Labels

PMG

  • 01. Moving World
    02. Dracula Dance
    03. Brotherhood Of Man
    04. No One Is Born To Suffer
    05. Groovy Love
    06. Jungle Music
    07. Wale Tobite
    08. Kelenkye Beat
    cover

    KELENKYE BAND

    Moving World

    [engl] In 1974, a brash young designer called Augustus Kerry Taylor had an idea. He'd gather together the hottest musicians in Ghana and record an album of the heaviest and funkiest sounds coming out of America. And this time, he wouldn't just design the cover, like he'd done with Fela Kuti, he'd even release it on his new label, Emporium, as well. Local Accra legends Joe Wellington, Jagger Botchway, Leslie Addy, Officer Toro, Oko Ringo, Soldier and Steve answered the call. They were christened the Kelenkye Band and gelled immediately. Moving World, is a funky, disparate album that exudes a rare warmth, enthusiasm and togetherness. 'Moving World' and 'Brotherhood of Man' are hard, grinding funk. 'Jungle Music' has a more soulful groove. There's also a bit of reggae, 'Dracula Dance', and old-skool highlife, 'Wale Tobite'. Accra's leading DJ, Charlie Sam, declared his mind 'well and truly boggled.' The Kelenkye Band never recorded another album. Augustus Kerry Taylor shut down Emporium and went back to designing album covers. But in Moving World they delivered a perfect moment of funk alchemy that has rightly become the Holy Grail of 70's Ghanian groove.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    09.12.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473191470
    Format
    CD
    Release-Datum
    09.12.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473191487
     
  • 01. Rosemary
    02. Give It To Me
    03. Feelin' Alright
    04. Too Much
    05. Love To Love You
    06. You
    07. Ain't No Use
    08. Daily Prayer
    cover

    KIKI GYAN

    Feelin Alright

    [engl] Kiki Gyan’s star didn’t burn long, but it burned bright. Drafted into the Afro funk super group, Osibisa, at 15, he was millionaire by 18 and regarded as one of the best keyboardists in the world by 21. ‘Life was good, man,’ he told journalist Kweku Sakyi-Addo. ‘Too good!’. In 1983 he dived head first into the New York party scene. He took a lot of drugs, spent a lot of time in clubs and got together a team of crack local musicians to record Feelin’ Alright, his third and final solo album. All the Kiki Gyan trademark elements are present and correct. The album is unique a blend of highlife music with electronic funk and disco. ‘Rosemary’ follows the formula most closely and was a hit across Nigeria and Ghana. But on ‘Give It To Me’, ‘Love To Love You’ and the title track, you’ll hear a slicker, boogie-influenced sound that has made Feelin’ Alright one of his most sought-after albums. Kiki Gyan would never hit such heights again. His addictions eventually took hold and he died aged 47, destitute and alone. Feelin’ Alright remains one of the brightest stars in his extraordinary constellation.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    02.03.2017
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190701
    Format
    CD
    Release-Datum
    02.03.2017
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190718
     
  • 01. Come Go With Me
    02. Far Far Far-away
    03. Nobody Cares
    04. There's A Woman On My Mind (Mother)
    05. Trace Of Love
    06. Good Morning
    07. Christ Was Born To Be Loved
    cover

    MANFORD BEST

    Come Go With Me

    [engl] With the Super Wings in mutiny and a trail for the manslaughter of his former bandmate, Spuds Nathan, still hanging over his head, Manford Best came out swinging with Come Go With Me. It’s a chirpy, calypso-influenced insight into the state of his mind and his first solo album. Recorded at Godiac Studios with the guys from Rock Town Express and a few of the Super Wings, Come Go With Me was the first album recorded on a new Tascam system that Goddy Oku had just bought back from London. The sound is crisp, clean and bright, perfectly suited to tracks like ‘Come Go With Me’ and ‘Good Morning’ and a welcome respite to the darker lyrics on ‘Nobody Cares’ and ‘Far Far Far Away.’ One of the stranger cuts is ‘There’s a Woman On My Mind (Mother)’. Manford regarded his mother as something of prophetess and would act instantly and without hesitation on the revelations in her ‘dreams’. Come Go With Me was self-financed and released on Manford Best’s own MacSeries Records label. Only 1,000 copies were pressed and he distributed them from the back of a Toyota van himself. A rare Afro gem, deserving of its place in the sun again.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    02.03.2017
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190688
    Format
    CD
    Release-Datum
    02.03.2017
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190695
     
  • 01. I've Been Loving You
    02. Lets Spend The Night Together
    03. Turn The Lights Out
    04. I Feel Like Dancing
    05. Reconciliation
    06. Sweet Loving
    07. Someone Has Taken Her Away
    08. Lets Spend The Night Together (Inst.)
    cover

    MANFORD BEST

    I've Been Loving You

    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    15.06.2018
    Format
    CD
    Release-Datum
    27.07.2018
     
  • 01. The Love Song
    02. Devil Woman
    03. Don't Take That Love Away From Me
    04. Heaven Is Here On Earth
    05. You Can't Stop Us
    06. The Great Question
    cover

    MANSION

    Devil Woman

    [engl] The eastern Nigerian city of Calabar in Cross River State was colloquially known as Canaan City – a place of lush landscapes, alluring women and delicious cooking. When the Biafra War ended it became a land of milk and honey for bands as well, with jumping venues like the Taj Mahal and Luna Nite Club and a label called Clover, set up local entrepreneur Ben Okonkwo, releasing albums by bands like The Doves, The Visitors, Aktion and The Apostles. The youngest band on the Clover roster was Mansion, a teenage highlife group, led by singer and bassist John ‘Holy Mountain’ Ebiong. Okonkwo decked them out in flares, repackaged them as a funk band and put them in the studio with EMI super-producer, Kayode Salami. The result was Devil Woman, an astoundingly assured funk/rock album. The title track revels in a ‘60s psychedelic vibe. ‘The Love Song’ is a direct appeal to teenage hearts. ‘Heaven Here On Earth’ has an irresistible shuffling groove while ‘You Can’t Stop Us’ is what James Brown would have sounded like if he’d been born in the Cross River State. Devil Woman is an album designed to set young hearts aflutter and draw approving nods from seasoned musicians. It succeeds in both. - Peter Moore
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    11.05.2017
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190763
    Format
    CD
    Release-Datum
    11.05.2017
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190770
     
  • 01. Tell Me Now
    02. Kam Fat Owo (Mbata)
    03. What's A Woman To Do
    04. African Woman
    05. Sweet Elijah
    06. Spread More Love
    07. Our Generation (Ode To Our Nation)
    08. Tenkim Kpoho
    cover

    MARY AFI USUAH

    African Woman

    [engl] Mary Afi Usuah trained as an a opera singer at the prestigious St Cecilia Academy in Rome and spent 13 years touring Europe with artists like Duke Ellington and Deep Purple. She matched vocal chops with Robert Plant performing with Led Zeppelin and blew away the top names on the Lagos scene when she returned to Nigeria. She also broke a few hearts with her killer smile, if some accounts are to be believed. African Woman marshals these experiences into an exceptionally powerful and diverse album. From the Tina Turner stomp of ‘What’s A Woman To Do’, to the Aretha-style musings of the title track, Mary takes everything she learned on the road to tell her story about her continent in a distinctly African manner. The boys from Akwassa were on hand to ensure that everything was kept extra tight and funky. Mary Afi Usuah only released two albums but she is undeniably one of the greatest female singers the African continent has produced. African Woman serves as her legacy, along with the remarkable number of Nigerian female singers she mentored and inspired. - Peter Moore, www.africanrevolutions.com / "I met MARY AFI USUAH in 1979 while I was the lead singer with TEE MAC COLLECTION. We were based at SURULERE NIGHT CLUB in Lagos, Nigeria. She came in from Calabar in the Cross river state. She was a beauty with her afro hair and had a very strong voice and very powerful on stage. Her performance was electrifying. She did a lot of shows with us and together we got the crowd rocking. A very dark complexioned lady, she was full of life and love. Her smiles would sweep any man off her feet instantly and I immediately recognized a talent that go all over the world. Her music is a blend of African rhythms, soul and funk with heavy bassline. I am glad to let you know that the vynil you have in your hands now contains music that will tickle all ears for a very long time. Happy listening." - Steve Black
    Format
    CD
    Release-Datum
    25.07.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190367
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    25.07.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190374
     
  • 01. I Want You Girl
    02. Care To Love Me
    03. Re-Union
    04. Heavenly Father
    05. To Win Or Lose
    06. He Is To Be Praised
    07. Ungrateful People
    08. Funky Music
    cover

    MASISI MASS FUNK

    I Want You Girl

    [engl] In mid-seventies, Nigerian bands came and went with alarming regularity, rising meteorically from the slums to stardom and falling back again just as quickly. Masisi Mass Funk from Anamara State was one such band. But during their brief moment in the stratosphere, they produced a funk gem in I Want You Girl. The band was championed by Ebere Ikoro from the Hygrades. He took them under his wing after an ill-advised collaboration with Soly Dibong. They were originators not imitators, he said. He produced I Want You Girl and played on it as well. It’s easy to see what appealed to Ebere Ikoro. The title track has a Manfred Mann sixties vibe. ‘Care To Love Me’ is a wonky, off-kilter reggae calypso number. And ‘Ungrateful People’ bounces along with a Sly And The Family Stone chirpiness. However, it’s the gospel numbers that really stand out. ‘Heavenly Father’ rocks out with strident keyboards and plaintive vocals. And the relentless ‘He Is To Be Praised’ is an afro-funk-rock-gospel monster, guaranteed to raise your eyes to heaven while keeping your feet firmly planted on the dance floor. Sadly, Masisi Mass Funk only released one album, their star burning as quickly as it did brightly. They went on to form First Planet, an Afro Boogie band that tore up Lagos dancefloors in the ‘80s. But that’s another story for another day. - Peter Moore
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    11.05.2017
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190978
    Format
    CD
    Release-Datum
    11.05.2017
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190961
     
  • 01. Music Is The Answer
    02. Let's Work Together
    03. Search Out! Watch Out!
    04. Road Man (Mystic)
    05. Funky Child
    06. Loving To Sing For You
    07. Lover Man's Bullet
    cover

    MIGHTY FLAMES

    Metalik Funk Band

    [engl] The Mighty Flames were a crack bunch of Cameroonian musicians, drawn to Nigeria by the heavy funk sounds booming across the border like musical moths. For a short time in the late sentries they ‘owned’ Port Harcourt, destroying dancefloors with an incendiary sound that burned so heavily that it was phosphorescent. Metalik Funk Band is the band at their most deadly. Willy ‘Pazz’ Nfor is on bass, Nfrackie ‘Jazz’ Song on synth, Didi Lead on lead guitar, Emma ‘Wah Wah’ Baloka on rhythm and Stormy ‘Booga’ Jimmy on percussion. There is not a single dud track. ‘Music Is The Answer’ is a psychedelic head spin. ‘Funky Child’ is an irresistible call to the dancefloor. And I guarantee you’ll need a good lie down after listening to ‘Search Out! Watch Out!’. Sadly, things did not end well for the Mighty Flames. Their manager was a tyrant and when they tried to escape to Lagos with all the band’s gear he promptly had then arrested. Metallik Funk Band was their last album, but what a way to go out: with an incendiary batch of Afro Funk monsters that need to be in every funk lover’s collection.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    15.12.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190589
    Format
    CD
    Release-Datum
    15.12.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190596
     
  • A1. She's My Woman
    A2. Get On Up
    A3. First Cut
    B1. Selense
    B2. Hold Me Tighter
    B3. Ima Obi O
    B4. Shake, Clap, Tap
    cover

    MURPHY WILLIAMS

    She Is My Woman

    [engl] She Is My Woman is Murphy William?s loose, funky and spontaneous call to the dance floor. It?s an infectious collection of good-time tunes that the band seem to be enjoying as much as the listener. Williams was a stalwart of the Nigerian music scene, joining Godwin Omabuwa?s Cassanova Dandies at 17 before becoming one of the two lead vocalist of The Apostles from Aba. He was famous for his distinctive four octave voice, a voice that legendary label boss, Godwin Tabansi decided was perfectly suited to the new disco sound that was gripping Nigeria. The title track gets the party started with Felix Liberty providing the good-time guitar riffs, Friday Pozzo on congas and Sonny Enang keeping it light on keyboards. The vibe is tight and bright, breathy a breezy charm into disc-tied versions of Igbo folk songs ?Selense? and ?Ima Obi O.? The undoubted highlight of the album is ?Get On Up?, a certifiable disco classic that would slay any dance floor anywhere in the world. It?s funky, it?s fun and by the time the lyrics implore the listener to get on up and dance their feet have already been convinced by the music. Put it on and it?s guaranteed to get any party started. - Peter Moore, www.africanrevolutions.com
    Format
    CD
    Release-Datum
    15.03.2018
    EAN
    EAN 0710473191067
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    15.03.2018
    EAN
    EAN 0710473191074
     
  • 01. Sangandongo
    02. Malanga
    cover

    NIAGARA

    Niagara

    Die deutsche ‘’Drum-Legende’’ Klaus Weiss formierte NIAGARA , um 1971 seine Vision eines Orchesters, welches ausschließlich aus Schlagzeugern und Percussion besteht, zu realisieren.Udo Lindenberg und Keith Forsey sind nur zwei der berühmten Musiker, die an den Aufnahmen der beiden langen Stücke auf diesem Album mitgewirkt haben auf dem kraftvolle,hypnotisierende Grooves den Hörer immer tiefer in ihrem Bann ziehen.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    25.07.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190015
     
  • 01. S.U.B.
    02. Bones
    03. Niagara
    04. Kattarh
    05. Kikiriti
    06. Gibli
    07. Terra Incognita
    cover

    NIAGARA

    S.U.B.

    [engl] Rhythm master Klaus Weiss knew he had a good thing going with NIAGARA. The first album was a gathering of every outstanding drummer and percussionist he could get hold of and despite the fact that there were only rhythm instruments featured , it became quite a memorable and unique record. Now for the second album "S.U.B." he felt he had to go other ways, and recorded with a complete rock outfit plus the one or another brass instrument. „S.U.B.“ is definitely worth being traded for 180,00 Euros and more among collectors for a clean original and when the needle hits the groove you will realize why. There is a tightly woven web of rhythms from drums and percussions, as the solid and ever pulsating base with a laid back but really present bass guitar adding more depth and power to the beats and clean rhythm guitars with a nifty wah wah effect for the extra kick. From time to time the guitars fire off a memorable steaming riff on top of the rhythm pulse and the horns answer the call for arms. You really have to look at the backcover to find out that this is a German outfit instead of one of these utterly hot and hip US funk rock cult bands of the time. NIAGARA aka Klaus Weiss waive the vocals so it is an instrumental record you face with „S.U.B“, but then this band goes so wild in some of the compositions, that you will be left breathless on your knees by all these simmering performances. Each musician participating in this project is a professional, but they all let the music erupt into a climax of sound you can only achieve, when you put your whole heart and soul into it. A masterpiece of funky and utterly unleashed rock music from the early 70s.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    25.07.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190084
     
  • cover

    NICO

    Nico's Last Concert "Fata Morgana"

    Christa Päffgen aka Nico war so vieles.Femme Fatale, Muse, tragische Chanteuse, Schauspielerin , und ihr gesamtes Leben bis zu ihrem Tod im Alter von 50 im Jahr 1988 immer rastlos und auf der Suche. Einige Monate vor ihrem Tod gab sie ihr letztes Konzert, welches nun auf “Nico's last concert: Fata Morgana” vorliegt.Überwiegend neue, bisher ungehörte Stücke, abgerundet durch einen Klassiker von ihrem 1974er Album “The end” bilden die Setlist, und der Hörer bekommt einen klaren Eindruck davon, in welche Richtung Nico ihre unaufhörliche Wandlung und Verwandlung weiterführen wollte.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    08.04.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190022
     
  • 01. I Want To Feel Your Love
    02. I'll Put It Right Again
    03. Enjoy Your Life
    04. Wait For Me
    05. Here We Are
    06. Nne N'enye
    cover

    OBY ONYIOHA

    I Want To Feel Your Love

    [engl] It’s 1981 and Nigeria is booming. Oil was still bringing in the big petro-bucks and a new civilian government brought hope that the dark days of military dictatorships were over. A new album by a baby-voiced, permed, lipstick-wearing vocalist is riding high in the charts, capturing the mood of the nation perfectly. The singer was Oby Onyioha, the university educated daughter of the Godian prophet, His Holiness Ogbaja Kama Onu Kama Onyioha. The album was I Want To Feel Your Love, a collection of slick, up-tempo disco tracks, produced by the ‘Quincy Jones of Nigeria’, Lemmy Jackson. Handsomely packaged, sumptuously produced, it was as sophisticated and glossy as anything coming out of the west. The album also marked a cultural shift in Nigeria too. Oby Onyioha was a smart, modern woman exhorting her Nigerian sisters to ‘Enjoy Your Life.’ She wasn’t sitting around waiting for a man to call. ‘I Want To Feel Your Love’, she sang. And ‘I’ll Put It Right Again,’ not some dominant boyfriend. Bright, brash and living for the moment, I Want To Feel Your Love is the soundtrack of a Nigeria confident and ready to take its place in the world.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    15.12.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190626
    Format
    CD
    Release-Datum
    15.12.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190633
     
  • 01. We Are Back
    02. Don't Talk About Love, Just Do It
    03. Adufu
    04. Ayaya
    05. Eni - Aro
    06. Africa My Darling (Home Is Everywhere)
    07. Okija
    cover

    OFO THE ROCK COMPANY

    Live In Europe - Fonk Afrika

    [engl] OFO The Rock Company (originally known as OFO The Back Company) were Nigeria’s first acid-rock band. Blending Hendrix and Deep Purple with shamanism and a pro-black philosophy, they cut their teeth at Fela Kuti’s Afrika Shrine, developing a fearsome live reputation that intimidated every other band in Lagos. No one wanted to follow the guys from OFO, not even Fela himself. Lead by the charismatic Larry Ifedioranma, OFO The Rock Company considered themselves a musical cult. Their live shows were a heady mix of mind-melting musicianship, mysticism and theatre. In 1973 the band tour Europe and Fonkafrika gathers together the best of those performance. The moments captured range from small intimate gigs in London, where you can hear the conversation amongst the crowd, to an astonishing gig in East Germany where they played before 900,000 people. The undoubted highlight is the extended prog-rock wig out of ‘Ayaya,’ recorded at the Berlin gig, before an obviously delighted crowd. See if you can pick out the moment where the band were joined on stage by a long-haired hippy who insisted on playing guitar. They didn’t realize it at the time but it was Carlos Santana. It was in Europe that the band fell apart, riven in two by Ifedioranma’s increasingly autocratic rule. Fonkafrica remains as a precious testament to what the band did best – playing loud and proud and putting on a show you would never forget. - Peter Moore
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    11.05.2017
    EAN
    EAN 0710473191012
    Format
    CD
    Release-Datum
    11.05.2017
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190930
     
  • 01. Sweeter Than Honey
    02. Keep On Trying
    03. Wompe 'A' Obi Pe Me
    04. Ma Huno
    05. Hiani Sui Efiri 'A' Oyi Aberesse
    06. Ene Nyame Nam A, Mensuro
    cover

    PAT THOMAS & EBO TAYLOR

    Sweeter Than Honey, Calypso "Mahuno" And High Lifes Celebration

    [engl] Pat Thomas and Ebo Taylor are the Jagger and Richards of Nigerian Highlife. Drawn together by a mutual love of the genre – and an equally intense desire to stop it becoming moribund and bereft of ideas – Ghana’s two most progressive musicians added a western twist to this traditional form of African music and gave it relevance again. It was by no means a continuous process. Pat Thomas and Ebo Taylor first came together in 1966. Over the decades they’d venture off to play in different bands and even different countries. Periodically they’d get back together and implement the new ideas and skills they’d developed. In 1980, they met up in London and recorded Sweeter Than Honey, Calypso Mahuno. Composed and arranged by Taylor, burnished by Pat Thomas’s honeyed vocals, the album is a mix of highlife, calypso, funk, jazz, soul and pop. From the title track to ‘Ma Huno’, the album’s undisputed highlight, the ambition – and musicianship – is breathtaking. Sweeter Than Honey, Calypso Mahuno is arguably the purest example of this extraordinary musical partnership. And what Highlife, unshackled, can be.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    15.12.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473191579
    Format
    CD
    Release-Datum
    15.12.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473191586
     
  • cover

    PILOTS ON DOPE

    Udopeia: The Remixes

    [engl] The acoustic debut album Udopeia created by the band Pilots On Dope was issued by the Verve label in June 2014. The sound has its roots in Brazil’s broad-ranging musical traditions, including bossa, samba and Afro Brazil, and evoking the golden age of the sixties. Consequently, the album went on to serve as the starting point for well-known mixers from the Pilots On Dope milieu. Taking this development to a second stage, Udopeia – The Remixes is aimed at an audience accustomed to electronic beats but also with an interest in musical reflexes and retro influences. The new remix album cleverly covers this musical spectrum, from exotic Latin sounds through to contemporary electronic remix culture. The Vienna Electronic movement, popular in the nineties, was a counterpart to the Nu Jazz movement which was emerging in Germany at the same time, and itself strongly influenced by offshoots of Acid Jazz. During the epoch-making close of the long-lasting Acid Jazz trend, a series of producers became established in Germany and England, drawing on elements of Latin, Brazil, easy listening, jazz and soul, and creating a veritable boom which went on to influence and inspire producers in Italy and France. Their Austrian equivalent was certainly the Vienna Electronic movement which triggered a literal downbeat cult, creating a distinctive genre with its striking funk riffs. Sampling, a by-product of Hip Hop, was certainly a key element in the resounding success of Kruder & Dorfmeister, the pioneers of Vienna Electronic. Despite the reduced tempo, this trend would conquer the dancefloor, generating its own identity and a musical code - light and raunchy, underpinned with an atmospheric soundscape, and overlaid with a pulsing rhythm in the heartbeat of flickering sound densities. The remix project brings together a wide range of producers who made history with Vienna Electronic, in particular past master Richard Dorfmeister and artists from his G-Stone label including Stereotyp, Makossa & Megablast and Gümix. They are joined by fellow remixers such as Shanti Roots and the Pilots Gerald Tomez (Vienna Scientists) and Gerhard Gigler (DJ Bunani). The newcomers Shantisan, Ksawa and Corrado Bucci from Brescia bring with them promising credentials and refreshing contributions. Enriched with further remixes by well-known producers including Rainer Trüby (Freiburg), Farrapo (Bologna) and Trotter (São Paolo), the result is a magnificent cross-section of remixes which have found their ideal home on the ultimate Verve label.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    11.05.2017
    EAN
    EAN 0710473193498
     
  • cover

    RAY CAMACHO BAND

    Reach Out

    Die Disco- Formation THE RAY CAMACHO BAND erkunden auf diesem ursprünglich 1979 erschienenen Album die Gefilde des Funk und der ‚Club-Music’ der damaligen Zeit. Latin Einflüsse sind unüberhörbar, verbinden sich mit gnadenlos treibenden Rhythmen und heißen Grooves zu einer atemberaubenden Mischung. Es verwundert nicht, dass Originalpressungen dieses Albums heutzutage für satte 800 US$ gehandlt werden. Dies ist eine Scheibe zum Tanzen, Tanzen …. Und nochmals Tanzen. Ray Camacho lässt dem Hörer keine Verschnaufpause…. aber wer will die auch schon ?
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    08.04.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190091
    Format
    CD
    Release-Datum
    25.07.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190152
     
  • 01. Konastone Ponk
    02. Girls Reservation
    03. Get Up Stand Up
    04. Them Crazy
    05. I Want You
    06. Sexy Thing
    07. I'm Gonna Love You
    cover

    ROBO ARIGO & HIS KONASTONE MAJESTY

    Sexy Thing

    [engl] Robo Arigo is an extraordinary multi-instrumentalist from Nigeria's Ogun State. A founding member of Pogo Ltd, he played bass, guitar and organ on both their albums and plays all kinds of instruments, including cowbell, on Sexy Thing too. One listen to the record, however, (and a quick look at the back of the cover), and it's pretty clear that playing bass is where Robo's heart lay. Especially when he gets to slap it. The slapping starts early on 'Konastone Ponk', a dippy, funky track where Robo implores that if his music 'touches your soul, get up and dance.' The interplay between bass and guitar is magic – it's clear that Eno Louis is Nile Rodgers to Robo's Rick James, with a bit of Prince and Parliament thrown in for good measure. The funk feels dark and dangerous on 'Girls Reservation' and gets seriously slinky on 'Sexy Thing'. I can't over emphasis what a truly great album this is. The sound is clean and the production is stripped back and funky, a sound Robo would finesse as a producer with his Robbosoneex Music Company in Benin. Listen to the audacious cover of 'Get Up, Stand Up', and tell me that you're not convinced that very Bob Marley songs needs a slap bass break in the middle. You need this record in your life. - Peter Moore
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    11.05.2017
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190886
    Format
    CD
    Release-Datum
    11.05.2017
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190893
     
  • 01. I Want To See You Tonight
    02. Shake It On Baby
    03. Peaceful Solution
    04. I Want To Love
    05. Spaceville Rape
    06. Nobody's Man
    cover

    ROCK TOWN EXPRESS

    Rock Town Express

    [engl] There was a time in the 1970s when the best band in the Nigeria was actually from Cameroon. Rock Town Express, formed out of the ashes of Wrinkar Experience by Yaoundé boys Edjo'o Jacques Racine and Ginger Forcha, hit it hard, hit it loud and hit it funky. Racine and Forcha had been recruited from Cameroon by Dan Ian and after only six months, left them stranded in Nigeria's troubled east. Their first album as Rock Town Express was released on Ginger Baker's ARC label in 1974. This, their second eponymous album, features a more subdued sepia toned cover but rocks even harder. The horror of the Biafran War weighs heavily on Rock Town Express. The guitars wail, the horns parp and the synths swirls in a maelstrom of pain and anger. 'Peaceful Solution' implores people to live in peace and harmony. 'Spaceville Rape' bemoans the wanton destruction that comes with war. And 'Nobody's Man' is the defiant cry of an ex-soldier determined to make his own way in the world. Rock Town Express is an angry and dark transmission from Nigeria's east that the war may have been over, but the scars were still yet to heal.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    15.12.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473191517
    Format
    CD
    Release-Datum
    15.12.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473191524
     
  • 01. Oya
    02. My Friend
    03. Ayamato
    04. Kukelu
    05. Efin Ogiso
    06. Freedom Anthem
    07. Wombiliki
    cover

    S. JOB ORGANISATION

    Freedom Anthem

    [engl] S. Job Organization (also known as SJOB Movement) was a rarity in the Nigerian music scene – a collective of equals in a world where band ‘leaders’ ruled the roost and ‘band boys’ had to make do with the crumbs. The name was an acronym representing each of the members – Samuel ‘Spark’ Abiloye, Johnnie Woode Olimah, Ehima ‘Blackie’ Ottah and Prince Bolarinwa Agba. They were music scene veterans and the nucleus of Sonny Okosuns’ group, Ozziddi. Unshackled, their undeniable chemistry fizzed. Listen to a SJOB record and you can almost hear band members nodding their heads in appreciation of each others’ mad skills. On Freedom Anthem, the music is deep, dark and funky. It took inspiration from the new sounds coming out of black America with a focus that was increasingly political. ‘Ayamoto’ calls for Africans to stand up for their rights. ‘Freedom Anthem’ is another funky call to arms. ‘Oya’ and ‘Wombiliki’ incorporate local folk sounds and a tinge of reggae for a distinctly African burnish. The egalitarian structure of SJOB eventually lead to its demise. Without a dominant personality to galvanize the band, they lost direction. Johnnie Woode rejoined Ozziddi. Prince Bola joined King Sunny Ade. The great social experiment was over. But in Freedom Anthem, the magic it created lives on.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    01.11.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190480
    Format
    CD
    Release-Datum
    01.11.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190497
     
  • 01. Freedom For Africa
    02. World People
    03. Take Your Soul
    04. Alikali Adajo
    cover

    SAHARA ALL STAR BAND JOS

    Sahara All Star Band Jos

    [engl] Based in the Havana Nightclub, in the central plateau town of Jos, the Sahara All Stars of Jos weren't part of the Lagos scene or the one in the east. Their leader, Dan Satch Ayo, had played with Dr Sir Warrior in the Orientals. He'd jammed with Mohammed Ahidjo and Sonny Akpan from The Funkees. Together with the All Stars he took the best of both scenes and created his own tight, hypnotic groove. First released in 1978, Sahara All Stars of Jos is a musical journey through all of those influences. ‘Freedom For Africa' is a potent rallying cry sugarcoated with a sweet reggae vibe. ‘World People' is an Afrobeat gem that condenses a night out at The Shrine into 10 min 43 secs. You can almost feel the steam coming out of New York manholes on ‘Take Your Soul.' And the Highlife-tinged ‘Alikali Adajo' brings it back, full-circle, to the Jos Hotel, just off the roundabout, where it all began. Engineered by Fela Kuti's regular knob twiddler, Emmanuel A. Odunesu, Sahara All Stars of Jos is a tight, funky sonic gem and a timely reminder that, in 70's, the groove was strong all over Nigeria.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    12.09.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190466
    Format
    CD
    Release-Datum
    20.09.2016
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190473
     
  • 01. The Price Of Your Love
    02. Everybody Wondering (Why I Love You)
    03. See And Believe
    04. The Good Things Of Life (Your Love Is The Best Of All)
    05. No Condition Is Permanent
    06. Lonely Man On The Marina
    07. Nigeria One - And Forever
    08. Tragedy
    09. The Sun Will Shine
    cover

    SEGUN BUCKNOR

    Segun Bucknor

    [engl] Segun Bucknor fell in love with American soul music as a student at New York’s Columbia University. Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam Cooke and Ray Charles hadn’t made much of a splash in Africa at the time and when Bucknor returned to Nigeria in 1968, he was determined to bring the sound to a wider audience. The result was brand of Afro-Soul that in turn became a proto-type of Afrobeat. With his bands, The Assembly and The Revolution, he released a few politically charged tracks, but even with his energetic dance trio, The Sweet Things, turning up the heat, Bucknor couldn’t compete with Fela Kuti. This self-titled album, the last he released, sees Bucknor go back to his soul roots. Released after The Revolution were disbanded, the Afrobeat affectations are scaled back and his soulful voice brought to the fore. The concerns are more personal than political. It’s the sort of music the Sweet Things would nod their heads to rather than shake their booty. That’s not to say the African beats aren’t still there. On songs like ‘The Price Of Love’ and ‘See And Believe’ they form an intriguing bedrock for the songs to be built upon. On Segun Bucknor the sound sophisticated not sweaty, comforting rather than confronting. - Peter Moor
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    11.05.2017
    EAN
    EAN 0710473191678
    Format
    CD
    Release-Datum
    11.05.2017
    EAN
    EAN 0710473191685
     
  • 01. Discolypso
    02. Hold On
    03. Good Morning
    04. Don't Stop That Music
    05. You Are The One
    06. Give It To Me
    07. Life
    08. Where Were You
    cover

    SONY ENANG

    Don't Stop That Music

    [engl] In the early 1980s, Nigerian was booming and recording studios used the oil money sloshing around to fit their studios with the latest state-of-the-art recording equipment. With the equipment came a new, slicker sound and a new breed of producers like Lemmy Jackson, Jake Sollo, Tony Okoroji and Nkono Teles who became bigger stars than the musicians they recorded. Such was the fate of Sony Enang with Don't Stop That Music. Sony was no ordinary musician. As keyboard player and vocalist with The Founders, he'd recorded some of the most seminal albums to come out of Eastern Nigeria. But his album is best known for being produced by Jake Sollo, and featuring the song, 'Discolypso,' that came to represent Sollo's very particular sound. Not that Sony Enang should be too concerned. 'Don't Stop That Music' is at turns cosmopolitan, sexy, hip, romantic, glamorous and witty. It's got sophisticated dance floor fillers ('Don't Stop That Music' and 'Where Were You?') chirpy, good-time boogie ('Hold On' and 'You Are The One') and a bit of calypso-reggae sunshine to boot ('Life'). In short, it's the sound of a confident and prosperous Nigeria. A sound as sophisticated as anywhere else in the world, but with a unique energy all of its own. - Peter Moore
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    11.05.2017
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190862
    Format
    CD
    Release-Datum
    11.05.2017
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190879
     
  • 01. Osasuima
    02. No Stopping Me Now
    03. Trouble Woman
    04. Stop This War
    05. Happy Birthday To U
    06. Ololufe / Stay The Night
    07. Don't Say What You Can't Do
    cover

    STEVE BLACK

    Happy Birthday To 'U'

    [engl] How do you follow up a stone-cold Afro Funk classic like Village Boogie? Simple. Gather together some of the hottest players in Nigeria, take them down to the Phonodisk studios in Ijebu Igbo and let them loose on a bunch dancefloor fillers you spent the last four years ‘road testing’ in Kaduna. And don’t forget to get Lady Franka and Mariam Pledge in on backing vocals. Those girls know how to fire up a party. It helps, of course, if you’re Steve ‘Dudu’ Black. Steve had a God-given knack for writing combustible dance tunes and the contacts in the industry to get the likes of Willy Nfor, Willy Roy and Felix Lebarty to make them explode. From the opening track, ‘Osasuima’, the heat never stops. On ‘No Stopping Me Now’ and ‘Ololufe/ Stay The Night’, it’s almost too hot to handle. Polished in a studio in London while Musical Youth recorded Pass The Dutchie in the next room, Happy Birthday To U is the gift that keeps on giving – an irresistible blend of Highlife, Afro Beat and Afro Funk that is guaranteed to start a party on any dance floor.
    Format
    LP
    Release-Datum
    02.03.2017
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190800
    Format
    CD
    Release-Datum
    02.03.2017
    EAN
    EAN 0710473190817