Released in August 2019 in a limited edition of 250, Music With Soul Records' founder Alex Figueira's scorching 7" sold out in a jiffy and recently received a repress. This may not come as a surprise to those who've meanwhile given the two tracks a spin and thus revealed their undeniable dancefloor potential. Never mind the genre, the people love it and so do we. 

Side A opens up with a driving, funktified bassline, vicious, snaking grooves and superb drum fills. You may find yourself wondering, what it is you are listening to, influences ranging from Latin to afrobeat, psychedelic to vintage breaks. "'Platanito' is an uncompromised crossover between classic 70’s Heavy Funk, Ghanian / Nigerian Highlife, Angolan Semba and Venezuelan culinary traditions: the only lyrics on the song emphatically celebrating two of the most popular delicacies in the country: 'Platano Frito' (Fried Plantain) with 'Guasacaca' (a traditional green sauce made mostly out of avocados, pepper and celery)," the description reads.

Fair enough, we thought and flipped over to the B-side, only to fall captive to "Guacuco" or true steel drum madness. "'Guacuco' refers to a Venezuelan sea food delight, said to have extraordinary aphrodisiac properties and usually sold across the many coastal towns in the country. [...] This great instrumental incorporates a fairly healthy dose of African and Brazilian percussion, acoustic and heavily Wah’ed electric guitars, all elements meticulously colliding until the improbable grand finale, [...] reaching that gorgeous Caribbean beach you’ve been travelling to." Again, the description is on point, but you'll need to hear for yourselves.

"Platanito / Guacuco" is Alex Figueira's (prev. Fumaça Preta, Conjunto Papa Upa and more) first release under his own name and it's a doozy. No doubt the record's second run will be gone in no time, so be quick, but don't despair. You can always go for the digital release.

Musically speaking, 2020 is off to a very good start, as we continue to browse and select extraordinary releases from around the world for your listening pleasure. Just last week, the well-respected Madrid-based label Vampisoul (from the Munster Records family, whom you may remember from our piece on Los Saicos' "Demolición") reissued "one of the most sought-after titles from the catalogue of Peruvian label MAG," aka Sonora Casino's album "Trompeteros".

Originally released in 1972, the versatile longplayer features a funky array of guarachas, cumbias, descargas and bugalú. The most noteworthy track off the album, however, is likely a tune by the name of "Astronautas en Mercurio", a "cosmic descarga full of electronic effects, filtered voices and fierce guitars with wah wah and raw distortion," that absolutely propelled us into a different headspace. 

Sonora Casino was founded by timbalero Hugo Maceda back in 1964. After recording several albums for Philips, the group released their debut on MAG in 1970 with "Pochito", the cover of which featured Hugo Maceda's wife, the vocalist Lucía "Pochita" Rivera. "Trompeteros" was the follow-up, which you can stream/buy in full below. 

Christopher Kirkley's Sahel Sounds imprint (Mdou Moctar, Les Filles de Illighadad, Ahmedou Ahmed Lowla) jumpstarts 2020 with its catchy new "Music from Saharan WhatsApp" series: "Every month, we'll be releasing an EP from a musical group in the Sahel. Every album will be recorded on a cellphone, and transmitted over WhatsApp, and uploaded to Bandcamp - where it will live for one month only. Available for pay as you want, 100% of the sales will go directly to the artist or group. After one month, the album will be replaced by another one, until the end of the year."

First off is Etran de L'Aïr (which translates to 'Stars of the Aïr', a mountainous region in Northern Niger), a group hailing from Agadez that established itself as a wedding band, playing three guitars simultaneously, "pushing their instruments to the extreme, soloing over one another and creating a dreamy cacophony of sound." Originally the band formed back in 1995 by Aghaly Migi. Owning only one acoustic guitar, "the rhythm section was a calabash floating in water 'hit with a sandal, to make a drum'." With time, however, the group evolved, instruments were added and their size now fluctuates between five to nine members, depending on the occasion. 

This three-piece session was recorded in their home in Abala. "We invited friends over to the home, for encouragement," says guitarist/vocalist Moussa "Abindi" Ibra. "But we asked them not to make too much noise, for the sake of the recording." You can stream/buy the full release below. 

Musicians on this recording are:
Moussa Ibra (guitar/vocals)
Abdourahamane Ibrahim Tahilo (guitar/vocals)
Abdoulaye Ibrahim (rhythm guitar/vocals)
Rhissa Ibrahim (djembe/vocals)

Not too long ago, we made a surprise discovery at a Berlin independent vinyl market and decided to take the record home with us, if only for the beautiful, die-cut artwork and foldout sleeve. Let's just say that our initial hunch was instantly rewarded and the record remains among our prized possessions. Said album was the Afrodyssey Orchestra's "In the Land of Aou Tila", a seven-track experimental and instrumental advance towards the "remote banks of a West African river," blending all sorts of musical influences such as jazz, funk, psychedelia and traditional West African dance music.

Today, the Athens-based band, that originally came together back in 2013, released it's follow-up album on Sergi Roig's Berlin-based Altercat Records, a label with a penchant for "high-quality releases" and "sounds from the past." Their latest joint effort is entitled "Under the Sun" and again features seven instrumental tracks in an all-out brilliant display of musicality, combining multiple genres, driven by African percussion and instruments such as the Kamelen Ngoni (a sort of African harp), the Balafon, the Chekere, the Djembe or the Doun Doun.

These are tracks that will set your mind afloat and feet in motion as you dream of lands far away and quite literally dance under the sun, which just so happens to be the title of the album you can stream/buy below. You might also watch their 2017 live performance of a track called "Moroccan Dancer" for Sofar Sounds.

Afrodyssey Orchestra are:
Konstantinos Arvanitis (electric guitar)
Vassilios Ikonomidis (doun doun, balafon, percussion, keyboards)
Christos Konstantinidis (drums)
Vasilis Papastamopoulos (bass)
Narayan Protin (djembe, congas, kamelen ngoni, talkin’ drum, chekere)
Thodoris Rellos (tenor saxophone)

All good things come in fours, innit? Berlin-based Eck Echo imprint closed out 2019 with its second vinyl release "Cuatro Suyos", a DJ-friendly EP featuring four Peruvian artists on the move: "The 'Suyos' were the four regional divisions of the Peruvian society that ruled over a large portion of South America before their encounter with Europeans, which completely transformed history in 1532. You had the 'Collasuyo' or 'the region of the Llama' in the South East, the 'Chinchaysuyo' or 'the region of the Tiger' in the North West, the 'Antisuyo' or 'the region of the Jaguar' in the North East and finally the 'Contisuyo' or 'the region of the Condor' in the West," the description reads. 

Side A kicks off with the brilliant track "Aceitunas" (transl. 'Olives') by QOQEQA & Vitú, a hallucinogenic tribal chant with a gradual build-up that will have you reconsidering that ayahuasca retreat. Up next are Lima-based duo Dengue Dengue Dengue with "Los Arboles" (transl. 'The Trees'), a laid-back clapper bedded on catchy Afro-Peruvian rhythms and a somewhat menacing synth line. Side B ensues with Soktakuri "Camino a San Jerónimo" (transl. 'Road to San Jerónimo'), which brings us the rhythmic strumming of a charango, paired with soaring pan flute and vocal chops that slowly give way to a viscous, driving bass line. And finally we have Pawkarmayta's "Ctrl Alt Sol", quite possibly an echoey ode to the sun that is eerily ethereal, yet equally potent.

For the full effect, simply stream/buy the "Cuatro Suyos" below and enjoy a spiritual moment in contemporary Peruvian dance culture.

While we're at it, here's another release from 2019 that we really felt, but didn't get around to covering. Put out on the wonderful Pingipung imprint (see also Anadol's "Uzun Havalar", Cosima's "Ploaia") back in October, "Auma" is a stunning collaborative project between the multi-talented Hamburg-based percussionist and producer Sven Kacirek – whom you may remember from his ear-opening "Kenya Sessions" (2011) – and Kenyan musician Olith Ratego, hailing from Ugunja, a small market town in the vicinity of Lake Victoria. The two first worked together on a track called "Too Good To Be True", to be found on Kacirek's aforementioned "Kenya Sessions" and in 2018 founded their collaborative project Odd Okoddo.

"Auma" then is the result of this extended artistic dialogue between Ratego's mesmerising, androgynous vocals and Kacirek's intricate rhythmic arrangements and compositions. "[The two] create a colourful, dynamic sound, which is defined by both Ratego's enormous vocal compass and range of timbres as well as Kacirek's outstanding skills as a sensitive percussionist," the description reads. "Olith Ratego sings in a musical style called 'dodo', [or 'dodo blues' as he calls it], high in pitch and soulfully expressive. His lyrics touch upon the topics of politics, family and of course: love. As a skilled luthier, [a craft he inherited in his late father's woodworking shop], Ratego builds his instruments himself, like the five-stringed Okodo, which lends its name to the project." 

Indeed, the nine tracks on "Auma" kept us glued to our seats for the full duration of the album, listening intently as the sounds enveloped us in a concentrated, dreamlike trance, filling us with warmth and admiration for this extraordinary exchange. In an article for German medium Das Filter, Sven Kacirek provides more in-depth information on Odd Okoddo and also takes time to reflect on his own role in all of this, being a white man from Europe, following centuries of colonialist exploitation and depredation of the African continent. An interesting and genuine read for sure, if you know German, but the article also includes a handful of worthwhile video content. Or you can simply stream/buy the full album below and let the music speak for itself.

Let us now travel back in time, metaphorically speaking of course. At the tail end of 2016, Analog Africa's Samy Ben Redjeb arrived in Somalia's capital city of Mogadishu and "began rifling through piles of cassettes and listening to reel-to-reel tapes in the dusty archives of Radio Mogadishu, looking for music that 'swam against the current'." It was there that he discovered a pile of unmarked recordings that apparently nobody had bothered to mess with. The senior employee accompanying him described that pile as "mainly instrumental and strange music," which no doubt struck a chord. 

"The pile turned out to be a cornucopia of different sounds: radio jingles, background music, interludes for radio programmes, television shows and theatre plays. There were also a good number of disco tunes, some had been stripped of their lyrics, the interesting parts had been recorded multiple times then cut, taped together and spliced into a long groovy instrumental loop," the release notes read. You may have guessed that some of these archive recordings now make up the recently released "Mogadisco: Dancing Mogadishu" compilation of Somalian music dated 1974-1991, featuring a fantastic selection of tunes from golden-era Mogadishu.

This music comes from a time when funk (James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations), afrobeat (Fela Kuti), reggae (Bob Marley) and later disco music (Michael Jackson) dominated the bustling local music scene, performed by live bands in nightclubs, luxury hotels and similar venues across town; bands such as Iftin, Shareero and the more widely known Dur-Dur Band. Make no mistake, putting together this compilation – "tracking down musicians - often in exile in the diaspora - to interview them and gather anecdotes", revealing dramatic stories from a country that to this date remains riddled by conflict – was no walk in the park and took a total of three years.

Bringing us back to the end result, being this superb compilation, accompanied by an extensive and equally informative companion booklet, including 50 rare photos, ensuring that this invaluable piece of Somalian culture and musical heritage is made available for generations to come. You can buy/stream the full release below. You may also want to check out these previous releases of Somalian music: "Au Revoir, Mogadishu" and "Import / Export Mogadishu".

While looking forward to all the new music of 2020, this 2019 release most definitely deserves a special mention: Budapest-born and Berlin-based keyboarder and producer Szabolcs Bognár, aka Àbáse, dropped his astonishing debut on Cosmic Compositions back in May and went on to make several 'best of' lists. And even though we overlooked the initial release, we are now looking to make things right, by making "Invocation" one of our first picks for the new year.

Featuring "seven tracks recorded during a two-year period in different locations," Àbáse's EP is not readily pigeonholed and is bound to take an unforeseen turn, just as you think you've figured it out. Working together with the crème de la crème of Budapest's buzzing musical scene along with special guest performers from Africa and Brazil, Szabolcs Bognár can be heard playing Rhodes, clavinet and synths, while each track develops a distinctive life of its own.

"Invocation" goes on to cast its special blend of broken beats, global/tribal grooves, jazz and neo-soul harmonies, creating a wonderfully melodic yet incredibly intricate soundscape that is quick to work its magic. Just stream/buy the full EP below.

With contributions by:
Fanni Zahár (flute)
Tamás Heilig (bass guitar, Moog)
Ernő Hock (double bass, bamboo marimbula)
András Koroknay (Moog)
Levente Boros (drums)
Máté Jancsovics (drums)
Tamás Czirják, (drums)
Bálint Zsigri aka DJ Slow (percussion)
Dávid Szarvas (percussion)
Bence Táborszky (trumpet)
Máté Bartók (alt saxophone)
Gergő Kováts (baritone saxophone)
Viktor Sági aka Vanis (guitar)

And special guests:
Roque Miguel (conga, xequere, agogo on "Invocation")
Wayne Snow (vocals on "Align")
Stevo Atambire (vocals, kologo on "Sambo")
Joseph Ajusuwine (vocals on "Sambo")
Saïd Tichiti (vocals, oud, karkabat on "Ashek Ellil")

We are back, alive and almost kicking. It's been some two weeks since our last post here, which we spent resting up, eating and enjoying some time-off with our loved ones. That being said, 2020 is well upon us, so here's wishing you a happy, healthy and peaceful new year. Let's see what this decade has in hold for us. 

To get things rolling, we decided to share this blaring prog pop six-tracker with you, released late last October on London-based experimental pop and dance imprint mottomotto, that has been on a self-proclaimed mission since 2014 to create a space for "rougher, spontaneous recordings". And that is precisely what earned them a spot on our webzine. 

As you may have noticed, we are not big on pop music, or rather those glossy, over-produced sounds destined to meet the commercial demands of a shallow consumer's market. But this production by "Kyoto's prog pop virtuosos" Viva Sherry was too original to pass up. Entitled "Silenzio" this eclectic onslaught of melodic pop-tinged sounds is anything but silent. Brace yourselves for"spacey jazz jams and bursts of orchestral arrangements" that are all over the place and start the new year in convincing style.

Viva Sherry are:
Sato (left-hand-bass / vocals / flute)
Himeco (vibraphone / drums / sampling / pad / vocals) 

Following the release of their third album "Catastrophic Life", these past weeks have been positively hectic for our dear Jewish Monkeys. First, they embarked on a quick tour of Germany, the Czech Republic, France and Israel. Just ahead of their show at Paris' La Bellevilloise, French daily Libé/Libération wrote a short piece on them, which you can revisit here (if you are proficient in French). The article includes a charming quote by Omer Hershman, who co-wrote the new longplayer: "The idea was to expand our Jewish humour to different genres, from surf rock to afro beat, while preserving our self-deprecating vein. In any case, when I write, I can't help but see Jossi's mug before my eyes, making it hard to keep a straight face.”

The band then went on to unveil a special, first-ever vinyl release of their current album, limited to an edition of 50 and available on the Jewish Monkeys' Bandcamp page. They also announced a string of new shows across Germany, scheduled for March 2020, which you can check out on our Shows page. Don't sleep!

What's more, the Jewish Monkeys were recently featured by German public radio Deutschlandfunk Kultur, as part of their weekly show "Aus der jüdischen Welt" (From the Jewish World). Journalist Luigi Lauer met with frontman Jossi Reich to find out more about the "Tel Aviv grandfathers of punk." You can listen to the feature here (if you are proficient in German): "We've created a new sound, that is no longer rooted solely in Yiddish culture or based on cover versions," says Jossi Reich. "Backed by our new brass section, we've managed to diversify our sound and incorporate genres such as '70s funky or afro-soul. We've really progressed, but it's still Klezmer punk rock at its core."

You can stream "Catastrophic Life" in full below and don't forget to watch the eponymous official music video, which has meanwhile reached over 100K views!

It's winter time in the Western Hemisphere, which finds us reminiscing about that island life with a little help by ways of French imprint Heavenly Sweetness. A few weeks back, the label – home to Guts, Anthony Joseph, the Florian Pellissier Quintet and many more – released the first-ever anthology dedicated to the work of Gwo-Ka artist Erick Cosaque, as part of its Antilles Series. The release highlights Cosaque's most distinctive oeuvres from 1973-1995, an essential collection of tracks to be rediscovered by music lovers all around the world.

With a career spanning 45 years and twenty-something solo albums, Erick Cosaque is rightfully considered one of the major figures of Caribbean folk music genre Gwo-Ka (gwo ka being a French Creole term for big drum): "Strong, rough and plump [...] Erick Cosaque’s voice is made to go over and above the two boula drums and the makè drum which are associated in general, along a few light percussions, with the Guadeloupean gwo ka," the album description reads. 

Born into an era of slavery, Erick Cosaque's empowering voice is not just a thing of beauty, but also full of rebellious spirit, "deeply rooted in a complex historical and social context made of fights, pleasures, memories and desires." Compiled by Fred Martin (Les Mains Noires), "Chinal Ka 1973-1995" expertly lays out Cosaque's rich palette of sounds, including jazz, soul, spoken word, funk and zouk; all in a Gwo-Ka hue. These sounds are so diverse, we needed to check the playlist a few times, to make sure the album hadn't ended and the algorithm taken over.

You can stream the full 16-track anthology below. 

Who would have guessed that Alpaca Mountain is an actual thing and if that doesn't sound too far fetched, who would have pointed to the Netherlands of all places? But then again, with YĪN YĪN nothing seems too far-fetched, now does it? Here we have a Dutch group bringing you a fresh, psychedelic blend of '60s and '70s Southeast Asian-inspired tunes, mixed with disco, funk, electronic music and the sorts.

Their story leads back to the summer of 2017, when Kees Berkers (Baby Galaxy, YAYAYA) and Yves Lennertz (Bounty Island) began "writing and recording in a ballet school in a remote village at the foot of the Plateau of Doenrade near [you guessed it] Alpaca Mountain." (Which happens to be a real alpaca farm in the village of Sweikhuizen). In any case, both of them being avid diggers, their music quite naturally included all kinds of different genres. 

After two 7" releases on Les Disques Bongo Joe, YĪN YĪN just dropped their highly anticipated debut album, promisingly entitled "The Rabbit That Hunts Tigers" and featuring a total of 13 tracks that absolutely blew our prefrontal cortex, as we embarked on a wild ride towards "an imaginary tropical island, [sipping] a strange cocktail made of discogrooves, powerful 'thaï beat' tunes and experimental tropi-synths." Again, this is not some heady leftfield experiment. It's actual music to make you dance and holler. Check their live performance of album track "Dis̄ kô Dis̄ kô" at this year's Transmusicales de Rennes and stream the full album below. This stuff is super lekker.

YĪN YĪN are:
Kees Berkers (drums, percussions, synths)
Yves Lennertz (guitar, phin, bass, organ, synths, vocals)
Robbert Verwijlen (organ & synth)
Remy Scheren (bass guitar)
w/ Gino Bombrini on mixing and extra percussion duties