10th Anniversary Edition Indie Exclusive Dirty Money Splatter Color VinylIncludes MP3 Download Card The unstoppable, irresistible rhythms and melodies of Antibalas have influenced scores of artists across rock, hip hop, afrobeat and beyond.Born in a Brooklyn warehouse in 1997, 12 piece ensemble Antibalas is credited with introducing Afrobeat to a wider global audience, influencing countless musicians and developing a live show that is the stuff of legend. Members of Antibalas served as musical directors and the house band in the Broadway hit FELA! and penned original music for the show. Members have also recently collaborated/performed with Iron and Wine, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Mark Ronson, TV on the Radio and The Roots.On the heels of the hit musical FELA!, Antibalas ended up reuniting with former member and producer Gabriel Roth, who was at the helm for their first three albums. This self-titled album was their first on Daptone Records.

Back in stock! Ghanaian Afro-Rock From Producer/Composer JJ Whitefield, Inspired By His Karl Hector & The Malcouns And Whitefield Brothers Projects JJ Whitefield, who in the early ‘90s revived the gritty, analogue Funk sounds of the ‘60s and ‘70s with his Poets Of Rhythm, has been working with Now-Again Records for over decade, releasing a flock of acclaimed projects with Karl Hector & The Malcouns, Whitefield Brothers, Rodinia and the Original Raw Soul anthology. He first started exploring African rhythms with the Whitefield Brothers in the late ‘90s, continuing in the ‘00s with Karl Hector & The Malcouns. He’s been instrumental in launching Ghanaian Afro Beat/Funk legend Ebo Taylor´s international career, decades after the maestro recorded the landmark albums that have inspired thousands. Whitefield recorded two new studio albums with Taylor and toured in his band between 2009 and 2013, where he met Taylor’s son Henry and percussionist/Singer Eric Owusu. The trio now front the Johnny! band and find inspiration not only in Ghana’s hypnotic grooves, but also the full frontal fuzz guitar assault heard on the legion of 70s Zambian Zamrock albums reissued by Now-Again. Indeed, Whitefield credits his tours with Zamrock godfathers Rikki Ililonga and WITCH’s Jagari Chanda as instrumental in creating the Johnny’s sonic backdrop. The band is rounded out by Turkish drummer Bernd Oezsevim (Woima Collective, Rodinia) and Indonesian bassist/multi instrumentalist Tomi Simatupang (Whitefield Brothers). This is what was oft-called “Afro Rock” at the core, with the possibilities to stretch out into swinging highlife, sweet soul or psychedelia . The results, point at a new direction for the music inspired by the Great Continent. One that takes a direction once mocked as derivative and asserts its importance on the globe’s current musical stage.

Double LP + Download CodeFirst time collection of Apala music released outside of Nigeria. Includes tracks in related styles, such as Waka, Sakara, Pakeke and Yoruba.

Heavyweight Vinyl, incl. Mp3 Download Code

Dick Essilfie-Bondzie was all ready for his 90th birthday party when the Covid pandemic hit. The legendary producer, businessman and founder of Ghana’s mighty Essiebons label had invited all his family and friends to the event and it was the disappointment at having to postpone that prompted Analog Africa founder Samy Ben Redjeb to propose a new compilation celebrating his contributions to the world of West African music. For most of the 1970s Essilfie-Bondzie’s Dix and Essiebons labels were synonymous with the best in modern highlife, and his roster was a who’s-who of highlife legends. C.K. Mann, Gyedu Blay Ambolley, Kofi Papa Yankson, Ernest Honny, Rob ‘Roy’ Raindorf and Ebo Taylor all released some of their greatest music under the Essiebons banner. Yet Essilfie-Bondzie had been destined for a very different career. Born in Apam and raised in Accra, he was sent to business school in London at the age of 20, and returned to the security of a government job in Ghana. But his passion for music, inspired by the sounds of Accra’s highlife scene, had never left him, and in 1967 he figured out a way of combining music and business by opening West Africa’s first record pressing plant. The venture, a partnership with the Philips label, was a huge success, attracting business from all over the continent. By the early 1970s Essilfie-Bondzie had left his government job to concentrate on his labels, and by the mid-seventies he was on a hot streak injecting album after album of restless highlife into the bloodstream of the Ghanaian music scene. Essiebons Special features a selection of obscure workouts from some of the label’s heaviest hitters. But in the course of digitising his vast archive of master tapes, Essilfie-Bondzie found a number of Afrobeat and Instrumental maszterpieces tracks from the label’s mid-70s golden age that, for one reason or another, had never been released. Those songs are included here for the first time. Sadly Essilfie-Bondzie passed away before the compilation was finished. But his legacy lives on in the extraordinary music that he gave to the world in his lifetime. Download for LP from Bandcamp also includes unlimited streaming of *Essiebons Special 1973 - 1984 - Ghana Music Power House* via the free Bandcamp app along with high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more Double LP pressed on 140g virgin vinyl comes with a full color 12-pages booklet

Cameroonian Jo Bisso's earliest musical influences didn't come primarily from his homeland, but more from the neighbouring Congo, where the kind of early 60's Congolese Rumba played by the likes of Franco / TP Ok Jazz, and Tabu Ley Rochereau was establishing itself as a musical force in the region.Alongside this exuberant, swinging, jazz influenced sound, the growing impact of the all conquering US soul titans became inescapable, and sprinkled with a bit of Johnny Halliday & Co's smooth chanson over the top, we get a snapshot of where Jo Bisso and friends post school musical experimentation was headed in the late 60's. As that decade drew to a close, the single minded Bisso headed off to France to begin his quest for the future, and by 1972 could afford the journey to the US that he'd long dreamed of. Enrollment at the Berkeley School of Music in Boston soon lead to a new band coming together, and by 1974 the all conquering, multi faceted approach that marks Bisso's musical career, meant he'd written, produced and sung on his debut single for the mighty Decca Records. 'Flying To The Land Of Soul' drew heavily from James Brown's propulsive dancefloor funk, whilst wearing it's African colours loud and proud via 'African Express' chants, and drums front and centre. At the same time, Bisso and friends had started to immerse themselves in the fast emerging disco sound pulsing outwards from Downtown NYC into the Boston nightclubs, and by the time his debut album 'Dance To It' was released in 1976, it was the driving, 4/4 floor power of disco that was to define Bisso's sound on that, and the following two albums. Whilst Bisso's immersion in Disco was based around it's energy and musicality (rather than any associated hedonism), 'African Disco Experimentals (1974 to 1978)' paints a picture of an artist dedicated to the underground club side of the scene, rather than focused exclusively on the fast emerging pop potential of the sound at the time. The album's tone is set by 3.20 mins of building, tribal percussion and rolling rhythms of the opener 'Love Beat', a 'strictly dancefloor' approach mirrored in the near 11 mins of 'Love Somebody', building from soulful keys to deep bass funk, extended percussion breaks, joyous squelchy Moog licks, breathy vocals and more (interesting footnote : Bisso is credited as Producer / Writer / Arranger, but 'Recorded by' is attributed to Joe Chiccarelli, better known in recent years for his work with The White Stripes, Shins, and Broken Social Scene.) Still clocking in at a healthy 6 mins plus, "The Mystery With Me" (1978) makes a nod towards more radio friendly waters with it's hooky, floaty choruses and tight structures (a then 22 year old Arthur Baker is credited as sole writer on Discogs - Bisso himself doesn't seemed convinced by this idea, but that's another story...) 'Let's Keep it Together' (1977) loops the song title over a slower groove, with free form electric guitar licks adding new textures, whilst 'Disco Madonna' (1976) showcases Bisso at his most playful, combining spoken word Hispanic vocals, rattling percussion and more of the always welcome Moog, switching up keys at the end for an unselfconsciously camp finale. And if anything sums up the ambition of Bisso's work in the field at the time, 'Play Me' (1978) can lay claim to being the magnum opus. It's presented here as a continuous 16 minute extravaganza (as opposed to the 4 parts it came in originally) : lush strings, hypnotic vocal sections, irresistible basslines, crisp drums, the odd Barry White style interjection, disco moans, the occasional nod to a chorus vocal. None of it seeming in much of a hurry to go anywhere in particular, choosing instead to joyfully revel in the expansiveness of the form.

incl. Mp3 Download Code

Performed and recorded over three nights to a sold-out crowd at the World Famous Theater in Harlem, NY, this album brings the electrifying performances that put Daptone on the map right into your living room! Featuring live performances by: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Charles Bradley and his Extraordinaires, Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens, Antibalas, The Budos Band, Menahan Street Band, Saun & Starr, The Sugarman 3 and our host Binky Griptite. This album is lovingly dedicated to the memory of our dear friends Sharon, Charles, Naomi and Cliff.

remastered, 180g vinyl

In the same year, 1981, that Orchestra Baobab recorded their second album under the direction of budding young Senegalese producer, Ibrahima Sylla, the Japanese electronics company Sony, held a press conference in Vienna to announce their version of the Compact Disc. In attendance was Herbert von Karajan, conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic and the urban myth – albeit possibly true – that the maximum length of 74 minutes of music then available for a CD, was because this allowed the entire length of Karajan's recording of Beethoven's 9 th Symphony, to fit on one disc.Fast forward 12 years to London in 1993 and Sterns' release of Baobab's 'Bamba' CD which combined tracks from the two vinyl albums 'Mouhamadou Bamba' & 'Viva Bawobab S1/ Si Bou Odja', and Sterns had a problem. What tracks to keep, what to drop and once you'd decided that, how to fit them all onto a CD in under 74 minutes? The solution was to edit, primarily by fading early, one of the longest tracks of the selection.Accordingly the first track of this album, “Sibou Odia”, was reduced from 14'35” to 13'41” and, in most cases, none were the wiser as the suggestion to call the CD version an “Edit” had been dropped on the basis that nobody would believe a 13+ minutes track was an edit! Now of course, such restrictions don't exist and either via a repiication of its original format on vinyl, or through the digital medium, you can hear the full-length version as first intended.And it's fascinating, not just this track but the whole album. The band is young, energetic and confident of their abilities. In the 'missing' 66 seconds you hear them live, in the studio, working together to close what indeed was something of an epic performance. And it's not just the musicians who have greater confidence. The recording itself is more accomplished, better balanced. However effective the echoey ambiance of, for example, “Mouhamadou Bamba” was on the first album, you don't find the same tricks here. They're not needed. Instead the core unit of bass, drums and guitar, ably abetted by more percussion, a second guitar and on-the-button horns, provide a solid foundation from which the five vocalists and featured instrumentalists can launch and then soar. creditsreleased November 20, 2020

Record Store day 2019 release. Limited to 1000 copies

Imarhan wurden im Jahr 2006 in Tamanrasset in Südalgerien gegründet. Ihr musikalisches Zuhause liegt im »Tishoumaren« oder auch »Assouf«, dem Wüstenblues, dem sie seither neues Leben einhauchen. Mit zwei Alben, »Imarhan« (2016) und »Temet« (2018), sind sie so zu einem Sinnbild der neuen Tuareg-Generation geworden. Anfang 2019 begannen die Mitglieder von Imarhan mit dem Bau eines professionellen Aufnahmestudios, dem ersten überhaupt in ihrer Heimatstadt Tamanrasset in Südalgerien. Die Gruppe taufte es »Aboogi«, benannt nach den ersten semi-permanenten Strukturen, die ihre nomadischen Vorfahren bei der Gründung von Siedlungen und Dörfern errichteten. Dort hat das algerische Tuareg-Wüstenrock-Quintett auch sein neues, drittes Album aufgenommen, das erste in ihrer Heimat, das sie ebenfalls »Aboogi« getauft haben. Die Platte haben Imarhan mit Gruff Rhys von den Super Furry Animals aufgenommen. Der walisische Musiker singt zudem im Song »Adar Newlan« in seiner Muttersprache. Weitere Gäste auf dem Album sind der sudanesische Sänger Sulafa Elyas, Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni von der Band Tinariwen und der Dichter Mohamed Ag Itlale, auch bekannt als Japonais, der leider kurz nach den Aufnahmen verstarb. Die musikalische Welt von Imarhan basiert auf den traditionellen Klängen der Tuareg-Musik, ist aber gleichzeitig sehr individuell und offen für die vielen Stile, denen sie begegnen. Imarhan haben das erste Mal auch Gastmusiker*innen eingeladen. Mit dabei sind die sudanesische Sängerin Sulafa Elyas und Gruff Rhys von den Super Furry Animals sowie Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni von Tinariwen und der Dichter Mohamed Ag Itlale (auch bekannt als Japonais) aus der Künstlergemeinde von Tamanrasset. Anfang 2019 haben die Mitglieder von Imarhan ein eigenes Studio in ihrer Heimatstadt Tamanrasset gegründet. Sie tauften es auf den Namen Aboogi- Studios, benannt nach den ersten Strukturen, die ihre nomadischen Vorfahren bei der Gründung von Siedlungen und Dörfern errichteten. Es ist das erste professionelle Aufnahmestudio in Tamanrasset das der Musikergemeinschaft in der Sahara dienen soll, von denen viele noch nie Zugang zu hochwertigen Aufnahmegeräten hatten. Es lag also nahe, das entstandene Album "Aboogi" zu nennen, eine Anspielung auf den neuen kollektiven Raum, den sie geschaffen hatten, sowie auf die Widerstandsfähigkeit ihrer Kultur und ihres Volkes. Die Songs auf "Aboogi" schlagen eine Brücke zwischen der Vergangenheit und der Zukunft. Sie sprechen viele aktuelle Themen an, die Imarhans Gemeinschaft betreffen, von unterdrückerischen Gesetzen bis hin zu großen wirtschaftlichen Ungleichheiten. “You must be in solidarity with your people at all costs, until the end.” sagt Sadam. Hinter der federleichten, festlichen Musik auf "Aboogi" verbirgt sich ein starkes Gefühl für Überzeugung und Gerechtigkeit. Diese Komplexität macht Imarhans Musik so vorausschauend - Schönheit und Ruhe vermischen sich mit Streit und Herzschmerz und schaffen eine dynamische Sicht auf das Leben derjenigen, die durch mehr als ein Jahrhundert Kolonialismus und einseitige Revolutionen unterjocht wurden, aber mit wahrer Gemeinschaft, Kunst und Kultur gesegnet sind. »Mit sandigen Gitarrenriffs, betörenden Chören und poetischen Texten sprechen wir über die Verbundenheit mit der Natur, Unterdrückung, verlorene Jugend, aber auch und vor allem über Hoffnung und Kampf«, schreiben Imarhan zu »Aboogi«.

Yaoundé, in the 1970´s, was a buzzing place. Every neighbourhood of Cameroon´s capital, no matter how dodgy, was flled with music spots but surprisingly there were no infrastructure to immortalise those musical riches.The country suffered from a serious lack of proper recording facilities, and the process of committing your song to tape could become a whole adventure unto itself. Of course, you could always book the national broadcasting company together with a sound engineer, but this was hardly an option for underground artists with no cash. But luckily an alternative option emerged in form of an adventist church with some good recording equipment and many of the artists on this compilation recorded their frst few songs, secretly, in these premises thanks to Monsieur Awono, the church engineer. He knew the schedule of the priests and, in exchange for some cash, he would arrange recording sessions. The artists still had to bring their own equipment, and since there was only one microphone, the amps and instruments had to be positioned perfectly. It was a risky business for everyone involved but since they knew they were making history, it was all worth it. At the end of the recording, the master reel would be handed to whoever had paid for the session, usually the artist himself..and what happened next? With no distribution nor recording companies around this was a legitimate question.More often then not it was the french label Sonafric that would offer their manufacturing and distribution structure and many Cameroonian artist used that platform to kickstart their career. What is particularly surprising in the case of Sonafric was their willingness to take chances and judge music solely on their merit rather than their commercial viability. The sheer amount of seriously crazy music released also spoke volumes about the openness of the people behind the label.But who exactly are these artists that recorded one or two songs before disappearing, never to be heard from again? Some of the names were so obscure that even the most seasoned veterans of the Cameroonian music scene had never heard of them. A few trips to the land of Makossa and many more hours of interviews were necessary to get enough insight to assemble the puzzle-pieces of Yaoundé’s buzzing 1970s music scene. We learned that despite the myriad diffculties involved in the simple process of making and releasing a record, the musicians of Yaoundé’s underground music scene left behind an extraordinary legacy of raw grooves and magnifcent tunes.The songs may have been recorded in a church, with a single microphone in the span of only an hour or two, but the fact that we still pay attention to these great creations some 50 years later, only illustrates the timelessness of their music.