Mississippi US Vinyl & CDs

Review: Mississippi have unearthed a lost classic from what is widely considered Ethiopia's 'golden age' of music before an authoritarian crackdown on arts and culture in the 70s. Aselefech Ashine and Getenesh Kebret perform a captivating duet over the distinctive sound of Ethic jazz - fans of Mulatu Astatke will instantly find themselves on familiar ground here, but it's the singers' voices which truly shine. While Beauties was a hit upon release, it was soon quashed by the Derg regime, and has since been out of print. It's been carefully remastered and presented with its stunning artwork intact - a true gem for anyone enthralled with the unique sound incubated in Ethiopia in the mid-20th Century.

Review: Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff is a drum collective from Dental that has been, nay all accounts, tearing up their local nightlife scene in Dakar. An array of 14 different percussive instruments plus horns, winds, balafon and accordion all back the Senegalese poet Djiby Ly as they coo up spiritually infused polyrhythms, the energy of Fela's orchestras and the grooves of Tony Allen. Though steeped in ancient rituals and tradition, there is plenty modern thinking on display here in a collection of vital, exciting music that is very much alive with purpose as well as groove.

Review: Emahoy Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou was an Ethiopian nun known for her piano playing and musical compositions. She sang for Haile Selassie though later retreated from the world and lived barefoot n a monastery where she worked on perfecting her blues sound. She became known as the honky tonk nun and levied well into her 90s. This reissue of her self titled album shows off her unique sound which started with her first violin recital at the age of ten and went on to include piano albums being released with all profits going to benefit orphaned children in Ethiopia. What a woman.

Review: The first vocal album by beloved Ethiopian nun, composer, and pianist Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru, Souvenirs is a profound and deeply moving home collection of cassette recordings made amidst political upheaval and turmoil. These are songs of wisdom, loss, mourning, and exile, sung directly into a boombox and accompanied by Emahoy's unmistakable piano. Though written and recorded while still living at her family's home in Addis Ababa, Emahoy sings of the heartache of leaving her beloved Ethiopia, a reflection on the 1974 revolution and ensuing Red Terror in her homeland, and a presentiment of her future exile in Jerusalem. Rich with the sound of birds outside the window, the creak of the piano bench, the thump of Emahoy's finger on the record button, they create a sense of place, of being near the artist while she records. Emahoy's lyrics, sung in Amharic, are poetic and heavy with the weight of exile; she dreamt of releasing this music to a larger audience before her passing in March of 2023, so in her honour, Mississippi present this album in collaboration with her family now, in what would have been her 100th year.

Review: Emahoy Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou is an Ethiopian nun known for her unique solo piano playing. For three decades she lived a reclusive life with only rare performances, including one at the Jewish Community Center in Washington, D.C. in 2008. Featured here are recordings sourced from the '60s of her truly captivating performances and are deservedly reissued by the Portland, Oregon based Mississippi/Little Axe Records. Featured here are all original compositions available for the first time on vinyl beyond the original early editions, said to be near impossible to find.

Review: "The message was clear: this was not necessarily music for dancing - even though the rhythms were compelling enough. This was music for the thinkers." When it came to the music of Celestine Ukwu, from where was this message communicated? In his case, it was the coalescing of his fashion sense and performance style, which combined unorthodox dress for highlife musicians - turtlenecks and drab coats - with a polyrhythm-focused, less intense highlife sound. With his bands, most notably The Philosophers National, Ukwu pioneered a more pensive and slow-burning version of the West African style, earning his place in musical history and this compilation of his greatest works.