An perfectly magical sega 7inch produced again by a mysterious singer that nobody seems to be able to portray outside of La Réunion island: if any maloya specialist can provide some sort of informations about the mysterious Moan Thermogène, his orchestra "Mento Latene", or their thrilling taste for synths and disco laser toms, he will be more than welcome.
As far as we know, one of the strangest thing recorded at Studio Issa / Saint-Denis de la Réunion.
A short video footage of the south-african Shangaan electro team, currently on tour in Europe, who stopped in Paris thanks to Etienne Tron's Secousse for a night at Point Ephémère: successfull night for these inventors of modern Shangaan and their trademark sound, sometimes slightly repetitive and a bit hard to follow for lazy euro dancers but 100% exciting all way long, with the demonstration that nobody really cares about violent start/stops and fadeouts when it's all about managing to let something happen in da place.
For those who might have miss it, the complete story as told by producer Nozinja here describes everything you need to know. A very good article also to check here, while it's still time to catch on and follow the rest of the tour:
June 28th: Brussel - Les Ateliers Claus June 29th: Rotterdam - Worm @ Heidegger June 30th: Berlin - Berghain July 1st: Roskilde fest. July 3rd: Lisbon - Gulbenkian foundation
Buy their merch ! Brought to you from South Africa, tones of fantastic bonus tracks on Cd and K7 from the various bands produced by Nozinjaand Mackzella (Tiyiselani Vomaseve, B.B.C. ...) completing your overview from the initial LP released by Honest Jon Rds.
As you already heard the speedup tracks when the record got out, here comes an interesting slower and mellow one, with a very specific disco-funk use of the marimba bass.
First I'd especialy like to thank Eric D. Johnson, who soon after reading for the first "Boogie post" pointed me on the freshly released compilation "Brand New Wayo" as compiled by Uchenna Ikonne from "With Comb & Razor" and released on the eponym's label.
Think for some forgotten Shina Williams hypnotic disco cut recorded at Wilfilms Studios and you got what's in my opinion the compilations's highlight moment.
I know this could sounds ridiculous as I've only came accross three songs only; but actually I have to recognize I'm a huge Tony Okoroji fan! I know for two records but they might be some more. Is this "typical" boogie stuff, I'm not so sure but as the man was involved producing many boogie artists including Dizzy K. Fafola (as mentionned in the previous post) i thought i had to include one song i do love especially (I'm insisting)
Very special thanks to Naija Kendo for providing a clean mp3.
Who Kingsley Bucknor was, I have no clue & the sleevery art don't help me much. By the way, this is the only song filled with "Moroderesque" synhtie sound from the record...
I was looking for some African love for V Day when I found this dramatic nugget on youtube. It’s about thunder at first sight and its consequences on a young girl’s mind. Angèle Assélé was 17 in 84 and sang the wanderings of passion with the smoothest voice. Her song is dedicated to the mysterious “Being” (“Etre” in French) whose gaze “shook her sentimental strings” during some hazardous encounter. The orchestration of Les Diablotins, and the final intervention of the backing singer really put her metaphysical quest to the next level (Jesus, E.T. ?).
Here is the beginning of it
“I met a Being that I am loving Without knowing why And without realizing But I'm afraid of this Being Which for me is like the wind This Being which is everything and nothing Which leads me to the cruelty Being who are you ? Being where are you ? Being what’s your name ? Being why are you ? ” X 2
Behind « Esperancia », the first album of Angèle Assélé, stood two monsters of the Gabonese show business. Her aunt, the diva Patience Dabany, wife of President Omar Bongo then, now exiled in L.A., and her father, General Jean-Boniface Assélé who directed the first recording studio in Libreville, a controversialpolitician who still leads the Circle of Liberal Reformers.
Between 84 and 86, Studio Mademba released three other angelic albums : « Amour sans Frontières », « Angèle Assélé et Les Diablotins », and « Papi ». They invest not only in music but also in humanitarian causes and Angèle becomes an artist-ambassador for the United Nations. Then she retired from singing for ten years and entered the direction of Cultural Affairs. She finally made another album, « Feeling Love », in 1998. She still performs today.
Love it or hate it, African Boogie music is largely underrated... I believe few blogs around have accorded and shown interest & with most record labels exclusively focusing on Fela's contemporeans & heritage it seems there is no place for those cheesy pieces of west african pop-funk songs.
Dizzy K. (Fofola) who is generally considered as an iconic african Boogie figure cut 6 records, all of them engineered by the mighty Tony Okoroji (music producer but also "auteur" for the afro pop gem "Mama & Papa") whome I believed had a huge influence on Dizzy's electrofunk compositions due to surprising similarities between both artists.
Today Mr. Fofola (now a Londoneer resident), is making a living as a succesfull gospel interpret...
> For some more "sweet Dizzy K. music", have a visit at "With Comb & Razor" who uploaded a couple more songs.
As taken from the B side of african synthi wizard W.O.'s LP: "Good Name". A two track killer Lp (his biggest record on demand) which despite of not being considered by specialists as real Boogie musics is full of bizarre & progressive synth driven funk songs just like his latter efforts.
> The long promised Onyeabor's anthology post should come soon.
As far as I know and considering the record list on discogs "Girl" is Emma Dorgu's lattest record. Pretty different from his earlier LPs & much less sophisticated african disco-funk style songs, by far my favourite record. There is also an instrumental dub mix for the song on the B side.
> An E.D.'s song can be found on the recently released compilation "Lagos Disco Inferno" as compiled by Frank from Voodoo Funk.
Another circumstance tune, reblogged from the Makossa impressive archival blog, dedicated to classic Cameroon tunes from the seventies and eighties.
Makossa was partly influenced by Soukous, both finding some of their roots in latin music styles like rhumba: this is the transition I needed to introduce an extra congolese graphic firework festival, for your eye's pleasure: champagne !
Wow an entire record dedicated to the insane south african Shangaan music is finally out on the beloved London's Honest Jon's record label. Following the appearance nearly 2 years ago of some very first Shangaan vids, and I believe thanks to the whole youtube / facebook etc network, helped a lot with that one... Think for some sort of african cousin to our much appreciated Ponchack hero: Epaksa.
"My name is Richard, my stage name is Nozinja, from Nozinja Music Productions. I'm from Giyani in Limpopo. I'm an engineer, I'm a producer, I'm a composer. It's my record label. I'm the marketing manager. I transport them — I've got a micro-bus. I do everything on my own. I've got manufacturing. I buy CDs, I will silk-screen myself. I sing, too. I'm a scout for talent. When you look at the person, you must see the artist. He or she must be able to dance. If you can dance, you can sell. Shangaan dancers, they dance, they can go on for almost an hour with that speed, without getting tired. When you see them dance you feel like they have got no bones. It's similar to the Zulus, but faster and we put a lot of style inside. There's disco in there, we use Pantsula moves. We don't use the sounds of the hip-hop guys, or the afro-pop, or whatever, we're using Shangaan sounds. The traditional Shangaan music is fast. You play it slow, they won't dance. Firstly it was played with bass and lead guitar. I'm the one revolutionized it, because when I came I didn't use any guitar or any bass, I just used marimba and the organs. We are not using the live bass, we are using the marimba bass which is played from the organ. A small sample of voices, that's what I specialize in. We use them in English. Those are the new aspects they never had before. At first people thought I was mad, and now it's the in-thing. You can play that music with bass, that's the old-timer music. Shangaan is fast. While others play at 110, we are at 180, 182, 183. And when you hear those marimba beats and that live guitar through the keyboard, you know it's Shangaan. You hear those toms, then you know, this is Shangaan music. Shangaans don't typically love Joburg. They work in Joburg, but their heart is in Limpopo. People want to go back to the country and to their families. Limpopo is rural. It's hot, very hot and vibey. Shangaan music is about love. It's about a wife and a husband. We are family-oriented musicians. Now Shangaan music is both, rural and urban. We jumped the boundaries by changing that bass into playing with the marimba, that's when we touched the nerves, and now it's all over. (To Wills Glasspiegel, January 2010.) "
As usual with most african releases of that period only a little little informations are available around. Seemed Carlos & Miki was some kind of super band comprised of personnalities which were both involved into solo carreers... 1980 released on the Afrodisia records: Decca Nigeriasub label (Joy Nwosu, Bennis Cletin, Leonard Okpala etc)
Collectors holy grail for this one. Might be due to the fact that one was recorded at Wilfilms: William Onyeabor's own studio recordings. What was W.O. exact involvment into the record; i don't have any clue as that second and last N'Draman Blintch single is far from the one previously released on his own private Cosmic Recordings.
> An Onyeabor post will follow soon containing various extracts from his discography.
New stunning Philip Cohran's (Ra's Arkestra's trumpeteer) record, containing all three 7's that were originally released back in 1968 on the Zulu label. You might notice for the use of the Frankiphone, an electified Kalimba (Philip's own invented "Space Harp")on the eponyme second extract, sounding like a "Konono N.1" trancey piece of music.
I found this magnificient record 3 years ago in my village in Anjou!
This is me again, with a new supersound of Sekele, when the sweet lovely voice of MARYSE joins our train now. The movement took off in Doualaville with the guitars of Abu "bass", Dada and Donny. Shake or go slow to heavy stone music of the ZULU GANG in these two smash tunes! Special thanks to J.M.C. AHANDA, for his direction of vocals and supervision in studio. Love to Mum and Dad, Jane and Luc Lappé Pasteur Lappé
