A stupendous haul of music by farmers turned musicians working out of DIY rural studios; drawn from the past decade by Sahel Sounds for its new imprint.
The top artists of the scene — Dickson Gawani, Bala Zaaku, Yaa Naara and others — ranging across styles and subjects, from political commentary to warrior clan rhythms.
Extensive liner notes, with artist interviews, cultural history, and song translations.
Hyper-electronic and densely percussive, moody and transgressive, pulsating and bleeping, body-rocking… this is terrific. Don’t miss it.

‘Recordings from early 2025, while Johnny was bed-bound in an assisted living facility with multiple sclerosis. He speaks into an iPhone laid gently on his chest, in remarkably tender and emotive form. Love in all its permutations. The tangled, but caring nature of familial love, to the anguish and euphoria of romantic connection. Johnny has a remarkable ability to pose questions, and answers, that reflect the truest of realities, without cliche.
‘Joel Nelson nimbly helms the nearly entirely electronic backdrop, with Buchla Music Easel bubbling up between Johnny’s stream of consciousness. At times, Broadcast’s fuzzed out ballads come to mind, while at others, early Oneohtrix Point Never’s gauzy, distant drones cast anchor beneath the slippery syntax.’

‘Verve Vault.’

Killer, rugged, deep, seventies roots.
B/w a mento-style sufferers, originally released on Ackie in 1969.

Superb, revered version-excursion in the grand tradition of Tempo Explosion. Willie Williams kicks off imperiously, on a classic Rhythm & Sound rhythm adroitly evoking Niney’s way with horns. Sugar and Tikkiman take a turn, besides Berlin faces like Cotton and Rod Of Iron. No one puts a foot wrong.

Cornerstone, fully-matured Ubiquity runnings from 1976, with classics like the killer Searching, The Memory, One Sweet Love to Remember, and the laid-back, atmospheric title track. Beloved by the hip hop nation; flipped by luminaries like A Tribe Called Quest, Dilla, Dre, and Common.

Studio One activist Sugar Minott’s favourite LP of all time.
A stone-classic mixture of foundational rhythms, peerless rocksteady lovers, and songs with the political concerns of the roots reggae to come.
Killer after killer. An absolute must.

A 1965 trio led by Ayler’s great bassist, with drummer Tom Price, and an early opportunity to hear the under-appreciated clarinettist Perry Robinson in full flight.

With McCoy Tyner, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones, in 1963.
‘Classic Vinyl.’