afrobeat

Premiere: Cable Street Collective reveal new track featuring Gregg Kofi Brown of Osibisa: ‘Speaking In Tongues’
We’re delighted to premiere the new single from London based 7-piece Cable Street Collective right here on Backseat Mafia here this morning. Titled ‘Speaking in Tongues’, the track features Gregg Kofi Brown from legendary Afro-rockers Osibisa, who also co-write the song. Mixing up Afro rock, Soul and a good deal of sunshine, the track is …

ALBUM REVIEW: Huw Marc Bennett – ‘Tresilian Bay’: Welsh psychedelic Afro-jazz warmth
EMERGING from the London jazz and groove scene, South Wales producer and bassist Huw Marc Bennett is a low-key enigma whose musical vision means he won’t stay that way for long. What do we know of Huw? He’s a South Wales boy, as he evidences in the title of his debut LP, Tresilian Bay, named …

ALBUM REVIEW: Skinshape – ‘Umoja’: a fine interweaving of Afro-Anglo guitar pop
DORSET-born Will Dorey is a man with a far-reaching, eclectic musical vision, which he gives to the world via the medium of his recording alias Skinshape. He’s a fellow traveller alongside artists such as Ninja’s Romare and Albert’s Favourites’ Huw Marc Bennett (whose debut album comes next month) in that Skinshape actively embraces the beauties …

TRACK: Skinshape – ‘The Sun’: shimmering Afro-Anglo guitars trail fifth LP
SKINSHAPE, the London-by-way-Dorset recording artist, is all set to drop his fifth album for Lewis Recordings on the first Friday in September. If you’ve been over to Skinshape’s world before, you’ll know to expect an interesting peregrination through downtempo, psych, soundtracks, African influences and some pretty damn fine guitar playing. You’ll recognise his warm, reverbed …

TRACK: THE BUDOS BAND DROP BRAND NEW SINGLE ‘LONG IN THE TOOTH’
The Budos Band share new single ‘Long In The Tooth’ taken from the album ‘Long In The Tooth’ due October 9th via Daptone Records “In some ways, itʼs reminiscent of our first two albums The Budos Band and Budos II,” says Tom Brenneck. “We branched off on Burnt Offering and Budos V. Now, weʼre still …

Track: Matthew Herbert remix of Tony Allen & Hugh Masekela’s stand-out track ‘We’ve Landed’
Tony Allen & Hugh Masekela’s stand-out track ‘We’ve Landed’, originally released early this year, taken from their critically acclaimed collaborative album ‘Rejoice’. ‘We’ve Landed’ has been reinterpreted in remix form by world-renowned minimalist electronic producer Matthew Herbert in the wake of Tony Allen’s sudden passing in April, at the age of 79. “It was already a …

TRACK: Huw Marc Bennett – ‘Tresilian Bay’: spun from the finest Afrojazz cloth
WELSH producer and bassist Huw Marc Bennett wishes to weave a musical tapestry of many, many shades for you. You’ll find the cut of his cloth hard to resist. Working in and around the London jazz scene, which has brought us so many great projects in the past year or two, he has released “Tresilian …

TRACK: Jimi Tenor – ‘Sugar and Spice’: you’re shimmying in its pocket
PHILOPHON, the Berlin label with a deep and abiding mission to bring forth all things with a deep groove, has today released a “haptic” 7” by Finnish multi-dimensional artist Jimi Tenor. The A, “Sugar and Spice” is big, fly, funk: brass stabs, polyrhythms from Ghanaian drummer Ekow Alabi, jazz horn clusters. It’s heading across 110th …

Track: Tommy Lee Shares Two New Singles From New Solo Album
Tommy Lee was never just the drummer from Motley Crew and after being holed up in his own basement studio for the better part of the last two years, Lee has finally emerged with a new set of tracks that seem to truly represent the music that’s he was meant to make. First glimpse comes …

See: KOKOKO! Release new video for Zala Mayele, plus tour news
Following on from the success of their brilliant debut album Fongola, released last year, Kinshasa Afro-punk-jazz-funk collective KOKOKO! have released a new video for the track Zala Mayele. Built on a repeated baseline, Zala Mayele has this sort of bewitching, almost hypnotic slice of Afro funk, and it’s been accompanied by some startlingly berautiful video, …