[engl] The rags-to-riches chronicle of Penny Penny’s life would be remarkable if he had only released his smash debut Shaka Bundu and packed houses for a few years. But the inimitable South African singer and dancer known for his trademark top ponytail and emphatic anthems was no one-hit wonder. In the aftermath of Shaka Bundu’s nationwide explosion, far beyond his country the album resonated with ever bigger audiences. He performed up and down the continent, building fanbases in more than a dozen countries. So his sophomore album Yogo Yogo—released in 1996—solidified Penny Penny’s standing in pop music nationally and provided new energy to his pan-African stadium-filling adventures. “I was very busy between Shaka Bundu and Yogo Yogo. Shows every week, local and outside the country. There was no relaxing from 1995 until 1999.” The album also reflects the era in which it emerged. If Shaka Bundu arrived triumphantly amid newfound political freedom in South Africa with the end of Apartheid and Nelson Mandela’s election, Yogo Yogo was a next level expression for the maturing artist. He wanted to get a message out. Composed with Joe Shirimani, who also produced the album, the sound and compositional style echoes the earlier recording but the topical nature of the lyrics became more deliberate, more didactic. In the song “Ingani” Penny proclaims, we are all one people even though we may speak different languages, we are all Nguni—a larger historical grouping that includes many of the ethnic groups in modern South Africa. “Kulani Kulani,” which means grow up, urges young people to say no to drugs and yes to education. Ama Owners, referring to the public transport drivers involved in violent rumbles, asks the nation’s drivers to relax because we need them for our safe arrival. Penny’s success as a Xitsonga artist should not be under-estimated in the context of popular music at the time in South Africa. “When I started with my own style and image, first time in Shangaan we had artist like me,” Penny explains. “Our music was traditional before. But I brought a mix of rock and disco and it became the bomb. Every star won’t be popular without your own style.” It took them eight days to finish album, writing the songs in the studio. Penny says, “The songs just happened. Joe is very good at listening and producing, he has lots of patience. When he played the keyboard I would sing, standing behind him once he finished the rhythm, I would sing it all in one take, non-stop. We were not using computers to record, we were singing live. And we pressed the music on cassette and vinyl—not CD—back then." Fast-forward to 2020, Penny Penny is deep in the political game and appears on television 6 times a week as the star of his own reality TV show, “Papa Penny Ahee!”. He is setting up an avocado farm and provides fifty families in his region with food every month via his charitable foundation. Penny still plays huge shows around South Africa and will appear at some Europe’s biggest festivals in 2021.

[engl] “Please Mr. Playboy” a new pressing of fantastic original rhythm and blues, blues, and rock and roll sides from the deep vaults. As you well know by now with the success and praise from collectors the world over on “Have Mercy Uncle Sam,” these pristine rhythm and vocal accompaniment sides will certainly shake the chill off any cool night. This is the music that “made you” if you know what we mean… Please Mr. Playboy starts off with a mystery that must be a well known singer, (can you recognize her?) She starts us off with a one-off advertisement plea from 1965 for Tabs Pants. Buy a few pairs of Tab trousers, and get this hot platter on the house. Hot Breath Hannah is the name of our illustrious singer, but do we dare giver up her identity?…this is a fun and well produced side from the National Recording Company. Dog House takes you down to New Orleans for a rare Boogie number by Archibald, otherwise known as pianist Leon T. Gross. Leon treats us to his beautiful right hand piano work on this very rare side for Imperial records. We have a side by the sultry voiced Varetta Dillard on Savoy Records out of NYC. Varetta was there as history was made as she was on the bill at very first Rock and Roll show ever, the Moondog Coronation Hour put on by Alan Freed in Cleveland. However, she never got to perform that night as the show was shut down after the first song by Paul “hucklebuck” Williams. On this record she gives us her classic, “Send Me Some Money.” A musical force to be reckoned with and one of my favorite female singers, Big Maybelle is on this platter giving us some of her finest work on, “Pretty Good Love.” Guitar from the fantastic Mickey Baker cracks on this record from the Savoy label recorded in the Spring of 1956. Gut punching horn work from Dave McRae (alto), Buddy Lucas, Warren Lucky (tenor), and Leslie Johnakins (baritone saxophone) all deserve to be credited on this rare side of rock and roll perfection. The gals keep rocking us with a side from Lavern Baker on Atlantic, and we travel back down the Mississippi to New Orleans for Guitar Slim’s, “Done got over it” with Lloyd Lambert on the bass. More beautiful guitar work on a rare side from Guitar Jr., otherwise known as Lonnie Baker Brooks. I was fortunate enough to be there one night while Lonnie regaled us with stories as he held court at the bar of Buddy Guy’s in Chicago. He was thrilled that we got giddy over his telling of the Guitar Jr. sessions on Goldband. Here we offer a rare side from Mercury. Lucky Millinders’ singer Annisteen Allen greets us with the stomper “Rough Lover” recorded on Decca, as well as the hell of piano player and alluring vocalist Camille Howard with, “Excite me Daddy” This is another amazing seat lifting side with guitar work from Jonny Rodgers of Solid Sender’s fame. There are more rare sides on this record found in the dust bins and basements of from Texas to Paris and we get the feeling that the ladies can rock it and roll it with the fellas any day of the week!

[engl] The Queen of the Ahoko It makes sense that Antoinette Konan’s eponymous album features nothing more than her ahoko on the cover. The deceptively simple traditional percussion instrument transformed Ivory Coast’s Baoulé music scene when Konan deployed it against a roaring electrified backdrop of synth, bass guitar and drum machines. Released in 1986, the album is a veritable UFO of instrumental force and contemporary pop sensibility landing in a boiling pot of diverse, creative characters inhabiting Abidjan, Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire). Known as the “Queen of the Ahoko” among Ivorians, Konan single-handedly put the central-Ivorian instrument on the map when she gave it a 20th-century re-introduction. The three-piece wooden idiophone is handmade from a thin, ribbed, flexible stick, against which a smaller chunk of wood is rhythmically scraped. A hollow nutshell held in the non-scraping hand amplifies and manipulates the resulting overtones. Despite the ahoko's diminutive appearance, Konan and her powerful voice have remained at the forefront of Ivorian music for decades now, in an extremely diverse country—approximately 70 indigenous languages—with a competitive, internationally-recognized music industry. Music plays an important role in Baoulé cultural life, heard and seen in festivities, funerals and more. They are the largest ethnic group in Côte d’Ivoire and descend from Akan peoples who migrated from present-day central Ghana. Baoulé vocal music is characterized by polyphony, melodies built on parallel thirds and call-and-response. All of this can be heard in Konan’s music. In 1976, she got her start with Ivory Coast’s National Television Orchestra (ORTI), backing major Ivorian stars on Podium, a program featuring youth culture hero Roger Fulgence Kassy. By 1980 she was playing in Musicaria, visionary Ivorian bandleader Boncana Maïga’s group. With Maïga, she expanded her creative horizons and learned new approaches. She also worked with influential producer Jimmy Hyacinthe’s band. His artistic agency in Treichville—Abidjan’s music industry epicenter at the time—further inspired Konan. She would hang out there after school. Konan had a difficult time balancing school and music but enrolled in a music program at INA (National Institute of Arts, where she later also taught classes) and was able to both travel for concerts overseas and study music. Meanwhile, she managed to work with some of Abidjan’s key arrangers and music-makers. Music manager Amedé Koko Tanoh, who was also involved in the agency where Konan socialized, provided the original impetus for her to learn the ahoko in 1981 as a way to distinguish herself from other artists. He took her to study with a professional ahoko player, an old woman who began to teach Konan. But she soon brushed the young lady off and wouldn’t teach her any more. Konan continued on her own until her mother asked where she got the instrument. It turned out her mother knew how to play also, so Konan began to study with her mom. She taped her mom’s ahoko playing so she could practice back at university. During this early period, Konan borrowed clothes because she could not afford performance attire. Despite some ridicule she persevered. Music impresario George Tahi Benson, one of her key mentors, told her, “It’s good to dress the way you do. But what if you instead make the difference by promoting the local cloth, the Baoulé cloth.” She again got some negative feedback when she changed to traditional gowns. But it became her trademark look and gradually became trendy among Ivorians all over the country. Konan’s fingerprints are all over Antoinette Konan, she says, as it was meant to be a highly personal recording. She wanted to portray the suffering, injustice, frustrations, humiliations, personal career struggles, experience of child birth and poverty she sees in society. Taking on the producer role for the first time, Konan was the architect of her dancefloor-ready neo-traditional sound. But crucial to the recording was arranger Bamba Moussa Yang. A creative and versatile musical mind who was known for his work with legendary Ivorian singer Ernesto Djedje, Konan met him in 1986 after she had already released two albums. Yang brought a touch that matched Konan’s expectations, she says, because he knew her work so well. As she reflects on her long career today, Konan remembers Yang as her favorite arranger. Over the years Konan’s popularity grew to the upper echelons of Ivorian society: Ivory Coast’s first president Felix Houphouet Boigny’s would regularly invite Konan to perform at official ceremonies with foreign dignitaries. Through her charity and advocacy work on behalf of female musicians, Konan is still a force in the country’s music community. You can see her performing or speaking on television and around the country all the time—yet she still maintains several entrepreneurial projects in the farming sector. Konan has recorded more than 15 albums so far and plans more recordings soon.

[engl] 16 Blues, Rhythm & Early Soul Groovers!' Volume 3 in the 'La Noire' roots music series. Comes in gatefold cover.

[engl] Austrian band Shake Stew has become something of a phenomenon. With their premiere at Jazzfestival Saalfelden 2016 and their following debut “The Golden Fang” they seemingly exploded into the scene out of nowhere. Since then their high energy mixture of hypnotic afrobeat and jazz grooves has made them enormously successful not only on home turf but across Europe. Led by rising star bassist Lukas Kranzelbinder they quickly became one of the hottest live acts on the circuit, while the impact of their second album “Rise and Rise again” (featuring Shabaka Hutchings) enabled them to spread their unique sound further afield, including an extensive tour of Canada, Mexico, Morocco and stand out shows at prestigious festivals like Montreal, Rochester and North Sea Jazz Festival. The band has also attracted the attention of Germany’s leading newspaper Die Zeit who, in an unusual move, sent one of its writers to spend 5 days with them to cover the formations summer residence at Jazzclub Unterfahrt; the resulting feature was euphoric in its praise: "What I heard blew me away. Captivating rhythms, melting brass, hypnotic funk-beat-swing-afro-jazz-rock-rhythm-and-something. I was glued to my seat and could barely get up. […] Meanwhile I know that other listeners had similar initiation experiences; something comes from this band that is new and special - and very attractive.” Despite being on the scene for only a short time, German Radio NDR already called them a “Cult Band” and everyone who could witness the septet's two-day residency at Viennese Jazz Club Porgy & Bess earlier this year might understand why: Both evenings sold out, a total of nearly 900 listeners, who crowded into the club to hear the latest sounds of a band whose journey has only just started. Riding on all this success Shake Stew are now releasing their third studio album Gris Gris on 1 November. Not content to do anything by halves (their first single was 19 minutes long), Gris Gris is a double album of what they do best: A high-octane mix of fiery jazz and trance-like groove injections combined with mysterious soundscapes and spiritual free jazz eruptions - or as one Austrian newspaper described them “an intergalactic road movie for the ears!”

[engl] It's all over town. In 2021 it's time again for a new The Monsters (official) album and thus also for a new Sounds of Subterrania Special Edition. It's time to rewrite the history of the record cover. 2021 is about nothing more and nothing less than giving back Punk the Do It Yourself. Are you ready for the greatest adventure of your life? Are you ready to face the most difficult task of your record collecting life and to turn a phrase into a creed, stitch by stitch? Your set consists "You're Class, I'm Trash" as an English and a Swiss version, canvas, 5,500 cm of thread and a needle. Everything is wrapped in an XL poster with a velvet sleeve and peppered with the irrefutable certainty that you will have to fight this battle alone. It's up to you to bring the artwork to perfection and to prove what only a true fan is capable of. The sets (Janosh, Swan-Lee or the Beat-Man himself) are strictly limited and only available directly from Sounds of Subterrania.

[engl] Released in 2011, Chain & The Gang's second album, like its predecessor, was once again produced by Calvin Johnson at Dub Narcotic Studio. The lineup is also mostly the same, with the small difference that there are now five background singers who answer (in different songs) the calls of Ian Svenonius: Tara Jane O'Neil, Veronica Ortuño, Susanna Patten, Sarah Pedal and Katy Davidson. "Why Not" challenges everyday common sense and the established rules to an energetic blues shuffle. "Detroit Music" sounds like dirty jabs and the Dirtbombs, "Detroit Music II" plays the ball on, towards a heavy monster jam. Brilliant! The title track is then again in a class of its own: to psychedelic laments familiar from the Stooges' "We Will Fail," Svenonius mocks the tastes of the naïve "I actually listen to everything" consumer: "I know you wanna share. But don't!" he spits contemptuously at their feet. In the era of Spotify & Co., Svenonius accepts the accusation of snobbery: "Does a moth know a flame, just because it's drawn to it? "Svenonius sells it all with conviction and a devilish twinkle in his eye. He means what he says, and also knows how absurd it all is. These 12 tracks serve as a bombastic backdrop for Svenonius' treatises on living the life of an anti-capitalist svengali; they're a guerrilla garage rock manifesto imbued with fever, fervour and soul." - The Quietus

[engl] The 2009 debut album from the chain gang led by Ian Svenonius (Nation of Ulysses, The Make-Up, Weird War) is a masterpiece of primitivism. From dazzling set pieces of R&B and rock'n'roll, the band forms highly melodic songs full of call-and-response chants ("What Is A Dollar"), or invites you to take a walk through the cemetery ("Cemetry Map"), which sounds so spooky as if voodoo master Dr. John had thought it up. Sometimes Svenonius just grabs a wooden guitar to make fun of conspiracy theories like in "Deathbed Confessions": "I faked the moon landing, I saved Hitler's brain. Yeah, it's in Argentina but it controls the USA." Calvin Johnson produced the album at his Dub Narcotic studio and also did a bit of background vocals. The beat lurches and sways as confidently and surely as an old sea dog's gait in a breeze of doppelkorn. The somewhat odd album title is explained by the always conceptually thinking singer as follows: "Everywhere freedom goes, it leaves a path of destruction. Fast food, bad architecture, materialism, unbridled greed, destroyed environment, imperial conquests, class struggle; combined, these phenomena are seemingly synonymous with freedom." When big words often hide only capitalist greed and imperialist war, Svenonius & Co. prefer to slip into the role of dissidents. "Ian Svenonius is an inadvertent pioneer. His career has been a studied attempt to advance the history of punk rock, using influences as tools to build with rather than styles to flaunt and discard." - The Wire

[engl] all 3 records for a special price. Anyone who has already pre-ordered a record can also fall back on the offer. Just send an email.

[engl] Debut record of this post punk band from Vienna, Austria. Tracks taken from the self-released tape, recorded on 4-track, mastered to perfection by Eric Brady. Limited to 500 copies. Post-Punk to dance to, touching the body at the very right places, mostly german lyrics you will know by heart soon even if you are from…

[engl] Los Angeles, CA based PowerPop combo with two new cuts on 45rpm. This double A side banger is another testament of their unique upbeat Undertones & Buzzcocks tinged teenage frustration rock n roll in 2 and a half minutes. More exciting news from the Reflectors will follow soon…. day by day, week by week… stay tuned!

[engl] From the first few riffs of “Fuck Death!”, you can tell that you are in for a special treat. This is not your typical 3-chord punk rock wasteland - this is a very well written post hardcore/punk album. And it took those 4 guys only 6 years to record it... These 12 songs show that When There Is None perfected their sound & songwriting over the past years. The album has more melodies than power chords and more sing-alongs than boredom. Sounding like a hybrid somewhere between the Sainte Catherines, Leatherface and Hot Water Music - this album keeps on growing with every spin. Also, finally a concept we all can agree on. Fuck Death!

[engl] After "Demo Demo Demo" and "Single Single", this is finally the first full length album by one-man-wonder Doug out of Lorient. You may know the man behind the mask from his other exquisite projects SORDID SHIP or COUPE GORGE, in which, above all, he extensively expresses his preference for Oi! On the debut LP, as on the previous singles, he rather shows his passion for synthpunk and then simply combines both preferences into a pretty great and awesome style of Punk. Super melodic synth parts mix with angry Oi Punk and Roll sound. Voilà: CUIR. This LP comes on beautiful rose marbled vinyl!

[engl] With the debut album "Parents + FBI = Cahoots", Shrinkwrap Killers out of Oakland bring a load of paranoia and conspiracies to the picnic table. The sun may be shining, but the melodies in the guise of 80s Dark Wave / Synth Punk are eerily beautiful enough to darken the sky. Yes, you can dance to this, cry, drink and smash the goddamn State to this. All at the same time. A perfect mixture of The Spits, Wipers & Brat Farrar. "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you!"

[engl] IconAclass is a passion project from MC/producer Will Brooks. Best known as MC dälek, the front person and co-producer in experimental Hip Hop group Dälek. He has explored the left of center/ wall of noise world ala My Bloody Valentine meets Public Enemy on 8 studio albums and numerous collaborations. Their sophomore full length album Changing Culture with Revolvers features MC dälek back on production and Emcee duties, and recruits long time deadverse massive & Labteksmember, Dev-One on vocals as well. The contrast in voice and rhyme style provides the album with a brand new take on hard hitting gritty East Coast Hip Hop. As always, cuts are provided by Mixmaster Motiv. Changing Culture with Revolvers is poised to open eyes and in?ltrate eardrums. Pure hip-hop, hypnotic, heavy beats serve as more than just a backdrop. They focus a spotlight squarely on the lyrics, and iconAclass has a lot on their mind! 12 tracks with a heady blend of lyrics and grimy East Coast Boom-Bap beats skewed through the Deadverse prism.

[engl] An extract from the novel “Bovver Birds Rool” (…continued) “That must hurt”, said Dave. He hovered over Sue as she shakily tried to return to her feet. “Well help me, then”, barked Sue with a pained expression, “don’t just flippin’ stand there”. “I think this fell off”, said Dave as he handed Sue back her bloodied Marc Bolan rosette. “Great”, snapped Sue, “Steve’s only just given me that… Which way did they go?” “Don’t be daft”, said Dave, “you’re in no fit state.” At Tuesday night’s Stall Street Disco, Dawn and Jane were busy victory dancing to their anthem, Hector’s “Wired Up”, darting hard-faced Knuckle Girl glares at any boy daring enough to comment on their togetherness with an ill-advised wink and a nudge to his immediate neighbour. Meanwhile, Sue had invested her last 2p in a phone call to her best mate “Sand”, short for Sandra. “Sand” was the self-elected leader of the Bovver Birds, the female contingent of The Larkhall Legion, who were beginning to assemble around the entrance to the disco. “Tired of living?” were the last words Dawn heard as her face hit the floor. “You cow!,” Dawn screamed, as she pulled out the remnants of her own front tooth and threw it in the face her towering tormentor. “The Knuckle Girls buckle and the Bovver Birds win. Again!,” announced Sand in a loud but deadpan voice over the continuing Hector music. “We’ll leave you alone now to bury your dead. … “Birds” is still the word, and you’ve should been shat on from a great height. Next time, bitches!” A bow-tied bouncer strong-armed “Sand” from the hall, dragging her by the arms as she still tried to pitch a globule of carefully-harvested spittle over her agitator. “And there’s a greeny for you,” she shrieked with delight as it landed successfully. (to be continued…)

[engl] Somewhere in a remote place called Hawkfield, not far from the city of Stockholm, Sweden, music, dreams, visions, goblins & robots, come to life. There are stories to tell, signs and paths to follow, towards the horizon and beyond. Beyond Louie (Love Jonasson) is a singer and an artist who creates tunes and melodies on synths and guitars. On this recording he’s joined by Frank E. Male (Henry Fiats Open Sore), guitar and bass, Staffan Zeroboy Fagerberg (Vidro), drums and Li Jonasson, backing vocals, the daughter of the artist. Beyond Louie has been an active musician since the 90s as a singer in the Stockholm based garage band Sons of Cyrus, the Berlin band Ray Omega and different music projects like Last Crusade. Beyond Louie is the artists new solo project. This single is the first release, two songs that show two sides of music.

[engl] Can you smell what The Whiffs are cookin? Hint: it’s not Phish, Meatloaf or a String Cheese Incident. Nope – Kansas City’s prodigal sons of power pop are sticking to what they know on Another Whiff, their debut full-length for Dig! Records. Since 2017’s Take A Whiff EP, the band has been busy allowing their auditory aromas to ripen with the addition of Joey Rubbish (of The Rubs) for a fuller, more robust sonic bouquet. While the band can still get it up for Stiff Records – their pop-centric punk remains in full force – the album takes detours down lonelier roads in broken-hearted ballads from the heartland. No rocks left unturned on a journey forged by pioneers like Chilton and later Westerberg, the looming legacy of Petty and the cosmic country harmonies of The Byrds before them. In a year’s span, The Whiffs took their time recording, on and off, in their makeshift basement practice space: Electric Babyland. This pace and environs allowed the new lineup to coalesce, and get tour-tight on the road with La Luz, Bad Sports and Patsy’s Rats. The result is a unique album that is at once sprawling in direction and precise in execution, with all the sonic stank you’d expect from sweaty beer plied basement sessions. Out of the gate, “Shakin All Over” will register to all of the senses, like you’re squatting in the corner of the basement, imbibing with the band and absorbing every hit from Jake’s C&C kit (note the frivolous plug for Jake’s drum company). After untold nights into the wee hours of the morning, 14 tracks emerged as Another Whiff. Expertly recorded by Joey, mixed by Vince Lawhon and mastered by Jordan Richardson; the final package sounds like the sum of its parts, and all the beers in between. Another Whiff shirks a sell-by date and trends de jour, in favor of honest guitar driven, vocally infectious love songs for the ages. Timeless tunes and the triple-threat of Rory, Zach and Joey’s vocals set The Whiffs apart from their peers. Three distinct songwriters with their own personal flavors, delivering three-part harmonies for a unique rotation of upbeat punk belters (“Now I Know”), achy ballads (“She”) and triumphant tearjerkers (“How Could You”) that our troubled troubadours dispense like a Greatest Hits Factory for the last half-century of all of our all-time favorites.

[engl] Haters be damned, and punishers beware; Dancer don’t suffer no fools! Here with an anthemic scorcher of an A-Side: “I’m Not Giving Up”, channels equal parts Cheap Trick & Thin Lizzy, delivering the ROCK GOD goods so convincingly its time to THROW your Kiss records out! Flip it over for “Teenage Punk”, a swirling synth punk slice of misfit solace with words to live by (“all our friends, we don’t have friends”). Six singles in, and Dancer proves there are sick new moves comin’ from the crew responsible for Apache, Glitz, and Slick! Recorded by Greg Ashley in a one and done press featuring awesome album art by the Human Lawnmower’s inimitable Avi Spivak.