,Mulatu Astatke ist ein äthiopischer Musiker (Vibraphon, Perkussion, Keyboard) und Radiomoderator, der äthiopische Melodielinien und Kirchentonfolgen mit westlicher Harmonielehre und Instrumentierung verband und  daraus den EthioJazz formte.  Jetzt wieder erhältlich, sein 1972er Meisterwerk "Mulatu of Ethiopia" .

In Ihrem neuen Album artikuliert Antibalas die Themen Patriarchat, Klimawandel, Militarismus, Spätkapitalismus, Oligarchie, weißen Ethnonationalismus und den Völkermord an den amerikanischen Ureinwohnern  neu, spricht jedoch durch Melodie und Rhythmus.  "Hourglass" beginnt mit einem klagenden und ekstatischen Tenorsaxophonsolo, bevor es in einen intensiven 12-8-Groove eintaucht. Tracks wie "Solace", "Escape" und "Lo Ceiba" erinnern an den klassischen Afrobeat-Sound von Lagos, wenn auch mit einem Brooklyn-Akzent. "Oasis", das Finale des Albums, ist ein Schritt in eine psychedelische, unbekannte Zukunft, mit einem tiefen Gefühl von befreiendem Funk im Kern.

 Das Wort "Griot" bezeichnet in westafrikanischen Kulturen jemanden, der durch Gesang oder Erzählung Traditionen und Wissen weitergibt und so bewahrt.  Er ist der Geschichtenerzähler Hamburgs: MC, Produzent und Storyteller. Auf seinem Album „Griot“ bringt er diese westafrikanische Tradition in die Hansestadt und benutzt dafür auf spektakuläre Art die universelle Sprache von HipHop, Neo-Soul, Jazz und Afrobeat!

Die Band entfesselt endlich einen ersten Vorgeschmack auf  ihrem elftem Album mit dem Titel "Fly Higher".  Vibrierende Afrobeat-Jams, vollgepackt mit ansteckenden, knurrenden Bläsern, einem tiefen, federndern Groove und blitzende Jazz-Improvisationen. Die charakteristischen Call-and-Response-Refrains der Band glänzen durch die mitreißenden Gesangsbeiträge der britisch-nigerianischen Sängerin Lizzy Dosunmu und mit Dele Sosimi, dem ehemalige Keyboarder von Fela Kuti und langjähriger Kollaborateur und Freund der Band, ist ein wahrer Gamechanger mit an Bord. Ahoi!

Ruger – BlownBoy RU (LP) Eine echte Entdeckung, dieses treffsichere zweite Album von Ruger: Afrodancehall mit Erkundungen von Amapiano, Trap, R&B und brasilianischem Funk.  "BlownBoy Anthem" mit Tiwa Savage, Kranium und Zlatan ist ein weltweiter Smash und bedient besondere Beachtung auch in unserern Gefilden. MEGA!

Liebevoll kuratierte Zusammen- stellung die ein längst überfälliges Rampenlicht auf die Wegbereiter des simbabwischen Chigiyo-Sound leuchtet. Die Gruppe verschmolz Reggae-Grooves mit Shona-Gesängen, von Mbira inspirierten Gitarren und kräftigen Bläsern, um einen einzigartigen Stil zu schaffen. Eine ansteckende Energie, wobei Klassiker wie "Gomo Ramasare" und "Mudzimu Mukuru" wieder scheinen dürfen. Diese liebevoll kuratierte Compilation lässt ihren bahnbrechenden Katalog wieder aufleben und feiert ihre furchtlose Kreativität. Die markanteste und visionärste Bands Simbabwes.

Menahan Street Band, a veritable supergroup of some of today's most prolific songwriters, arrangers, and producers return with this beat-forward, cinematic masterpiece. Their unique brand of instrumental soul has not only been the foundation for some of modern hip-hop's most successful beats, it has also become the perennial soundtrack and veritable vibe-generator for countless parties, art shows, and restaurants throughout NYC and abroad. While this album carries the aesthetic torch that MSB has skillfully woven into the tapestry of their DNA, it also delves deeper into the experimental, exotic sounds that fill many of the coveted Sound Library and Soundtrack LPs of the late sixties and early seventies - an amalgamation of moog synths, electric pianos, drum machines, and a bevy of analog instrumentation, that ebb and flow in lush swells of Morriconian grandeur.-Includes MP3 Download Card

Special Edition Includes the Global Hits

Sudan Archives steht für diverse Stile, eine packende Mischung aus kraftvollem, hymnenhaftem R&B und elektronischer Musik. Ihr Violinspiel ist beeinflusst von Nordostafrikanischer Geigenmusik, aber auch Westafrikanische Rhythmen finden den Weg in ihre Musik.Für Athena hat sie mit einer Vielzahl von Songwritern, Produzenten und Musikern zusammengearbeitet. Die Stücke auf dem Album klingen voller denn je, Sudan Archives bleibt sich und ihrem einzigartigen Stilmix aber treu, der ihr so viele Fans auf der ganzen Welt eingebracht hat. Zu sehen: Eine Bronzestatue von Sudan Archives.

- Limited Edition -

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.

Record Store day 2019 release. Limited to 1000 copies

It was in Benin City, in the heart of Nigeria, that a new hybrid of intoxicating highlife music known as Edo Funk was born. It first emerged in the late 1970s when a group of musicians began to experiment with different ways of integrating elements from their native Edo culture and fusing them with new sound effects coming from West Africa´s night-clubs. Unlike the rather polished 1980´s Nigerian disco productions coming out of the international metropolis of Lagos Edo Funk was raw and reduced to its bare minimum. Someone was needed to channel this energy into a distinctive sound and Sir Victor Uwaifo appeared like a mad professor with his Joromi studio. Uwaifo took the skeletal structure of Edo music and relentless began fusing them with synthesizers, electric guitars and 80´s effect racks which resulted in some of the most outstanding Edo recordings ever made. An explosive spiced up brew with an odd psychedelic note known as Edo Funk. That‘s the sound you‘ll be discovering in the first volume of the Edo Funk Explosion series which focusses on the genre’s greatest originators; Osayomore Joseph, Akaba Man, and Sir Victor Uwaifo: Osayomore Joseph was one of the first musicians to bring the sound of the flute into the horn-dominated world of highlife, and his skills as a performer made him a fixture on the Lagos scene. When he returned to settle in Benin City in the mid 1970s – at the invitation of the royal family – he devoted himself to the modernisation and electrification of Edo music, using funk and Afro-beat as the building blocks for songs that weren’t afraid to call out government corruption or confront the dark legacy of Nigeria’s colonial past.

180g vinyl, incl. bonus CD's, Collection of recordings from one of Tanzania’s most revered but short-lived bands of the 1970s, Sunburst. Covering their entire output from 1973 to 1976, this first retrospective features music from their 45 RPM singles on Moto Moto and TFC label, as well as their sole album, "Ave Africa", and an unreleased radio session recorded in Tanzania in 1973. This release comprises of the double vinyl and a copy of the CD version, which contains extra tracks.