Beauties

"Let's sing a song," is the translated meaning of "Upopo Sanke", the second album of Ainu artist Umeko Ando (1932-2004). The Ainu, in case you didn't know (because neither did we), are an indigenous people of Japan, the earliest of the northern island of Hokkaido, "whose lands once spanned from northern Honshu [on the Japanese mainland] north to Sakhalin and the Kuril islands [now a disputed part of the Russian Federation]" (read more here). And Umeko Ando is [...]

We don't need no e-du-ca-tion! Um, wait, that didn't come out the way it was supposed to. What we meant to say was that education and Western education in particular as well as the way that a certain view on history is taught by those with a well-known colonial past, is and has been insufficient to say the least. Or as the release notes to Chicago-based producer/beatmaker Lapgan's latest sonic epic state: "Western education is often a sanitised account of [...]

Every once in a while, we come across a project that is truly about making a difference through musical collaboration. Back in 2019, Florence-based "polyhedric composer" Samuele Strufaldi followed an invitation by his friend, the local djembe player Pêrmlay Boris Pierrou, to travel to the latter's home village of Gohouo-Zagna in the Guemon region of the Ivory Coast and collaborate on some music. As he settled into his new surroundings, Strufaldi became aware [...]

Rain in Berlin is so heavy these days, it feels like we've gone coastal. And so coastal is our choice for soundtrack of the week, as we direct our attention to Barcelona's Rocafort Records and their recently released various artists compilation, inviting listeners on an Afro-Caribbean tour of the Colombian coast. "Piconema: East African Hits on the Colombian Coast" brings us nine gems of East African heritage, "showcasing the best of Kenyan Benga music – a [...]

One day ends, another one begins. The transition is fluid yet always heralded by a new dawn, a moment so magical that few things ever get close to capturing its allure. Most recently, two rising stars of the global scene raised the curtain on their debut collaborative LP, released on Barcelona-based imprint Canela En Surco. Fittingly titled "Un Nuevo Amanecer" ('A New Dawn'), Portuguese multi-instrumentalist, producer and DJ Pedro Ricardo – who delivered his [...]

Remaining both in the UK and in West Africa after recently reviewing the new album of experimental UK dub project African Head Charge "A Trip To Bolgatanga", we now turn to London's Mandé jazz ensemble Balimaya Project. Formed by composer, arranger and djembe player Yahael Camara Onono back in 2019, the group fuses the musical experiences and rhythmic traditions of the diverse West African diasporas and identities with influences from London's contemporary [...]

Right on time for a new generation of listeners to become acquainted with their broad palette of psychoactive sounds, African Head Charge are back with another album on Adrian Sherwood's On-U Sound. With a discography reaching back to the project's mind-bending 1981 debut LP "My Life in a Hole in the Ground" – playing on "both the title and concept of David Byrne and Brian Eno's "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" – their latest feat follows a twelve-year [...]

To say we've been eagerly awaiting this release would be somewhat of an understatement. Five years after releasing their debut single "Gül Ahmet", which also featured on the strictly limited "Saz Power" compilation by Ironhand Records, Kraków-based outfit MLDVA and Turkish instrumentalist Çınar Timur unveil their debut LP on Shapes of Rhythm. Presenting their unique take on Turkish psychedelia with a definitive nod the psychedelic rock movement of the [...]

Oh happy day! Bringing joy to the world since their 2016 debut single and subsequent 2019-released debut album "Mam Yinne Wa", Northern Ghana's Frafra gospel stalwarts Alogte Oho & His Sounds of Joy return to Max Weissenfeldt's (Poets of Rhythm, Whitefield Brothers) Philophon imprint with album number two and a fresh batch of joyous grooves. Heralded by a 7-inch vinyl release at the tail-end of 2021 (which we covered here), their sophomore effort is an even [...]

Not ones to turn down a good reissue, we return today to bring you an essential production by Saudi Arabian icon Ettab. A descendent of the Hausa, an ethnic group native to the Central African Sahel region, Ettab was born in Riyadh in 1947 and went on to become "a celebrated singer, actress and [avid defender of women's rights] – and perhaps the only female artist of Saudi origin of her time to claim an international career." In 1992, she released her [...]

Presenting "heavyweight Jamaican soul music," the Inna De Yard crew returns with another "Family Affair" celebrating the roots of reggae music. Following a four-year hiatus, some of the biggest names in the game are back to show dem young'uns how it's done. For those less familiar with this revival movement, Inna De Yard seeks "to capture the essence of Jamaican popular music by stripping reggae down to its core essentials featuring a core band of Jamaican [...]

Nothing like a healthy dose of Ethiopian vibes to set the mind at ease. Leave it to Munich-based multi-instrumentalist JJ Whitefield to present the latest Ethio-infused instrumental offering for the Madlib Invazion Music Library Series. Launched by the Beat Konductor himself and Now-Again Records' mastermind Egon over the course of the global lockdown to keep the music alive and "give their creative friends the ability to stretch out and indulge in whatever [...]