ORCHESTRE POLY RYTHMO DE COTONOU Vinyl & CDs

Review: Benin-based West African funk fusionists Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo de Cottonou have enjoyed a long career; amazingly, they're still recording now, some 43 years after forming. This excellent retrospective from Analog Africa takes a closer look at their "glory years" between 1969 and '80, putting more flesh on the bones with a superb 44-page booklet featuring interviews with band members. Their style - a riotous, Hammond-heavy mix if funk, high life, Afrobeat, juju, jazz and Rhumba - is distinctive. What makes the compilation more essential, though, is the unashamed quality of the tracks; you'll find few deeper, sunnier Afro tracks than the brilliant "Min We Tun So".