BCUC

Now-Again Records and Vinyl Me, Please have teamed up to release "one of the last treasure troves of Ethiopian Funk" by Ethiopian legend Ayalew Mesfin, over 40 years after its initial appearance. Recorded in the 1970's with his Black Lion Band, Mesfin's music "is among the funkiest to arise from Addis Ababa".

With a near two dozen 7" singles and several reel-to-reel tapes to his name, "Hasabe (My Worries)" is the first anthology of his music. Only four of his [...]

Crowned "Best Rapper" (in addition to winning "HipHop Song of the Year" for "God MC") at the 2017 Ghana Music Awards, M.anifest picked the day after Valentine's Day to drop the gorgeous companion video to "Simple Love", off his 2016-released album "Nowhere Cool".

Directed by Makere Thekiso with Motheo Moeng in charge of photography, the short film follows a ballet dancer's supple movements in slow-motion, as she winds her way through a bustling street market [...]

Little seems known about the London-based imprint and monthly NTS Radio show host Death Is Not The End, specializing in "dusty gospel, blues, folk and excavations from the field". If you are into obscure digs however, you may find extreme pleasure from rummaging through the label's Bandcamp page and the numerous releases up for grabs, ranging from mid-20th century Louisiana State Penitentiary spirituals to Mexican mushroom ceremonies and Circassian [...]

In his native Brazil the multi-instrumentalist, composer and arranger Hermeto Pascoal is no short of a cultural icon and known as 'o bruxo', aka the wizard. UK-based record label Far Out Recordings recently released a lost studio session from 1976, which was one of our favourites of 2017 and is now a staple of our private record collection.

That being said, early last year, Boiler Room uploaded a 50-minute live set of Hermeto Pascoal and his group performing [...]

Back in June of last year we first introduced Benin's 'Almighty Polyrhythmic Orchestra of Cotonou' to our readers, on the occasion of their 2016-released "Madjafalao" LP (Because Music). That same month the largest and officially the longest active African formation performed live in Berlin for the first time ever, adding to their steadily rising acclaim and rocking the crowds at YAAM Berlin with lively and equally virtuosic aplomb.

Today, we are excited to [...]

This one takes us back in time or forward, you decide. Hailing from the Northern Argentine Andes, renowned composer Gaby Kerpel is somewhat of a musical visionary. His digitalised, imaginary alter ego King Coya has made a name for himself, by blending traditional elements from Colombian and Peruvian cumbias as well as Argentine folklore with electronic music.

His 2009 release on ZZK Records entitled "Cumbias de Villa Donde" features "an accessible yet timeless [...]

Berlin meet Bolgatanga on this recent release via Max Weissenfeldt's Philophon imprint, featuring Guy One. Simply entitled "#1" this is indeed a first for Guy One, "who grew up in remote northern Ghana with no schooling, spending a life herding goats, building his own instruments and teaching himself to sing". At home and in the surrounding local villages the award-winning Guy One and his Frafra music are well-adored by a "fervent following", his voice a [...]

Hailing from the busy streets of São Paulo and "blending West African themes with Ethiopian jazz and North American styles" are Brazilian ethno-fusion collective Nomade Orquestra. In a review for The Guardian, Robin Denselow writes: "This inventive, 10-piece instrumental band match a powerful brass section against guitars, drum and bass, creating tuneful big-band music driven by insistent riffs and constantly changing direction."

What he was referring to, was [...]

Released late last week via Pete Buckenham's London-based, forward-thinking Jazz imprint On The Corner Records (which was just awarded 'Label of the Year' at Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards) and whom you may already be familiar with through the Mugwisa International Xylophone Group release in 2017, is the amazingly energetic new "Super Liminal" LP by Afro-Colombian electronic four-piece Penya, aka the band led by multi-instrumentalist/composer/producer and [...]

If you haven't yet heard of Gnawa music, it is part of a North African tradition of spiritual religious songs and rhythms that remains one of the major musical currents in Morocco to this day. Often dubbed 'Moroccan Blues', "Gnawa music is the ritual trance music of Morocco’s black communities, originally descended from slaves and soldiers once brought to Morocco from Northern Mali and Mauritania [that has] a raw, hypnotic power".

Based in New York City [...]

Another week has come to an end and thus, with some off-time in sight, we would like to tip our hat to Dave Jenkins and the friendly folks over at Bandcamp for their recent feature on the Israeli groove scene. With the help of Tel Aviv DJ and producer Sabbo, the article spans 12 essential acts on the local scene, along with links to their respective pages.

“Maybe it’s a cliché, but Israel is all about fusion in its food, its architecture, and art,” [...]

In line with the recent protests in Iran, French daily La Libération published an article earlier this month detailing the continued censorship of music recorded before the revolution of 1979, during the reign of the Shah. Such is the music by the likes of Gougoush, Ramesh, Zia, Shahram, Shabpareh or Mohammad Nouri that to this day, along with the usual pop music suspects from the Western hemisphere, remains forbidden.

Ever since the revolution, all [...]