from Brazil that we've seen lately... Repsychled has some interesting packaging notions, this is in a sort of under-sized cardboard digi-folder thing. It seems like each title we get from them is in some different, non-standard sleeve. In any case, for this official reissue they've gone to the master tapes and done a careful remastering job, and the cd booklet is packed with vintage photos and suchlike.

MPEG stream: Virgin
MPEG stream: Yellow Sea Days

Yeah! Yellow Sea Years is a great collection of tracks from this legendary '60s psych outfit from Peru. We've actually had this in stock since last year and always meant to list it but only got around to it now. Traffic Sound's early influences should be readily apparent from the cover versions that populated their first album, 1968's A Bailar GoGo: Jimi Hendrix, Eric Burdon, Iron Butterfly (nope, not "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" -- they did "You Can't Win"!), and Skip James's "I'm So Glad" (as featured on the Latin American installment of the Love, Peace & Poetry compilation series). Of those debut album tracks, only Eric Burdon's "Sky Pilot" is included here. By the time of their second album Virgin in '69, they'd definitely established their own, wonderfully spacey, groovy and melodic, sound. That brilliant LP is only represented on this disc by "Meshkalina" though this comp takes its name from the epic "Yellow Sea Days" (not included). Following on from Virgin, Traffic Sound continued to explore more mellow, Pink Floydy pop as well as getting into funkier Latin-tinged soul-psychedelia... the latter perhaps being the reason that Vampi Soul has opted to focus mainly on material from the band's third and fourth LPs, Traffic Sound (1970) and Lux ('71), cramming as much of those albums onto this 80 minute cd anthology as possible. And there's definitely some great stuff here! For example, the utter jazz-horns boosted psychedelic grooviness of "Tibette's Suzettes" (with a slightly Ozzy-ish vocal). Badass track that one. Yep, if you're into upbeat, '60s psych-pop rock that draws on prog, folk, and funk, you need to check out the Traffic Sound. Now if they'd only also reissue all of Virgin!

MPEG stream: Tibet's Suzettes (You Can't Appreciate A Gift From God)
MPEG stream: Those Days Have Gone

Two new releases this week, from this relatively new world music label, whose past releases have totally blown us away, in particular, a collection of songs from legendary musician, Yoro Sibide, master of the ngoni, a traditional African stringed instrument, but almost more importantly, a donso, one of the traditional hunters of Mali, a mysterious group of men who live separated from the rest of society, the music of the donso, performed to inspire the other donsos for the hunt, epic tales of battles fought and won, lives lost, and worlds gone but not forgotten. Sibide is particularly relevant as both of these new releases on Yaala Yaala are records by student apprentices of the master Sibide, who spent years learning the way of the donsos, as well as of course, the music passed down from generation to generation. Unlike Toba Seydou, featured on the other Yaala Yaala release on this list, who tracked down Sibide with the intention of becoming his apprentice, Abdoulaye Traore, learned to sing and play as a child, at the foot of his father, who eventually gave up music to return to farming, while Abdoulaye continued on, only to eventually be discovered during a performance, by Sibide, who was so impressed, he specifically requested that Abdoulaye become his apprentice. He studied for years and eventually become Sibide's main accompanist. This cd gathers up his first seven cassette releases, and again like Tora Seydou, Abdoulaye's music bears a striking resemblance to his master's, as well as to Tora Seydou's, the same sort of buzzing low strings, locked into repetitive grooves, looped sounding, repeated over and over, totally trance inducing, the vocals slipping from passionate wail, to hushed croon, the percussion super minimal, each track, a single riff, one part, the percussion and ngoni in perfect unison, in fact, in some ways, Abdoulaye' music is the most hypnotic of the three, the most stripped down and minimal, but equally as passionate and inspiring, spiritual and transcendent, these sounds, this music, is so magical, we could listen to this forever, even removed from its traditions, existing simply as notes and rhythms, these songs still retain the music's history, the blood and tears, the years of struggle and survival, of life and death, of birth and rebirth, imbuing the sound with an ineffable energy, a mysterious power, which is a rarity in most music for sure, and makes these sounds so special.

MPEG stream: Dankoro Lamagalen
MPEG stream: Karamogo Ni Ko

MPEG stream: Dounia
MPEG stream: Aimer
MPEG stream: Koronoko

Two new releases this week, from this relatively new world music label, whose past releases have totally blown us away, in particular, a collection of songs from legendary musician, Yoro Sibide, master of the ngoni, a traditional African stringed instrument, but almost more importantly, a donso, one of the traditional hunters of Mali, a mysterious group of men who live separated from the rest of society, the music of the donso, performed to inspire the other donsos for the hunt, epic tales of battles fought and won, lives lost, and worlds gone but not forgotten. Sibide is particularly relevant as both of these new releases on Yaala Yaala are records by student apprentices of the master Sibide, who spent years learning the way of the donsos, as well as of course, the music passed down from generation to generation. Tora Seydou Traore became obsessed with the music of the hunters as a child, so much so that when his father sent him out to care for the flock, he would build instruments from old junk and bicycle parts, and play music until his father would find him and beat him. And so it went until Traore went away to school, and then later decided to follow his destiny and track down Sibide, to learn from the master. Which he did, until he graduated five years late, and began to take on apprentices of his own. And of course it makes sense that Traore's music would bear such a strong resemblance to that of Sibide, warm and lush, dark and hypnotic, the buzzing strings locked into looping grooves, underpinned by simple percussion, with Traore's clear, strong powerful vocals, sometimes soaring dramatically, other times more subdued and crooned, often engaged in call and response with a chorus, the melodies spidery and minor key, the sound minimal and muted and so gorgeously trancelike, lots of layered buzz, warm whirling rumbles, minimal percussion, hand drums, shakers, unfurling clouds of sizzle and whir, a haunting cloud of soft washed out buzz wrapped around the tangled low end melodies, Traore's music, and the music of the donsos, so drone-y and minimal, so gorgeously haunting, utterly hypnotic, and so emotionally resonant, truly some of the most fantastic spiritual music we've heard...

MPEG stream: Koma Ma Son
MPEG stream: Maransa

Very few record labels attain the sort of iconic status usually reserved for artists, and those that do, often spend YEARS cultivating a roster, and developing a fanbase, made up of the sort of fans that will buy ANYTHING and everything on the label. In the past, Sub Pop, Touch And Go, Homestead, tUMULt (sez Andee!), but lately a couple labels have managed to make that leap in a matter of months rather than years. Mississippi of course. Reissuing all manner or blues, gospel and punk rock rarities on vinyl, and now Plus Tapes, who are doing the same, albeit with international sounds instead, and focusing on the cassette tape as the format of choice. Always limited, and always guaranteed to sell out in a heartbeat. And this latest reissue from Plus Tapes will most likely be no different, aside from those folks who will buy ANYTHING, regardless of what it is, before they hear it or even know anything about it, this collection from Travellers, will be of great interest to fans of all the Sublime Frequencies releases for sure. From Singapore, Travellers, traffic in a sort of groovy jazzy surf pop, rife with Morricone-isms, plenty of twang, groovy Mariachi horns, fluttering flutes, simple shuffling drums, spidery guitar melodies, cheesy synthesizers and lots of reverby surf rock , occasional wild rock saxophone, all with a distinctly Eastern vibe. Lots of this sounds like the soundtrack from some long lost Western or kung fu epic, surfy, jazzy, funky, folky, playful, slipping from minor key moodiness to fun sunshine-y poppiness, always dramatic and evocative and most definitely always groovy. LIMITED TO 100 COPIES!!! Already sold out at the label, we have the last copies, more than a third of the pressing came to aQ, but these still probably won't last long. Full color covers, hand numbered, green tapes, correspondingly numbered!

MPEG stream: Excerpt 1
MPEG stream: Excerpt 2

Some early '70s French psych-rock here, not so much on the proto-metal side of things but still totally groovy, and from the get-go not failing to rock the cowbell (well, the opening track on this 22 song collection, "Peut-etre Demain", is the number one cowbell culprit, gotta love it). We first heard of Triangle some years ago thanks to the amazing, AQ-fave six-cd Igor Wakhevitch box on Fractal (now, sadly, out of print). Wakhevitch was an avant-garde, electronic composer whose first few albums enlisted the fuzzed guitars of Triangle as part of their surreal soundscapes. So we'd been always curious to hear Triangle's own music. Of course it's not as far out as the Wakhevitch stuff, they're basically a pop band, tres commercial, yet with a freaky side to 'em. This disc, as the title reveals, collects some of their crucial cuts from '69 through '74... a lot of upbeat numbers with DJ-friendly beats, symphonic prog moves, catchy choruses, and swingin' horns. Really, judging from this disc, Triangle were all over the place, from synth-laced proto-disco to placid piano ballads to bubblegum hard rock. If you like stuff of the "B-music" persuasion (like the Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word comp), or that Total Freakout collection on Mucho Gusto, or rad '70s "library music" and things like that, we figure you'll dig these Triangle tunes. This digipack includes pictures of all of Triangle's original 33 and 45 rpm record sleeves, which are nice to have -- the first album's got a piano engulfed in flames on it, the second has Triangle lined up for a firing squad, also comprised of the band members. But there's no liner notes to speak of, so we don't know a heck of a lot more about 'em, other than that they recorded three albums and a bunch of singles, had some hits, went on to back up pop singer Papillon on a solo LP of his (three tracks from that album, including their cover of Bowie's "Starman" en Francais, are to be found here).

MPEG stream: Peut-etre Demain
MPEG stream: Les Brumes De Chatou
MPEG stream: Mama, Tu Ne Sais Pas

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. This cd is a broad spanning collection of recordings - made from 1928 to 1951 - by Miguel Matamoros' most resilient of groups. Consisting of Miguel Matamoros (voice, guitar), Ciro Rodriguez (voice, maracas, claves) and Rafael Cueto (guitar, choir), it was this ensemble with which "Miguel was successful in combining to perfection all the melodic and rhythmic elements that the eastern son contained, and he brought to it the very typical charms of the purest 'creole' flavor." It is this genre that is the national pride of Cuba and it is this ensemble that impressed many young aspiring musicians including Compay Segundo of Buena Vista Social Club fame.

It goes to show how prolific Troum can be, if we missed the first two entries in the 'power romance' series, which were granted ocean/sea titles and based (in part) on samples from J.S. Bach. This 52 minute piece features multiple movements that ebb and flow into each other. The opening phrases ascend from pastoral orchestral samples (presumably those aforementioned Bach samples) into a soaring crescendo of swirling, emotionally bright tones and loops from trilling strings, girded by those luminously flanged guitars that Troum has mustered for years. Then comes the anthemic surge of a big back-beat from programmed rhythms that sound more like a live drum kit than they've previously produced, giving this movement a feel more like those grand early tracks by Sigur Ros or even Godspeed! You Black Emperor. A subdued melancholic passage of lugubrious murk follows before the duo reprises their classic Troum / Maeror Tri sound of deep, doom-paced basslines and goth-drone melodies which churn through the guitars. The bass climbs to the foreground some 30 minutes into the album with those weeping guitars settling into the distance before another fantastically mesmeric rhythmic blast kicks in. Admittedly, we've been critical of Troum and Maeror Tri for some of their programming choices in the past; but this is a high caliber set of sampling here, with a mid-tempo breakbeat laced with overblown cymbal crashes that has more in common with the complex patterns of Squarepusher than the earlier tribal-industrial rhythms. The finale pools into those saturated drones of evanescent bass and guitar, scraped with just the right amount of distortion. Another great album from these perennial aQ faves...

Here are the few facts we've gathered about this band Truck and their (apparently only) album entitled Surprise, Surprise: they were from faraway Malaysia, released this rare record back in 1974, and were obviously pretty big Beatles fans by the sound of it! And (less of a fact, more of an opinion) they're pretty rad. Sung in English, the ten tracks here are wonderful pop psych that could have come out of London in '68, by a band like Kaleidoscope... well, except for one element: the unexpected strains of spacey analog Moog synth heard in many of these songs. That helps make this Truck album extra-special. But it would be pretty special anyway, with its blend of dreamy, sunny melodies, lush studio orchestration, and a bit of fuzz guitar riffing. And while seemingly inspired by the Fab Four, Truck aren't just about them. We hear hints of The Who, The Creation, and even Joe Walsh in there just as much as ELO or Badfinger. But of course we'd recommend it to people who like obscure, Beatlesy bands like The Aerovons or Peru's We All Together. Released on cd (supposedly limited edition) by the Spanish label Guerssen, this is one of those cool out-of-the-blue reissues we're always stoked to hear! Nice!!

MPEG stream: Surprise, Surprise
MPEG stream: This Is Our Love Song

Shadoks somehow does it yet again, digging up an obscure, fuzzed out psychedelic gem from one of the far corners of the globe. This one must have really required some digging, as the disc is not even an actual full album reissue, but a collection of mostly unreleased tracks by three different but related groups from the jungles of Venezuela - late '60s / early '70s underground acts pretty much unknown outside of their home turf. Obscure indeed, but pretty dang cool, makes you wonder about all the even more obscure bands never documented at all. Shadoks has already brought us one classic Venezuelan psych record by Ladies W.C. and this stuff is in much the same vein of freaky high energy hard psych and fuzzy popsike. These recordings, taken from 7" singles as well as unreleased tapes, date from roughly 1967 to 1972, and are all by these three bands that featured many of the same members, always including guitarist Josetio Romero. First came LSD, an acid rock act obviously, then they morphed into the Led Zeppelin influenced Tsee Mud (the name a reference to the bloodsucking, disease-bearing tsetse fly), and then finally the all-instrumental and super groovy Bacro. Romera was involved with some other bands too during this period, like one called Heavy Load, but none of the others left any recordings. He apparently even toured the USA (playing Madison Square Garden!) with the American R&B band The Del-Vikings, during the break between Tsee Mud and Bacro. As you might suppose, Romero was a pretty wild guitarist, starting off as a devoted Jimi Hendrix acolyte and going from there. None of these bands (who played live a lot and must have been great on stage) ever made a full-length lp which is a shame but at least this collection brings together what they did record, and it really works as a cohesive set, basically a 'best of' one band with three names. Our favorite tracks might be the instrumentals by Bacro, those are just killer grooves, no vocals needed. But ALL the tracks are pretty great, the ones with wailing vocals to go with the wailing guitar too. There's no duds, all the tracks are packed with hairy funk, primal prog moves and lumbering, heavy, Hendrix-y riffs out the wazoo. There's a few moody moments but things usually start swinging seconds later. Some of the time, Tsee Mud et. al. come across sorta like a South American James Gang, cool! Also for fans of Los Dug Dugs for sure, and even African psych stuff like Witch. Further proof that awesome, unknown bands lurked in garages the world over, back then! The cd booklet includes lengthy liner notes in both English and Spanish, along with lyrics, vintage photos and graphics. Although, despite all the detailed information provided, the cd booklet doesn't do a very good job of identifying which of the eleven tracks on this disc were by which bands, though you can probably figure it out if you read carefully, if it even matters, which it doesn't really. FYI, also available on vinyl, but it's hella expensive ($45), that's how Shadoks do, we can special order it though, just ask.

MPEG stream: Amandote Esta Dios
MPEG stream: If You Want To Be Alive
MPEG stream: This Natural Place

The first in what will be an ongoing series of Afro-Cuban collections commissioned by the always trustworthy Soul Jazz records. Tumba Francesca is a totally vibrant combination of African drums and French patois vocals. Tumba Francesca La Caridad de Oriente is a 140-year old tradition in Cuba. Beginning in the 19th century elaborate performances of this music would take place during Carnivale with everyone decked out in 18th century French ballroom costumes while playing African music. It's easy to understand why it's worth it to go to such great lengths to preserve this music and this culture, the sound is a timeless and exhuberant explosion of effervescent rhythms and amazing vocal chants and call & response singing that keeps your body moving and your mind soaring. Such a deep and powerful musical tradition can not be forgotten...

MPEG stream: Mapula Live
MPEG stream: Ven Mi Morena (Tahona)

'Mystical goat dancer' is an apt describer of Otha Turner, an ageless creation of the Mississippi earth whose musical mastery is over a simple fife carved out of a bamboo cane fishing pole. Together with his Rising Star Fife & Drum band, Turner has for years fashioned shrill whistles around the militant snare march of the drum core, reconstituting the rhythmic hypnotism of lost slave songs. This album is a much more sedate outing for Turner as he has been joined by a handful of Senegalese musicians, beautifully linking the two divergant African sounds. Turner's domineering presence is neccessary for the success of these fusions, but at times, he seems to wander off (to feed the chickens? after all this was recorded at his farm) on two tracks which snap back to traditional Senegalese rhythms. Regardless, an excellent document.

Anthropologist Thierry Zeno has regularly visited the Tzotile communities in the high plateaus of the Chiapas state of Mexico. The Tzotile people are the last descendants of the Mayan culture and have retained a traditional life devoid of Hispanic influence. These recordings document the rapid recitations of Tzotile stories as well as the music for the Day of the Dead, the Transfer of Power, and sancitification rituals. The traditional Tzotile instrumentation includes handbuilt harps, little fiddles, and water pipes that mimic bird songs.

Discovering new genres of music, especially those involving cross-cultural fertilization of the most unlikely sorts, is always a big turn on for us at AQ. And whether it be go-go beat music from Cambodia, "Anadolu Pop" from Turkey, the Latin-flavored psychedelia of Brazil's Tropicalia movement, the "hillbilly drone" of Henry Flynt, or the black metal jug band dub of Black Ark Oaken Saw (whoops, sorry, that last one doesn't actually exist, yet), we're always fascinated to hear international artists melding their indigenous musical traditions with popular styles from the Western world. So Peru's Uchpa, an electric blues / hard rock band who sing in Quechua, the Native American language of the ancient Incan Empire, is right up our alley. Even Andee, who usually gives Allan a hard time for supposedly liking so much straight-up "blues rock", digs this. The extremely nasal-sounding vocals (which we're not sure is a trait of the singer, or typical of how Quechua normally sounds) give Uchpa a weird enough vibe to fit in here at AQ, no problem. Although in any case we'd probably be tempted to give this the thumbs up just 'cause of the cover picture -- a cud-chewing llama strapped with a double necked acoustic 12 and 6 string guitar! Who doesn't love llamas, and double necks?? Uchpa formed in the mid-'90s and this is their third album, from 2000. They've got a newer one or two but we picked this to import from Peru just 'cause of the aforementioned cover art. Most of the tracks, with titles like "Manakutimusaqchu" and "Yanapaway Yuksimuyta", are kick ass rockers with lots of amped up crunch, and in addition to those frantic, nasal Quechua vocals they've also got some ethnic instrumentation employed alongside the heavy, bluesy, wah-wah laced guitar licks. Basically, you could sum up Uchpa as "Hendrix in the Andes". If you like the Tuvan-rock hybrid of Yat-kha, this might have the same appeal, even though it's from a totally different part of the world. Includes two QuickTime videos, which lets you see Uchpa's singer performing wearing what appears to be a traditional Incan costume, including a quite remarkable piece of headgear.

MPEG stream: Ananao
MPEG stream: Corazon Contento

Acid Mothers Temple followers might already be aware of this obscure French five-piece instrumental psych-rock outfit, if only because of their inclusion on the Acid Mothers Temple Family Compliation "Do Whatever You Want" that we listed not so long ago. This double cd offering (a rare 'real' cd release on the Acid Mothers Temple label) takes off from the sound of the comp's Ueh track (which appears again here): slowly unfolding soundscapes featuring tear drops of melancholy, melodic guitar, deep, warm, almost Bohren-like bass tones, and a sparse, kinda-krautrock-ish rhythmic base laid down by their drummer, the single-named Frederic (who also had a solo track on that AMT Family Compilation, and his own disc on AMT, which we haven't heard). It's psychedelic, we suppose, but really more akin to post rock -- post rock that Temporary Residence Ltd. bands would envy, although Ueh pretty much stick to the quiet part of the usual post-rock loud-soft dynamics formula. Kinda like good old Tortoise. We could imagine this as a Kranky or Strange Audio Attractors House label release as well. Ueh's languid sunset drones and jazzy, vibesy details are really, really beautiful. In our reviews, we try not to quote press releases, but the description we were given of this uses many of the words we'd like to: dreamy, soft, mellow, film soundtracks... You get the picture. Great music for when you're not sure you want to listen to anything at all. Apparently, one disc (the first, louder, jazzier) features their composed songs, while the other disc (the second, quieter, without song titles) is all improvised, but you probably couldn't tell which was which if you had to guess! Limited to 500 copies by the way, of which we have only a few.

RealAudio clip: Uezi
RealAudio clip: disc 2 track 1
RealAudio clip: disc 2 track 2
RealAudio clip: Escargot

Ulan Bator's previous album Ego: Echo was released over here on Michael Gira's Young God label in 2000, and we liked it quite a bit ("one of the mightiest, ahem, 'post-rock' records of the year"). Well turns out that UB made a new album just last year, 2003, but being an import-only item from their home country of France we've only just discovered it. And instead of having Gira at the helm, they've enlisted the help of another '80s alt-rock artist, Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins, to mix and master Nouvel Air. Dunno if it's his influence or what, but this new UB has got to be their most 'pop' album yet. Smooth, mellow and melodic French language indie rock, really quite lovely but not immediately encouraging the comparisons to Mogwai and Circle we applied to Ego: Echo's weighty grooves. Languid, sad, romantic...sure it's less post- and more pop, but it's hard to argue with how pretty this is! UB just have a more subtle majesty than before.

MPEG stream: Nouvel Air
MPEG stream: Solide Ete

The music of Piero Umilani was always the breeziest and most fun-loving of the Italian soundtrack composers. What more proof do you need than the opening track of this collection, a song made famous by the Muppets, "Mah Na Mah Na". But if you've never heard the rich intonation of the male lead vocalist in the original, you really owe yourself a listen. Furthermore, the fact that the song originally came from a soundtrack for a film called Sweden, Heaven and Hell, just adds to Umilani's zany mystique. This collection of sixties and seventies soundtracks is a good start for those who missed out on the now out of print Easy Tempo reissues from the late nineties. There's plenty of whimsical guitar leads, snaking through festive and enchanting xylophones, trumpets, and all manner of eccentric auxiliary percussion one would associate with the decadence and elegance of '60s and '70s era film. When not baroquely festive, Umiliani assuredly works his way through darker moods with trembling string sections, haunting vocals, and lilting guitar lines. And of course, naturally, for good measure, there is some fucking brilliant whistling, which always makes EVERYTHING better, whether it be a compilation of forgotten soundtrack music, or a stroll home from work. It may not be THE definitive collection for Umilani enthusiasts but it has plenty of Italian cinematic soundtrack gems, from spy themes and Spaghetti Westerns to pensive romance and of course, sunny femme-vocalised pop. Anyone looking to brush up Umiliani, or Italian soundtracks in general will cover some important territory with this one.

MPEG stream: Mah Na Mah Na
MPEG stream: Isola Tuttofare
MPEG stream: Le Isole Dell'amore
MPEG stream: Un Posto Per Un Addio

Estonian folk music isn't something that comes around these parts all that often (to be honest, it's never shown up until now); so we're not going to claim to have any pre-existing knowledge of the genre. But we'll don our ethnomusicological hats for this beautifully rich document of ancient Estonian folk songs! Utsiotso is an Estonian men's choir reviving very old songs and archaic dialects from the Estonian people, whose cultural and geographical wanderings had planted villages as far as Novosibirisk in central Siberia over the millennia. There were a number of tribes and communities which took part in this diaspora, including the Seto and the Voru peoples. The former was the more widely spread, responsible for those Siberian settlements many centuries ago; and the latter populated what became southern Estonia and northern Latvia. As you could imagine, their dialects and their cultural traditions vary with the distance from the Estonian cultures localized farther north and west near the Baltic Sea. It's these particular, nearly forgotten cultures that are the objects of research for Utsiotso. Musically, these folk songs are a capella short numbers, hinged upon the recurring polyphonic chants from the four voices offset in rhythmic phrases by a single voice, who presumably carrying the narrative of the song against the allegorical reprise of the chanting. It's not hard to hear Appalachian call and response, or the cyclical rhythms of Persian song poems, or the melancholy harmonics of Germanic plainsongs in these ancient hymns. The liner-notes are mostly in Estonian, with some brief English translations explaining that the songs wax about love, war, alcohol, and the bitter cold; but throughout these languid harmonies and vocal repetitions, Utiotso emphasizes a profound and beautiful sadness in their songs. They fix this emotional sentiment to the land from which they come by recording these songs in various locations in the Estonian countryside, including the windswept forest, the lapping waves of Lake Peipsi, and a couple of resonant churches. The recording was provided by Patrick McGingley, better known as the sound ecologist / drone strategist Murmer. His role is suitably small, lending all of the weight to the drama of these four men, their voices, and these ancient songs.

MPEG stream: Touse, paev
MPEG stream: Kulmah kuunuh
MPEG stream: Puhas puulpaiv

The mighty Sound Way label (the fine folks who brought us the killer Nigeria Special compilations) is back with another fantastic reissue of classic West African popular music, this time documenting the mid-1970s output of the enigmatic and flamboyant Sir Victor Uwaifo, the guitar-boy superstar! You might recognize Uwaifo from his appearance on the Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump compilation where his track "Dododo (Ekassa 1)" was a real skirt blower. These days, when most of us have access to this kind of music only through curated compilations featuring dozens of performers, it's a rare treat to get a more well-rounded picture of a single artist; big ups to Sound Way for delivering the goods! The majority of tracks on this collection are based around Uwaifo's unique hybrid of the traditional rhythm of the 'ekassa' coronation dance with highlife instrumentation. The result is something joyous, funky, and soulful that manages to maintain a laid-back, upbeat feel that is distinct from the frenetic rush of Afrobeat and the other scenes happening in mid-'70s Lagos. In fact, there's a sweet, classic pop element to Uwaifo's songwriting that has more in common with Buddy Holly and Richie Valens than it does with the American funk, soul and disco that inspired his contemporaries. Valens is actually a pretty good jumping off point for comparison, as the electrified version of the ekassa rhythm lends a Latin flourish to the music that recalls Valens' Chicano rock styles saturated with fuzz, wah and a distinctly Nigerian rhythmic sensibility. Unsurprisingly, it's Uwaifo's guitar playing that stand out as the real centerpiece of the record as it skips from traditional highlife accompaniment to psych-tinged, fuzzed-out solos to primitive delay and wah-wah experimentalism, sometimes all within the same song! Uwaifo's jangling open-string solos, jarringly nimble riffing, and ability to switch effortlessly between rhythm and lead again recall Buddy Holly and also classic US surf rock (in fact, the track "Agho" goes so far as to quote parts of "Tequila" - weird, but fantastic!), but there's a lot more going on than that. Check out "Igboroho (Ekassa 24)" to hear Uwaifo pushing his guitar into fractured, no-wave territory; given that it still sounds completely freaked out now, it must've been thoroughly mind-expanding at the time. As with all things from Sound Ways, this disc comes with lavish packaging; meticulously researched and compiled liner notes replete with archival photographs, album art; and song-by-song gloss by Uwaifo himself. It's a fantastic package highly recommended for anyone who's been enjoying the goldmine of reissues of African popular musics we've been seeing over the past year. So good!

MPEG stream: Igboroho (Ekassa 5)
MPEG stream: Egbe Natete
MPEG stream: Agho

How long has it been? Seven years? Well it's about time we had a new studio album from these old, old AQ faves. Hopefully they're old faves of yours too, but if not, we're very happy to introduce 'em to you, and this new album will do the job very very well! Hailing from the Czech Republic, this legendary band of radical arty rockers, whose name means "Now I Get It" and is pronounced ooje-May-Dome-uh, or Oozh Smeh Dough-Ma, depending on whom you ask, got their start back in the '80s Prague punk scene, and soon became the PROG punks to reckon with as well; we've described their musical approach as being a sort of "heavy and hyperkinetic ... horn-blasted punk/prog hoedown that mingles the folk melodies of Eastern Europe with the underground/avantgarde of the Rock In Opposition scene" and that's certainly still displayed with fervor on Caves, a spelunking themed album of majestic melodies and energetic pop in their trademark eccentric style. The current UZD quartet, lead by vocalist Miroslav Wanek (and including as always non-musical member Martin Velisek, credited with "brushes, paints" for his distinctive art and design work) is augmented by several guests on accordion, trombone, violin, upright bass, acoustic guitar, and vocals. That's in addition to their usual guitar, piano, trumpet, drums, and bass. So it's no wonder that this ensemble can be such a powerful musical force, driven by their unique vision. After a brief intro, "Cave", consisting of dripping water and spoken poetry (in Czech, as are all the songs, though English translations are provided in the cd booklet), the band launches into the album's first song proper, the brassy, bombastic "Droplet", which has a bit of a Hawaii Five-O gone Eastern European vibe. That's followed by the more somber "Abyss", and then 8 more varied, vibrant numbers, some tracks like punked-up Carl Stalling cartoon music, some getting almost metal in the guitar dep't., others slowing down for gorgeous, mournfully melodic parts... They also get into some quite complex, convoluted rockin' that kinda sounds like Japanese zeuhl heavyweights Hundred Sights Of Koenji with more horns! Fans of uber-insane prog should be pleased, as well as anyone who likes their pop music to sound both dramatic and deeply meaningful (even when you don't know the language). We'd further guess that fans of sundry such current indie acts as Deerhoof, Hidden Cameras, and USAisamonster (RIP) could be potential UZD converts, for various reasons, check 'em out.

MPEG stream: Droplet
MPEG stream: Reel
MPEG stream: Fascination

WARNING: These are all-region PAL (not NTSC) dvds. That means they'll play just fine in your computer, but not on your TV set, unless you've got a PAL-capable dvd player. Ah, Uz Jsme Doma! (Pronounced ooje-May-Dome-uh). Nobody else like them. Heavy and hyperkinetic "Wagnerian ska", a horn-blasted punk/prog hoedown that mingles the folk melodies of Eastern Europe with the underground/avantgarde of the Rock In Opposition scene. Yep, nobody else like 'em. We at AQ have been fans of this crazy Czech crew for years and years. And we can tell you, it's about time for a release like this! A double dvd featuring both a live concert and a "behind the music" style documentary, yes!! This is awesome for two basic reasons. Firstly, anyone who has ever seen 'em perform can tell you, as incredible as their records are, they're even more astounding live on stage. So a live dvd is of course essential to any fan, and should make new fans as well. Secondly, as big into Uz Jsme Doma as we are, we confess there's many nuances to the band, conceptually, that escape us, simply because we don't understand the Czech language. The documentary portion of this dvd set, which features English subtitles hallelujah, is quite enlightening as it delves deeply into what Uz Jsme Doma is all about. And it's more than just music and lyrics with these guys. Costumes and artwork are equally important. In fact, maybe you remember a Uz Jsme Doma artifact we once sold here (now long gone), that was a cd packaged in an elaborate pop-up book, shaped like a house? Well if not, you'll see it here, the documentary uses it to organize its varied investigations into UJD's history (one of the first rock bands out of Prague, considered "antisocial" by the Communist authorities then in control), meaning, and methods. Their politics and philosophies. You'll find out about the punk scene in '80s Prague. About the band's obsession with seminal San Francisco avant-act The Residents. About why the color yellow was chosen for so much of their artwork. And plenty more. Fascinating for any fan, and again, a good way to get converted into one if you're currently unfamiliar with the band. The live dvd, entitled 20 Flyears, was recorded at their 20th anniversary show at the Theatre Archa, Prague, October 13th 2005 and features 35 songs or bits of songs, the first half an immense medley with ex-members joining in, the second half featuring UJD joined by something called the MIKROCHOR choir. The documentary dvd, entitled "Pudding", features interviews with former band members, critics, friends, etc. and incorporates photos and footage from the band's own archives as well as from various film appearances and stuff from Czech TV docs as well.

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. Hailing from the Czech Republic, this legendary band of radical arty rockers, whose name means "Now I Get It" and is pronounced ooje-May-Dome-uh, or Oozh Smeh Dough-Ma, depending on whom you ask, got their start back in the '80s Prague punk scene, and soon became the PROG punks to reckon with as well; we've described their musical approach as being a sort of "heavy and hyperkinetic ... horn-blasted punk/prog hoedown that mingles the folk melodies of Eastern Europe with the underground/avantgarde of the Rock In Opposition scene". Released in 1999.

***MISSISSIPPI ALERT***MISSISSIPPI ALERT***** Mississippi brings us another incredible collection, this time of Hindustani classical vocal music from 1930-1955 compiled from rare 78's. During the time this music was recorded, the British rule of India was losing its hold, and by 1947 India had become independent. So this is music made during much strife, from different regions. peoples and cultures that make up the population of India, a place Westerners tend to think of as a singular monoculture. Vocal music to most Indians is considered the higher musical art form over instrumentalists, because the range, complexity and connection to breath and life of the voice is the idealized standard to which all other instruments are based. In the voice, all the variants of cultures, regions and religions are represented and can be distinctly understood from each other and how they relate to the concept of a unified India. This beautiful collection of vocal music features both female and male singers both well-known and obscure (though they are mostly all obscure to us!) including Faiyaz Khan Hirabai Barodekar, Dattreya Vishnu Paluskar, and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, with instrumental accompaniment of tambouras and sarods, that is dreamy, meditative and powerful. Comes with a booklet with photos and liner notes biographical and historical background of all of the singers, written by Ian Nagoski. Amazing!

The mighty Sublime Frequencies label keeps the impossibly cool comps coming, this their second collection of music from Algeria. The first focused on a very specific musical form from the region called Rai, whereas this new one is all about folk and pop music from the same era, and while on the surface it may seem more 'mainstream', it's still fantastically quirky, funky, groovy, and exotic, and all over the sonic map. The seventies were a surprisingly good time for music in Algeria, 45's in particular, which was remarkable considering the socialist government at the time, and the legions of cops, and bureaucrats, and censors no doubt hell bent on suppressing any sort of social movement, and yet, music flourished, certainly a response to 'the man', who perhaps let these hippies have their music, assuming it might relieve some of the social tension of the time. Regardless, the 'hairies' embraced this sound, and were digging these very American influenced sounds, fuzzed out garage rock, groovy exotica, plenty of buzzing sitars, warbly organs, twangy surf guitar, wild percussion, male and female vox, some tracks sound literally straight out of the USA, others are fantastic hybrids of Western music and more traditional local sounds, but all the music included here is lively and powerful and personal and imbued with an energy that went well beyond just music and sound. And sure some of the jams are schmaltzy, almost easy listening, but even then, listening to those tracks, dressing wild and growing your hair our, was still extremely subversive and a serious rebellion, especially considering most of this music was officially suppressed. Like all Sublime Frequencies comps, so fantastic, and leaves us hankering for more more more! And packaged as always, sublimely (ahem), in a heavy full color gatefold sleeve, with a super striking black and white portrait of an Algerian couple in their best rock and roll finery on the front, and inside, plenty of rare photos, liner notes and notes on each song and performer.

Another winner from Sublime Frequencies. And while we made sure to stress that past "vinyl-only" were indeed vinyl only, lately, those vinyl releases have been slowly making it to cd. BUT, for the vinyl folks out there, these do disappear fast, and fetch big bucks on eBay once they're gone, so you're not gonna want to snooze on this one. Listening to this again, now, for maybe the 20th time in 2 days, it's becoming clear we'll probably have to make this a Record Of The Week as soon as it comes out on cd, but for now, even though it's only a highlight, it really couldn't be more of a MUST OWN. And like many of the Sublime Frequencies before it, we find it hard to not think that maybe folks don't need to be making so much music, releasing so many records, when so much amazing outrageously creative music is already being and has been made all over the world, for so long, much of it never heard outside of a very few people. Maybe we should have some sort of national policy, where bands can turn in their instruments, and in exchange get a recorder, a plane ticket, and an expense account, with which they can roam the world bringing back some of that unheard and lost music. Heck, sign us up right now! Anyway, this new release is a collection of Rai music from the early seventies, from Algeria, and these particular cuts are samples of some of the sort of "outlaw" Rai performers, a modern strain that has been neglected and ignored, and takes this classic Algerian music form, and adds electric guitar, trumpets, wah wah pedal, and whips it all up into an infectious brew equal parts Ethiopiques, Bollywood and garage rock. Or something close to that. This stuff is truly hard to describe, and the liner notes, while informative, are printed on an eye popping blue on red old school 3-D colored background which makes the text swim and sway before your eyes. And offer more on the history and the players than what Rai music actually is (there's a good description on Wikipedia). But for the purpose of this review, as it should be, we'll just focus on the sound. And what a sound! Warm whirring organ drones, trumpets EVERYWHERE, really the defining sound, wild chaotic tribal drumming, crooned dramatic vocals, groovy, soulful, funky, raw and lo-fi, like a garage rock Ethiopiques, but with a strangely raw Bollywood vibe, the trumpets peppering the murky grooves with strange fanfares and jazzy melodies, here and there distorted guitars surface, wrapped in wah wah, reverb and echo all over the place, some songs super frenzied, others laid back and dreamy, Indian melodies draped over almost surfy grooves, really pretty fantastic. Hard to imagine that folks who have been digging all the Sublime Frequencies releases, or the Yaala Yaala reissues won't go crazy for this stuff. Group Doueh, Group Inerane, and now this, a pretty mind blowing, near perfect, far out world music three-fer, and that's not even counting the 30+ release that came before. ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED. LIMITED TO 1500 COPIES, 180 gram vinyl, super thick gatefold sleeve, full color, with tons of photos and liner notes inside.

One of FOUR recent new vinyl releases on the mighty Sublime Frequencies label (we have the others too, if you want any/all just ask), this one harkening back to the label's mind blowing 'Radio' series (Radio India, Radio Java, Radio Morocco, etc.), which were essentially just recordings done by someone in a hotel room, flipping through the radio dial, capturing songs, and advertisements, radio plays, whatever. Those comps were amazing glimpses into another culture. A Distant Invitation is a similar sonic survey, capturing all manner of sounds from the streets of Southeast Asia (Burma, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand), whether it be musicians jamming on corners, snippets of music drifting from back alleys, bits of conversations, radios blasting, impromptu street parties, dogs barking, children laughing, cars zooming by, the music itself a wild concoction of traditional folk music and mutated modern pop, played through all manner of homebuilt speakers and junkyard instruments, creating a gloriously vibrant din. From chiming, lilting gamelan, to snake charmer horns and wild percussion atop a bed of revving engines, wild pounding percussion freakouts, with vocals bellowed through loud speakers, laid back folk, warm winsome crooning and simple sweet strumming, dizzyingly dense and distorted drum jams, the splattery report of firecrackers, soaring, sweet vocals wreathed in birdsong, and drifting through echoey streets, the chatter of insects, the static of radios, what sounds like the buzzing of kazoos, totally fantastic, and utterly fantastical. Like all Sublime Frequencies releases, gorgeously packaged in a full color sleeve, includes a printed insert with liner notes as well. But sorry, no download.

MPEG stream: Bali, Indonesia
MPEG stream: Bangkok, Thailand
MPEG stream: Myanmar/Angkor/Bali

MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT!! MISSIS... oh wait. Scratch that. A Orillas Del Magdalena might LOOK like a Mississippi record, and may SOUND like a Mississippi record, but is in fact a new archival release on Domino Sound, the beginning of a new series? We don't know, but we sure hope so. Needless to say, all you Mississippi Records fanatics, might want to grab one of these, sure maybe it doesn't yet have the fetishistic cache that Mississippi has attained, but it is a fantastic collection of lost sounds. Unlike the gospel / blues focus of Mississippi, A Orillas Del Magdalena is a collection of Cumbia music, a mix of African and Spanish sounds from Columbia, that is festive and celebratory, raucous and emotional. The songs here are culled from the archives of recordist Antonio Fuentes, who began recording the music of Columbia in the early 30s and went on to start Columbia's first record label. The tracks here span the several decades between the fifties and the seventies, and are so fantastic, the sound incorporates lots of horns and accordions, call and response vocalizing, wild percussion, fluttery flutes, playful melodies, it's a little bit calypso, a little bit mariachi, all infused with a distinctly African vibe, fans of the Ethiopiques series and all the Sublime Frequencies releases will definitely dig this and yeah, this easily could have found it's way to Mississippi, which means, as if you couldn't have sussed it out already, WAY recommended!

B-Music / Finders Keepers are the masters of the mix, headed up by DJ / record collector extraordinaire Andy Votel, pretty much every compilation these guys put out is like getting a super far out mix tape from your weird music obsessed best friend who knows everything about ____ (Turkish psych, lost disco, weirdo proto metal, lost soundtracks, Pakistani film music, Hungarian psych prog, etc.). To that list, of music your imaginary best friend (aka Andy Votel and his B-Music gang) is well versed in, you can now add "Mid-Med-Mod-Rock & Spanish Psychsploitation From The 'Cradle Of Spanish Pop'". Phew. Absolute Belter collects a handful of classic jams from the Spanish label Belter, marking the label's 50th anniversary!! Lots of incredible stuff here, plenty of fuzzed out psych, groovy funk, and especially intriguing, weirdo covers of songs by The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Quincy Jones, and most excitingly, Curved Air's "Back Street Luv" done by a group called Control (which is also on that Radio Galaxia comp!). It's a fuzzy, but more poppy than proggy version, makes us wish someone would do a cool anthology of all Curved Air's stuff, so good! But we digress... The highlights are too many to mention one by one, it's basically a whole record of highlights, but besides that killer Curved Air cover, there's Fusioon's, warm washed out wearily psychedelic "Tocata Y Fug", with its woozy organs, majestic melodies, and weirdo prog-isms, or Furia's theme song "Furia", a heavy psych groove burner, with some awesome harmony vocals, thick basslines, and a killer main hook. Or howabout Soledad Miranda, most famous for being nude in Vampyros Lesbos with some groovy, loungy exotica, all soaring strings and jazzy drums, very Bond theme sounding, and she actually has a great voice. There's Los Mismos' "Jefe Ironside", a sort of disco cop show theme meets hippy jam from the musical Hair, or Control's country flecked bass heavy psychedelia, Los Gritos' "Veo Visions" a sci-fi fuzz groove, with tons of out-there Joe Meek production weirdness, we could go on and on and on and on. Needless to say, but we shall anyway, if you're a fan of the label, and any of their collections, the BYG Deal, Well Hung, Pomegranates, The Sound Of Wonder, well then you're probably gonna want this, or if you're just into cool fuzzy freaky far out psychedelic sounds, this could very well be the mix tape of obscure stuff you've been hoping someone would make you!

MPEG stream: Tocata Y Fug
MPEG stream: Furia
MPEG stream: Por Las Viejas Calles
MPEG stream: Jefe Ironside
MPEG stream: La Verdad

Thank goodness for compilations like The In-Kraut and Disco Deutchland which were not only super fun collections, gathering up some of the most amazing late '60s and '70s German grooviness, but they also helped dispel the common stereotype that German music and culture is deadly serious, cold and austere. Those records helped highlight a carefree side to to the German music scene that we hadn't often been exposed to. Achtung! furthers our exposure to this fun filled world with 20 instrumentals that perfectly tie together the go-go kitchy fun of the In-Kraut records, the dancefloor ready jams of Disco Deutchland as well as some serious grooving funk and poppy psychedelia informed by Philadelphia soul, The JB's, afro-pop, cocktail parties, ye-ye French-pop and B-movie scores. Totally fun and totally perfect as the soundtrack to your next party. Artists include: James Last, Max Greger, Peter Thomas, Ambros Seelos, Ady Zehnpfennig, Gerhard Narholz, Hans Haider, Don Kelly Band, Kai Warner And His Orchestra, Theo Schumann Combo, Henry Arland, Heinz Kiessling, Orchester G�nter Gollasch, Pete Jacques, Hans Ehrlinger And His Orchestra, Catch Up, Helmut Zacharias, Roberto Delgado, Berry Lipman and Orchester Walter Kubiczek. All your favorites!

MPEG stream: U-Humbah
MPEG stream: Mabusso
MPEG stream: Es Steht Ein Haus In New Orleans

The last Honest Jon's compilation we carried focussed on the roots of Congolese Rumba through a wave of Latin influence on the region from the thirties to the fifties. The latest Honest Jon's compilation, Africa Boogaloo, expands upon that concept by tracing Latin music's influential trajectory from the fifties to the seventies all along Africa's Western Coast from the Congo to Senegal. Culled from rare recordings by both celebrated artists as well as the little known, this compilation focuses not so much on the single artist but the bigger dance bands like Orchestra Baobab, Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou, Orchestre OK Jazz, and one of the major stars of Afro-beat, Manu Dibango (here performing the title track with Le Grand Kalle and Don Gonzalo). Boogaloo being a hybrid style of soul, R&B, mambo and various other forms of Afro-Cuban music, it makes sense that not only would it be popular in Africa whose various indigenous musical styles inspired Latin music in the first place, but that it would proliferate further into modern fusions of various African musical forms. The constant cross-cultural influence is amazingly uncanny as well as delightfully infectious!

MPEG stream: Africa Boogaloo
MPEG stream: Quiero Wapacha
MPEG stream: On Verra Ca

When we first ordered this, we imagined it would be a compilation of rapping in African music, or more like the roots of modern rap in Africa, but instead this is a collection of some of the most popular contemporary rap groups in Africa, and it's pretty great. It's interesting to hear how the music, while obviouly reminscent of American hip hop, incorporates all sorts of traditional African musics as well as modern music (especially Mbalax or African commercial pop), as well as rapping in French and Wolof and a heavy political/religious bent as 90% of African rappers are Muslim. As a simple hip hop compilation, this stands up pretty well. Fans of MC Solaar and the Le Flow hip hop collection from a few years back will love this. But as a musical and sociological document, complete with Trikont's excellent liner notes, this is essential.

RealAudio clip: Xam
RealAudio clip: Boul Ma Mine
RealAudio clip: Badalia
RealAudio clip: Jalgaty

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

Samy Ben Redjeb, the man behind the Analog Africa label, allegedly went through some 3000 records before picking the 14 tracks that make up this amazing compilation of mid-'70s sounds from Benin and Togo - the two smaller countries that happen to be sandwiched between Nigeria and Ghana, two of the dominant cultural forces in African music at that time. As much as the music included on African Scream Contest shows the influence of those neighboring heavyweights, there are plenty of other elements coming into the mix. You can hear Afro-Cuban horn blasts and clave rhythms alongside samba grooves and James Brown funk. That you can hear blues and soul being filtered through highlife, Afrobeat, and even traditional choral music is one of the things that makes this period of African music so exciting: no one influence holds any more sway than any other, and the result is something totally unique that manages to be strangely familiar while sounding like nothing you've ever heard in your life. Like the title says, this stuff is definitely raw - you can hear musicians who not only taught themselves how to play, but in doing so created their own culture, national identity and music. For every influence pulled from elsewhere in the world (be it US funk or Brazilian rhythms), there's something distinctly regional through which it gets filtered; for example, Benin is the birthplace of voodoo, and that must surely have been an influence on the sense of wild abandon and frenzy that this music manages to capture so perfectly. Simply put, this is heavy stuff! The standard for these kinds of compilations has been set incredibly high by labels like Strut, Sound Way, Soul Jazz and the like, but if anything Analog Africa have raised the bar even higher. It took three years of research, crate digging, interviews and detective work to put this compilation together and it shows: this presentation of the music, liner notes and archival materials is meticulous, loving and borders on obsessive. This is an amazing collection of songs that once again shows the incredible depth of cultural output happening in Africa in the '60s and '70s. It's a great time to be a fan of these musics, and this stunning compilation shows us exactly why. Recommended!

MPEG stream: It's A Vanity
MPEG stream: Mi Kple Dogbekpo
MPEG stream: Congolaise Benin Ye

A collection that only begins to scratch the surface of the rarely heard of underground jazz scene in South Africa. Compiled by Jake Behnan, "Afrika Underground" covers "jazz funk & fusion" stuff from the mid-seventies to the early eighties, from the

RealAudio clip: Lament
RealAudio clip: Chapita
RealAudio clip: The Way It Used To Be

In addition to reissuing their Ghana Soundz collection, Sound Way has put together an additional 12 rare tracks of afro-beat from Nigeria. Included along with mainstays Fela Kuti and Orlando Julius are several lesser known (this side of the pond anyhoo) groups like The Mebusas, The Don Issac Ezekiel Combination, The Martins Brothers Dance Band and more. Like Ghana Soundz, this CD comes with a thick booklet of info, including artist bios, and album art repros.

MPEG stream: Son of Mr. Bull Dog
MPEG stream: Omelebele

NOW ON VINYL! In addition to reissuing their Ghana Soundz collection, Sound Way has put together an additional 12 rare tracks of afro-beat from Nigeria. Included along with mainstays Fela Kuti and Orlando Julius are several lesser known (this side of the pond anyhoo) groups like The Mebusas, The Don Issac Ezekiel Combination, The Martins Brothers Dance Band and more. Comes with a thick booklet of info, including artist bios, and album art repros.

MPEG stream: Son of Mr. Bull Dog
MPEG stream: Omelebele

There aren't many instruments that we would want to hear a whole record of. But drums are an exception. Drums seem to be the unifying instrument for all music lovers. Whether it's hip-hop, Japanese noise, krautrock, funk, afro-beat, etc. we all love hearing the drummer get wicked! There is something so mystical and powerful about the sound of drums that its no wonder that they have often been used as the main instrument in so many mystical & spiritual settings. Recorded by Soul Jazz in Cuba at the ICAIC studios these recordings demonstrate the African-influence on the drumming used in Cuban religious cults and ceremonies. Much like the amazing Voodoo Drums, and Spirits Of Life comps Soul Jazz put out a few years ago this is another great collection of frenzied drumming for a higher calling.

MPEG stream: Yuka
MPEG stream: Guiro
MPEG stream: Makuta

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. Yet another collection of classic 70's afro-funk. Subtitled "Motherload From the Motherland", the 13 tracks here are certainly a goldmine of afro-funk. Some are in the vein of Fela Kuti, some are bizarre interpretations of the James Brown sound, and some are akin to the instrumental tracks you might find in a seventies film score. Featuring cuts by the likes of Manu Dibango, Matata, Dick Khoza, Assagai, and much more. All the tracks were mastered directly from vinyl sources, so along with the usual surface noise anomalies you get a couple songs where the lp's hole was punched off center and the track is a bit warbled. Rather charming, I think. The bad or, to be sure, truly sucky thing about this compilation is its complete lack of liner notes whatsoever -- you get a track listing and that's it. I'm not opposed to quasi-bootleg re-issues, but if someone's going to go through the trouble of archiving the tracks they should at least give a little background info as to their origin, maybe even some bios on the more obscure artists.

RealAudio clip: Afro Funk
RealAudio clip: Cocoa
RealAudio clip: Maku Penda

Now on vinyl! Analog Africa does it again! The hardest working Afro-beat reissue label brings us another amazing comp of psych-tinged, long-lost Afro-beat, this time from Ghana and Togo recorded between 1972-1979. Raw, sultry, and totally ass-shaking, pretty much all of the tracks have never been released outside the region. Funky Latin rhythms, organ-driven psych, and cosmic soulful percussive trance-outs by 11 bands. Comes with amazing 44 page booklet with pictures and histories. Wow, deluxe package, incredible music. We can go on, but do we really need to? Analog Africa hasn't let us down yet. 100 percent Solid! Trust.

MPEG stream: Me Yee Owu Den
MPEG stream: Break Through
MPEG stream: Live In Other World
MPEG stream: Afe Ato Yen Bio