Manka Le Phallang Mokhosi Side 1 Mokhosi Lipotsotso Koko Inama Limakatso Ngoka Kenna Feela Side 2 Linyane La Tau Tlo Hella Batho E Tang Taba Santile Machache This 1989 Basotho famo music recording from fascinating land-island-within-South Africa Lesotho [...]
Lamissa Bengali CAN 2002 Face A Jema Yiri Pousse-Pousse Tie Pi Face B Son Janjo Ce Boda Muso Jump for joy, this is blazin Senoufo balafon music from Mali at the hands of a mallet maestro to the extreme. Rock to these husky vocals as well, mes potes. Lamissa Bengali (or Bengaly) is joined by [...]
Alhaji Ayinla Omowura Ati D'Ariyo Side 1 Side 2 Warbly low end, complex bubbly rhythms that are part Yoruba talking drums, part bad tape... I love the almost meandering, laid back apala tempo, at one point a precursor to faster, more frenetic fuji music (with which I have lately been obsessed). I have always enjoyed the solo and chorus vocals throughout this late 70s apala joint [...]
Brahima Guitar Tchilla Face A Tchilla Rognan Gaminin Djon Ti Laban Lô Face B Gboron Fani Djougouya Siguisso This might not be my favorite tape ever but this content and rhythmic Ivorian guitar/accordion meditation on middle-of-the-road tastefulness could not come from a more angelic-looking man, who happens to go by the name of Mr. Guitar. Longest [...]
Issa Coulibaly dit Trih Issa Face A Kono Kambora Lodjourato Djoukounaba Face B Sida Bara Mogo Please make way for Mr. Issa Coulibaly ( and his cohort a.k.a Trih Issa). This cassettes plays like a personal communication from one established Guinean griot to another, soul-drenched kora and balafon and vocals to the hilt, something we've kind [...]
Muungano Cultural Troupe Volume 17 Mambo Yapo Huku Side A Mambo Yapo Huku Si Mzizi Side B Hutomchukua Natumia Ufundi Taarab music from Tanzania's long-running and legendary Muungano. This tape gets the award for wily, sinewy and swirly lo-fi keyboard tone of the year. Similar in crucial melodic and rhythmic ways to my earlier faves from Dar es Salaam, Jagwa Music . Stop [...]
Mama Diabate Nambiyo Side A Nambiyo Koumbe Diara Tenen Kaba Bantan Side B Gbankole Danka Boli Fassoulouku Koumbe Diara Glittery and glammed out Manding pop from Guinea, perfectly balanced between traditional and modern persuasions. Vocals cut sharp, kora never dull, everything else falls into place / makes you [...]
Bola Volume 7 Coming April 2/3 Worldwide Listen to the track "Abayetidu Ma" from the forthcoming Awesome Tapes From Africa release by Bola . He is a singer and instrumentalist from Bolgatanga, Ghana who has been putting out tape after tape of ridiculously energetic and thoughtful songs for the last few years. I almost died when I heard this Volume 7 tape for the first time. Bola's intense Frafra-language vocals, along with his shredding kologo —a two-stringed lute—boosted by bass-heavy, angular keyboard melodies and dance [...]
Who is this? Mahmoud Ahmed Side A Side B Hoping someone can provide some details on this excellent recording. Happy New Year to all of you.
Ding Ding Djello Koumandian Face A Sida Hypocrite Hommage à nos mamans * Barimihi-Faré * Sida (Remix) Face B /Koumandian Daff mi Yakh Ecoutons nos Parents Koumacitiri-Ghö * Hypocrite (Remix) *—Made me feel/think something Guinean rap from a group of well-educated lads, who [...]
El Hadj Hamado Kanazoe Face A Nabi Yaam Pingr Face B Nabi Yaam Siifo Majestic, otherworldly Sufi music from Burkina Faso. Damn, all zoned out on this "no instruments allowed" recording this morning. Vocal-to-mental invigoration. More info on Wazu music in particular and Sufi music in general from West Africa and beyond right here .
Ahwach Souss Side A Side B This is Berber music from the Souss region of southern Morocco, which sounds like it was recorded at a festival or event (I think I outdoor ambiance plus background chatter... an awesome spontaneous vibe to this recording). Ahwach music blows me away and I think this tape is particularly insane. Listen to the bone crushing drum rhythm that follows the eerie solo vocal introduction. Side [...]
Ndiogou Seck Tarou Face A Lupaa-Lup-Samba Coow-li (Lang) Interesse + Face B Yaama NDiaye Xoox-yi Bari-Jom Man. This tape is killing me today. Senegalese mbalax-ish style acoustic music with amazing choir vocal responses back by beautifully produced ensemble of drums and massive torso-sized kalimba. Enjoy.
Jess Sah Bi & Peter One Our Garden Needs Its Flowers Face A Clipo Katin Kango Minmanle? Face B Our Garden Needs Its Flowers Apartheid African Chant Solution Buy this shit at Amazon because it's amazing that cats are making straight up country music in Cote [...]
Alhaja Queen Salawa Abeni and her Waka Moderniser India Waka Side 1 Mo Ti Goke Thank You India Waka Mo De Inu Ile Ola Ayinla Lo Ni Fuji Abeni Loni Waka Abeni De Olo Un Orin Side 2 Eru Mba Mi Chief Popoola Olaofe Mo Jawe Oriji Kiniun Ti De Oko Abeni Ti De Lady Waka Queen Orin Wa Dun Un [...]
Bereket Mengistab Vol. 13 Side A Track 1 Track 2 Track 3 Track 4 Side B Track 5 Track 6 Track 7 Track 8 Eritrean music! This 1999 recording from legendary singer and krar ninja Bereket Mengisteab (spelled "Mengistab" on the tape) coalesces much [...]
Awa Kassemady Diabate Kayira Vol. 2 Face 1 Baya Dania Face 2 Talassa Kayira Happy 11/11/11 (and Happy Veterans' Day). Mande griot music for the masses from Mali with an after-taste electronique. Maybe that's just this recording's tinny treble-heavy mix [editor's note--I don't equalize these rips]. I feel like this solid package of soul and virtuosity was worth sharing here regardless. [...]
Fatou Laobé Hé Laobé Side A Serigne Bi Hé Laobé Sida Side B Djoudé Diabé Kheul Diour Dom Sani Life is short. It's not nearly long enough post the best tapes by all the top mbalax divas from Senegal. Fatou Laobé's ecstatic yet masterfully controlled vocal cadences will have to suffice for today. Likembe [...]
Zig Zag Crew Bongo Msoto Side 1 Bongo Msoto Wazo Jipya feat. F.S.G. Zig Zag Watu Bwana RMX feat. Sir Nature Intro Side 2 Tumepagawa Kanyagia Watu Bwana Bongo Msoto Instrumental Kanyagia Intro Ill [...]
Ithran Side A Thshoked Thodath Ino Wakha Nzwa Yaman Ossana Diziran Side B Yoshishem Babam Thaziri Instrumental Guest post from a friend along the interwebs, he says: "Ithran is an Amazigh (or Berber) word that means stars. The group was created in 1984 in Morocco. Despite inadequate resources, the group managed to break through to [...]
Awesome Tapes from Africa
HAERTS – All The Days
iTunes Leaks Kanye West’s Yeezus tracklisting??
PREVIEW: Hyperbits – Karekare (Original Mix)
