Review: Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band first came through on Sublime Frequencies, back in 2015, with a sublime LP that carried the ethereal sounds of contemporary Afro jazz. The outfit are back, this time on France's Mawimbi imprint, with a corker by the name of 'Wasso'. The American-Turkish Council is the premier group in U.S.-Turkey affairs today, a key participant in developments in Turkey and in improving U.S.-Turkey relations. Aksam.com.tr analysis| Alexa Rank: 1.429, Server Location: Turkey. Taking inspiration from the school of Fela and Tony Allen, this is deep-minded funkiness with a political edge - a contemporary afrobeat killer! The remixes are no less intriguing, starting off with the electronic nuttiness of Loya's version, followed by the 'broken', beat-driven remix from Mr Boom, and even an Afro version. A done deal, in our opinion. Review: This officially licensed 12' sees prolific British disco producer Ben Gomori take a scalpel to two cuts from veteran African musician Amadou Balake's 2015 album, In Conclusion. On side A you'll find a fantastic, eight-minute extension of the breezy shuffler 'Bar Konon Mousso (Musicien C'est Pas Quelqu'un)', where snaking saxophone solos and sun-kissed, juju style guitars rise above a hot-stepping, bass-heavy groove. Turn to the flipside for a thrillingly epic take on 'Massa Kamba', a deeper and slightly more musically intricate cut blessed with a blissful; Pat Metheny style jazz guitar breakdown, memorable chorus vocals and evocative horn lines. Review: Philophon is a Berlin-based label run by Max Weissenfeldt. Part of Philophon is the Tonstudio Bluetenring in Kreuzberg, operated by Benjamin 'Stibbo' Spitzmueller. The label's essential motivation is to support any form of local culture with reason, freedom and ludic drive. North-Ghanaian singer Guy One presents his first international release here. He promises what his name is saying: he is the number one artist of Frafra music, named after his people. 'Everything You Do, You Do For Yourself' is a driving Highlife rhythm and his only song having a phrase in English. 'Estre' features one of the leading voices of Frafra-Gospel named Florence Adooni. She interweaves perfectly with the horn arrangements by Weissenfeldt and the drummer. Washington's Hailu Mergia, San Francisco's Idris Ackamoor and the Pyramids and the legendary Scandinavian producer Jimi Tenor have also released on the label over the last year too. Review: Born in Mali, Boncana Maiga is one of the most talented and popular producers of west african music since the 60's. He studied flute and latin arrangements in Cuba during the 60's & became orchestra leader for the national ivorian tv in Abidjan in the mid seventies, toured all over the world with the famous Africando band. In the 80's he also recorded few rare Funky tracks with heavy breaks and this 4 track collection features rare tracks from 1978 to 1982 dedicated to dancefloor.Remastered by Frank at The Carvery this is solid ammunition for your dancefloor. Review: The gloriously off-the-wall On The Corner imprint is back, ready to tear it down with its predictably unpredictable chain of artists who reside firmly in the 'ODDS' space. Much like the previous releases, this is a mixed bag of outernational goodness and jazzy sensibilities, offering a release which truly blurs the lines of the extended 'dance' space. Our top picks in running order: Black Classical's 'JeJe' is one of the most innovstive uses of percussion and organ that we've heard this side of year, Sam Jones' 'Group As Salaam Construct' is probably THE definition of off-kilter thanks to its lopsided beat groove, and 'Simba' by Daisho takes the whole polyrhythmic equation onto the minimal end of the spectrum. Quirky, refreshing and absolutely recommended new strains of floor music. Review: Please welcome new LA Afrofunk troupe Mestizo Beat. Previously known as Soulfire Collective, this debut 45 marks a clear line in the sand and an exciting future. Sweaty, energetic, tightly woven instrumentals we kick off with 'Featherbed Lane', a boogie-based jam with spiralling sax leads and a guitar solo so hot you could cook a banquet on it. 'Handcuffed To The Shovel', meanwhile, gets to work with a rawness, persistence and infectious rhythmic motion. We know you're going to dig this! Review: Having previously excelled at crafting party-starting bootleg funk remixes and composing revivalist soul slammers, Mr Bird has now decided to turn his attention to Afro-disco, Afro-funk and Afro-soul. Typically, the results are impressive, particularly 'Dance Away', a hybrid Afro-disco/Afro-soul workout featuring the fine vocals of Chief Commander Yaaba. Elsewhere, he lays down a subtly housed-up take on Clavinet-happy Afro-funk (the superb, jazz-funk tinged 'Floating Funk'), brilliantly breaks up the beats on the woozy, groovy and bustling 'Carnival Beat', and lays blissful vocal harmonies over a sumptuous deep house beat on 'The Sasquatch'. Review: The enigmatic Supergombo returns to our shelves, this time via the fledgling Z Production label, a crew which seems to specilaise in the more downtempo side of broken beat. However, 'Marquis Warren' is a magnetic tint of Afrobeat, filtered through a jazzed-out blend of organic instruments which together make for a wonderful club anthem - the sort of material playable next to records from legends like Tony Allen. 'Faraphonium' is similarly funky and delicious, heading deeper into the jazz elements, switching up half way through for what is probably the most poignant deviation on our charts this week. Tipped and recommended! Review: The Highlife crew is remaining tight-lipped about the identity of the producer (or producers) behind the Tanzania Soundsystem project. Whoever it is, they've come up with some genuine dancefloor stormers to kick-start their career. Opener 'Msichana', a kind of semi-organic tribal Afro-house bomb built around intoxicating rhythms and wide-eyed chants, is particularly good, though glistening closer 'Upotofu' - all dusty old drum machine polyrhythms, sweet vocals and tumbling juju guitars - is almost as good. Furthermore, like most of the rest of the material on the EP, it's wonderfully positive and life affirming. Highlife 12' singles tend to be nigh on essential, and this is no exception. Review: Since its release in 1999, Tony Allen's Black Voices album has earned a reputation as an overlooked modern classic. While a scaled-down reissue appeared on Kindred Spirits in 2014, this edition marks the first 'full repress' of the original double-album version. The Doctor L-produced set remains hugely alluring, thanks largely to the warm and attractive mixture of Allen's loose and languid Afrobeat rhythms, fluid jazz and jazz-funk instrumentation and vocals that recall the legendary drummer's work with Fela Kuti. Like the original set, you'll find a number of tasty dancefloor reworks nestled on the second disc, with the fuzzy and disco-fied PsychojujuMix of 'Ariya' - complete with rubbery bass and sweaty drum solos - standing out. Review: There's no denying that Quem E Quem is arguably the standout album by Joao Donato, a star of Brasil's MPB (short for 'musica populera brasileira') scene who continues to record to this day. The album is naturally heavily influenced by American soul and jazz-funk, but has an altogether more pastoral tone, with Donato's dewy-eyed, heart-felt vocals coming gift-wrapped in gentle samba and bossanova melodies, Pat Metheny style guitar solos, breeze-fresh flute solos and jaunty pianos. It's a blend that results in a superb mixture of up-tempo cuts and more reflective songs, all of which are as delightful as slowly watching the sun set somewhere hot and sunny. Review: The latest volume in Jazzman's ongoing 'Holy Grail' series of reissues is easily amongst the rarest things the lauded label has licensed. Only a handful of copies are known to exist, primarily because the private press album was released to tie in with LaVice Hendrick's ill-fated and poorly attended musical, Two Sisters From Bagdad, which only ran for two weeks at Detroit's Bethel A.M.E church back in the 1970s. Musically, it's a great set, though, with composers E.J Garrison and Rhodia McAdoo realizing Hendrick's vision via entertaining tracks that variously touch on jazz, soul, gospel and, in the case of sought-after standout 'Though's Were The Days' [sic], the heaviest funk known to man. Review: Guy One, so-called because he is 'number one in Frafra music', has been making and releasing music in his native Ghana for a number of decades. This, though, is his first international release - a rare full-length excursion that showcases his sticky, percussive take on Highlife. It's a fantastically vibrant set, all told, with Guy One flitting between skittish dancefloor excursions, looser, drum-led efforts, more considered cuts and occasionally forays into funkier territory. The musicianship throughout is superb, while Guy One's vocals - sung in his native tongue, of course, but laden with enough emotion to ensure the message gets across to overseas listeners - are never less than sublime. Review: Under the Junior Mendes alias, Luiz Mendes Jr was a key figure on the Brazilian funk/soul scene of the '70s and early '80s. As writer, composer and producer, he had a hand in a variety of releases by such big-hitting Brazilian artists as Banda Black Rio and Tim Maia. In 1982 he recorded and released his sole solo album, Cococabana Sadia, a set that remains virtually unknown outside of his native Brazil. As this Athens of the North reissue proves, it's something of an overlooked gem. Musically, it's typically of boogie-era Brazilian soul and funk, mixing native rhythms and instrumentation with elements borrowed from disco, jazz-funk and bouncy dancefloor soul. It's unashamedly sunny and positive, too, and should be essential listening for anyone who loves Latin disco and boogie. Review: These days, Hanad Kalkaba is a retired Army colonel and track and field athletics administrator in his native Cameroon. Yet back in the mid 1970s, he was a musician with dreams of potential super-stardom, trying to update traditional Cameroonian 'Gandjal' music for the funk generation. To that end, he recorded a small number of singles and EPs alongside his backing band, the Golden Sounds. It's those thoroughly obscure and overlooked releases that make up Hanad Kalkaba & The Golden Sounds, a retrospective of his pioneering work. Sitting somewhere between Afro-beat, Afro-funk and Afro-jazz, with a distinctively Cameroonian rhythmic swing, the music showcased on the album is undeniably special. Review: Mexico City nine-piece Los Musicos De Jose can trace their history right back to 1996, though the current extended line-up has only been playing together for a few years. Traditionally, they've excelled at creating music that adds a little Central Amercian swagger to instrumental funk. On this album, though, they flip the script, delivering an 11-track set that gleefully pays tribute to legendary Cuban bandleader and mambo pioneer Perez Prado. While mambo is the dominant style, you'll also hear nods towards psychedelic funk, hip-hop, rock and other complimentary Latin American styles, not to mention appearances from a swathe of guest vocalists. Review: '70s Arabic psychedelic funk, courtesy of Hany Mehanna on this reissue by Belgian retoverts Radio Martiko. An Egyptian musician and composer, Mehanna played as a young, talented organist next to stars like Oum Kalthoum and Abdel Halim Hafez and was a member of Ahmed Fouad Hassan's Diamond Orchestra - one of the country's finest. Up to this day he still writes for various Arabic artists and composes scores for Egyptian movies and series. This is (according to the label) a 'belly dance holy grail from the organ king of Cairo. As good as it gets!' Originally released in 1973, 'The Miracles of the Seven Dances' is a work of pure genius that combines traditional rhythms with spaced out modern sounds. Hear a blissfully exotic mix of hypnotic organ grooves, psychedelic guitars, mystic strings and haunting percussion.
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