The Brass unit from Germany's Poets of Rhythm bring the Ethio-funk on this recent release entitled, Tezeta. Clearly inspired by Mulatu Astatke, the band takes its cue from the golden age of Ethiopian music. Spacey organ, reeds o' plenty, snapping drums, low end bass all create some seriously snaking grooves.
It's no secret Fela Kuti has had an a huge impact on music, especially Hip Hop. His beats have been sampled and his attitude was the original swagga. Roots bandleader ?uestlove talks about why the man continues to be vital today.
Originally released in 2003 and re-issued by the folks at Trans Air Records (San Juan, Puerto Rico), this collection of tropical disco, rare caribbean dancefloor shakers and seventies soulful grooves comes as a great addition to all those crate diggers looking for deep island dusties. Tracks include Tappa Zukie's "Freak(1)," Gerald PJ Browne's "Sexy Lady(2)" (as edited on the recent Guynamukat 12"), Casual T's "Hands Off(3)," Mucho Plus' burnin' hot "Nassau's Disco(4)," Star Beams' "Disco Stomp(5)," El Cid's "NY to Georgetown(6)," Billie Cole's "Extra Carefully(7)," and Oluko Umo's "Praise Jah(8)." Sail on, sail on!
Wednesday, October 13th is a date not to be missed. The Shrine hosts its second annual FELABRATION - A Celebration of the Life & Music of Fela Kuti! This year will feature local heroes CHICAGO AFROBEAT PROJECT performing live in concert. DJs Tone B Nimble x Joe Bryl will be on the ones and twos. Free giveaways courtesy of Knitting Factory, too!
CHOP + QUENCH!!!!
Doors open 9pm. Tickets are on sale now! CLICK HERE
Being a vinyl junkie is a Herculean task, involving numerous hours of seemingly endless crate digging in dusty basements, various thrift stores, flea markets and on-line searches. Here for your visual pleasure are some of the wildest and weirdest records that somehow were pressed for your listening pleasure.
Jazzman drops another stupid rare re-issue with this mondo obscuro soundtrack from the film 'Every N*gger Is A Star'. Raw soul, funk, r&b and dirty reggae grooves are all over Boris Gardiner's score to the film. With vocals by Boris Gardiner with Margerat Lewis, Maurice Chambers & Richard Johnson, horns by Tommy McCook (Skatalites) & others. Wicked riddim and funk!!! Check 'Ghetto Funk' below.
Shook Magazine heads to South Africa for Issue #9 – possibly their best yet! Includes a feature that pairs up Blk Jks with guitar great Phillip "Malombo" Tabane, plus pieces on the South African house music scene, "Zulu Space Diva" Busi Mhlongo, 10 years of underground parties with Sud Electronic, hip hop from The Cape and more – plus pieces on Bilal, Sun Ra Arkestra, Syl Johnson, Nick Rose, Oi: The Now Sound Of Brasil, Richy Pitch and much more...
The good folks at Voodoo Funk and Academy Records are at it again. Frank (Voodoo Funk) has unearthed some crazy gems from Africa over the last couple years. (See the post in this blog about the Lagos Disco Inferno.) Their next release is no exception. The Psychedelic Aliens were a short-lived Afro Funk Garage band from Accra, Ghana. The group only released a handful of songs, but actually appeared on stage during the famous Soul to Soul concert which became a concert film starring Wilson Pickett, Ike and Tina Turner, the Staple Singers and more.
For more info on that concert; check out COMB AND RAZOR That's where we nicked the program pictures. Big ups! Amazing blog.
Frank had this to say about the Psychedelic Aliens records:
"This last trip back to Africa was amongst the best digging experiences of my life. Not only did I find some really amazing vinyl, I also managed to license a whole bunch of very exciting Nigerian and Ghanaian records for re-release, amongst other things 6 tracks by an obscure cult band from Accra called The Psychedelic Aliens. I’ve been obsessing over this group since I first came across their 7″ EP almost three years ago and now I also happened upon their second 45 that I think was previously completely unknown. Needless to say that it’s absolutely incredible: A perfect crossover of Garage Psych Rock and Afro Funk. Raw fuzz-wah-wah guitar, Vox organ, vocals with loads of reverb, huge drum break… it really is unreal!"
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