Tags: African

Review: This latest reissue from Awesome Tapes From Africa is the whole reason for founder Brian Shimkovitz starting the blog and the label that grew out of it. Some 13 years ago, Shimkovitz stumbled across a cassette copy of Obaa Sima whilst travelling Ghana and his love for Ata Kak's music lead to the foundation of the Awesome Tapes From Africa blog and the commencement of a long running effort to track down the Ghanaian musician. Some four years after ATFA became a label, Shimkovitz finally tracked down the musician, real name Yaw Atta-Owusu, and was granted permission to reissue Obaa Sima, using the second hand tape purchased in Ghana as the source. The seven tracks on this LP are a winning tinny combination of highlife, rap, pop, and more with "Daa Nyinaa" sounding like a cover version of William De Vaughn's "Be Thankful For What You've Got".

Review: Irishman Peter Power has become quite a well known figure in Berlin since moving there several years ago and has been one of the figures behind some of the city's now legendary haunts like Kleine Reise (RIP) and the successful Loftus Hall/Bertrams: which has had a great run thus far too. Now the man behind the Ufordia imprint returns with his second outing on Thomas Von Party's Multi Culti, which itself has also made the move to the German capital. Power delves deep into the exotic here, borrowing heavily from African music and getting very atmospheric and esoteric in the process. The life affirming raindance of "Adama Waro" (original mix) is certainly geared for some moments of truth on the dancefloor. Equally spiritual is the traditional percussion based journey of "Mori Baka" (original mix). There's some great remixes by label manager Dreems and Bucharest duo Khidja: the latter's contributions which shine the most, particularly on their balearica infused/Second Summer of Love sounding remix of "Dansakoni".

Review: Inspired by his own experiences growing up in apartheid-era South Africa and his travels through music, Esa Williams has put together a compilation of contemporary electronic music from around the world. "Amandla: Music To The People" is well worth your attention and contains some genuine gems. Highlights come thick and fast throughout, from the percussive, chant-along sweatiness of Penny Penny's "Shilungu" and the loved-up, pitched-down dreaminess of Alaska's "Accuse (Instrumental)", to the sweet, life-affirming cheeriness of Os Panteras' "Melo Do Anjo (Outro Edit)" and the thrusting, Italo-disco style dancefloor masculinity of Masalo's "Yera". Esa's own late '80s style pitched-down South African house jam "Pantsula Traxx" is also superb.

Review: Having landed his debut album Bosq Y Orchestra De Madera on Ubiquity Records back in 2013, Bosq will be returning with his second long player on the Californian label later this year. Take Over is the second 12" laid down as a precursor of what Bosq has up his sleeve and the Boston-based Whisky Baron is certainly on good form. Known for his towering vocal contributions to Fela's Egypt 80, Benin-born / Nigerian-raised singer Kaleta once again lines a Bosq production in lead cut "Take Over", and it might just be their heaviest collaboration yet! The Less Patient edit adds a bit of dancefloor weight to the track. Flip for the dense, delay heavy afrobeat burner "Bounce And Pull Up" which features some devilish horns from Evan Laflamme.

Review: Dutch label Afrosynth's latest dig into the South African scene of the 1980s and '90s focuses on the career of Kamazu, a prolific artist who released six albums and a handful of killer singles between 1986 and '97. It's a great collection, combining his better-known hits - the mid-80s boogie goodness of "Korobela" and superb 1991 Kwaito smash "Indaba Kabani" - with a quartet of lesser-known cuts from his bulging catalogue. Our picks include the slo-mo Kwaito dreaminess of "Atikatareni" and the cheery, synth bass-propelled brilliance of "Victim", though the standard throughout is dizzyingly high. A must-have for all those who love the distinctive warm, dreamy and synth-heavy sound of South African dance music from the late '80s and early '90s.

Review: Batida aka Pedro CoqueNao is an Angolan-born, Lisbon-raised artist whose new album Neon Colonialismo is his first under his own artistic alias since 2014. It takes its name from his well-regarded radio show on Worldwide FM and has been teased by lead single 'Bom Bom' which he says is his most personal to date. It talks about leaving a dark place and aiming for individual and social good and was recorded with renowned Cape Verdean singer Mayra Andrade. The rest of the album builds on subjects like equity and dignity and plenty of dance floor ready international grooves.