Bulawayo Kwela Albert Nyathi Elliot Phiri David Tapfuma
Bulawayo // Harare

40 years after the original release, Nanga Boko Records is very proud to present you the official reissue of De Bonaberi A Douala, the first album from the Cameroonian musician Nkotti François and his band The Black Styls.Limited edition, high quality remastered sound, includes a very detailed biography in both English and French languages with exclusive pictures for a better comprehension of the work of the musician, and a voucher to download the album in a HQ digital format.Approved by the artist himself, 100 % legit, all 8 tracks are under exclusive license of Nanga Boko Records.

Comet Records presents from Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen, N.E.P.A Reissue LP Vinyl remastered and coming in an heavy Deluxe Tip-On Jacket. In 1979, Tony Allen decided to leave Fela Kuti & Africa 70 and moved to London in 1982. Originally Released in 1984 on Earthworks Records, this reissue holds an extra track previously unreleased on vinyl called “Olokun”. N.E.P.A (Never Expect Power Always) is a searing critique of the Nigerian Electric Power Authority, an organisation that governed the use of electricity in Nigeria.It starts out with the title track, with a definite Afro-beat punch. Electro-claps stand as part of the percussion line, adding to a more modern look at what Afro-beat was becoming.This is followed by an even further modernized piece of Afro-beat, as the title track is given a dub mix. “When One Road Close” has a similar pace, and is similarly followed by a dub remix, complete with the necessary space-effects reverb. And to make this reissue extra special the track “Olokun” was never released on vinyl before.Blending the nascent rise of electronica into Afrobeat production, it’s tighter than any Fela album and became a definitive project in shaping Allen’s future sound. Whether it’s the electro beats or the punchier, multilayered arrangement, it instantly stands out in Allen’s vast and expansive discography.

The Balek Band and Abstrack Records's first album, Médecines, is the product of a magma of influences, the emanation of large decade of music infused lives. The emotional tessitura is wide: the dark meadows of “The Balek Bad” reach us through like a mantra from the end of a dark tunnel, while just three track earlier it was a caribbean Zouk euphoria which ruled the world. Inbetween, it’s a wide spectrum of hybrid epiphanies : "Hagen & Again" is a progressive Dub jewel, even Krauty to an extent, where the instruments play the lead role. "Cosmic Barry" is across the Channel : thick and broken club music, sweating with subs, yet always disputing it to the Funk accent of the the keys and the slap bass. This list of geographical and stylistic hybridations simplys goes on, and it’s the 54 minutes of the album that put an end to it. But beyond the never-ending list, this first album is alive: its gets us breathing the therapeutical air which fills the world of its creators.

This new Oriki Music compilation includes serious 1970’s Afro dancefloor hits, surely a promising favorite among deejays, Afrofunk and Tropical music revival aficionados.Vinyl diggers can finally play some of Ivory Coast’s hardest to find deep funk, Afrobeat, Manding and Tropical rhythms tunes recorded by such legends as Moussa Doumbia, De Frank Jr, or Francis Kingsley.The consistent liner notes focus on the original label history, Société Ivoirienne du disque, based on interviews with the producer. Original unreleased pictures of the artists and 1970’s Abidjan city, a great artwork and a limited press gatefold double LP and digipack CD make it a beautiful collectible object.Compiled by pioneer African music digger and respected deejay Greg de Villanova, a legend among Afro/Tropical music collectors and deejays, it signs the great return of the dormant French record label, which released such wonders as Orchestra Baobab’s A Night At Club Baobab or Moussa Doumbia’s Keleya.

Gabon, 1980’s. President Omar Bongo has been in power since 1967. Together with his wife, the infamous singer Patience Dabany, he invents one of the ultimate political propaganda machine: ‘animation groups’, massive female choirs and dancers, up to 60 women deep, singing the praise of his regime over some of the best soukous rhythms ever, broadcasted live on TV. Between 1982 and 1989, mainly thanks to the flourishing oil economy, a record-label is created, a state-of-the-art recording studio is set up, and the best Gabonese and Congolese musicians are recruited. Dozens of vinyls are pressed and sold with huge success all over the country.The Bongo family has reigned continuously over Gabon until the 2023 coup d’état.

Growing up in a royal household in Nigeria, Joni Haastrup began his musical journey performing for his brothers band Sneakers and was quickly snapped up as a vocalist for Orlando Julius Ekemode and his Modern Aces' Super Afro Soul LP, one of Afro-beat's formative LPs. Soon after, Ginger Baker of Cream fame replaced Steve Winwood with Joni on keys for Airforce's UK concerts in '71 and the success of the collaboration led to further shows with Baker as part of the SALT project before he returned to Nigeria to set up MonoMono. Back in London in 1978, Joni recorded his solo gem Wake Up Your Mind for the Afrodesia imprint.Repressed in a Deluxe gatefold Replika LP with printed sleeves.