Ostinato US Vinilo y CD

Review: Two years ago, Ostinato Records was granted access to the bulging archives of Radiodiffusion-Television de Djibouti (RTD) in order to compile a series of releases showcasing the best of East African music of the last 50 years. This fine compilation showcases some of the results of the label's tireless digging. It focuses on music recorded by 4 Mars, a 40-piece Somalian supergroup which was initially established by a political party. Musically it's an astonishing melting pot of sounds and styles, with Somalian vocals rising above fuzzy 1970s synthesizers, funk guitars, North and East African rhythms, jazz and soul horns, surprise Asian instrumentation and, intriguingly, nods towards Jamaican reggae. The result is a range of vibrant, Kaleidoscopic cuts that genuinely sound like nothing else around.

Review: The Gulf of Tadjoura is a basin of the Indian Ocean in the Horn of Africa, south of the entrance to the Red Sea. It's an area rich in natural flora and fauna, with a bustling and lively music scene to match, as proven by this new compilation on Ostinato's Djibouti Archives series. It all features a 40 person Somali ensemble of dancers, actor, musicians, percussionists and singers called 4 Mars (named after the founding date of The People's Rally for Progress in 1997. The group served as house band for that collective and here show their sound is full of soulful and sassy grooves that tend to go slow but build you up big. Elements of African, Asia and Mediterranean culture all permeate the tracks, some of which are studio recordings, other live performances.

Review: The Ostinato label is, without a doubt, coming through with the heaviest, most sought-after funana on the planet, and that is something quite special in itself if you think that this is some pretty niche, limited material. Their Cape Verde 45s series comes through with their most killer 7" yet, a two-tracker from 1984 by the Conjunto Jovens Africano, led by Ze Orlando - a prominent figure in the connection between Santiago (CV) and Lisbon, Portugal. Both tracks are pure fire, with "Nhu Djon" rocking that classic funana style, fast-paced and full of colour, while "Volta Pa Terra" offers the island's well-known passion for synthesisers and organic instruments, landing an instantly seductive groove that grows and grows. Wonderful stuff. Don't miss this!

Review: Since Dijbouti gained independence in 1977, no music made in the tiny East African nation has been released internationally. Yet the country is blessed with some superb musicians, many of which play for Groupe RTD, the in-house musical ensemble of the state broadcaster. "The Dancing Devils of Dijbouti", their brand-new debut album, was recorded after hours at the RTD studio and offers thrilling glimpse into the unique musical fusions popular in the country. From start to finish, the album offers up a succession of sublime cuts that somehow join the dots between Bollywood-style vocals, NYC jazz, Somalian funk, Middle Eastern synthesizer sounds and, most surprisingly of all, Jamaican dub and reggae. It's a stunning and genuinely eye-opening combination.

Review: This record claims to be the first ever international release to come from Djibouti, a secret hotbed of musical goodness in East Africa. The country is a small and often overlooked land but once you dig deep you'll find a culture brimming with vitality despite the fact almost every band in the land is a national enterprise. In 2016, that changed when Ostinato Records met with senior officials of Radiodiffusion-Television Djibouti to discuss a lifting of the rules and three years later they were granted access to the archives and have put together this record, helmed by sax maestro Mohamed Abdi Alto and stuffed with essential afro styled funk and soul.

Review: Proving that the wonder of African electronic music unfolds and evolves on its own terms, Ostinato present the sound of Jantra to the world. Reportedly performing in the border town of Gedarif and on the 'outskirts of outskirts' of Khartoum in his native Sudan, Jantra uses a Yamaha keyboard to jam out endless street rave sessions to feverish crowds. He doesn't have rehearsed songs, just freestyle playing of sparkling, cosmic melodies elicited from an instrument he had to get customised at a Khartoum market so it would fit the mode of Sudanese melodies. The label followed Jantra to some of the parties he played, and merged earlier cassette recordings with new sessions to create a kind of hybrid release which introduces his music to the world in spectacular fashion.

Review: The story of how the Cabo Verde islands became an unlikely centre for electronic music in the early 1970s has previously been told on Analog Africa's superb Space Echo compilation. Ostinato's Synthesize The Soul explores similarly territory, extending the story until the tail end of the 1980s in a bid to showcase the development of the country's unique, synthesizer heavy fusion of African, Portuguese and American sounds. It's naturally a fine collection, full of cheery, hard-to-define fusions rich in vintage synthesizer sounds, righteous horns, fuzzy electric guitars, celebratory vocals and fluid organ solos. In other words, it's like the greatest tropical party you've never been to, and William Onyeabor is playing the Moog.

Review: After that magnificent compilation from Analog Africa from summer 2016, we have become increasingly obsessed with the sound of the Cape Verde islands, an archipelago off the coast of West Africa. Until recently, its musical culture hadn't quite permeated the Western world, but things have changed. Thanks to that aforementioned compilation, and now this new collection of stupendous tunes compiled by the young Ostinato Records, we have realised just how amazing the island's music tradition really is, particularly in the 70s and 80s. These guys were ahead, using a mixture of local Creole singing and visionary synth experimentation, the have constructed a sound of their own, utterly inimitable and instantly recognisable. The same familiar names appear on this new comp, including Abel Lima, Tchiss Lopes, Jose Casimiro, and a whole slew of previously untapped artists. To us, this is the best form of outernational on the market at the moment, and we couldn't recommend this enough. KILLER.

Review: New York City label Ostinato Records make their impressive debut with this compilation of Haitian Jazz and Electric Folklore spanning two decades from the sixties onwards. Allegedly compiled from an array of private collections and radio archives in Brooklyn and several digging trips throughout Haiti, this 20-track selection offers an intriguing overview of the country's musical diversity in this period. Musical innovation is matched by percussive potency as Ostinato tell the story of a "vibrant laboratory of colliding influences" in the best way possible; with some truly delightful music! You can totally see "Pele Rein" by Les Loups Noirs getting played by Floating Points down Brilliant Corners. They also include a 20 page liner note booklet with vintage photographs mined across Haiti and its vast diaspora, an essay by a scholar of traditional Haitian Vodou rhythms at the School of Arts in Port au Prince, a history of the Haitian sound, and interviews with key figures of the forgotten scene.

Review: In 1988, on the eve of the civil war that began to tear apart Somalia in the early 1990s, an intrepid band of broadcasters and journalists secretly salvaged some 10,000 cassettes of homegrown music from the archives of Radio Hargeissa in Somaliland. Almost 30 years on, those tapes have finally been mined for Sweet As Broken Dates, a brilliant compilation that finally showcases some of the multitude of gems that were recorded and released in the country between the late '60s and early '90s. It's a brilliant collection, all told, full of exotic music that combines Western styles - soul, funk, disco, pop, reggae, boogie, psychedelic rock and even early hip-hop- with musical influences from the wider region (most notably Arabic and tropical music from islands in the Indian Ocean). In other words, it should be an essential purchase.

Review: In 1988, on the eve of the civil war that began to tear apart Somalia in the early 1990s, an intrepid band of broadcasters and journalists secretly salvaged some 10,000 cassettes of homegrown music from the archives of Radio Hargeissa in Somaliland. Almost 30 years on, those tapes have finally been mined for Sweet as Broken Dates, a brilliant compilation that finally showcases some of the multitude of gems that were recorded and released in the country between the late '60s and early '90s. It's a brilliant collection, all told, full of exotic music that combines Western styles - soul, funk, disco, pop, reggae, boogie, psychedelic rock and even early hip-hop- with musical influences from the wider region (most notably Arabic and tropical music from islands in the Indian Ocean). In other words, it should be an essential purchase.

Review: Before a hard line religious government seized control of Sudan via a 1989 coup, the country had one of the richest musical scenes in the world. This fine two-disc compilation from Ostinato brilliantly chronicles the various strands of this scene, focusing especially on music made in the capitol city, Khartoum. Fired by tum tum and Nubian rhythms, the set shuffles through the Arabian-inspired violin and accordion-heavy orchestral music of the 1970s, synthesizer and drum machine-driven cuts of the 1980s, and more polished later recordings produced by local artists who had fled persecution in the 1990s. There's naturally much to enjoy throughout, including a clutch of rare live recordings and some of the most beguilding, heart-felt songs ever to come out of East Africa.

Review: Ostinato Records is still in its infancy but the label has well and truly impressed us since they first launched last year. That initial string of reissue material from Cape Verde was sensational to say the least, and we're doubly impressed to see that the label heads have now sprawled out to Sudan, a corner of Africa that is comparatively less known in terms of music. With 16 tunes that have been selected for this essential double album, there is so much to explore and take in, especially given that this music is not something to be consumed superficially; let's the rhythms take you, revel in them, learn your surroundings. This is you being launched in Sudan. Hotly tipped!