Thomas Mapfumo & the Blacks Unlimited - Rise Up (2005)

A while back I posted about Thomas Mapfumo*: 'Lion of Zimbabwe', anti-colonialist protest musician and subsequently exiled voice of marginalised Zimbabweans. Mapfumo is an inspirational musician, an individual articulation of yearning for freedom and an expression of hope through music. And I've recently rediscovered his album Rise Up.

Released in 2005, it  was a collaboration between African and American musicians, a blend which is clear in the formulation of the opening track Kuvarira Mukati (Suffer in Silence) with rolling hooks from a brass ensemble and a slickness in production which will be unfamiliar to fans of Mapfumo's early works like HOKOYO and Gwindingwi Rine Shumba. Check here for a full discography.

We strongly recommend you take every penny/cent from your bank account and give it all to Thomas Mapfumo now so he can keep making amazing music. Failing that: buy his albums here!!

Anyway, here's the opening track Kuvarira Mukati (Suffer in Silence):



Play loud. Feel the bass kick in. Beautiful.

*Christ that was almost two years ago. Remember kids: life is transient; hold moments like torches illuminating existence.

-L

Chris Kirkley - Mix pour emporter #5 for Cabaret Diaspora (2012)

Chris Kirkley, the one-man engine behind sahelsounds, has worked hard to bring West African music into the blogger mainstream. Kirkley scoured mp3 markets in mauritania (great read), gathered mobile phone recordings of local artists throughout the sahel and released some fantastic material (i consider the Ishilan n-Tenere compilation to be one of the greatest things we ever posted on FC). basically there should be more people doing the same thing everywhere.

so this is pretty exciting:
"here’s a guest mix I recently put together for Montreal’s “Radio Cabaret Diaspora”. Lots of jams across the board, music you’ll find on the site, records, plus some unreleased stuff."

enjoy,
p

Scotty - Draw your Brakes: The Best of Scotty (1971)

I've been plundering ghostcapital recently, one of the best blogs around. respect.

Check out this chilled summer scorcher. 



Grab the whole album here.

p

Radiohead - Staircase (2011)

Thom et al do chillin' with a capital C. Brilliant single released after the King of Limbs album last Summer. There is also an amazing live version on Youtube from the album's 'From the Basement' sessions.


 

-N.

The Definitive Collection of Federal Records (1964-1982) Disc 1

I've had this comp sitting around for a while, but never got around to listening to it. This was a mistake. I'm only through the first disc but its already worth sharing, as I haven't stopped listening to it for a few days now non-stop. Disc one (1964-1972) of this compilation is hit after hit of 60s-pop infused reggae. Still a fledgling genre at this point in time, you can hear tons of soul, Motown, and the like seeping into these tracks. Great great stuff. Hope you enjoy.

Get it

-A

Kuedo - Work, Live & Sleep in Collapsing Space (2012)

huge tune on repeat as i'm spitting through hundreds of footnotes, work bliss.

there's something about this track. it's just razor-sharp throughout, perfectly conceptualized and everything - love the aggressive beats and layered patterns - works. great stuff.

p

Dur Dur - Goromphmca

Nick here, guest blogging on FC courtesy of -L. I recommended a track back in February and they saw fit to invite me back so here I go with an absolute banger from Somalian group Dur Dur, sometime in the early 1990s. What I would give to hear it on the dancefloor. 



As an added bonus the track allows me to recommend two amazing resources if African beats is your thing. I first came across the track on the incredible Awesome Tapes From Africa blog, and the tune is also currently featuring on the free download tUnE-yArDs mix for Okay Africa's "Africa In Your Earbuds" series. They're also on Twitter @awesometapes and @okayafrica. Enjoy folks.

-N.

The Droids - The Force / Space - Magic Fly (1977)

i didn't know that Space Disco was a genre, or that it emerged in the 70s European disco scene and influenced french house [compare vids below to retro french synth Drive OST]. also, Space Disco artists dressed like this, which is why Eastern European countries banned their concerts:

live concerts revolved around terrible costumes and a girl performing some spacedance. also, apparently everything in space is made from aluminium foil. 

The Droids - The Force (1977)


Space - Magic Fly (1977)

p

Eddie & Ernie - I'm a Young Man (1964)

mmmm i'm a young mannn and i need some looooveee. pure soul found on the always excellent ghostcapital. check it out, comment, and especially grab the mixes.

  
p

Sandwell District - Falling The Same Way (2011)

There is nothing to say. This tune is just so fucking chill.



Sandwell District was originally Function (Dave Summer) and Regis (Karl O'Conner) - now it's a sprawling collaborative cabal on the techno scene releasing unceasing vollies of awesomeness. Find out more about Sandwell District over at Resident Advisor.

And if you're in London this weekend catch them on Friday at the one and only Bloc Weekend!

-L

Lord Nelson - 'Shango' (1978)

This track is a beautifully sparse and dark fusion of traditional Caribbean beats, calypso, afro-beat and ritual chanting, by Lord Nelson - a big figure in Trinidad and Tobago from the 1950s onwards.

To give a bit more flavour for the tune - a little Wiki-ing tells me that Shango is the Orisha (spirit/deity) of fire, lightening and thunder in the Yoruba religion which was followed by many in Trinidad and Tobago. There you go: we're all about cultural education here at FC.



Soundway Records are reissuing this tune with a B-Side dance remix by Daniel Haaksman and DJ Beware - quite chilled.

-L