Fela Ransome-Kuti and the Africa 70 with Ginger Baker – Live! (1971)

Fela and the Africa 70 just rippin’ it live. The band is incredibly tight and Fela himself is in top form, playing some badass organ and perfecting his James Brown inspired yelps.The album also features drummer Ginger Baker. It’s kind of hard to tell what he’s doing here, apart from looking totally awesome in the cover photo. He apparently subbed in for Africa 70 drummer Tony Allen on one or two of these tracks. I guess it’s to his credit that you don’t really notice. The last track is a drum duet between Allen and Baker taken from the 1978 Berlin Jazz Festival. It doesn’t really add anything to the album, but is fun to listen to.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?i4qeym42t3y

S. E. Rogie – The Palm Wine Sounds of S. E. Rogie (1989)

I ripped this from a beat-up old vinyl. A long and arduous task, considering I don’t have any of the proper equipment. Some hissing and popping here and there, but it sounds OK overall. Dedicated to my buddy Daboolal and to his lady, and to the lovely afternoon spent sitting around in their apartment listening to this record.

From the liner notes:
Sooliman E. Rogie was born in Fomikoh his maternal hometowm (Nyandehun Kpaka is his paternal hometown) in the Pujehun District in Sierra Leone, on the West Coast of Africa. S. E. Rogie is a songwriter, storyteller and self-taught guitarist extraordinaire. Rogie nurtured and developed the Palm Wine style music and pushed it onto the international scene during the 1960s. Rogie says, “the Palm Wine guitar music is like folk music. It is an expression of the day to day experiences of a people. Many a time, people would gather around a big fireplace outdoors on a beautiful moonlit night and share their life stories. They sing a song or two and swap jokes and gossip, they drink a little Palm Wine to feel happy.” Palm Wine, which is tapped from palm trees, is a milky juice liquid which produces a mellow natural high in those who imbide.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?yznnydgeiza

Ali Farka Touré – Niafunké (1999)

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?nzhqjztizwv

King Sunny Adé – Juju Music (1982)

King Sunny Adé is the undisputed master of Jùjú, a type of Nigerian pop music that combines electric guitars and synthesizers with dense polyrhythms and talking drums. This was the first record he put out on a major label, and the one that introduced him to the world.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?2hgzgwwznjm

Cesária Évora – Miss Perfumado (1992)

Cesária Évora, born in 1941 in the port town of Mindelo on the Cape Verde island of Sao Vicente, is known as the barefoot diva because of her propensity to appear on stage in her bare feet in support of the disadvantaged women and children of her country.
Long known as the queen of the morna, a soulful genre sung in Creole-Portuguese, she mixes her sentimental folk tunes filled with longing and sadness with the acoustic sounds of guitar, cavaquinho, violin, accordian, and clarinet. Evora's Cape Verdean blues often speak of the country's long and bitter history of isolation and slave trade, as well as emigration: almost two-thirds of the million Cape Verdeans alive live abroad.
Evora's voice, a finely-tuned, melancholy instrument with a touch of hoarseness, highlights her emotional phrasing by accenting a word or phrase. Even audiences who do not understand her language are held spell-bound by the emotions evident in her performances. (http://africanmusic.org/artists/evora.html)

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?wznon4imnmz

Various Artists – Congotronics 2: Buzz 'n' Rumble from the Urb 'n' Jungle (2005)

This one's awesome. Electro-fried Congolese music. Traditional instruments and percussion are combined with fuzzy guitars and layers of chanted vocals to create deep, trancey grooves. Very hypnotic.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?11mnxrnmvfg

Boubacar Traore – Kongo Magni (2005)

Boubacar is the man, but his records can be ridiculously hard to find. If you like this one be sure to check out the awesome tape posted over at Awesome Tapes From Africa.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?5wyjzztmxoe

Makossa & Megablast – Kunuaka (2007)

Some info.

Part 1:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?dgm2y2jxmqo

Part 2:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?dmyhn2igmum

Hamza el Din

One of my favourite musicians.

Here's one of his albums:

Hamza El Din – Al Oud (1965)

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?zkm0zjzzxnc

Inaugural Post (Part Two)

Flying Lotus – Los Angeles (2008)
Dense, sludgy hip-hop beats. My favourite album of 2008.









http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?tjzt2ae4ggy


The Pentangle – Basket of Light (1969)
British band from the 60s that played folk songs on acoustic instruments, but with intricate jazzy arrangements. The singer has a pretty voice.






http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?gnunvemyjng


Baaba Maal – Missing You (Mi Yeewnii) (2001)
This album was recorded outdoors in the Senegalese singer’s native village. Lots of little ambient sounds creep in - leaves rustling, insects buzzing, the occasional farm animal. Oh, and the music is good too. Acoustic guitars, traditional West African instruments and some really strong singing.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?uoitmyydhy5





Animal Collective – Water Curses EP (2008)
Only four tracks here, and they’re all solid. The first song has a really nice bouncy rhythm. The others are eerie ambient excursions. Headphone music.





http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?tlznnmcymtd




Don Cherry – Brown Rice (1975):
Don Cherry’s take on world music. Freaky, spastic, sexy and disorienting are all appropriate adjectives.








http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?igwotjytmyi