Back catalogue: Disco/Reediciones

Review: Back in 2017, Soul Jazz offered up a superb box set of seven 7" singles featuring a wealth of 1970s Nigerian afro-rock, afro-funk and afro-disco. Since then the box has been changing hands for significant sums online, so they've bowed to pressure and decided to reissue it as a gatefold double album. It features the same combination of tracks from the likes of Geraldo Pino, Tony Grey, The Wings and MFB, though this time they've been included in a different order. For those interested in raw, raucous and life-affirming Nigerian dance music from the period, it should be an essential purchase (providing, of course, they don't already own the previous box set).

Review: The result of three years of digging through tapes of "strange music" in the Radio Mogadishu archives and restless research to find the musicians involved, Analog Africa's latest compilation shines a light on Somalia's previously undocumented dance music scene. It features tracks recorded between 1972 and '91 by a variety of unknown artists, with the assembled music touching on disco, psych-funk, Moog-laden club-focused instrumentals and heavyweight, Bob Marley-inspired reggae rhythms. It's a hugely vibrant and entertaining set of off-kilter and unusual Somalian translations of American and Caribbean music styles, with the bumper accompanying booklet offering up a wealth of little-known information.

Review: Another work of Soul Jazz curatorial gold: Nigeria Soul Fever is a detailed gatefold trip into one of Nigeria's richest chapters in music. Heavy trade restrictions allowed them to develop their own style without too much US or European influence and the result is an array of national talent who largely remained legends within their own borders. The range is mesmerizing; the sinewy synth and playground vocal Q&A of Benis Cletin's "Get Up & Dance", the ballroom disco soul of Tee Mac's "Living Everyday", the soulful afrofunk folk of Jimmy Sherry's "Nwaeze", the gut-punching power of Arakatula's album finale "Wake Up Africa". This is a treasure trove of unreleased gems that capture a truly unique time.

Review: For their latest tribute to Nigeria's booming music scene of the '70s and early '80s, Comb & Razor Sound has decided to do things differently. Whereas most compilations of vintage Nigerian grooves focus on music made in and around the bustling city of Lagos, Calabar-Itu Road looks instead at tracks made and released by those in South Eastern Nigeria. In true crate-digging fashion, the two records here - featuring tracks from previously unheralded stars of the "Calabar" scene, including Etubom Rex Willians and Cross River Nationale - come accompanied by a thoroughly researched, 44-page booklet telling the story of the region's love affair with popular music. If you're interested in African funk, soul and disco, it should be an essential purchase.

Review: Prepare yourself for a wry chuckle, as we impart the fact that the compilation you see hyperlinked before you was not at all prepackaged, with work cut out for its curators. Rather, it came from the source, having first manifested as a pile of Ghanaian highlife LPs buried at the bottom of DJ Jerry Frempong's wife's garden. Frempong is the son of one of one of the most prominent former Ghanaian-British label owners, Anthony Roberts Frempong of Asona Records, whose founding movements in the South East London district of Peckham proved highly popular helping disseminate highlife music in the English capital. BBE Music owner Pete Adarkwah caught wind of the serendipitous discovery and approached Jerry to discuss the reissue of this historic catalogue, which you hear here. The sweetest of early and untrodden highlife highlights are heard here, including sparklers by Kantata, Jewel Ackah, Sam Yeboah, Mr Cee and even Thomas Frempong himself.

Review: Four Flies continue their mission to plunge Italy's funk-historical depths. The pinnacle of their search so far for the sure-to-exist pearly gems on the sands thereunder is the new Africamore compilation, which homes in like a heat-seeking torpedo on the particular Afro- ends of the funk sound prevalent in the nation, in the crucial years between 1973 and 1978. This period was notable for its facilitating fertile ground for the emerging discotheque market in Italy at the time. From psychedelic-tinged tunes like Jean Paul & Angelique's 'Africa Sound' to Afrobeat-esque club banger 'Kumbayero' by Albert Verrecchia; from groundbreaking Afro-cosmics like Chrisma's 'Amore to mind-blowing floor-fillers like Beryl Cunningham's 'Why O', this is a multivalent compilation, among the best out there to document the burblings of that crosswise stew of disco, funk, electro and world musics.

Review: Favorite Recordings presents Voiciii, the third album by Voilaaa - the nom de plume of Bruno 'Patchworks' Hovart. It features guest vocalists such as Pat Kalla and Lass who he has worked with previously, but also new ones such as David Walters, Rama Traore and Ayuune Suule. There's also the addition of saxophonist Boris Pokora. The LP is a tribute to major artists of influential African sounds, such as Fela Kuti and Manu Dibango: from the empowering groove of 'Women Can Do', the late night boogie-down antics with a message on 'Water Get No Enemy' to the spiritual life music of LYMYE-A' - a delightful album from start to finish.

Review: For nearly a decade and three albums, Voilaaa has carved out a distinct niche, blending African rhythms with Disco dancefloor vibes and funky arrangements. Their Afro-Tropical journey, led by producer Bruno "Patchworks" Hovart, has produced hits like 'On te l'avait dit', 'Spies Are Watching Me', and 'Ben Bene La', along with global tours and festival appearances. Collaborations with artists such as Lass, Pat Kalla, Sir Jean, Ayuune Sule, Rama Traore, and Fouley Badiaga have been a hallmark, with Badiaga making a notable return on two tracks of their latest album. With C'est tout, Voilaaa sticks to their winning formula while infusing Latin and Caribbean elements, inspired by Hovart's travels in South America. Introduced with the spring release of a maxi single, this album delivers one hit after another. Tracks like 'Fache' featuring Pat Kalla showcase their signature sound: energetic Afrobeat horns, woozy chords, and funky clavinet licks over a dub disco-meets-Afro-boogie groove. The album's 14 tracks are largely composed by Hovart, with standout covers like Ebo Taylor's 'Love and Death' featuring Joao Selva's vocals and a unique rendition of Jamiroquai's 'Too Young to Die' with Olivya (Dowdelin).