African music
Track/Video : Revered Soukous musician Vumbi Dekula announces his first solo album ‘Congo Guitar’ with the joyous ‘Maamajacy’.
Incoming alert from the indispensable Hive Mind Records of a new pop thrill for the Autumn. Teaming up with Stockholm label Sing A Song Fighter they’ve conjured up the release of ‘Congo Guitar’, the debut solo album from revered fret wizard Kahanga ‘Vumbi’ Dekula, due for delivery to your turntables from 15th September. Dekula is …
Album Review: Star Feminine Band – In Paris : Afro-pop energy from Benin’s ‘band like no other’.
If you missed catching onto the joyous pop of Star Feminine Band when their self-titled debut burst onto the scene a couple of years ago, then now is the time to get connected with their second album ‘In Paris’ available from 7th October through Born Bad Records. This all-girl, teenage group from Natitingou village, Benin …
Album Review: Nyati Mayi & The Astral Synth Transmitters -‘Lulanga Tales’: electro- African fusion that reaches higher.
Some people are extraordinary singers and some people have extraordinary voices. As a vocalist Nyati Mayi probably falls into the latter bag, able to project a stunning range of notes, tones, textures and feelings often within the same song. The thing with an extraordinary voice is that sometimes it needs grounding, a foundation that prevents …
Track/video: Electronic Afro-futurist partnership Nyati Mayi & The Astral Synth Transmitters preview the rootsy ‘Try Sunshine’ ahead of debut album ‘Lulanga Tales’.
When curious minds eventually meet, things usually happen. Multi-instrumentalist/singer Nyati Mayi and DJ/producer soFa elsewhere (aka The Astral Synth Transmitters) may circulate within the wild oscillations of the Brussel’s experimental electronica scene but it took the relative isolation of the 2020 lockdown to bring the pair together. One of the many musical snapshots Nyati posted …
Album Review: Madalitso Band – Musakayike : joyful, jumping urban folk from Malawi
Big in Europe, unknown in Malawi…It’s not often that you can use that strapline about a band but that’s the trajectory so far for Madalitso Band, the enduringly upbeat partnership of Yosefe Kalekeni and Yobu Maligwa. The pair’s distinctive raw Malawian folk sound, bonded through years of busking in Lilongwe’s shopping malls, may have first …
Album Review: The Ano Nobo Quartet – ‘The Strings of Sao Domingos’: guitar driven rhythms and sumptuous songs from Cabo Verde’s soul.
New York’s Ostinato Records mission to recover and re-examine the rich legacy of lost musical cultures is tireless. You may have already been knocked out by the label’s benchmark trio of retrospectives that charted the rippling currents of Cabo Verde’s music but now they are bringing our attention to more contemporary sounds from the community …
Album Review: Gonora Sounds – Hard Times Never Kill: Jump, jive, bounce and bite, direct from Harare.
Heard about ‘paying your dues’– well Gonora Sounds leader and inspiration Daniel Gonora’s back-story makes him a bone fide member of the dues-paying club. Twenty years ago the blind guitarist and song writer was a key player in Zimbabwe’s ground-breaking Jairos Jiri Band, a group that tragically imploded as successive members passed away. Forced to …
Track: The Ano Nobo Quartet preview ‘The Strings of Sao Domingos’ album – guitar driven rhythms and sumptuous songs from Cabo Verde’s soul.
From the very noble Ostinato Records comes news of more discoveries as part of their enlightening exploration into the music of Cabo Verde. You may already have been knocked out by the label’s ground breaking trio of retrospective releases from the West African islands but now they are reaching out further to feature contemporary sounds …
Track: Zimbabwe’s Gonora Sounds preview their hot stepping ‘Mukoma Shadrek’ ahead of February debut album.
Ah, memories of the first time hearing early cuts from Staff Benda Bilili or Malawi Mouse Boys –eyes closed, the inner smile, that warmth of discovery….It all comes back with the chiming guitar of Gonora Sounds’ new release ‘Mukoma Shadrek’. Brought to you direct from the dusty avenues of Harare by New York label The …