Review: Abaete's self-titled 1977 LP remains one of Brazil's deepest cult treasuresian obscure gem of Bahian jazz-funk samba that now sees long-overdue reissue. Recorded during a creative high for Bahia's music scene, this sole full-length from the vocal trio blends masterfully layered harmonies with moody synths, groove-driven percussion and North Brazilian rhythmic signatures. There's almost no background info on the group, but the music speaks volumes. Highlights like 'O Rei Do Calang (Calangotango)' and 'Toca Nicanor' ripple with syncopated urgency, while 'Canto Sul' and 'Por Uma Razo De Amor' float with breezy melodic finesse. Mixed by Waldir Lombardo Pinheiroiknown for work with Tom Ze and Zeca do Tromboneithe album is full of freewheeling arrangements, grainy funk textures and subtle psychedelia. It's no surprise the trio also penned tunes for greats like Clara Nunes and Elza Soares. A rare window into an experimental chapter of Brazilian popular music, rediscovered in all its radiant groove.
Review: Original Gravity is best known for its tireless reggae output but also does a fine line in sounds from Latin America with this ongoing series. It's a various artists affair that is brilliantly authentic with Abramo & Nestor's relentlessly wiggling 'El Tumbao Del Solar' up first and packed with instrumental charm. Luchito & Nestor's 'Chevere Girl' is a more vocal-led tune with a classic shuffling Latin rhythm and plenty of woody percussion and brass. La Vieja Escuela's deep soul heartbreaker 'Vacilar Mi Guajira' has a more melancholic feel and Nestor Alvarezgoes it along on the funky and summer-ready 'La Fiesta Se Va.'
Review: From Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana, Gyedu-Blay Ambolley returns with another simmering display of his self-styled Simigwa-funk-part highlife, part jazz, part proto-rap, all unmistakably his own. Still sharp at 77, Ambolley commands a tight ensemble through groove-led declarations like 'Wake Up Afrika' and 'U Like Or U No Like', riding swung basslines and crisp horn arrangements with the flair of a master bandleader. 'God E See You' finds him slipping into a smoky, Afro-soul register, while 'New Simi Rapp' stretches out into hypnotic territory, led by flutes, baritone sax and rhythmic mantras. 'Ochoko Bila' and 'If You Want To Know' are more playful cuts, full of bounce and quick-fire wisdom. The production, split between Ghana and the Netherlands, balances live grit with rich detail-everything breathes, nothing is wasted. As ever, Ambolley's voice is both storyteller and instrument: loose, commanding, and deeply rooted in diasporic sound. This is music that moves and means.
Review: Mormaco Queima is the electrifying debut album from Ana Frango Electrico and marks the point where their genre-distorting journey began in the humble tenements of Rio de Janeiro. First out digitally in 2018, it radiates raw charm, fusing MPB, Tropicalia, and indie with a punk sass and lo-fi swagger. Oxbowing playfully between structure and chaos, opener 'Farelos' teeters on the edge of form through trombone and percussion, while 'No Bico Do Mamilo' shifts restlessly in tempo, barely preparing us for twin tunes 'Roxo' and 'Picles', which swing like macaques from punk bursts to psychedelic grooves. Again reissued globally by Mr Bongo, Quiema's vital first contribution to the next genesis of Brazilian avant-garde music was and still is a sound to behold.
Le Grand Soleil De Dieu (Psychemagik remix) (5:41)
Guinee (Turbotito edit) (6:24)
Agatha (Voilaaa remix) (6:39)
Forest Nativity (Red Axes edit) (7:00)
Review: No downloads, no streams - this one's strictly vinyl. Via Ozileka and Africa Seven, Francis Bebey Remixed invites four contemporary heads to tinker with the legacy of the late Cameroonian pioneer. Long before it was cool, Bebey folded traditional West African music into folk, funk, jazz and drum machines, shaping a sound that echoed far beyond his lifetime. Now A7 Edits hands the reels to Psychemagik, Turbotito, Voilaaa and Red Axes, whose rerubs range from dubbed-out psych to Afro-disco and woozy house. It's less a greatest-hits package, more a respectful twist on classics by producers with deep crates and good ears; only one extra mix from Josh Ludlow lands digital-only, but the rest is locked to wax.
Boddhi Satva & Zaki Ibrahim - "Vibrate High" (4:17)
Boddhi Satva & Jorge Bezerra - "Xango" (5:56)
Boddhi Satva & Freddy Da Stupid - "Kotto River" (5:31)
Review: Manifest Everything is a powerful double album from Boddhi Satva that surveys his groundbreaking work in ancestral-inspired Afro-electronic music. This edition compiles tracks from Manifestation, which was a Grammy contender for Best Alternative Music Album, and In Spite of Everything, and together they give a great insight into his creative power and emotional range. This one is dedicated to his late mother and braids personal reflections with singular rhythms and soulful club anthems. Boddhi's cultural impact has been endorsed by a resolution from both the New York State Senate and U.S. Congress, and this gatefold format includes liner notes and Basquiat-inspired visuals.
Review: Cafe Tacvba's Re was released in July 1994 but remains one of the most groundbreaking albums in Latin rock. The sprawling double LP produced by Gustavo Santaolalla fused punk, norteNo, funk and traditional Mexican sounds into a daring, genre-defying opus. Tracks like 'El Baile y El Salon' and 'La Ingrata' became almost instant anthems, while deeper cuts elsewhere explored death, identity and national pride. Often compared to The White Album by The Beatles, Re delivered cohesion through diversity and elevated Mexican rock to new artistic heights. Thirty years on, it's a cult classic and cultural cornerstone and is essential listening that reshaped rock en espaNol and inspired generations who came after.
Review: Body & Soul NYC resident Joaquin 'Joe' Clausell has launched a new series, 'Iboga' - an extension of his 'unofficial edits and overdubs' project focused on "psychedelic takes" on "African classics". He begins EP number two with 'Abuja Rough', a rolling, lightly housed-up take on a lesser-known mid-80s Afro-synth-pop number, before ratcheting up the tempo, intensity and percussive pressure on 'Summer Africa'. He successfully straightens out and beefs up an organ-rich Afronbeat workoput on 'People', while standout 'Afrikan Basement' is a lightly dubbed-out chunk of densely percussive Afro-house topped off with effects-laden vocals and sax solos.
Review: For the latest offshoot of his ongoing 'unofficial edits and overdubs' rework project, New York house/disco mainstay Joaquin 'Joe' Clausell has decided to turn his hand to "African classics', delivering what he describes as "psychedelic takes". On this EP, the first of two, the Body & Soul NYC resident offers up extended revisions of a quartet of cuts. He begins with 'New Africa', wrapping a gorgeous sand gently soulful vocal workout in spacey synths and layers of spiritual house percussion, before upping the tempo on the breathless and brilliant 'Griot Ba'. His love of deep, dubby basslines, restless percussion and delay-laden vocal snippets comes to the fore on EP highlight 'The Ya Yo People', whjle 'Drum Sore' - a version of what sounds like an early to mid 1980s number - very much lives up to its name.
Review: Brooklyn record distributor Atypical-dopeness offer the next edition in Joaquin Joe Claussell's Unofficial Edits & Overdubs series. Following a four-tracker of largely unnamed tracks released in 2020, Iboga continues the series, this time with an iterative avatar to top up Claussell's ever-moving house continuum. Claussell's output has lately taken on an ancestral turn, influenced by the hallucinations caused by chewing the roots of an iboga plant, a chemico-spiritual fixture of initiation ceremonies found across Central Africa (whether Claussell actually did take ibogaine isn't clear). What we do know is that, in dialogue with his heritage, Claussell found himself inspired by these initiatory rituals and so set about producing this eleven-track heart-rouser, fusing the overdubbed recorded sounds of Gabon, Cameroon and Congo with his own summative, spiritual, salubrious house sound.
Review: The latest 7" from New York producer and long-time spiritual house innovator Joaquin Joe Claussell leans into his cosmic jazz side, offering two fully analogue recordings of 'Dark Rebel'. It's a brand new release, recorded live with no computersijust raw musicianship and hands-on energy. The A-side version stretches into smoky Rhodes licks and rolling percussion, while the B-side strips things down to a tighter, dubbier frame. Released on Sacred Rhythm and Cosmic, this is one for collectors of Claussell's deeper, more improvisational output.
Review: Willie Colon will always be most associated with his steamy house burner 'Set Fire to Me' and is a favourite amongst Balearic heads searching for something off the beaten track. Released in 1977, the album was the first collaborative work between Colon and Ruben Blades, and it's fair to say it marked a turning point in salsa history by blending sharp social commentary with rich musicality. It launched Blades into stardom and introduced a new, narrative-driven style to Latin music with standout production by Colon. The album includes standout tracks like Tite Curet Alonso's 'Plantacion Adentro,' Blades' own 'Pablo Pueblo' and Felix Hernandez's 'Segun el Color', all now on a heavyweight vinyl reissue cut from the original master tapes.
Review: After a one-off 45 turned up on Paul Murphy's desk, it didn't take long for Jazz Room to come calling. The result: a scorching double-header due for the end of June 2025, with Jungle Fire members at the controls. On the A-side, Sun Ra's 'Watusa' is reimagined as a driving Latin Afrosound workout, all percussion and propulsion, already picking up airplay on Gilles Peterson's BBC 6 Music show. Flip it and you'll find a deep-grooving take on Charles Mingus' 'Meditations On Integration', funked-up but still meditative, a bold recut of a classic.
Review: Born in Kribi in 1946, Eko Roosevelt, known simply as Eko, is a celebrated Cameroonian composer, pianist and vocalist, and the son of a local Tribal Chief. His musical journey began in church and he later honed his craft through studies in Dakar and Paris. Between 1975 and 1982, Eko released several LPs, singles and cassettes before returning to Kribi to assume chieftaincy. His enduring Afro-disco classic 'Kilimandjaro My Home' remains a staple for DJs and dancers worldwide, and many of his crossover tracks have been bootlegged, edited and remixed by numerous producers. Here we get the funky disco of 'Phone Me Tonight' and more soulful smoothness of 'Take Me As I Am Now.'
Little Black Woman (feat Alfredo D'Ecclesiis) (4:35)
Maledetta Discoteca (4:06)
Boogie With Your Baby (4:14)
Divine Dance (4:20)
Juanita Shing-a-Ling (4:50)
Review: Funkool Orchestra's debut album Latin Freaks arrived a year ago and delivered an exotic blend of Neapolitan funky disco, Latin soul and boogaloo grooves. Following a string of buzzworthy singles, the full LP lived up to the hype with its mix of rare grooves and coastal Italian flair and so it sold out in quick time, which its why it now, a year on, gets reissued for another summer of fun. Infused with warm basslines, tight horns and infectious rhythms, it's a sun-drenched celebration of vintage sounds with a modern twist that is perfect for fans of global funk and feel-good dancefloor energy.
Review: The Saint Wax Edit Service series delivers another superb sonic sermon here with Haverdi at the metaphorical lectern. To get things under way, they lay down the impossible funky basslines of 'Chituna' which is powered by big brass and thudding kicks which only heighten the soul. 'Bamboo' is defined by dazzling disco synth stabs with a funky vocal and endlessly wiggling bsasline that cannot fail to get those hips moving. On the flip, 'Come Inn' brings some Afro vocals and low slung drum sleaze and last of all 'Asi Si' brings some Latin flair, organic percussion and marvellous trumpet work to really set the 'floor ablaze.
Review: A lush and elegant jazz escape from 1965, The Wonderful World of Antonio Carlos Jobim pairs the Brazilian bossa nova master with legendary arranger Nelson Riddle, who became famed for his work with Frank Sinatra. This album, recorded in Los Angele,s was Jobim's second US LP and features him on piano, guitar and vocals. Riddle's sophisticated string arrangements bring a cinematic depth to Jobim's melodies, including classics like 'Agua de Beber,' 'Dindi' and 'A Felicidade.' This reissue also debuts two new compositions, 'Bonita' and the breezy 'Surfboard.' It's a lovely blend of Brazilian soul and orchestral grandeur that remains a landmark in Jobim's catalogue.
Review: The elusive De Frank Kakra remains a mystery, his real name unknown, and his current whereabouts unclear. But the music tells its own story: rooted in Ewe heritage, Kakra cut his teeth as a percussionist and backing vocalist in the fray of Ghana's 70s highlife scene, with stints with K. Frimpong's Cubano Fiestas and the Vis-A-Vis band. Eventually fronting his own groups, The Professionals and The Diggit Ways, he went on to record countless scintillating sides with labels across West Africa, and this new compilation brings together many of said wax etchings from Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast, handled with care by Michael Graves at Osiris Studio. It's the debut release from a label founded in gratitude to Kakra's music and the healing it sparked. Liner notes and archival sleuthing aim to piece together his story, and the hope is that someone, somewhere, might know what became of him.
Review: Wewantsounds proudly continues its Algerian music reissue series with Freh Khodja's coveted 1975 album. Recorded in Paris with immigrant band Les Flammes, this landmark debut blends jazz, Arabic music, Caribbean and Latin rhythms, Cape Verde grooves and funk into a uniquely colourful and worldly sound. It's deep and involving on tracks like the sombre 'Ken Andi Habib' while at other times the pace picks up with more funky groovers like 'Aich Sar Bina Koulili'. Ken Andy Habib is a standout addition to this series and a cherished classic on the Arabic groove scene that fully deserves this renewed attention.
Review: Jo Tongo's landmark album from 1980 returns for the first time on vinyl and is set to reignite the fire of a true South African music pioneer. Reissued via The Outer Edge's African Edge series, this long-lost gem blends disco, makossa, reggae and funk into a worldly and warm fusion of rhythm and resistance. Tongo was classically trained and globally seasoned and channelled his Cameroonian roots into tracks like 'Bunya,' sung in his native tongue and rich with messages of love and resilience. More than a disco record, Sa Discossa reflects Jo Tongo's decades-long journey through sound, identity and global storytelling, so is a welcome Afro-disco addition to any bag.
Review: Craft Latino's reissue of Strikes Back sees Hector Lavoe's powerful final return to vinyl for the first time since 1987. Remastered from the original analogue, this deeply personal work blends Lavoe's signature salsa fire with innermost and raw emotion. Standout tracks like 'Loco,' 'Ella mintio' and 'Escarcha' speak of a vulnerable artist confronting heartbreak and public scrutiny. Produced by Willie Colon (whose own 'Set Fire' is a Latin house classic) and backed by a stellar cast, Strikes Back earned Lavoe his only GRAMMYr nomination and affirmed this record as a vital piece of salsa history as well as key to Lavoe's enduring legacy.
Review: Originally released in 1976, this landmark outing from Nigeria's Lijadu Sisters marked their first major international push i a radical soul-funk statement laced with political edge. Opening with the bass-heavy swagger of 'Danger', it immediately sets the tone: sharp vocals, warm analogue grit, and tight, hypnotic percussion from a mix of trap drums and traditional Yoruba rhythms. 'Amebo' carries sly social commentary over organ stabs and polyrhythms, while 'Life's Gone Down Low' fuses soul's gospel cadences with simmering Afrobeat grooves i the same track that would later be sampled by Nas. But it's 'Cashing In' that cuts deepest: an indictment of exploitation and capitalist decay wrapped in funk guitar and layered harmony. Producer Biddy Wright's fingerprints are everywhere i from the soft hand percussion to the open mixdown that lets the sisters' vocals soar and slide in perfect unison. This reissue makes clear how far ahead of their time they were, offering an Afro-psychedelic protest record that still rings out with clarity.
Review: The Lijadu Sisters were a Nigerian duo - not just sisters in actual fact, but identical twins - known for sharp vocal harmonies and socially conscious funk. This reissue of their 1976 debut international release captures them at their most fearless, a striking fusion of Afrobeat, soul and reggae, anchored by Biddy Wright's tight, uncluttered production. Opener 'Danger' rides a deep bassline and sparse horns, setting the tone for the rest of the record - defiant, minimal and incredibly catchy. 'Cashing In' doesn't hold back, a pointed anthem critiquing corruption and exploitation, while 'Life's Gone Down Low' swings with bitter melancholy, later sampled by Nas for its raw rhythmic pull. On 'Amebo', the groove is more playful, contrasting with the slow-burning, meditative mood of 'Lord Have Mercy'. Wright, who played most of the instruments himself, leaves ample room for Taiwo and Kehinde Lijadu to soar; their harmonies curl around each phrase in perfect, eerie unison. Recorded in Lagos and backed by a crew of local musicians, it's a vibrant, enduring document of one of Nigeria's most distinctive musical voices. Nearly 50 years on, it remains as politically relevant and musically agile as ever.
Review: Born and raised in Cairo, Egypt, Maurice Louca is part of The Dwarfs of East Agouza with Alan Bishop and experimental composer Sam Shalabi, but also has an assured solo sound. He explores it here on Bar?y (Fera), a new album that is a hypnotic melding of polyrhythms and acoustic textures crafted over four years from the essence of a 2019 solo set. It really took bloom in a Cairo studio with longtime collaborators Ayman Asfour on violin, Khaled Yassine on percussion and Rosa Brunello on double bass. Louca's microtonal guitars weave with synths and ensemble interplay to create vivid synth-acoustic layers and guest stars Nancy Mounir and oud player Hazem Shaheen deepen the sonic richness, all guided by adventurous collaboration and resulting in an alluring, meticulously crafted work.
Review: Yemamaya is the debut album from French-Brazilian duo Luizga & iZem and it taps into Afro-Brazilian roots with electronic textures and global songwriting perspectives. The project was born from a serendipitous meeting in Lisbon and marries Luizga's spiritual vocals with iZem's hybrid production style. The title track honours the sea goddess Yemanja and is an uplifting, healing incantation bridging sacred tradition and rhythmic innovation. A bold rework of 'Say My Name' fuses r&b, Afrobeat and Brazilian guitar sounds while Curumin's feature on 'Feelings Going Through' adds depth to this soulful journey. Rooted in Brazilian music but globally attuned, Yemamaya is a genre-defying celebration that's perfect for the sunnier months.
Zaiko Langa Langa - "La Tout Neige" (Edna Martinez edit) (4:19)
Erick Cosaque Et Les Voltage 8 - "Ajaccio" (Edna Martinez remix) (4:31)
Pico Sin Fronteras - "Abel Llinas" (0:13)
La Calandria - "Como Duele Una Traicion" (3:09)
African System International - "Amina" (9:45)
Carlos Diaz Y Su Orquesta - "Tres Meses De Vida" (2:57)
No Puedes Conmigo - "Angelo El Autentico" (0:23)
Review: Colombian DJ and Berlin-based curator Edna Martinez pays vibrant homage to the Caribbean Pico tradition with this raw and electrifying collection. Drawing on decades of sonic exchange between Cartagena, West Africa and the wider Caribbean, the selections move from the Ghanaian coastal bounce of Wulomei's 'Takoradi' to the joyous Angolan sway of Conjunto Ana N'Gola's 'Puxa Odoette'. Edits by Martinez breathe new energy into Zaiko Langa Langa's 'La Tout Neige' and Erick Cosaque's 'Ajaccio', extending the dancefloor potential without diluting their essence. The highlife pulse of Peacocks International's 'Igbala Oso' sits alongside Colombian staples like Los Corraleros De Majagual's 'Remanga' and Claudio Y Su Combo's 'Como Sea'. Each track carries a unique local identity-like Pico Sin Fronteras' 'Abel Llinas'-but together they hum with transatlantic movement. A deeply researched, brilliantly sequenced journey through a scene where the speaker box becomes a passport.
We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you've provided to them or that they've collected from your use of their services.