International charts

Review: 1975's "Simigwa" album not only launched the career of Afro-funk fusionist and eventual Highlife great Gyedu Blay Ambolley, but also inspired a Ghanaian dance craze. The album was co-produced by another Highlife great, Ebo Taylor, and has long been exceptionally hard to find on vinyl. For this official vinyl reissue on Mr Bongo, Ambolley's landmark set has been fully re-mastered for the very first time. It sounds spectacular, with great clarity on the ear-catching brass solos, serious weight to the bass and superb stereo separation. Highlights include - but certainly aren't limited to - the Afro-blues brilliance of "Toffie", the jaunty dancefloor fuzziness of "This Hustling World" and the heavyweight swing of ear-catching opener "Kwaakwaa".

Review: Africa Seven's A7 Edits offshoot has already proved to be one of the better re-edit series around, primarily because they consistently employ some of the best re-editors in the business, offering them the opportunity to select tracks they want to rework from the parent label's vast catalogue of licensed cuts. This edition - the seventh EP to date - is another action-packed winner. Rising star Alan Dixon delivers a lightly tooled-up, all-action revision of Gyedu Bley Amadou's tropical disco classic 'Highlife', before Barcelona-based John Talabot and Pional re-frame Ekambi Brilliant's 'Afrika Afrika' as a kind of Afro-post-punk/dub disco mash-up. Over on side B, Escapade dances through a bouncy disco-house take on Pasteur Lappe's 'Na Real Sekele Fo Ya', while Jacques Renault expertly rearranges Michael Amara's Afro-disco-funk staple 'New Bell'.