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African Discographies
Greetings, Platterbugs!
Updated 3 July 2025
News
Glastonbury is not about promoting great music: it best known as a haven for aging rockers, such as Rod Stewart and Neil Young and other cheery nostalgia. Kneecap, the Irish band who rap in Gaelic, were pulled from the BBC after waving a pro-Palestine flag at Glastonbury this year. The documentary about them, KNEECAP on Netflix, is well worth viewing. The Beeb are also getting hammered for airing a group named Bob Vylan who led a chant of "Death, death to the IDF!" Glad the youth are awake, at least, even if Starmer & co are not.
Related [via Vincent Kenis]: Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify is investing his profits into AI warfare company Helsing of which he is now chairman. Boycott Spotify!
From Mississippi Records, Radio Lusaka by Alick Nkhata pioneer Zambian singer-songwriter
Kora player Kadialy Kouyaté has released his ninth album. The single "Kanou Foro Ka Di" is on YouTube (Though it's a shame YouTube has started thrusting ads in your face, it makes me less likely to go there).
From Katalin Radócz:
"Nyami Nyami Records was founded with a clear purpose: to release a mesmerizing rendition of the traditional Shona mbira piece Zvichapera recorded a few months earlier by the late singer Chiwoniso during an impromptu recording session in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital."
(Note: The muzikifan podcasts are hosted on Soundcloud; please subscribe there)
It's Time to Jam funk, plus some long jams from Nusrat, Franco, Mike Ejeagha and Kasse Mady
Bending over Backwards: all the new releases reviewed below .
EDNA MARTINEZ PRESENTS PICO!
SOUND SYSTEM CULTURE FROM THE COLOMBIAN CARIBBEAN (Strut 218CD)
In sixteen well-chosen tracks full of surprises, Edna Martinez shows us what a great DJ is capable of: she welcomes us with some folkloric singing and drumming and then takes us on a whirlwind ride through the music that enchants those tropical dancefloor grinders who straddle America, having one foot in the Atlantic and the other in the Pacific. Her stopping off places — Kenya, Congo, Nigeria — are familiar, as are the artists even: from Peacocks International Highlife Band to Zaiko Langa Langa, but she mixes it up brilliantly and periodically comes home to ground it with a well-placed cumbia or the champeta number "Puxa Odette" by Conjunto Ana N'gola. Since their name suggests they are Angolan, there is some deft tricksterism in her choices. The liner notes explain that champeta is a blend of mbaqanga, bubble gum and jive from South Africa, soukous from Congo, zouk from Martinique and soca. You know what Picós are: sound systems that blare out all over Latin America, and are particularly well-known in Jamaica and Mexico, but are concentrated, it would seem, in port cities like Cartagena and Barranquilla. Since their first establishment in the 1940s, the secret weapon of the picós has been exclusive tracks: discs bought from sailors or passed between traders and collectors. When a particularly tasty rarity comes along, with a great seben or instrumental, the DJs extend it by nimble needle-drops: deftly returning to the start of the bridge or break to keep the dancers moving and grooving. The effect can be mesmerizing. Here the secrets are revealed: from a 1960 LP Como Sea by Claudio y su Combo (a clean copy was found thanks to the Gladys Palmera archive!) to the 1980s, this is fabulous music. The most recent cut is by Zaire (who are from South Africa), called "I'm Tired of Living in the Shack" which is very poppy. In addition to the Peacocks we hear another Nigerian act, African System International, with "Amina" which actually sounds like soukous; from São Tome the great Pedro Lima rips out "Philomene" which was released in Brazzaville in 1981. More tricksterish sleight-of-hand. Claudio y su Combo are the sole Cuban entry and give us a timbales solo as good as "Ran kan kan." Martinez stretches to Algeria to find Afous performing "Anaxdhou," which she has turned into an extended mix, though it is still only 4 minutes long. Yes, it is a fast tour! The Zaiko track is a killer, "La tout neige," with the bell-like tones of Manuaku-Waku on guitar pealing out. And in true DJ fashion, she slips in a rootsy drum-and-chant piece next to keep us guessing: it's Eric Cosaque with a gwo-ka number from Guadeloupe. Martinez has added reverb and a loop to this, I think. Legendary Puerto Rican singer La Calandria is up next with a great but very obscure track, "Come duele una traicion" which was on a 1961 US-issued Ansonia LP with the undistinguished title Con Guitarras volume 2 (There is a copy on discogs for $75). The album ends with another brilliant track, "Dada Asha" by Tabora Jazz Band, a group that deserves induction to the Zanzibara series of classic Tanzanian reissues. At the risk of overusing the superlatives, this is a fantastic compilation.
MUSIC FOR A REVOLUTION VOL 1
GUINEA'S SYLIPHONE RECORDING LABEL (1967-73) (Radio Martika RMLP013)
There's a general rule of logic that you should not buy your music twice. Apart from buying an album and finding you have it already, maybe with a different cover, which is a mistake anyone can make. A big reset in music listening habits occurred when the CD was introduced in the early 1980s and people who had not listened to their albums in years went out and bought "Astral Weeks" or "Get Yer Yayas Out" again because they thought they might hear it afresh. Then when the novelty of CDs faded in the 2000s with digital and other ephemeral modes of transmission, vinyl surged back with new heavier tangible weight and other reputed improved qualities. Which is a long-winded way of saying I (and probably you too) have all this music. Mine are not thrashed old second-hand copies but in mint condition, partly because I started collecting the Syliphone albums as soon as I discovered them, and then there was a surge in interest when Graeme Counsel completed his "Endangered Archive" project for the British Library. This led to a series of CDs on Stern's in 2007 that represented the cream of the crop, followed by a vinyl series of individual album reprints in 2015. Ibrahim Sylla in Paris, capitalizing on the similarity between his name and Syliphone, reissued the Guinée Discotheque and Authenticité series, claiming Sékou Touré, the head of state, had personally given him verbal permission. For anyone craving even more, Counsel uploaded all his 8000 tracks to the British Library sound archive website (currently inaccessible due to hackers). So, if you are completely new to this sound then this is a very good compilation. The opener, "Sakhodou" by Jardin de Guinée, sets the stage for a great set of Latin and folklore-derived hits. There's even a cover of "Guantanamera" by the mighty Bembeya Jazz. The big names, like Bembeya, the Balladins and Keletigui get two or more tracks and it all flows together beautifully. "N’Banlassouro" by Horoya Band National is a bit more rare, having re-appeared on Paya Paya, a scintillating compilation on Dakar Sound. Another "Sakhodou," well actually "Sakhodougou" by Balla et ses Balladins, is, naturally, a ballad, followed by a scorching rave-up "Samba" from them. Miriam Makeba, the South African singer, also lived and performed in Guinea, though here her quintet play an instrumental 12-bar shuffle which has overtones of Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man." Apart from the Latin covers there is an interesting acoustic duo improvisation on Franco's "Liwa ya Wech" called "N'Fa" performed by les Frères Diabaté.
Well here is something you have probably never heard before: a babatoni! That is a one-string bass with a three-meter-long neck and a resonator covered in cowhide. Nali plays it with a stick and a bottle and the result is very compelling. He is from Malawi so there is the rural feel as well as hints of Kwela, Jit and Jive. An old video of his song "A Bale Ndikuwuzeni" received more than 18 million views on Youtube, according to Spare Dog Records, his label, which has been issuing his music since 2018. The title of his third album translates to "Hey, you, frog," adapted from a nursery rhyme, which suits the childish and playful mood. He has a foot pedal to give a kick to a cowhide bass drum as he is playing and singing. I think he has ankle-rattles too, and I also hear what sounds like a lead guitar, certainly more than one-string is audible. Yes, okay, he has a Swedish producer, Mattias Stålnacke, on guitars, keyboard and studio effects. It's charming and bounces along very pleasantly.
HARIS PILTON & THE BALKAN VOODOO ORCHESTRA
SOON IN YOUR VILLAGE (Asphalt Tango DIG-ATR9125)
This is not world music, so-called, it's otherworldly or between worlds. Balkan yes, but with a heavy dub vibe. The music is ancient and futuristic, from familiar Balkan brass ensemble riffs to twangy psychedelic touches thrown over it, to a big hall echo where other sounds can be discerned in the background as if there is a house disco party at one end and a rock concert at the other. There are voices, guitars and a lot of pulsating drums. Some of the tracks sound familiar, either remakes or sampled from other Balkan beat albums, like "Balkan King Dance." I think it's "Carolina" by Taraf de Haiduks. "Shake your mustache" featuring Stereo Partizan reminded of something, maybe "Iest Sexy" by Mahala Rai Banda. There are four guests, the only one I have heard of is La Cherga who appear on "Last Train to Chaosville." "Brass Caravan" starts atmospherically, and kicks in with dubby intent over a background wash of a cheering crowd. Appropriately, as it's the centenary of the death of Satie, this one is a synthi remake of Gnossienne no 1. "Gnosienne" means little know-it-all; so now ya know! However this version is blaring and overcooked, lacking in all subtlety. But there is a lot of a variety which makes this set mostly interesting. "Fiesta Tungusia" has a riff I know from somewhere in Cumbialand... ah yes it's "La Colegiala" by Rodolfo y su Tipica! There is a wan vocal which sounds like a Bollywood lovelorn ballad behind the chugging rhythm. In total contrast, this is followed by Doggy Brasco who sings like Laibach as he crunches through St James Infirmary Blues, retitled "No Brass, no Love."
I was having a hard time getting into (or anything out of) a new kora album: it all sounded like the same melodies and riffs from scores of other traditional griot recordings of the Mandinka culture, so I switched to this new release from Petit Goro who is a Dogon, one of Mali's more mysterious peoples. Mali, of course is in shambles. The "peace keeping" forces from France were mainly protecting mining interests and not particularly keen on rooting out or hunting down the jihadists who spring up from nowhere, massacre a few innocent people and flee back to their bases with whatever food and loot they can carry in their pickup trucks. Every week a different Dogon village is attacked and their culture threatened. Those young Dogon who have fled to Bamako for safety are proud of their animist traditions and parade about in their traditional garb. Petit Goro is one of them and he has a guitar as his weapon of choice. His raw backing features funky percussion and a gnawing one-string fiddle, but his vocal and pentatonic guitar suggest the Mississippi Delta blues. Instead of folky ditties he veers towards trance and long jams as he sings about the struggle for identity. The drummer seems intent on punishing his kit, but there are other percussionists to give a sense of structure to the music. This is highly original.
Most recent posts
(click on maps at the top of the page to get to continent of choice)
June 2025
Ammar 808's latest Club Tounsi is filed in Arabia part 3 African Jazz invites OK Jazz can be found in Congo Classics part 2
Serbians Sekoyva are filed in Balkan & Gypsy beats
Tigray Tears' album is filed in Ethiopia
The Groove Africa compilation from Putumayo is filed in Africa misc
May 2025
Zulu Guitar Blues is filed in South Africa, part 2
Kwashibu Area Band are filed in Ghana part 2
Youssou's Eclairer le Monde is in Senegal part 4
Les Abranis can be read about in Algeria
Salif Keita's latest is in Mali part 6
Fanfare Ciocarlia is filed under Gypsy Brass
Ozan Baysal, from Turkey, is filed under Old World misc
April 2025
Tsapiky! is music from Madagascar
Orquesta Akokán's latest is filed in Cuba part 4
Trio da Kali is filed in Mali part 6
Mike Guagenti is filed in Salsa
March 2025
The latest from Baianasystem can be found in Brasil part 3 Sweet Rebels: The Golden Age of Algerian Pop-Rai is filed in Algeria Damily & Toliara Tsapiky Band are filed in Madagascar
Two new anthologies of Gnonnas Pedro are in Benin
Muslim Shaggan can be read about in India & Pakistan II
The Original Sound of Mali vol II is filed in Mali part 6
February 2025
Novalima's latest can be read about in Peru part 2
Aboubacar Traoré & Balima is filed in Burkina Faso
Tumblack are from the Caribbean
Brooklyn Sounds are filed under Salsa
December 2024
Festival Donso Ngoni vol 1 is filed under Mali part 6 Zanzibara 11: Congo in Dar with orchestres Maquis and Safari Sound is in Tanzania part 3
Accra Quartet can be read about in Ghana part 2
Dogo du Togo's latest is filed in African miscellany
Occidental Brothers' Likambo Te also made it to African miscellany!
Los Kenya's Vol 2 went to Venezuela
while the 107th Street Stickball Team slid into Salsa in a questionable call
...
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BACK IN PRINT (Second edition, November 2012)
A DISCOGRAPHY OF DOCTEUR NICO
By Alastair Johnston
Poltroon Press, 2012, expanded to 88 pages; list price $19.95. Available now. Click HERE for details.
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