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Africa Boogaloo
The Latinization Of West Africa
HONEST JON'S RECORDS
Rocking the party and ramming the dancefloor is the first priority of this review of Latin styles in classic West African dance music, as it emerged with 1950s anti-colonialism, and ran on gloriously into the 70s.
Exhilarating reggae music from Stoke Newington, north east London, made by soundboys on a Casio and a drum machine, in a room over Eddie Regal's record shop. Our landmark recovery, re-released this week.
'If you are poor, you walk in your shoes, you lean.' Three Unity revive 12s in today, remastered and in spanking new sleeves. Altogether, as a label, the greatest UK digi there ever was.
'... compelling and eccentric mix of lopsided funk, freaky jazz and African disco, which gets through more rhythms than some people hear in a lifetime', Time Out ; '***** pure bliss', Kevin 'The Bug' Martin, Muzik.
Moritz from Basic Channel and Rhythm And Sound, alongside Vladislav Delay (Chain Reaction) and Max Loderbauer (Sahko): a dream crossing of classic Berlin techno, On-The-Corner Miles, Larry Heard and Can.
Fired-up, originary African pop, conjuring the Congolese rumba from imported Latin 78s — with thumb pianos, kazoos, banjos, bottles, violins, and irresistible little songs about pimps, dope, clubbing, sex, death.
Back with a pared-down, western sound. Bitter-sweet and nostalgic, but cut with longing, fantasy and hopefulness, in a daze (sometimes child-like) over lost love, lost innocence, lost years. '****' (Mojo).
Tear-up bad-boy brass-band scorchers. Just like dad crossed Sun Ra with Kool And The Gang, this crashes funkdafied New Orleans street jazz into hip hop. With Flea, Damon, Tony Allen, Malcolm from The Heliocentrics.
Forgotten masterpieces, out-of-this-world improvisations from the 1920s; and dazzling commissions by Sir Richard Bishop, Six Organs Of Admittance and co. 'Dextrous, frenzied, fearless... awesome' (Plan B).
'Jesus fucking shit! These jamz claw so hard at the tatties below methinks the Lord misnamed them, having intended to say trembling BALLS' (Will Oldham). 'My kind of band... Highly recommended' (Joe Boyd).
Alyo is the hardest, funkiest track from the album (with Malcolm from The Heliocentrics on drums); Flipside wobbles and woozes, tippy-toes and pirouettes, with Mingus in its b-boy bones.
