Sammy Kasule - Ushirikiano

Sammy Kasule is a Ugandan artist who put out this amazing solo record in 1984. Here's just one of the many great songs off the album.

Sammy Kasule - Ushirikiano

Zaz - Je Veux

Secret Agent - Tony Allen

Astrud Gilberto - Girl from Ipanema

Gilles Peterson Worldwide - World Cup 2010 Edition

Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium - Port Elizabeth, South Africa

One of my all time favorite djs - Gilles Peterson, has a show on BBC Radio1 called Worldwide. He's a huge football fan and came up with the brilliant idea of doing a show with a World Cup theme. It's a creative soundclash that matches up music from 32 different countries based on the preliminary stages of FIFA's official bracket. Two parts, two hours, 32 teams, and 32 tracks to represent each team/country.

GP World Cup Edition Pt 1

GP World Cup Edition Pt 2

Group A:

South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay & France

DJ Mujava - Pleaze Mugwanti (N.E.W.S)
Mexican Industry Of Sound - Bittersweet Symphony (National Records)
Opa - Montivideo (Milestone)
Roce - Si Peu Comprennent (White)

Group B:

South Korea, Greece, Argentina & Nigeria

Epik High - Map The Soul (Map The Soul)
Eleni Karaindrou - Tou Vals Tou Gamou (ECM)
Gotan Project - De Hombre A Hombre (Ya Basta)
Nneka - The Uncomfortable Truth (Yo Mama’s Recordings)

Group C:

England, USA, Algeria & Slovenia

Zed Bias - Blaow Featuring Rodney P (White)
Tom Waits - Diamonds On My Windshield (Asylum Records)

Chaba Fadela & Cheb Sahraoui - N'sel Fink (Earthworks)
Murat - Tko To Gre (White)

Group D:

Australia, Germany, Ghana & Serbia

The Raah Project - Will You Be There (Summer Dawn)

The White Field Brothers - Safari Strut (Now - Again)

The Cutlass Dance Band - Hwehwe Mu Yi Mpena (Sound Way)

Gramaphonedize - Why Don’t You (Positivia / Virgin)

Group E:

Holland, Denmark, Cameroon & Japan

The Opposites - Broodje Bakpao (Top Notch)
Quadron- Average Fruit (A:Larm)
Manu Dibango - New Bell (Atlantic)

Soil & Pimp- Popcorn (Brownswood )

Group F:

Paraguay, Italy, Slovakia & New Zealand

Ripe Banana Skins - Estar Vivo (Asunzionvirtualmusique)
Raphael Gualazzi - Reality (White)
Oscar Rozsa - Barflies Pendulum (White)

Electric Wire Hustle - They Don't Want (Wonderful Noise)

Group G:

Ivory Coast, Portugal, Brazil & North Korea

Dobet Gnahore - Djiguene (Cumbancha)
Burka Som Sistema - Yah (Modular)
Caetano Beloso - A Cor Amarela (Universal)

Kuktan Arirang – Arirang (White Label)

Group H:

Switzerland, Chile, Spain & Honduras

Rolf Lieberman & George Gruntz - Les Echanges (Turicaphon)
Ricardo Villalobos - The Contempt (Playhouse)
Ketama Y Toumani Diabate - Caramelo (Nuevos Medios)

Lunga Centeno - Finra (White)

Royal Bafokeng Stadium - Rustenburg, South Africa

Hutchy - Welcome to the World Cup (2010)

Welcome to the World Cup - Hutchy

Welcome to the Dub - Hutchy

Thankfully I ran into Hutchy yesterday right after the England - USA game at Patty Boom Boom. He happened to have an extra copy of his new single, Welcome to the World Cup. Good timing, good single. When I asked him if I could post it here, I got an emphatic yes, so here it is.

Amadou and Mariam - La Fête au Village (2005)

This is a great tune by Amadou and Mariam, a duo from Mali who met at Mali's Institute for the Young Blind. They married in 1980 and began to do a lot of performing. This song is from their 2005 album Dimanche a Bamako. Also be sure to check out this music video from their latest album.

La Fête au Village - Amadou and Mariam

Masitéladi - Amadou and Mariam

Amadou et Mariam Feat. M - Masitéladi (directors' cut) from laurent Gillot on Vimeo.

Yellow Magic Orchestra - Behind the Mask (1979)

Behind the Mask - Yellow Magic Orchestra

Solid State Survivor was the second album from the Japanese electropop band, Yellow Magic Orchestra, and has one of their most well-known songs: Behind the Mask. This song was covered a few times. Once by Greg Phillinganes, who later joined Eric Clapton's band. Eric Clapton also covered the song in the mid-eighties and even performed it with Phil Collins on drums in 1986 or 1987.

Greg Phillinganes - Behind the Mask

Cabo Parano - Martin Solveig feat. Stephy Haik

Martin Solveig feat Stephy Haik - Cabo Parano

This song samples the Alhaji K. Frimpong track and the result is a feel good, summertime dance tune. This is a true winner sung by Martin Solveig and Stephy Haik. Martin Solveig is a french producer and dj who got his big break being asked to join the Africanism project by Bob Sinclair in the late nineties. Stephy Haik was born in France, raised in New York. I'm not sure how they initially connected, but they have worked on several songs together.

Alhaji K. Frimpong - Hwehwe Mu

I can't remember who hooked me up with this track, but I'm hoping they don't mind me sharing. This is a beautiful piece of music that was very well sampled by Martin Solveig. I will post that track soon. Thanks to Awesome Tapes from Africa, I found this other amazing Frimpong track while researching this artist. Alhaji K. Frimpong is a Ghanaian highlife artist. I was unable to find much valuable information on him, so I'll leave it at that.

Alhaji K. Frimpong - Hwehwe Mu

Alhaji K. Frimpong - Kyenkyen Bi Adi Mawu

Lafayette Afro Rock Band - Hihache

image courtesy of funky 16 corners

Lafayette Afro Rock Band - Hihache

I was talking to my friend Mike over email one day and he brought up Hihache in passing and I didn't know what he was talking about. He was kind enough to send it my way with permission to share. Of course I had in fact heard this before, but didn't know the track title or artist. The Lafayette Afro Rock Band came out of Roosevelt Long Island in 1970, but moved to Paris where they felt they'd better stand out and found their niche in the Barbès district where americans tended to hang out. They put out Soul Makossa in 1974 after changing guitarists. This was one of the stand out tracks on that album, that's been sampled many times.

Godwin Omabuwa & His Cassanova Dandies - Lovumi Do

This track was also supplied by a friend of mine and while researching Godwin Omabuwa & His Cassanova Dandies in order to have a little information to share, I read accounts of the band playing calypso and highlife in nightclubs in Lagos. Though many a club was packed, their music often merely served as a backdrop for "men and women who danced and struck love dates at the expense of the music." That doesnt' sound half bad to me. Anyhow, Godwin Omabuwa & His Cassanova Dandies, have turned up on some Nigerian and afrobeat comps over the past several years, including Nigeria Afrobeat Special: the New Explosive Sound in 1970's Nigeria, released February, 2010. This song, Lovumi Do is from the Olitubutubu LP from 1978 on Ekotse Records. Produced by Bawo Metsaharun.

Godwin Omabuwa & His Cassanova Dandies - Lovumi Do

Oluko Imo ft Fela and Femi Anikulapo Kuti - Were Oju Le (Eyes Are Getting Red)

Yes, it's been a while, but I recently got a few great tracks from a friend which I intend to post in the near future. Here's one of them: Oluko Imu's 1988 release on Arigidi Records. Aside from being a great example of where afrobeat was going just after its heyday and just before the house community's discovery, it is also one of the few - if only - records to include both Fela and Femi.

Oluko Imo ft Fela and Femi Anikulapo Kuti - Were Oju Le

Soldier of Love

Sade used to release an album very couple years, but her last two albums were close to eight years apart. No matter how much time passes in between, she has and always manages to deliver something fresh and relevant that's unmistakably hers. Now, nearly nine years after Lovers Rock, she's due to release Soldier of Love. This title track speaks for itself. Listen.

Kenya Blue Stars (1981)

I haven't had much luck finding information about this 12" or about this label in general, but I'm still looking. Regardless, this music must be heard. I was lucky enough to come across this record here in DC at Som Records on 14th St NW.

Talaka - Kenya Blue Stars

Siku Ya Kufa

You Told Your Mama Not to Worry - Hugh Masekela

Hugh Maseklea - Mandingo Man

Hugh Maseklea - Makonko

Franco Luambo and Sam Mangwana – Coopération

François Luambo Makiadi (6 July 1938 - 12 October 1989) was a major figure in twentieth century Congolese music, and African music in general. He is widely referred to as Franco Luambo or, simply, Franco. Known for his mastery of rumba, he was nicknamed the "Sorcerer of the Guitar" for his seemingly effortlessly fluid playing. As a founder of the seminal group OK Jazz, he is counted as one of the originators of the modern Congolese sound.
Francois Luambo Makiadi was born in the rural village Sona Bata in the western Bas Zaire region of what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then the colony of Belgian Congo). When he was still a baby, his parents moved to the capital city of Leopoldville (now Kinshasa). His father, Joseph Emongo, was a railroad worker while his mother baked homemade bread to sell at a local market. At age seven he built a rudimentary guitar that he played to attract customers to his mother's stall. His talent was recognized by guitarist Paul Ebengo Dewayon who taught Francois how to play. In 1950, the twelve year old made his professional debut as a member of Dewayon's band, Watam, impressing audiences with his skills on a guitar almost as big as himself. Three years later, Francois recorded his first single Bolingo na ngai na Beatrice (My love for Beatrice) after he had become part of the house band for Loningisa Studio. The band leader, Henri Bowane, shortened his given name to "Franco", a tag that would stay with him for the rest of his life. Under Bowane's tutorage Franco became a lead guitarist skilled at the Congolese guitar display style called sebene, and also began writing songs for Loningisa artists and singing some himself. By now he had embraced the Cuban rumba and other styles of African music mixed with Latin influences.
Sam Mangwana was born February 21, 1945, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo to Angolan parents. He is a Congolese soukous vocalist. Mangwana grew up listening to foreign musicians touring Kinshasa, especially those from Cuba, who greatly influenced the development of Congolese music. Sam belonged to many bands throughout his career, beginning with Tabu Ley's and Dr. Nico's band African Fiesta in 1962.

Franco Luambo and Sam Mangwana – Coopération mp3

Le Peuple - L'Orchestre le Peuple

I was unable to find much info on this record, but it's a great one. My guess is it came out of the early 1970's, but there's no date on the record. It came out of France on a label called Moninga Star. L'Orchestre le Peuple is made up of: Kifouetti Loubassou, Alphonse Mavungu, François Mackosso, and Tino Muinkua Mvura.

Massavi Fololo y’Africa - L'Orchestre le Peuple


Nzoto ya muana ya moto – L'Orchestre le Peuple

Absence - L'Orchestre le Peuple

Luta – L'Orchestre le Peuple

Letta Mbulu - What Is Wrong With Groovin' (1967)

Letta Mbulu - What is Wrong With Groovin'

This one, written by Hugh Masekela, is an old favorite track of mine that I used to play weekly at Local 16 on U St in DC.  I'm not even sure where this track first appeared, but it was recorded in 1967 and thanks to Jazzman Gerald Short of Jazzman Records, it was re-released in 2001. I got it off this comp called Ouelele - Another Collection of Modern Afro Rhythms, off of Comet Records.

Letta Mbulu was born and raised in South Africa. In 1965 she left for the States and went on to work with David Axelrod, Cannonball Adderly, and Harry Belafonte. 

Farid - Crowd Control (2000)

I checked in with Farid and got his approval to post these two tracks off his Crowd Control EP. This was an exciting time for DC underground music. I was happy to finally find this record probably about five years ago. I was djing at the Lounge one night and as usual, Farid was in the house. When I showed him my recent find, he told me he didn't even have a copy of it on vinyl, and asked me to buy it if I ever saw it again. Of course I ran into another copy a couple months later at CD Game Exchange at 18th St and Columbia Rd NW in Adams Morgan. Coincidentally, the album cover art was shot at an old electronics shop that used to be right there on the other side of Columbia Rd.

Many thanks to Farid for these great tracks.

Farid - Pit Stop

Farid - DC Masala