Voodoo Funk

Voodoo Funk at Zebulon Friday February 3rd

2012-01-30T15:13:00.006-05:00

I know, the party last October was announced to be my last gig here in NYC but due to unexpected changes in my travel schedule, I'm going to be stuck here in Brooklyn for the next two months (or possibly longer)... look at it as a comeback. I have a shit ton of new tunes I got in over the past few months -some of which you can check out by listening to the mix in the post below -so don't miss out!

Zebulon is located on 258 Wythe Avenue just a few steps North of Metropolitan Avenue. Go here for directions.

See you there!

Frank

Sunny Grooves

2012-01-27T14:37:00.011-05:00

I'm back in NYC. Normally I had plans on taking off again right way but due to the current situation in Nigeria I had to cancel my next trip to Africa. Looks like I'll be stuck here in Brooklyn for the next couple of months...

My friends at Zebulon were kind enough to give me some more gigs while I'm still around so here we go again:

Friday February 3rd VOODOO FUNK

Friday February 17th LAGOS DISCO INFERNO

To get you in the mood, here's a new Nigerian funk mix I put together:

Seasons Greetings from Pee Pee Dynamite

2011-11-25T12:15:00.010-05:00

We're continuing our series of 45 re-issues with this incredible piece of Ghanaian funk. Originally released as an extremely rare 7″, produced by the legendary Kwadwo Donkoh, the driving force behind the Agoro Records label and producer of such groups as the Uhuru Dance Band. "A Groovy Christmas And A Happy New Year" is in your face boogaloo soul funk that will easily rock any dance floor year round while "The Soul Of Christmas" will put you in that warm and loving holiday spirit in no time.

Groovy Christmas And A Happy New Year mp3

The Soul Of Christmas mp3

It's the season of giving, buy some copies right here so you can give one to yourself and the rest to your loved ones!

The next 45 is already in the pipeline and beware, it'll be serious scorcher!

Don't worry, we haven't forgotten about the first Marijata LP, the Freedom Family album nor Gyedu Blay Ambolley's Simigwa... I had to take a few months off to do some traveling. Once I'm back in early 2012, we'll knock these out one after the other -and then some. That's a promise!

2 New Mixes!

2011-09-26T10:45:00.005-04:00

This is a new Afrobeat and Afro Funk mix I put together. The opening track is from a insanely rare 45 by Nigerian group The Clusters, followed by an unreleased track by Benin's Orchestre Poly Rythmo. This version of "ou c'est lui ou c'est moi" is from the first recording session for their ALS005 album with Vincent Ahehehinnou. The label owner rejected this first effort and had the band go back into the studio and re-record the whole thing. The album which eventually got released is already amongst the rarest releases of the vast Poly Rythmo catalog but only two acetates of the first recording session were ever found. One copy remains with a legendary Toronto based collector and the other one sits right here at Voodoo Funk headquarters.

The rest of the mix offers you some deep, Nigerian funkiness and two rare tracks from Mali courtesy of Rail Band and Orchestre Le Bida De La Capitale.

Click on the image to listen:

00:00 The Clusters -cool mood
04:00 Orch. Poly Rythmo -ou c'est lui ou c'est moi" (unreleased version)
14:36 Evelyn Dance Band led by Orlando Julius -erora miliki
21:37 Uhuru Sounds -ariwo yaa
26:58 Jake Sollo -deiyo deiyo
31:26 Bonds Funk Band -sitting at the court hall
35:01 Pyramid's 7 -shokolokobangoshay
41:17 Big John Oaikhena -agbon nu ghegbeji
46:13 Rail Band de Mali -djiguiya
56:01 St. Augustine -kpalanuma
63:20 Orch. le Bida de la Capitale -kenuma

Lately I've been seriously getting into Highlife tunes from Benin City (no relations to Benin the country). Benin City is the capital of Edo state in Southern Nigeria and birthplace of Sir Victor Uwaifo. I hope you will enjoy this music as much as I do. All these songs are really long, I only managed to fit seven of them into this mix that runs well over 1 hour... I don't like to cut tracks short. To me the length of these tracks matches the trance inducing nature of the music.

Click on the image and let yourself go!

00:00 Solo Hit -ododo
05:18 Ugbo & his Philosophers -efe
14:25 Collins Oke -iguo
22:18 Aigbe Lebarty -green revolution
30:22 Victor Uwaifo -ohue
38:38 Akaba Man -ighie vibie
45:27 Talents of Benin -ovbiokhokho

New Nigerian Disco Mix

2011-09-13T16:29:00.007-04:00

This is a Nigerian Disco mix I put together to promote the last Lagos Disco Inferno Party. Click on the image for a direct link to the mp3 and get sweaty!

Stoneface & Life Everlasting 45 In Stores Now!

2011-08-10T22:11:00.000-04:00

Both sides are absolutely incredible, yet very different in style:
These lo-res mp3s are not fully re-mastered. The record will sound much better!

Psychedelic Afro Rock on Side A: Love Is Free

Hard Afro Funk on Side B: Agawalam Mba

This was the first recording by Stoneface Iwuagwu with his band the Life Everlasting, first released in 1973.

This 45 marks the beginning of a series of 45s to be brought to you by Voodoo Funk & Academy Lps. Only 1.000 copies will be pressed of each release so be quick!

My friend Uchenna Ikunne from Comb & Razor, without whom we would not have been able to put this record out, provides us with a bit of background information on Stoneface and his band:

"Innocent Iwuagwu received the name "Stoneface" during his tenure as a singer in the Tall Men, a mid-1960s Enugu-based pop group. While with the Tallmen, he also taught himself to play the drums. In 1967, shortly after the Eastern region of the country declared its sovereignty as the Republic of Biafra, Stoneface was invited to play drums for the top pop band in the region, The Postmen, by the group's guitarist Goddy Oku.

The Postmen didn't last long after that as their popular lead singer, Sonny Okosuns, had been deported from Biafra. In 1968 Stoneface joined the In Crowd, led by Lasbrey Ojukwu and stayed with the group until the end of the war in 1970. After the war, he joined The Soulmen, an army group based in Ogoja. The Soulmen soon relocated to Enugu, where Stoneface left and joined his old friend Goddy Oku's new group The Hygrades in 1971.

He left The Hygrades (probably around '72) and played for a little bit in Ify Jerry Krusade, led by another old mate from The Postmen, Ify Jerry.

Around 1973, he decided to form his own band and he rounded up a bunch of teenage musicians--singer Kingsley "Dallas" Anyanwu (from the high school band Dee-Mites), lead guitarist Maurice "Jackie Moore" Anyaorah (from Salt & Pepper Organisation), rhythm guitarist Roy Obika and bassist Jimi Henshaw--and formed Life Everlasting.

Unlike many of the Eastern groups of the post-war era, Life Everlasting was sponsored not by the army but by Stoneface's elder brother. But the amount of financing provided couldn't buy them state-of-the-art gear, so they used mostly instruments constructed by local carpenters and amps and pedals built by electronics wiz Goddy Oku.

They were signed by EMI and recorded their first single, "Love is Free" b/w "Agawalam Mba" at the EMI studio in Apapa, Lagos. The session featured a studio musician playing polyphonic organ that ended up not making the final mix.

The record was a hit and they followed it up with "Everyday" b/w "Love Him" (Stone says he thinks they *might* have recorded a third single but he cant' remember what it might have been called..."

We're also very soon going to knock out the second Marijata LP and Gyedu Blay Ambolley's Simigwa LP.

Harder Than Nails Afro 45s -new mix!

2011-08-10T21:08:00.001-04:00

My main man in Ghana, Dankyi-Appah Safo Kennedy aka Ken has lately been spending some time exploring Northern Nigeria. After I got to talk to Albert Jones from the Freedom Family and Geraldo Pino's Heartbeats about the scene in Kano and Kaduna back in the 1970s, I was certain that there had to be records up there. This turned out to be true as Ken just express-mailed me an amazing box of 45s. Of course I couldn't resist but throw together a quick mix using some of these gems... a few boxes with LPs should arrive in a few weeks from now and once they get here, I'm sure another mix will follow shortly.

I'm not listing all tracks. Sorry for being so squirelly but I'm in the process of sourcing some of these tunes for possible re-issue and I don't want people chopping up my mixes and re-posting these tracks individually on YouTube or on one of those lame torrent sites...
Click on the image to listen:

Click on the image below and get your groove on!

00:00 Artist Unknown

03:03 Stoneface & Life Everlasting -Agawalam Mba

05:55 Segun Bucknor -Baby Get Your Thing

09:17 Artist Unknown

12:17 Artist Unknown

15:12 The Funkees -Onye Mmyaa

21:05 Geraldo Pino & The Heartbeats -Shake Hands (45 Version)

29:04 Tony Grey & The Zeinians -Do Your Thing

32:00 Artist Unknown

34:45 Showboy Eric Akaeze -I Will Tell Mama

40:43 Orchestre Vévé -Talali Talala

44:48 Joni Haastrup & Monomono -Water Pass Gari (Or Gari Pass Water)

Ken on Freedom Radio 99.5 FM Kano, Nigeria

2011-08-10T20:19:00.000-04:00

Kate, Ken & Bobbie at Freedom Radio 99.5 FM.

Ken has spent another month digging up records in various cities in Northern Nigeria. During his last visit a few months back, Ken got friendly with the fine people at Kano's Freedom FM station and this time they even invited him to go on the air and play a few tunes.

A close shave

2011-08-10T19:46:00.000-04:00

Just hours before I left home to play some records over at Zebulon last Saturday, I received an email from my friend and Nigerian record kingpin Damian Iwuagwu who some of you might know from the Lagos Disco Inferno compilation. Without Damian's tireless work, my Nigerian record collection would not be anywhere near where it is today.

My dear brother, in the early hours of today 16th July 2011 at about 6am Nigerian time, a gang of about 7 armed robber attacked the hotel where i was staying and robbed everybody. They took money and my mobile telephone but they did not beat or give me any injury as they did to others. They did not see my ATM card so i will continue my journey tomorrow but in short time to be in Lagos on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Yours,

Damian

A stark reminder of the risks that Damian has to take every day in order to do his work, to get food on his table, to be able to send his kids to school and to send new packages with fresh grooves across the Atlantic to Voodoo Funk headquarters.

Edit:

I sent Damian a link to this post so he could see the comments people have left for him and this was his response:

"I can say that my journey was not smooth like before but i thank God that all is well both in health and in Strength. We nearly ran into another robbery as we were coming back. We spent over 4 hours on the hold up at a place called Ore, just like when i was going. We had to pass the night in a village before I reached Lagos at about 7 pm yesterday.

What i saw on your blog, how people are responding to what happened to me in Benin City, has given me a every big joy. So what I am doing here is not for myself alone but for the world. I am happy, thank you.

Damian."

A Colourful Environment

2011-08-10T18:53:00.000-04:00

I put together a nice, summerly new mix for you.
Click on the image below to get down!

THIS IS MARIJATA in stores now!

2011-08-10T17:46:00.000-04:00

The rawest and the heaviest of all African funk records. Brought to you by Voodoo Funk, released on Academy LPs with its original artwork plus lyric sheet and a rare band photograph. Please note that the sound file for this video was recorded at low resolution from an original vintage copy of this record and not from the remastered new release which of course sounds amazing and was made to be played at full volume!

Marijata's second release "Pat Thomas Introduces Marijata" is already in the pipeline. The CD edition will be released later this year and it will contain both albums.

New Orlando Julius LP out now!

2011-08-10T16:27:00.000-04:00

Orlando Julius has been a well known name on the West African music scene all through the 1960s and 70s. His early work was recorded in the Philips studios under the strict supervision of their house producers who were putting an emphasis on a pleasant and swinging sound that was jugging along in a pleasant way, bridging big band highlife music with American soul.

In 1972 and 1973, Orlando Julius and his band The Afrosounders visited the legendary ARC Lagos studio of Ginger Baker and what OJ and the gang put to tape there was an entirely different beast: They recorded and album packed with unadulterated, funky Afrobeat of the heaviest caliber.

The soundtrack to the video above is a shortened version of "Aseni", recorded directly from my original vintage vinyl copy. Only a short edit of one out of six long and epic killer tunes which are all included on this record

For the first time, Orlando and the his band were able to really let loose and showcase their full power with an unfiltered impact. They laid down six epic tracks that from a Funk or Afrobeat perspective definitely count as Orlando's strongest work but it seemed that Philips were not too happy with this result. They completely botched the distribution of this record and while Orlando's earlier and later work has all been re-issued over the past years, sometimes multiple times and from various international labels, this, his best record has remained under the radar and virtually unknown to the worldwide community of African music lovers. This was until I was sitting in my friend Damian Iwuagwu's house in Lagos back in January of 2010, drinking a cold Star beer and enjoying the evening when he casually handed me this LP and asked "what about this one, I got this the other day and I don't think I've ever seen it before".

Now this record is re-released with its original artwork and extensive liner notes written by Orlando Julius himself, including loads of great vintage photographs.

Vinyl copies are being shipped to the retailers as I type this and the hard cover book bound CD version be sent out by the end of the month.

Enjoy !

Dancing Shadows

2011-08-10T15:40:00.000-04:00

This is a fresh mix I made with records I brought back home after spending last month in Ghana and it includes quite a few new discoveries. Click on the image to listen.

00:00 Uppers Chapter Two - Samari Bolga
02:53 The Walking Shadows - If You Do Me - I Do You
06:10 Joe Mensah - Right On Bosue
09:48 Nyame Bekyere - Broken Heart
22:22 Uppers International - Aja Wondo
26:16 The Walking Shadows - Kun Adele
29:37 Rev. Jerry Boifraind (The Handsome Rebel) - Apartheid
38:10 Kelenkye Band - Jungle Music
43:48 Foundars 15 - Finger Fun
48:08 The Future Hope International - Onye Ma Echi
53:23 Sir Victor Uwaifo - Ohue
61:39 Jimi Solanke - Owo Orisa

Ghana January 2011

2011-02-10T14:34:00.000-05:00

This was one crazy trip.

I arrived in Accra on January 3rd at 8:30 in the morning, was picked up at the airport by a friend and we immediately took off for the Volta region where one of my local agents had sourced a large private collection in the city of Hohoe. On the way we made several stops and staple-gunned our "records wanted!" leaflets around various small towns. I had left the icy and snow-covered streets of NYC the afternoon before and here I was at 11 am under the tropical sun of Ghana's Volta region, stapling flyers onto telephone poles. What a rush!

An Obruni with a crome plated staple gun... you'd really have to get creative to come up with something that would cause more attention. It didn't take long and we were running after the first lead that ended in front of a stack of mostly broken shellac 78s. I'm always torn when finding 78s. They're way too fragile and too heavy to lug them around but at the same time I'm amazed that something this brittle could survive under these conditions and I make sure to tell people to store them well, there might be someone coming around someday who might be willing to pay good money for this stuff.

We decided to let our lead in Hohoe wait and spent two days in Ho where we scored a bunch of cool 45s. Once we got to Hohoe, the collection proved to be a bust. A few decent titles but everything was way too scratched to be of any real use. Who knows, Afrobrazilero the magician might find them one day and put them on ebay as VG+ (remember, VG is French for "vraiment graté"). We covered the city with our leaflets and found a few nice things here and there but somehow the place didn't feel like there would be much to be found. We decided to get on a bus to Kumasi where we met up with two of my local agents to give them a few boxes full of leaflets before taking a car to Mampong where we found the amazing Video City Hotel.

Video City might sound like a strange name for a hotel but the explanation was easy: There was a gigantic movie theater right next to it which had been used to show VHS tapes on a big video projector. I asked the owner why it wasn't in use anymore and he said that nowadays most people have DVD players and how the markets were being flooded with Bootleg DVDs from Shanghai containing 16, 14 or even more than 30 current movies as well as old classics on one single disc. Nobody wanted to pay money for a projected VHS tape anymore. The whole place was decorated with murals of various Western and Horror movies but also with an image of Jesus Christ since the building also was used as a church. Jesus and a 10' by 6' painting of the "Invasion Of The Blood Farmers" were facing each other from opposing walls. I made a tour through the empty building which included a balcony and second story foyer with a bar and a large "Hills Have Eyes" mural. I feel like an idiot but I have to admitt to not having taken a single picture of the place... I had records on my mind.

I did find some nice records in Mampong but we also really got to enjoy the peacefulness and serenity of this town which was only about an hour and a half outside of the bustling city of Kumasi but it really felt off the beaten path. From here we went to Tamale and then onto Bolgatanga where we found some really great records, most notably the incredible LP by Christie Azumah & The Uppers. The band was based right there in Bolgatanga and their record might be the most elusive Ghanaian Afrobeat album. Interestingly enough I managed to turn up quite some Nigerian records there as well. We also got to meet singer and kologo player Akamdumah Amodoo, who allowed us to film his peformance in front of a local pito bar.

Ken and I had plenty of pito which is a local, home made, millet based beer. This was one of the best days on this entire trip and I learned to cherish such memories at least as much as the records I bring home with me.

Althrough our stay in Bolgatanga, the hotel owner kept mentioning that she had a few stacks of records in one of her back rooms. The key had gone missing but she seemed confident she would find it before our departure. We had a serious lead in Wa, a very remote city in the far North west of the country so unfortunately it became time to leave Bolgatanga behind. The key was still missing and I just hate it to leave behind unfinished business. I asked the hotel owner if she would allow us to call for a carpenter to come and break down the door if we would buy a new lock and pay him to fix it. She agreed and even called her own carpenter who happened to be just around the corner. This was one hour before we were supposed to get on our bus... it took less then 2 minutes and the door was busted open. 45 minutes of high speed digging later and I had gone through the bunch of boxes of 45s, turned up some great stuff and we were running for the bus.

Eventually we made our way back to Accra just to get a new lead from an old radio dj I had met years earlier who had just received a call from Mr. K. an old colleague from his years back at GBC (Ghana Broadcasting Corporation) who had told him that his son had just answered to a "Records Wanted" newspaper advert and now he was asking for advice as to how much he should ask for his collection. I had heard about other diggers putting these types of ads into Ghanaian newspapers. Personally I had given up on this method a while back after even large campaigns with several ads per week published in multiple publications barely returned their money's worth in records. But what a coincidence. I immediately called up Mr. K. and asked him about the quality and quantity of his collection. It was mind boggling. He basically claimed to have every single holy grail of Ghanaian Funk and Afrobeat. When asked about condition, he told me that he had never played these records. He explained that he had been purely into Highlife and all the other types of records he received from the local labels he had just boxed up and put them away. Originally he had made plans on reselling them but he somehow never got around to it and then in the mid 80s the music cassette was introduced on the market and nobody wanted to buy records anymore. He still kept them mainly because he never got around to dispose of them either. This is the type of stuff you normally only dream about. I got angry when I heard what little money my competitor had offered for this incredible collection and assured him that I would be able to pay him way better than that. The only problem was that Mr. K. lived in Dumbai. On a map, Dumbai doesn't appear as being too far away from Accra but it was one hell of a ride. What I found was just incredible. What a score! Given the relatively low outcome before that and the enormity of the cost and effort invested in this journey, this one single find really turned the whole thing around. Ghana is getting very dry these days. Almost all the records seem to be gone by now and for the most part it really felt like scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Back in Accra, I called up Malek from the Psychedelic Aliens and set up a meeting with him and the rest of the band in an open air bar in Osu so I could present them their new record. Bandleader Ricky Telfer lives in Canada now and we were all sad he couldn't be with us.

Here is a small selection of some of the records that I found on this trip. As with all the pictures on this blog, click on them for an enlarged view:

5 New Mixes!

2011-01-01T10:45:00.000-05:00

Click on the images to listen.

00:00 Eric Akaeze "bar beach show"
07:37 Mad Man Jaga "mama wam"
12:46 Orlando Julius "kete kete koro"
18:18 Tunji Oyelana & the Lijadu Sisters "ojo"
24:31 Eji Oyewole "gele odun (oil boom)"
34:20 Pierre Antoine "kalabuley woman"
45:56 Cross River Nationale "nyong eyen unen"
51:58 Masisi "uchum"
57:21 Aigbologa Bucknor "katakata"

00:00 Super Party Brothers "kung fu"
06:25 De Frank "chicken"
10:05 Heads Funk "cold fire"
14:54 Papa Stone Kiss "spellbound"
21:40 The Super 5 "wake up sera"
26:35 Mansur "love and happiness"
30:52 Grace Ekpeyong "think of yourself"
36:06 Head Funk Band "can you do it"
39:21 Pyramid's 7 "it's never this way"
45:22 Ozobby Horn "oh jah"
50:05 The Masisi "funky music"
54:11 W. Roy "christian community"
57:27 K Three "k 3 theme"

00:00 Ralph Aire & The Irokos "lumele niluwele"
06:55 Solo Hit "imoikeme"
12:25 Tunji Oyelana & the Benders "e gbe mi"
18:21 Akaba Man & the Nigie Rockets "ogbov' omwan"
31:05 Franco Jr. "ayee menko"
38:48 Black Masters Band "wonnim a bisa"
44:25 Katakumbey "mowar wo"
50:25 Sea Boy "obi abefa ko"
63:49 Jeff Tagoe & Vis-A-Vis "no go jealous"

00:00 Boombaya "rainbows"
04:20 The Doves "flying bird"
07:51 Monomono "wake up the ded onez"
11:33 Orchestre Poly Rythmo "a o o ida"
16:20 Masisi "mama taught me to say hello"
21:10 The Musketeers "eat the meat and leave the bone"
26:32 George Lee "ibibi (am black & am beautiful)"
31:02 Sonny Okosuns & The Paperback Ltd "sound of the forest"
34:00 The Strangers "survival"
37:08 Unknown "gulder man" (instrumental version)
39:41 The Magnificent Zeinians "ije udo"
43:25 The Apostles "your business"
47:09 The Ceejebs "glorious day"
50:18 Wrinkar Experience "natural man"
53:43 The Semi-Colon "ready steady go"
56:38 Aktion "I don't have to cry"

And last but not least, here's a new Nigerian Disco Mix I put together. Sorry, no tracklist for this one, -there might be some contenders for Lagos Disco Inferno Vol.2 on there...

Click on the image to listen.
Give it a try, even if you don't like Disco... I promise, this mix is funkier than a one trick pony scuttling down a two lane street.

Psychedelic Aliens Album Out Now!

2010-11-04T12:11:00.031-04:00

We just received the Psychedelic Aliens CDs from the manufacturer and they are looking straight out incredible! There was never any doubt about the earth shattering quality of the musical content but I was very curious about how the CD bookcase would come out.

We chose a revolutionary new packaging that besides the CD itself doesn't contain a single scrap of plastic. I don't even like CDs... other than for playing them in the car, I never buy them myself but this fine product here, I would get in a heartbeat and proudly display it on my coffee table! Do I sound like a used car salesman? I don't give a damn. I will feel personally insulted if you don't go out and buy a copy. Do you have a friend? Buy him/her a copy, too.

Have a look for yourself. I snapped a couple of pictures to show you just how great this baby looks. Keep in mind that these photographs only show you 3 spreads out of the 32 page booklet! Click the image for a larger view.

Of course this album is also available as an LP and as a collectible 45 box set (limited to 500 copies)

Help us fight illegal African re-issues!

2010-07-11T15:06:00.000-04:00

Some lowlifes in France have put out an unauthorized re-issue of Gyedu Blay Ambolley's Simigwa LP. We have secured the official licensing for this record and are in the process of giving it a proper release. We have remastered the record from the original master tapes while the bootleg was recorded from a scratched up old record. They didn't even take the time and money to have the crackle removed.

The retailers selling this crap all know perfectly well that they are selling a shitty bootleg with the sound quality of a low quality mp3 and fully audible crackle and scratches.

Here are the latest offenders: Vinylism, Groove Collector, System Records & Jet Records

Some of these retailers also sell the recently bootlegged Moussah Doumbia and Ikenga Super Stars LPs.

Who would want to buy this shit?

Please tell everybody you know who is into this type of music to not buy these detestable products. They all originate from the same stinking French rat hole. Disgusting bottomfeeders that are stealing money from the people who made this music and from those who want to put it out legitimately.

Here's how you can help:

-Wherever you see ebay sellers or online mailorders offer this bootleg, buy it!

-Pay with Paypal.

-Paypal offers the possibility to directly re-fund your money if a purchased product is not how it was described by the seller. This does not only work for ebay sales but for all online purchases. Paypal guarantees your money and will give it back to you, no questions asked. The seller claimed that the record sounds like new but in fact it's an illegal bootleg pressed from a recording off a scratchy, old record. Clearly not as described. This gives you all the reason you need to perform a chargeback with Paypal.

-This is super easy to do. You get your money back and if the retailer is willing to pay for the shipping cost, you send back the record (this is unlikely to happen since the shipping cost will be close to what they paid for the bootleg in wholesale).

-If you see them in a record store, pull the record out of the sleeve and use your a key or whatever other small sharp object is handy to put a nasty scratch on it.

-Do not feel sorry for the retailers. They will always tell you they didn't know these were bootlegs. Trust me, everybody who sells records for a living can very easily tell that these are not legitimate releases and the dealers who peddle this shit are just as guilty as the lowlifes who produce it.

-Have fun in helping to teach this no class, chicken-stealing scum a lesson!

Lagos Disco Inferno Out Now!

2010-05-15T07:00:00.006-04:00

Available as Gatefold Double LP and on CD in an unbreakable digipack with booklet.

The current issue of Vice Magazine lists Lagos Disco Inferno as Best Album Of The Month!

Check out this other great review we got from Dusted, or my personal favorite, this one over here at Pop Matters writen by David Maine.

Buy a copy at your local record store or order one online at Academy LP mailorder, Dusty Groove or Honest Jon's in Europe. Amazon has them as well and also offers digital downloads how I have just learned.

Heres the track list, click onto the highlighted tracks an check out some sound clips:

Side 1:
DORIS EBONG - Boogie Trip 5:28
GERALDO PINO - African Hustle 5:25
GROTTO - Bad City Girl 5:34

Side 2:
POGO LTD. - Don't Put Me Down 4:37
ASIKO ROCK GROUP - Everybody Get Down 8:17
PARADISE STARS - Boogie Train 5:31

Side 3:
EMMA DORGU - Rover Man 4:37
MFB - Boredom Pain 5:06
CHRISTY ESSIEN - Take Life Easy 4:14
TIROGO - Dancing Machine 4:03

Side 4:
BLO – Root 3:24
NANA LOVE - Hang On 14:45

These are some of the records that were compiled for this release:

And here is the promo video with DORIS EBONG - Boogie Trip:

For hi-res images please go this way for the Press Release!

Danger: Superheavy Afro Funk 45s!

2010-02-24T06:52:00.001-05:00

Here's a new mix featuring the best 45s from last month's trip to Ghana and Nigeria

Please click on the image to listen:

Ghana-Nigeria Jan. 2010

2010-02-24T06:50:00.001-05:00

I managed to score a cheap last minute ticket to Ghana and left in the early afternoon of January 1st on a direct flight to Accra.
I arrived in the early morning of January 2nd. My friend Ken had already plugged a large "Records Wanted" advert in the biggest, national newspaper for that day and I hit the ground running. Only minutes after depositing my luggage at the hotel, Ken and I were already sitting in a taxi, speeding towards the first piles of records.

After a few days in Accra, we left for Kumasi, Ghana's second largest city in the Ashanti region from where we had received a lot of calls. On our way back, we stopped for a visit at Kwaho Bepong, a beautiful small town located on a plateau, not far from the Volta river. We had received a serious call from there and scored a large collection of incredibly well preserved afrobeat, funk and some seriously deep highlife. Not only on LP but also on 45. Finding good 45s is very rare and always a cause for celebration. We went to a small village in the bush and bought a fresh caught grasscutter (also called cane rat) which we had prepared for us on the spot over and open fire. Later, on a nightly scroll along the Volta river, a large praying mantis landed on my hand, traditionally a sign for good luck!

We stopped in Accra for only another 2 days and then chartered a car to bring us to Takoradi, a coastal town in the West the niece of legendary musician CK Mann had called us and set up a meeting with her uncle. On our way back, we stopped by Cape Coast, picked up some more vinyl and back in Accra met with another living legend: Pat Thomas who as I had hoped for gave us some clues about the whereabouts of the members of the mythical funk band Marijata. The subject Marijata shall remain on hold for now until sometime later this year.

On January 17th I took a plane to Lagos where I met with my friend Damian and together we went on a journey to a small town in Anambra state. The region prepared for local elections and the atmosphere was tense. Kidnappings were at an all time high and there were a lot of rumors about armed robbers randomly stopping buses on the highway, robbing people and taking hostages. We had no trouble reaching our destination and on the evening of the first day, when I was sitting outside the hotel, enjoying the evening sun and a couple of Star beers, some military type guys came up to me and told me they were concerned about my safety and would therefore set up a road block directly outside the hotel...

Damian had found this warehouse that was filled with records. Literally. The entire place was flooded about one to two meters high with mostly 45s, some LPs and even old 8-track tapes. No shelves, not even boxes, just records. You will have to check out the pictures below and you will understand.

We hired three helpers who cleaned out a narrow path alongside one wall by piling records into boxes and dragging them outside for us to sort through them. The warehouse belonged to a record label and distributor and about 95% of all the vinyl consisted of the label's own releases, for the most part highlife and folklore. We made sure to leave a good stack of every single release in the big shelf that stood in the middle of the mess and then just threw the rest of all these undesirable 45s onto a huge pile in front of the building. After half a day, the path was cleared down to the floor and we were able to dig ourselves through the rest of the place, from one end to the other.

The result wasn't huge but I walked away with a good stack of killer 45s including a whole bunch of stuff that I had never seen before, mostly Nigerian releases but surprisingly enough also some Ghanaian stuff.

Once we were done with this place, we took a bus back to Lagos where I spent the remainder of my stay checking up on various local record dealers. Then I took a plane back to Accra from where Ken and I followed up on various leads all over Southern Ghana.

Constantly being on the move made the time pass very fast and before I knew it, the month was over. My plane back to NYC left on January 31st and now I'm busy cleaning myself through piles and piles of fresh African vinyl. One thing is for sure: This wasn't my last trip to Africa for this year!

Click on images for a larger view:

I had brought 10.000 of these posters and we bombarded city after city with them.

CK Mann at his house in Takoradi.

Beautiful stretch of road right alongside the beach between Takoradi and Cape Coast.

A storm is brewing over Cape Coast.

Just before it started pouring down on us...

Driving up the mountains towards Kwaho Bepong.

Fresh grasscuter...

After all the hair is removed, the animal is cut into portions.

BBQ!

Almost ready... my mouth is watering just looking at the picture.

Good luck!

My friend Ken. I wouldn't have managed without him. Sometimes we had over 100 calls a day.

The difference between record shopping and record digging...

My head was about to explode.

Mining for records with Damian.

Pax Nicholas & The Nettey Family

2010-02-24T06:30:00.002-05:00

The Pax Nicholas LP was one of the first African records I ever found. It's also one of the rarest records in my posession as I don't know of anybody else who has ever seen or heard it. Which is a shame because this also is one of the best and most unique sounding Afrobeat records out there.

It was in Philadelphia in the spring of 2005. I had made a visit to Smith's Record store. All the high caliber funk 45s had been gone years ago (many of them into my own collection), but I wanted to say "hi!" to the owner Stanley Smith. When I mentioned that I was thinking about maybe going to Africa for a while, he casually mentioned "I have a stack of African LPs in my office, wanna have a look at them?"

I found a few nice pieces but the Pax Nicholas LP was by far the most interesting and unique record in the bunch. This was a strong indicator for me that there must be loads of other, forgotten records around in West Africa and this record was pretty much the final inspiration to go ahead and embark onto an epic digging trip althrough Western Africa. Since then I found hundreds and thousands of other amazing records but this Pax Nicholas album always remained somehow special to me.

I tried to track down Nicholas with the help of friends in Ghana and Nigeria but I couldn't find a lead. All it took in the end was a simple google-search and I had found him: Ironically, Nicholas Nettey had been living in Berlin since 1978. Nic was very enthusiastic about getting his record re-issued. I approached my old friends at Daptone Records about this and after having listened to some sound clips, they decided to make this their first African release.

When I asked Nic if there were any master tapes left, he told me that years ago, he had had a big fight with his brother during which they both ended up throwing the tapes at each other until they (the tapes) were totally mangled.

Thankfully, my copy of this record was in pristine and unplayed condition when I had found it so we were able to re-master from the original vinyl. This album will be in stores worldwide by September.

Please go to Daptone Records to find out more about this album and about Nicholas Nettey.

African Heat mp3 mix

2010-02-24T06:25:00.002-05:00

Check out this mix I made including a couple of new discoveries from Ghana and Nigeria.

Please click on the image to listen:

00:00 The Uppers -dankasa
03:30 Roy Hamilton -jack jones
06:40 Gyadu Blay Ambolley -sikape
12:14 De Frank -waiting for my baby
16:33 The Cutlass Band -obiara wondo
19:08 The Strangers -two to make a pair
21:44 The Wellis Band -bindiga
25:06 Ogyatanaa Show band -saman poriwa
29:42 Superman Tony Safro -i beg
34:54 The Hygrades -somebody's gonna lose or win
38:00 The Visitors -i believe in funky music
42:37 Akwassa -be yourself
47:45 Obanichronism -disco in danger
53:00 Georges Anderson -baby you know i know

Lagos Disco Inferno -the Press Release

2010-02-24T06:00:00.005-05:00

Welcome to the LAGOS DISCO INFERNO, the first compilation of rare, Nigerian Disco to be released outside of Africa. Brought to you by ACADEMY LPs who also released the the Ofege and Mebusas albums.

Compiled by Frank Gossner of Voodoofunk.com, this record contains 12 tracks that represent the sound of Lagos in the late 1970s.

Dean Disi (Music Journalist and formerly Director of Lagos based label TYC Records) wrote the liner notes for this album:

"It was the era of sheer ecstasy. The music not only represents the vibrancy of youthful expressionism of the time but is also deeply rooted in African rhythm though not traditional in phraseology...
This collection of songs marks the development of Nigerian urban pop culture...
There was diametric difference in the music of the discos and the music play by the groups. Disco music as played by the DJs was essentially western. The fans could connect with this easily. It was hip, urban and stimulating. The young Nigerian groups were hooked on it and tried to play it but with a distinctive African stamp of their own."

Some of the artists on this record were stars of their times while others remained in obscurity.

TIROGO and BLO had originally started out in the early 1970s as guitar based Rock groups. The debut albums of both bands are holy grails of the international Psych Rock collector scene. Like many other bands, they eventually ventured into Funk and Disco because the demand of the club scene and retail market. This also explains how the Nigerian brand of Disco has so much more energy, a more urgent and sometimes rebellious feel and a rougher sound than the slick and overproduced sounds of the Western world.

Geraldo Pino was a key figure in the Nigerian music scene. Originally from Sierra Leone, he had spent time in Ghana during the late 1960s and came to Lagos in the early 1970s with a unique brand of Funky African Soul that immediately set the city on fire. Even Fela Kuti credits Geraldo Pino for having been a major influence for himself as well as for the entire scene. Geraldo Pino is featured here with his 1978 dance-floor bomb "African Hustle".

Christy Essien was a Nigerian superstar who put out a string of successful records all through the 1970s. Others, for example Nana Love despite their best efforts never even reached any local fame. After listening to this record though, you will agree with us that all of these artists rightfully deserve our attention for elevating the Disco genre to new spiritual and musical heights.

And here is what makes Nigerian Disco so special:
Lagos by the 1970s was a huge metropolitan city. Due to the oil boom, there was money to be made with music and nightlife and big international record labels like EMI, Decca and Philips had set up their recording studios that for a big part got equipped with vintage hardware handed down from their European franchises. So as the sound of the late 70s and early 80s in Europe and in the US got more and more modern and from todays point of view just plain shitty, overloaded with ugly sounding Roland keyboards, the sound of Lagos was dominated by powerful horn sections, heavy drums and percussion instruments. There's plenty of early Moog synthesizers but no synth-generated strings or fake horns.

EMI's house producer Emmanuel Odenusi had worked with Fela for many years, defining the sound of Afrobeat. Kayode Salami who produced another couple of tracks on this album also was responsible for the incredible sound of the famous debut LP by Psych-Rock group Ofege.

Lagos, a uniquely vibrant, gritty, energetic and sometimes quite dangerous tropical metropolis has always been much more than just a city. A state of mind where third world poverty met the oil boom, where African traditions clashed with Western decadence.

Make no mistake, this stuff will have you dance in a feverish rush in no time.

Click any of the highlighted tracks for a sound clip.

Side 1:
DORIS EBONG - Boogie Trip 5:28
GERALDO PINO - African Hustle 5:25
GROTTO - Bad City Girl 5:34

Side 2:
POGO LTD. - Don't Put Me Down 4:37
ASIKO ROCK GROUP - Everybody Get Down 8:17
PARADISE STARS - Boogie Train 5:31

Side 3:
EMMA DORGU - Rover Man 4:37
MFB - Boredom Pain 5:06
CHRISTY ESSIEN - Take Life Easy 4:14
TIROGO - Dancing Machine 4:03

Side 4:
BLO – Root 3:24
NANA LOVE - Hang On 14:45

Best administered in like-minded company and with generous doses of cold, alcoholic beverages.

Please click onto any of the images below for a print-quality hi-res version:

The cover of the Lagos Disco Inferno album:

Scans of some of the original records that were compiled for this release:

And this is how these records were found:

For further information please send an email to frank@voodoofunk.com

A foreword by the author

2008-08-09T11:18:00.004-04:00

I lived in Conakry, the capital city of Guinea in West Africa between the summers of 2005 and 2008. This blog documents my many travels all over the region in the pursuit of records. To a small degree, my chronicles might also serve as a documentaion on the political deterioration of Guinea during this time period. I hope you find this all to be an interesting read.

To the right, you find a list of 60 reports that I wrote during this 3 year long stay in West Africa and a few posts on more recent visits to Ghana and Nigeria that are listed on top. The links ending with "-MP3-" will lead you to posts which include mixes that were created with the records found on these travels. All articles are in chronological order. If you want to start from the beginning, please start at the bottom of this list with the story of Mr. Mafa and his record store.

Enjoy!

Frank

Everybody Get Down!

2008-08-08T17:01:00.017-04:00

August 8th 2008

I know, it's been a while... Here's another mix.
These are some of the records I found on my last trip to Accra and right before leaving West Africa after 3 years and heading to NYC.

You will soon realize: This one is extra funky!

Click on the image to listen.

00:00 Nkamsah & Yaanom - felicia
03:25 Santrofi Ansa - shakabula
07:35 Joe Mensah - funky talk in hausa
10:20 3rd Generation Band - obi ye saa wui
14:35 Action 13 - more bread to the people
17:35 Los Issifu - kansa soro
20:20 African Brothers Int. - self reliance
29:50 the Mighty Flames - metalik funk
34:10 the Funkees - baby i need you
37:40 Rock Town Express - if you love your neighbour you no go die
44:30 the Jeff Tagoe Movement - koti be cause
51:50 Asiko Rock Group - everybody get down

As an additional bonus, here are scans of all the records used, pictured in the same order as you can hear them in the mix. Click on the image for a better view:

Call me Frank

2008-06-25T00:57:00.001-04:00

June 25th 2008

This is just some shaky and lo-resolution clip I shot with my cellphone while cruising around downtown Cotonou in Benin. The song I used here is the main reason for posting this clip: "call me frank" from the Psychedelic Man LP by De Frank & His Professionals. This kinda became my theme song ever since I found this record.

"call me frank, I'll respond to you,
because my life is crazy and I look so funny..."

I will miss those rides around Benin, on he back of a Zemidjan, the heat and the stench of diesel fumes... only in a few weeks from now, I'm going to play records in NYC and Chicago.

African Store Sign Art

2008-06-22T08:20:00.001-04:00

June 22nd 2008

Store sign painter Mambi at work in his studio.

The store sign painter is a dying profession in West Africa. More and more businesses offer modern inkjet printing on vinyl banners and less and less new stores are ordering hand painted signs.

Before my departure from Africa, I visited several store sign painters in their workshops and gave some designs I had put together mostly by using images from old record covers to paint them onto plywood sheets.

Their size ranges from 1.5 x 3 foot to 4 x 4 foot.

As always, click on images for a better look!

last digging trip to Accra (for now...)

2008-06-18T05:38:00.001-04:00

June 18th 2008

Once the city of Conakry had calmed down after the army mutiny, I left on my last digging trip to Accra where I got to look through two private record collections. I only stayed for 6 days but amazingly enough, this turned out to be not only my shortest but also most successful single digging trip ever. I'm only posting records that I didn't have before, otherwise it would simply be too much. Not only did I find doubles of all Marijata LPs, Kelenkye Band, Gyedu-Blay Ambolley, Star Time Aziza, SJOB Movement, Kusum Beat, Ebo Taylor and various K. Frimpong LPs, almost everything was in excellent condition. Except the Monomono Vol.2, this one plays with a bit of noise so if anyone out there has a clean copy for trade, let me now.

I'm super excited about some of these records as they are either ones I've been trying to find for a long time or (even better) stuff I didn't know existed. I promise to make new mixes as soon as I'm reunited with my turntables in NYC next month. One thing is for sure, I'll be back before long. I'm already looking into flights from NYC to Lagos and Accra.

Click on image for better view

The most exciting part were the 45s. Most notably the 3 (!) by Gyedu-Blay Ambolley, some really nice Ebo Taylor stuff, a couple of very rare Fela Kuti singles and the two Segun Bucknor 45s. Also the four very heavy tracks by the Cutlass Band and some super funky stuff on the obscure Sole label. Every 45 pictured here is Funk or Afrobeat. I also found some really deep Highlife records but we'll get to those later.

In the end I had to stuff my entire luggage with vinyl. There was no room for anything else, I had to leave behind my all my toiletry and wear three pair of socks, three pairs of boxers, two pairs of pants and three shirts all at once. I looked pretty damn stupid and sweated like a pig.

When I arrived back in Conakry, the country was in the middle of an unanounced police strike and immediately after my arrival, the airport was shut down. What followed was a day of heavy shooting between the police and the military. Right now, everything seems quiet again but it's still too dangerous to go out after dark. Come evening time, I just sit on the terrace in front of the now empty house, listen to records on the portable turntable and get drunk on the last remaining bottles of cuban rum. Only 8 days left until my departure. The airport has re-opened but most airlines have changed their schedule to arrival and departure during the day instead of like before at night because there is still some sporadic shooting after dark. More and more foreigners are leaving the country and there is widespread fear and resignation that the situation can only further deteriorate from here, the only question remaining is at what speed. It is also very strange that since a few days now, none of the three internet cafes in my area can manage to connect to the web. The employees at all three places claim that there is some weird interference. I'll try the big internet cafe downtown tomorrow to get this post online. New York will seem like such a calm and quiet place after all this craziness.

On the other hand, I won't be able to grow pineapples in front of my porch.

Take Me Away Fast

2008-06-11T10:50:00.011-04:00

June 11th 2008

The moto-taxis in Benin are called Zemidjahns which comes from the local language Fon and translated into English would mean "take me away fast".

We chose this as a work-in-process title for Leigh Iacobucci from Tro Tro Productions who shot a documentary by following me around digging for records and visiting musicians in Ghana and Benin last April.

If you want to do your eyes a favor, go directly to YouTube for watching this video and click the "watch in high quality" link to the bottom right of the video screen.

A short bonus clip:

Army Mutiny

2008-05-29T12:00:00.014-04:00

May 29th 2008

The past three days have been increasingly tense here in Conakry.
What began as a mutiny inside the major army barracks has first turned into widespread lootig and all sorts of criminal behavior of the rebelling part of the army. Starting yesterday, there were more and more rumors about soldiers leaving the barracks on big trucks, firing into the air, blocking the cars of civilians to demand money or just beat up the driver and take off with his car, money and cell phone. Since a few hours there appears to be a full scale battle involving machine guns and RPGs between government loyal troups of the "berrets rouges" and the rebelling forces who might even be attempting to overthrow the government. There are now news on the radio or TV, both are controlled by the government. During the massacres of the last strike, people got shot on the street while the Television aired video clips of fat ladies in colorful robes lip-synching songs while standing in front of hotel pools or imported cars.

I'm just glad all my shit is already inside a container, on a ship and on the sea.

Looks like this could be a wild weekend. I'll keep you posted what happened a few days from now. It's not easy to find an open inernet cafe these days and I guess I'll just stock the fridge with enough beer and hole up at home until Monday or Tuesday.

Update from Monday morning, June 2nd:

Just wanted to say that I'm safe and the situation appears to have calmed down. I made it downtown this morning without seeing even one road block. Some gas stations have reopened so there is even a considerable amount of shared taxis and mini buses transporting people to work and bringing fresh produce to the markets.

All in all, this was a rather minor disturbance compared to the big uprising last year in spring when we had to flee to Sierra Leone. But since radio and television are controlled by the government, they were only showing video clips and staged pro-government demonstrations. There was no way to get any real information. This led to a lot of uncertainty and fear. Last year, when it was the unions who spearheaded the people's uprising against the government, union leaders would hold press conferences and keep the public up to date on the situation. This time there were fights within the army and those guys don't give press conferences so everybody had to rely on rumors and hearsay.

President Conte has given into the demands of the rebellious military. These demands only concerned the military themselves though. They wanted to get paid their money which had been pocketed by their superious instead of handed to the regular soldiers. The military now also receives rice at a government subsidized price.

As usual, the general population is left holding the short end of the stick with worse living conditions than before last years strike. Their spirit seems to be fully broken by now. At first, around March of last year, when the strike was ended after president Conte gave in on most of the unions demands, everybody was full of hope and almost overjoyed. A new prime minister was apointed who had the trust of everybody and who had previously worked for the UN. This guy proved to be a total fluke and when Conte gave him the boot two weeks ago, no-one seemed to give a shit. When the younger generation of the military began their mutiny last week. Not one person I had spoken to had any hope that this might lead to any positive change. People realized right away that those guys are only looking after their own interests. People are completely disillusioned and without any hope.

The Guinean president Lansana Conte has been in power for some 24 years. Guinea owns 30-40% of the world reserve of bauxite (raw material for aluminum). It also has gold, diamonds, uranium, iron and copper ore. Guinea is also the fifth poorest country in the world. Lansana Conte is amongst the 6 most wealthiest heads of state on the African continent. For decades, Transparency International rates Guinea amongst the worlds 5 most corrupt countries. In 2006, Guinea came in at a close second place right behind Haiti.

Guinea is amongst the countries with the most rain per year world wide. The soil is extremely fertile and the landscape would make it most ideal for the growing of rice which is the staple food of its people. Yet only very little rice gets produced and the rice consumed by most Guineans is imported from Thailand and China. The imported rice is the cheapest quality available on the worldwide market. It consists of broken corns, dust and bugs. because it's so dirty, the rice needs to be washed before cooking. You can wash it 6 times and the water still turns to a milky color. The local rice which is of high quality, delicious and very nutricious used to cost about twice as much as the imported shit. Now that the world market prices for rice have risen significantly, the imported rice in Guinea has more than doubled in price making it almost equal to locally produced rice which is now getting scarce due to the higher demand. Right now there are still enough mangos and avocados on the many trees even inside the big cities but I see some serious trouble ahead, probably with the end of the now aproaching rainy season. I'm not too sad I won't be here to see it.

Conte who is not only a despote but also a cynic with his very own sense of humor once said on the radio: "If the people are hungry, why don't they come to my house and eat me?"

Maybe they eventually will.

only 5 weeks left...

2008-05-26T08:08:00.002-04:00

May 26th 2008

I guess right now is a good time to leave this country: Yesterday the news broke that the Guinean President has sacked the Prime Minister whose installment was one of the main demands by the unions during last years strike. There were reported road blocks in the forest region but here in the capital of Conakry, everything seems to remain calm so far. It is probably because that the prime Minister has done such a lousy job in battling corruption and improving living conditions that no-one seems to give much of a damn about him getting the boot.

I only hope that things will stay as calm as they are right now. I don't want to spend my last weeks here with bullets flying over my head like early in 2007. There are rumors that Rabiatou Diallo, one of Guinea's most prominent union leaders who became somewhat of a hero during last years strike and uprising has commented that she has lost trust in a political way out of the country's misery and that she now is in favor of a military regime. This statement is not confirmed yet but it seems that there are some unsettling things going on under the surface and inside some people's heads.

Anyway... I guess I will write a longer article on what I witnessed here as far as sociopolitical issues are concerned once I'm in NYC. There are definitely a few things I'd like to share.

As far as records go, I will leave on for one last digging trip to Accra in two weeks and I have also just plugged a "records wanted" ad in several Guinean newspapers. After packing the shipping container a few days ago, I left only two sets of pants,underwear & shirt and one pair of shoes. This way, once boarding the plane to NYC, I will be able to fill my entire 100 pounds airplane luggage with the vinyl that I will (hopefully) find on these last few days.

I'm already looking very forward to my first gig in NYC on Saturday the 12th of July.

a glimpse at the past

2008-05-15T07:37:00.007-04:00

May 15th 2008

I've spent the past days packing all my remaining records into boxes. Some haven't even been cleaned yet and at first I thought I'd never get through it. Moving with a record collection is a pain in the neck, ask any record collector, or better don't and save yourself from having to listen to a bunch of nerdy whining... transatlantic moves are a bitch though, believe me.

Anyway, that's not the reason for me to post. While cleaning up a few records from Benin a couple of days ago, I found a few old photographs that were tucked away in one of the record sleeves. They probably haven't seen the light of day in some 30 years. I was shown old band photographs before when meeting old musicians but I especially love the candid and private nature of these pictures.

Click onto each image for a better view

The first picture shows the Band Poly Rythmo with a few fans, the girl in front has probably the most beaming smile I've ever seen. I really wish I'd know the identity of the tall white mystery man. Someone has drawn a cross onto his chest which is what people do in Benin when someone dies. Friends and family go through all their photo albums and draw a cross onto all images showing the deceased.

Here's our mystery man again, this time he's sitting down with the owner of the Albarika Store label.

Another Poly Rythmo band portrait.

This is my favorite one. I don't really know which band this is. maybe also Poly Rythmo. The man with the (bass?) guitar could be Gustave Bentho. The drummer is not Leopold Yehouessi but Poly Rythmo had several drummers. I guess I'll find out by asking Gustave next time I see him.

I think I'm going to go on one last digging trip, once the container is packed and on its way to NYC. But please don't expect any more mixes anytime soon. My turntables are already packed up...

Psychedelic Afro Shop -MP3-

2008-04-29T08:38:00.013-04:00

April 29th 2008

Here's another solid Afrobeat & Funk mix for you.
I guess this was it for a while now as I'm packing up my turntables and my records. In just 10 days, everything will be put into a container and sent off towards NYC. In just 6 weeks I'll fly out to NYC myself. Time enough for one last digging trip I guess...
With the end of my stay here in West Africa approaching, I'm not really sure what I'll do with this blog. Maybe I'll just leave it up as an archive and use the front page to keep you posted on my DJ activities in NYC.

Now put on your dancing shoes and click on the image below!

00:00 Orlando Julius - psychedelic afro shop
05:55 Fela Ransome Kuti - beautiful dancer
12:50 Orch. Anassoua Jazz de Parakou - norou
15:47 De Frank & his Professionals - psychedelic man
22:08 Pat Thomas & Marijata - we are coming home
28:00 Christiana Essien - my kind of man
31:55 African Bros Int. Band - hold your lover tight
41:40 Les As Du Golfe - tsi ma le to
47:20 The Creation - noble kings
53:02 Jeff Tagoe & the Vis-A-Vis - abifao
55:55 Antoine Dougbe & Poly Rythmo - honton soukpo gnon

Beyond the Beat! -MP3-

2008-04-29T08:14:00.007-04:00

April 29th 2008

Here are some of the tracks found on this last trip that probably aren't dancefloor material (perhaps with the exception of Mamo Lagbema's "zambo zambo"). Nevertheless, this is some incredible music. Check out the two haunting Blues songs by El Rego towards the end! Sorry about the static humm on the track by Les Ambassadeurs... there's something wrong with the electrical grounding at our house and I think that's what caused this problem. If I get around to it, I'll re-record the mix but I can't promise. Time is tight and preparing for a transcontinental move from West Africa to NYC turns out to be a big pain in the neck...

Click on the image to listen:

00:00 Les Volcans - la vie
03:53 Poly Rythmo - assibavi
08:30 Mamo Lagbema - zambo zambo
12:14 Coffi G. Adjaho - akoue yehoue
17:10 Thony Adex & the Sedico System - olomoge tonjo
20:22 Les Ambassadeurs - wassolon foli
27:37 African Brothers Int. Band - odo beku me
32:12 ? (white label from Benin)
34:43 Bembeya Jazz - waraba
39:41 Danialou Sagbohan - t'assi srongnin
44:10 Keletigui et ses Tambourins - donsoke
48:12 El Rego - ke amon gbetcha
51:34 El Rego - vive le renouveau
56:10 Poly Rythmo - aholoye

More West African Disco, just for you! -MP3-

2008-04-29T06:07:00.013-04:00

April 29th 2008

I'm slowly getting myself mentaly prepared to come out of retirement and start dj-ing again when moving to NYC in July. Now I find myself in a deep inner conflict about what to do with all those African Disco records that I found within the past three years. At first, I used to put them all in the "for eventual sale" box. After some time though, I found a guilty pleasure in playing these records and dancing around the house while my wife (who hates Disco) was at work. I used to despise Disco myself and when going to a Funk night, always complained when the DJ would also play some Disco. Therefore I don't feel it would be a good idea to mix this stuff into an Afrobeat and Afro Funk set. Maybe I should create myself a secret parallel identity as a Disco DJ? Or maybe I should just go ahead, get rid of all the Disco & Boogie and stick with the Afrobeat and the Funk?

Recently, I received a thank-you from a reader who used the cheesy power of the LAGOS DISCO INFERNO to (without going into detail) get laid... maybe this should already be encouragement enough?

Why don't you help me a bit with the decision making by listening to this mix and letting me know what you think about it. Click on the image below and try to enjoy!

00:00 Ipa Boogie - get the music now
07:00 Jo Tongo - jangolo
11:40 Hugh Masekela - the boy's doin' it
15:30 Okyerema Asante - sabi
29:15 Carlos & Miki - walking down the river
35:15 Kris Okotie - she'll never go home
38:52 Sidiku Buari - kinyia al kawali
42:05 Esbee Family - gin and lime
47:20 Jake Sollo - african gypsy
53:45 Don Bruce & the Angels - funk 'a' boogie

I'm running out of empty pages...

2008-04-29T05:43:00.007-04:00

April 29th 2008

I'm running out of empty pages in the back of my passport.
Within the past three years, I crossed interafrican borders on more than 50 occasions.

back home in Conakry

2008-04-28T10:54:00.006-04:00

April 28th 2008

I just got back to Conakry after a one month long digging road trip through Ghana, Togo and Benin. For the entire time I was followed around by NY documentary film maker Leigh Iacobucci. Highlights were interviews with El Rego, Gustave Bentho (Poly Rythmo), Danialou Sagbohan and a Ghanian DJ legend who shall remain anonymous for the time being. My favorite moment was when Gilles, the son of Gnonnas Pedro performed his fathers Afrobeat bomb "okpo videa bassouo" which was included on the LIFE IS A GAME mix.
I promise to post up a trailer as soon as possible.

New mixes should be up later this week

Here are some of the finds from this trip:
Click on image for a beter view!

Some of the 45s:

Ghana - Togo - Benin

2008-04-10T04:15:00.004-04:00

April 10th 2008

I'm currently on another long record digging trip. I started out in Ghana last month and a few days ago arrived in Benin after crossing through Togo. Arriving at the Benin border, our taxi driver told us that we'd have to switch vehicles. Even though he had at first assured us he would take is straight to Grand Popo, it suddenly came to his mind that he didn't have the necessary papers to cross the border... on top of it, he asked us twice the price that we had first agreed on. Luckily, my friend Francois lives only about 15 km from the border post. He was there within half an hour, set our crooked driver straight and helped us carry our luggage into Benin by foot.

So far I've been extremely lucky as I managed to cross off most of the records that still remained on the top of my wantlist. I can already promise that the next mix will be a real tough one.

This time I'm being followed around by a documentary film maker and we're very happy with the stuff we managed to shoot so far. I sacrificed a chicken in a Voodoo shrine by Grand Popo yesterday and Vodun Agbo agreed to give us his support as we were assured by the priest who had consulted the Fa for us: A Kola nut is split in four pieces and thrown onto a plate after asking a question to the Vodun. The Vodun then answers with certain different combinations of how the pieces of Kola nut come to rest. As a reminder, we left a Poly Rythmo 45 in the shrine.

The morning after the ceremony, I had my biggest single find of African 45s so far. Amongst others I found Fela's "beautiful dancer", Orlando Julius' "James Brown ride on"/"psychedelic afro shop" and a whole bunch of rare Poly Rythmo picture sleeve 45s in great condition.

Fetishes from Kissidougou

2008-03-24T12:26:00.025-04:00

March 24th 2008

A few weeks back, I went on a big round trip through Guinea. I have now spent a good 2 1/2 years in this country and there were still a few spots that I haven't seen before.

The road or sometimes the dirt track first lead me to Faranah in Central Guinea and from there to Kissidougou in the forest region of the country. After Kissidougou, I turned North to Kankan in Upper Guinea.

Faranah is the birth place of Sékou Touré, Guinea's first president who had kicked out the French in 1958. He had answered the the colonialists offer of a slow transition into independence with the memorable words "Nous préférons la liberté dans la pauvreté à la richesse dans l’esclavage", "We prefer freedom in poverty to riches in slavery". Sékou Touré like many after him started as a liberator and then turned into a paranoid oppressor who tortured and killed thousands of intelectuals, opositionists or even close friends who he suspected of plotting against him. The only part of his promise that held any truth was the poverty. In Faranah, he built a large presidential palace, a conference centre and even an air strip, big enough to accommodate a Concorde... nowadays the wide boulevards are deserted, showing more dirt then tar on their surface and the entire little city seems forgotten, lost in time and filled with the scent of decay.

The drive from Faranah to Kissidougou on the other hand is a real pleasure. After the bumpy roads before it almost feels like flying. The vegetation becomes lusher and lusher, Kissidougou is the entryway into Forest Guinea. The city itself is very friendly and lively. Despite the fact that the original Animistic religion of its inhabitants was moslty given up in favor of Islam, some people still managed to hold onto their ancient traditions.

After spending a few days in Kissidougou, I turned North to visit Kankan which turned out to be one depressing shit hole of a city with filthy, overpriced hotels and no electricity. I left again in the early morning to drive straight back to Conakry and crossed the Niger river just after dawn.

This is a little video clip I put together from footage shot with my digital photo camera that I just held out of the car window and pressed "record video". The quality is horrible, it's shaky and all but it might give you a bit of an impression of how beautiful traveling in Africa can be.

The soundtrack is Les Ambassadeurs with "Mandjou", a praise song on the crazed dictator from Faranah. Still, an unbelievably stunning piece of music from 1978 that was a huge sucess all over West Africa. Still to this day, you can hear this song being played loudly on someones stereo any given day while walking through the steamy, hot streets of downtown Conakry.

My main purpose on this trip was to look for old fetish statues and other animistic artifacts. I got real lucky while spending those few days in Kissidougou.

Please keep in mind that although all pieces pictured below are authentic, none of them have been used recently. I would never buy stuff that is still in use or things that might have been stolen out of shrines. All of these items belonged to a deceased witch doctor who did not have anyone to continue his tradition.

One proof of authenticity is the orange residue in the centre of the pieces. The fetisheur would chew kola nuts and spit the stuff onto the fetish. Sometimes local moonshine, distilled from fermented palm sap would be used along with the nuts. I spent a night drinking this highly potent stuff with some of the locals and well, let's just say it was something else...

This is probably the most impressive item I found on this trip. It was so covered in red dust that only after arriving back home and after carefully removing layers of dirt with a soft brush that I discovered the monkey skull in the centre. The snails around here grow to a size of about 6 inches so don't get a wrong idea about the size of this object, it's fairly big.

This is a pouch decorated with teeth from a wild boar. Hidden inside is a small mask made of stone:

These small stone statuettes were designed after the death of important local figures. People would use them to communicate with the deceased and to ask for help and advice. They were made and used by the Kissi people and are called "Pomdo" or "Vieux Cadavre":

Root of Evil -MP3-

2008-03-04T06:50:00.021-05:00

March 4th 2008

Here's a new mix with the exploits from my latest trip to Ghana. Next week I'm off again to Guinea's forest region and the entire month of April will be spent digging up vinyl in Ghana, Togo and Benin. This means that there probably won't be any new posts until early in May...

The traffic on this blog has increased quite a lot in recent weeks, as a result, my friend Rainer had his site temporarily taken down by his server because all the downloads from this blog were drasticaly exceeding his bandwith limit... due to life saving efforts from Greg and Cyril, everything's up and running again.
I wouldn't be able to post any mixes without the help of my friends!

Click the image below to listen:

Here's the tracklist:

00:00 Super Eagles - feeling you got
02:48 Amoah Azangeo - gbeka sane
05:44 K. Frimpong - me yee owu den
14:54 Destruction Nkengas - jungle beat
21:00 Marijata - we live in peace
25:00 Kelenkye Band - brotherhood of man
29:00 Waza Afriko '76 - ke oda
33:52 Dan Boadi - money - root of evil
44:10 Eddy Pollo - money
50:40 Sidiku Buari - disco soccer

Just two mixes ago, we had Benin's Super Star de Ouidah opening up with their version of "feeling you got". There's also another cover version of this song done by El Rego. On my last trip to Ghana, I finally found the original recording of this track by the Super Eagles. This group from the Gambia recorded a series of 45s on the Ghana Film label in Accra and later on moved to Mali as far as I know. This scorcher of a funky Soul track that was recorded in 1968 reminds me a bit of Dyke & the Blazers. Sorry about all that noise and crackle, this 45 really is in extreme rough shape but the sheer power of those drums and the emotional impact of the vocals still shine through and I won't even hesitate to play this hammered piece of vinyl for a dance floor. But just in case if anybody out there has a clean copy, please get in touch with me, I have loads of stuff for trade!
The next track by Amoah Azangeo on the other hand probably wouldn't be club material. This blistering piece of Afrobeat clearly suffers by the probable fact that it was recorded with only one microphone. This in itself wouldn't necessarily have caused much harm but then someone had the strange idea to place a guy with a shakera right in front of the mic and told him to give it all he's got... after a couple of listens though, I kinda like this recording the way it is. The occasional complete disregard for any conventions is just one of the aspects that make African music so truly amazing.
When I traveled to Kumasi, I met this one record store owner who let me go through his entire stash of a couple of thousand records. The first handful LPs I grabbed contained a copy of the Sweet Talks Kussum Beat album. I pulled out the record only to realize that it's broken. A big chunk of vinyl was missing. This almost brought tears to my eyes. After hours of sifting through stacks and stacks of records, I approached the owner just to hear him say: "Well now let's see which ones of these I can sell...". Almost all of the records were potential doubles for my collection so I figured the damage won't be too big either way until dear Mr. Gyasi decided to not sell me a single one of those records. Goddamn! It all wouldn't have been a big deal if not for this one K. Frimpong LP which I had never seen before and that -as I found out while listening to it on my portable turntable -had one monster Afrobeat track on it. I pleaded with this man for a couple of hours but nothing would convince him, not even the most ridiculous amounts of money offered.

Mummified rodent in a box of 45s

One week later, back in Accra, I visited a man named Kongo who had said he had located a few records for me. I stepped into his house and on the floor in front of me was another copy of the Sweet Talks' Kussum Beat. I was stunned and slowly bent down to pick it up when Komgo said "No, no, that's nothing, that's none of those records I was talking about, -this is just something that has been lying around the house forever". I told him that this was a great, great record and when I lifted it from the floor, I noticed that Kongo had used it to hide a big stash of Ganja from plain view. The Vinyl was in excellent shape and I said "Kongo, this is going to get you some serious cash". I carefully placed the record onto the bed next to us when someone knocked at the door. Kongo opened and in came two kids with a bunch of scratched up, coverless LPs. Mostly western stuff like Michael Jackson and Boney M. (Boney M must have swept the entire planet like a plague, there doesn't seem a single place on earth where you won't find their records, -thank god no-one seems to know that they were from Germany, we're already stigmatized enough...). I was disappointed and explained the kids what kind of stuff I was looking for. They listened carefully and before I could react sat down on the bed. I heard the ugly sound of breaking vinyl and let out a loud scream "Noooo! No! This can't be fucking happening!". Both guys jumped up stunned by my sudden outburst and where the one closest to me had sat, I picked up the Kussum Beat album and pulled the vinyl out of the sleeve only to confirm that it was completely split in two. There is only that much pain a man can bare and I went back to the hotel where I got seriously drunk on way too many Star beers.
The next morning, Kongo called me up to tell me that he had managed to find me another copy of the broken record. I jumped into a cab and arriving at his house was confronted with a big stack of records that not only contained the Sweet Talks LP but also a clean copy of the K.Frimpong record that Mr. Gyasi back in Kumasi had refused to sell me. the third track on this mix, "me yee owu den" is from this record.
I didn't include any tracks from said Sweet Talks LP on this mix although this record has three strong Afrobeat tracks. But one was already included in my mix ""Big Beats, Sweet Talks & Psychedelic Aliens"" and the other two are featured on Soundway Record's Ghana Soundz Compilations Vol1&2. I'm sure you all already own those, right?
"jungle beat" by the Destruction Nkengas comes up next. I think it's the same group as the Ikenga Super Stars who recorded a ton of rather bland Hi-Life records and only one more Afrobeat record also featured on the "feeling you got" mix.
It was also on this last trip that I managed to find another copy of the blue Marijata LP. This one is perfectly clean and unscratched on both sides. I included "we live in peace" on this mix. "no condition is permanent" from Soundways' Ghana Soundz compilation is from this same record along with "break through" which was included on the "this hustling world" making this one of the strongest African Funk records of all time with a total of 3 killer dance floor tracks.
"brotherhood of man" by the Kelenkye Band comes up next. This copy is in better shape than my first one but still quite noisy... sorry!
Waza Afriko '76 brought out an LP that had two editions, each one with an entirely different cover. They managed to fool me, I already had thought I found their second album. Back home I had to realize that this is exactly the same one I already had. "ke oda" is their strongest track. You have to love those banging drums.
Dan Boadis' "money - root of evil" from his (if it's true) in Chicago produced record leads us further into the 70's and Eddy Pollo continues not only the theme about the evils of money but also the trend towards slicker sounding 70's Funk.
Sidiku Buari and his epical "disco soccer" ends this mix. Sidiku wants you to believe that this track was recorded live in NYC. As the football arena like crowd noise and Sidiku's announcements and crowd reactions at the end illustrate, he must have been quite a star in New York. He takes things even further on the cover sleeve where he poses in a phantasy navy uniform carrying a small plastic toy machine squirt gun. The liner notes claim that Janet Jackson did the backing vocals and his bass player Ken Williams is listed under a picture of Carlos Santana... maybe a cameo?
In any case a true piece of art and a prime example for African bullshitting at its best.
Now if I'd only know what Kalabule Medicine is.

As with all pictures on this blog: Click on it for a better view:

Beware -MP3-

2008-02-07T07:36:00.020-05:00

February 8th 2008

Here's another mixed bag with some Afro Latin, Afro Disco, Afro Funk and even some Afro Pop...
Perhaps most notably here is Sagbohan Danialou, a musical legend in Benin who was featured in my good friend Nicolas Moncadas' amazing movie documentary "l'Homme Orchestre". If you know what's good for you, you better try and track down some of his work, there are a few clips to be found on YouTube to wet your appetite. Nicolas managed to capture the beauty and unique feel of Benin and Beninoise culture and I sincerely hope that his work will soon receive the attention it deserves.

In the meanwhile, click the image below (showing multi-instrumentalist Sagbohan Danialou behind the drums), sit back and enjoy the sounds.
Thanx to my friend Cyril, who's jumped in to help me out with the hosting!

Here's the tracklist:

00:00 Leon & Germain Keita -dalaka
07:51 Antoine Dougbe -nounignon man kpon midji
13:24 Yom Yem Kombination -get on 'n' do it
20:55 Poly Rythmo -moulon devia
29:50 Djinns Music -djinns musi'c time
35:05 Bailly Spinto -djamo djamo
41:47 Sagbohan Danialou -ossi
47:51 Funkees -akula dwu onyeara pt.1
51:47 Bella Bellow -dasi ko
55:48 M.F.B -beware

Sorry about the horribly crackly quality of "akula dwu onyeara" by the Funkees. That's a pretty damn hard record to find and this beat up copy is the only one I ever came accross...

Which is not tragic because this song is featured on the latest compilation on Soundway Records. Of course clean sounding but also with Parts 1&2 united. As with all Soundway releases, every single rack is properly licensed and a good part of the profits goes back to Africa.

Feeling You Got -MP3-

2008-02-05T06:28:00.005-05:00

February 5th 2008

Only a few days left and I'm off to Accra...
For the past two days, I camped out at the MouNa internet cafe in downtown Conakry. The connection was exeptionally good and with all the German discipline and consistency I could muster, I was able to upload a whole bunch of pictures and a total of 4 new mixes. A big thank you goes out to Jonas who's hosting this mp3.

I hope all more traditional stuff I posted lately didn't scare away any of the Afrobeat fanatics... Here's a new mix for you guys: Some wild, early Beninoise "Jerk" (doesn't the first track sound a bit like Cpt. Beefheart?) and some serious Nigerian Afrobeat byIkenga Super Stars, Tunji Oyelana & The Benders and Smahila & The SBs:

Click on the image and enjoy!

00:00 Super Star de Ouidah -feeling you got
03:24 Picoby Band -minaleko
06:47 Orchestre Anassoua Jazz -midjomido
10:27 Poly Rythmo -amon noude ya oudou
14:49 Super Borgou de Parakou -a na dan garo ka nam
19:48 Anos Band de Parakou -kimikssoute kiyo
25:55 Ikenga Super Stars -nwannemu oho
34:14 The Benders -oloti
40:00 Smahila and the S.B.s -natural points
57:42 Exile One -massa

Yet Another Road Trip Through Benin

2008-02-05T05:20:00.001-05:00

February 5th 2008

After one week of Voodoo ceremonies, beach and some relaxed digging around Ouidah, Abomey, Porto Novo and Benin, my friend Landry and me headed up north for Natitingou and Parakou.

Frequently we pass grotesquely deformed car wrecks at the side of the road and other reminders of how dangerous African roads can be...

But no road could possibly be too long or too treacherous, if ultimately it leads you to such a sweet old man as Mr. Theodore who upon viewing his dusty stack of records began to indulge in memories of girls he had danced with, bottles of Sodabi he had drunk and sadly also the many, many records he used to have but which with time got stolen from him on various parties while he was passed out in some corner on too much booze or getting busy with one of the ladies.

On the way back south we were in for a bad surprise.
We had hit the road early one Sunday morning and had left Parakou before dawn. About one hour into our day-long trip, we noticed a growing number of cars racing towards us at breakneck speed. They all had plastic envelopes with toll papers stuck to the inner side of the wind shields and big, black and yellow bumper sticker license plates. Often in a row of two or even three, they frequently forced us to hit the breaks and steer off the edge of the road in sheer terror. With every minute they became more and they approached us like a swarm of angry wasps. Things calmed down a bit after a toll booth had backed up all oncoming traffic. Waiting cars were lining up for at least 10 miles. Some drivers passed the backed up traffic by using our lane, flashing their lights to make us quit the road. Local police was obviously paid off and completely disregarded the entire madness.

Cotonou seems to be most favorite port for West African automobile importers. Mainly Nigerian companies buy whole ship loads of used cars from early 1970s construction trucks to all sorts of SUVs, 1980's VW Golfs or Mercedes limousines from last year. These cars then get transported in bizarrely huge convoys, driven by rented drivers, -rumor has it most of them on on drugs -across the border to Lagos in Nigeria or up north to Burkina Faso. What we had to face that morning must have been at least a couple of thousand cars. It was surreal. West African traffic is already a strange experience and the common disregard for one's own safety let alone the well-being of others as frequently displayed by bush taxi drivers is just baffling. But this was something else. This was African Kamikaze traffic on steroids. Some of these cars were wrecks and were being towed by other vehicles while going just as fast as everybody else. Some became wrecks on the way. We soon stopped counting the number of accidents we saw.

Anyway, we got back to Cotonou in good health and celebrated accordingly with pate mais, cow's feet in tomato sauce and plenty of ice cold Beninoise beer.

Here are some of the records that we brought back with us:
Mixes will be coming up shortly, click on images for better view!

Vodoun 2008 -MP3-

2008-02-05T04:15:00.008-05:00

February 5th 2008

Voodoo originates from Benin and neighboring Togo.
The correct french spelling would be "Vodoun".
Why is this blog called "Voodoo Funk" and not "Vodoun Funk"?
Since the language of Fon was never meant to be written in French nor in English, "Voodoo" would be just as right or wrong as "Vodoun".
"Vodoun Funk" would also cause serious pronunciation problems with the English speaking majority of visitors to this blog.
I'm sure that my French friends will forgive me this willful ignorance.

What follows here is a number of photos from our stay around coastal Benin, the traditional stronghold of Voodoo culture during the week surrounding the big annual Vodoun celebration on January 10th.

I put together a little soundtrack to view these images.
This is traditional music from Benin which is all deeply rooted in Voodoo.
Some of the bands like Poly Rythmo, Picoby Band, Super Star de Ouidah may use non-traditional instruments on these recordings, however this remains folklore music and further illustrates how much western Pop music owes to African culture.

The pictures will take you on a little journey:

First stop is Abomey, the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Dahomey where Mr. Babah performed a ritual for us to help us find many, many records...

A few days later, we took a fishing boat over the border into Togo in order to get to the village of a particularly powerful Voodoo priest who I wanted to ask for the support of a close associate.

Then came January the 10th.
The main festivities this year were held at Porto Novo.
We decided to go to the "Point De Non-Retour" at Ouidah instead, where local Voodoo ministers were holding speeches (it really is some sort of parallel government) and dances were held. We hung out for a bit but didn't really get into the mood, probably due to the presence of grim-looking bouncers who wanted to make us buy over-priced ID cards in order to be able to take pictures.
Luckily, we were with local friends who introduced us to Vodoun priest Dossou Gbeto who invited us to check out the celebrations in his village just outside of Ouidah. So off we took and things got pretty wild from there on... I don't want to tell too much, just go ahead and enjoy the pictures.

Click on the image below for the soundtrack!

00:00 Poly Rythmo -dan dan n'wamon
06:14 El Rego -e ma non tinme
11:05 Super Star de Ouidah -gogofiogo
13:41 Honore Avolonto -setche weda
19:03 Billedey Guissey -papa zibote
24:21 Picoby Band -do ai towe te
29:40 Ezim Gangnon -memeton hede hede
34:56 Agbehounkpan -hohoton vo
38:44 Soclub Toba Hanye Sezonmon -n'na ho so bo ha
44:55 Leonaerd Tamegnon -do koun on se nou
49:15 Hoonon Houlovo -lenoude we un an

Click on images to enlarge:

Mr. Babah's temple in Abomey

Crossing into Togo to ask the ancestors for help

Ouidah, Vodoun Jan. 10th 2008

All pictures courtesy of Big Evil and the Ivory Man.

Tropical Static -MP3-

2008-02-05T03:43:00.006-05:00

February 5th 2008

Here is a new mix with records that I found in N'Zerekore.

"Tropical Static" includes records from Guinea, Mali and Senegal of course heavily focusing on the Guinean side. Funk heads beware: This is not "club music". Big shout out to Chris Meserve who helped me to appreciate the more traditional side of African music and who therefore deserves all the blame for this one. Sorry about the sometimes pretty loud crackle... some of these records got played quite a bit by their original owners.

Click on image to listen:

00:00 Keletigui et ses Tambourins -bakary dian

03:49 Balla -Sara '70
13:43 Bembeya Jazz -Moussogbé
20:50 Niandan Jazz -niandan
25:05 Orchestre Horoya Band de Kankan -n'banlassouro
27:38 Camayenne Sofa -m'borin
32:14 Balla et ses Baladins -paulette
39:51 Bembeya Jazz -ballaké
47:51 Lamine Konté -moune ma ko
51:05 UCAS Band de Sedhiou -waite-nao
56:47 Les Ambassadeurs du Motel -wara

N'Zerekore

2008-02-02T04:46:00.001-05:00

February 2nd 2008

Sorry for the long break but I've been traveling and digging up records pretty much non-stop since mid-December.

I'm back in Guinea now, the first month of the new year has already passed and my time down here in West Africa is slowly coming to an end as I have made plans to move back to NYC in July.
I've lived there before from 1996 to 2000 and those were some of the best years of my life. Ever since I left, I've been back for a week or so each summer to visit friends and play some records. Needless to say that the city has changed a lot those past 8 years... same goes for myself and I'm curious how we'll get along on this second run.

Back to what happened those past 6 weeks:
In December I managed to hitch a ride on the UN plane to N'Zerekore, the main city in Guinea's forest region. N'Zerekore is also a border town, very close to Liberia and Ivory Coast this used to be a major trading post for all goods rolling through Guinea with Mali and Senegal on one side and Abidjan on the other. "There have got to be some records around" I thought and I did not get disappointed.

N'Zerekore nowadays serves as a base for several multinational mining corporations that are exploiting the region's rich reserves of copper and iron ore as well as uranium. Close by is the Mt. Nimba, a famous mountain, home to a unique range of plants and animals, amongst others, a toad that doesn't lay eggs but gives birth to its offspring and only can be found there. The area is protected by the UNESCO which for decades hindered the exploitation of its vast resources but recently, the rules seem to have changed and it is only a matter of time until a big portion of the mountain will be gone forever.

N'Zerekore is very dusty. Most roads are unpaved and the mining company's big SUVs constantly speeding across town leave the air saturated with thick red dust that settles on clothes, between teeth and inside the respiration tracts of the residents. A cynic might say that this is the only way the busy mining activity feeds any of the locals.

I zigzagged around town with a moped taxi which also left me caked with red dust at the end of every day. Unfortunately, the dust was so thick that I never felt like taking out my camera, that's why I can't show you any photos here. There were some very picturesque settings on the city's many back roads though. Once, after having sped through narrow paths lined by small creeks of raw sewage, I arrived at a beautiful house with a terrace overlooking a small lake with blooming water-lilies under a huge Baobab tree. Why didn't I take a picture? Because there was a big pile of records on that terrace waiting for me... I know, but I just can't help it.

Besides an unexpected lot of Cuban records that contained a surprisingly large number of Funk tracks, I found various Syliphone releases that were still missing in my collection -most notably some nice picture-sleeve 45s and a mixed bag of music from surrounding African countries.

A mix with some of this stuff will soon be posted. In fact, I've set aside records for no less than 4 mixes but there's no saying on how many if any I will get up and running before I leave for Accra in 2 weeks.
Coming up in my next post: Gin fueled, chicken sacrificing Voodoo escapades in southern Benin (yes, there will be plenty of pictures...)

Here are some of the records I found on in N'Zerekore:
Please click on image to enlarge!

Groovy Christmas!

2007-12-07T05:40:00.007-05:00

December 7th 2007

This will be my last entry for a while as I'm about to leave for another digging trip. I won't yet tell to the destination but this has the potential to be anything from total bust to a gold mine. After that, I will spend the entire month of January in Benin.

This is my favorite African Christmas Funk 45:

Please click on image to listen:

Let me take this occasion to thank you all for the time you spent keeping up with this blog and most of all, thanx for your comments, mails and responses, you have really encouraged me a great deal and given me motivation to dig much deeper than I would have without you.

There were some bumps in the road around the start but all in all, it's been an amazing year so full of impressions that looking back, it seems to have lasted much longer than just 12 months. All the best, good health and peace for 2008 everybody!

Big Beats, Sweet Talks & Psychedelic Aliens -MP3-

2007-12-03T05:42:00.004-05:00

December 3rd 2007

As promised, here's one hour of Funk, Soul, Psych & Afrobeat. All records were found on my last trip to Ghana.
All tracks besides Marijata, Ashantis and Uhuru Dance Band are 45s originating from Big Mama Unice's Drinking Spot

Prepare yourself for a barrage of Drum Breaks, Horn Stabs and Organ Swirls!

click on image to listen:

00:00 I. Garison Organisation - move them
05:45 Psychedelic Aliens - blofonyobi wo atale
08:35 Assagai - cocoa
12:40 African Brothers -don't forget
15:45 Psychedelic Aliens - extraordinary woman
18:45 The Big Beats - kyenkyema
21:40 The BBQs - aya lolo
25:25 The Sweet Talks - mampam sukuruwe
29:30 Freedom Family - holly worshipping
33:05 Uhuru Dance Band - i know my mission
36:35 Marijata - i can say
41:45 Ashantis - i got my troubles
45:15 The Big Beats - mi nsumoo bo donn
48:45 Fela Ransome Kuti - who're you?
52:42 Uhuru Dance Band - yahyia mu
56:45 I. Garison Organisation - easy soul

Big Mama Unice's Jazz & Hi-Life -MP3-

2007-11-30T13:38:00.004-05:00

November 30th 2007

Here's another non-Afrobeat mix... this time it's mostly Hi-Life, some Jazz, some Blues... it's all pretty deep stuff. All records that were used came from Big Mama Unice's Drinking Spot and I hope you'll get as much pleasure out of these tunes as I do. Some of the songs are quite haunting, "wofee woyaa he ni" by the Sparrows or "mensu" by African Bros. give me the chills everytime I listen to them. But don't worry, I haven't forgotten all you Funk people out there! A break-heavy Soul, Funk, Psych & Afrobeat mix will follow in a few days and it's going to be a real tough one. Funky as hell and not a trace of Disco and that's a promise!

Click on image to listen:

00:00 Sahara All Stars Band Jos - ejim ogu n'ejim ofor (hi-life)
02:45 Vida Rose (Hi-Life Sister No.1) and the Cool Guys - manya mahu me dofo yi
06:00 the Sparrows - wofee woyaa he ni (bra-dipo beat ga)
09:00 St. Augustine & the Rovers Dance Band - (native blues)
15:30 Gerard et Cam - pemba veron 2 (cam)
20:20 All Brothers Band - aboa atea (kalakara)
23:25 E.K.'s No.1 Band - agoro beso a efiri anopa (codril akan)
26:40 African Bros. Int. Band - mensu (slow hi-life)
33:22 C.K. Mann - mebusuafo pe adze aye me (osode)
36:10 Kotoko Big Sound Band - obreguo (malinge in twi)
39:05 T.O. Jazz Band of Ghana - kyebi amaa pa
49:19 Cecilia Akombi's Band - fikyiri bodewa (hi-life)
52:15 Sir Victor Uwaifo - do amen-do (akwete)
55:05 African Bros. Int. Band - nansooben (anakful beat)

Big Mama Unice's Drinking Spot

2007-11-30T06:48:00.003-05:00

November 30th 2007

I had posters put up all over Accra, radio announcements were made and ads were plugged in the local papers. The most rewarding result was a call from Big Mama Unice.

Big Mama Unice runs a small bar simply called "the drinking spot" where she also cooks rice with a different sauce each day.

A big freezer keeps beer and locally distilled sugar cane liqueur nicely chilled.

I was told to come around in the morning hours and when I arrived at around 10 am, I was given a large travel bag containing 45s from G to Mint, from Hi-Life to African Jazz, Soul, Psych and Afrobeat. Besides a large number of James Brown releases, everything else were African releases and what they all had in common was that they all were top tunes. I don't know much about Hi-Life and never cared much about this style but the stuff I found there is just incredible! There also was a small stack of LPs and we all had an amazing time, playing these records on the portable turntable. All the pieces below came from Big Mama Unice's Drinking Spot, most notable are the nice company 45 sleeves and of course the Psychedelic Alliens (sic) EP. I'm only posting a few selected LPs, no need to show off spares...
Click on images for a better view!

Nice philosophical liner note on backside of the Uhuru Dance Band sleeve:

Dubious nightclub outside another digging spot:

New mixes will follow in a few days. I'll make one Soul, Psych & Afrobeat mix and another one with Afro Jazz and Hi-Life.

Show Me Your Backside -MP3-

2007-11-17T14:37:00.004-05:00

November 17th 2007

Here is the follow-up to the infamous Lagos Disco Inferno Mix. This time, I vowed to show some mercy and opted for more funk and less cheese... What you get is a pretty fresh mix of Disco flavored Funk, Funk flavored Disco and a healthy dose of jaded & decadent and Lagos Boogie like Kio Amachree's "Rat Race City".

I'm in Accra right now. I arrived late last night and after almost being eaten alive by some mutant bedbug from hell, I immediately hit the road with my friend and local agent Alfred. First stop was a sugar cane moonshine bar where Big Mama Unice (yes, I made some pictures...) presented me with a large travel bag full of 45s with all sorts of Hi-Life, Soul, Funk, Psych & Afrobeat. Amongst them the mythical "Psychedelic Aliens" EP that I never quite believed would actually exist. Alone with the pull of this first day, I could easily put together one relentless, hour-long superraw and nasty Afro mix for all you purists out there!

Until then, click her sexy back, sit back and enjoy.
Or even better, get on up and shake your stuff!

00:00 Brigth Engelberts - let me near them say
06:00 Kelenkye Band - moving world
08:08 Rob - boogie on
12:08 Kio Amachree - hot black and sweet
17:17 Johnny Haarstrup - wake up your mind
23:12 The Variations - get on up
27:50 Kris Okotie - show me your backside
31:17 Billy Jones - boojie number 3
34:20 BLO - trace of suicide
38:18 Ofege - majic music
41:46 SJOB Movement - you only live once
46:56 Paradise Stars - funk feel
51:53 Kio Amachree - rat race city

Deeper And Deeper -MP3-

2007-11-16T03:35:00.006-05:00

November 16th 2007

While it's still mainly Afrobeat and raw African Funk that I'm after,
I find myself increasingly intrigued by all those other records that I come across. Here is another mix that I put together with stuff that I wouldn't be able to use for DJ purposes and normally would have ended up in my trades box. Now I put them into my rapidly growing "home listening" stack...

00:00 Leon Keita -l'amour ne s'achete pas (Mali)
09:12 Samuel Tchomagni - makom ma bobe (Cameroon)
14:28 Wini & Fefe - ekue gblea nu (Togo)
22:45 Poly Rythmo - eke mi akbe (Benin)
26:34 Johnny Achille - kou na waze (Benin)
29:26 L'Harmonie Voltaique - killa naa ye killa (Burkina Faso)
32:00 Balla et ses Balladins - bedianamo (Guinea)
35:40 Johnny Achille - hovenou n'dje (Benin)
40:00 National Badema - nama (Mali)
50:54 Poly Rythmo - igbala (Benin)
57:37 Gnonnas Pedro -ma wonwo (Benin)
61:17 Ahissin le Philosophe - vi akue (Benin)

The mix starts out with Leon Keita and what could be described as at the same time deep and pop-flavored Mandingue. Maybe someone out there has a better way to define this, I'm still pretty much a beginner when it comes to these sounds. Whatever you want to call it, check out the amazing organ solo!
Samuel Tchomagni from Cameroon follows next and I have no clue what to call this... (john b. eventually filled me in that this style is called "Bikutsi")
Wini & Fefe from Togo deliver some psychedelic, syncopated, trance inducing monster track that I enjoy more and more with every listen. Another typical example of extreme musical tightness delivered in such a loose, casual way that it reaches a whole new level of "cool". It's also pretty funky actually...
Why is it that I can't seem to be able to make any sort of mix without including one if not two tracks by Orchestre Poly Rythmo? I guess the reason is that the Tout Puissant Orchestre Poly Rythmo is the mightiest musical force of West Africa. Their output as far as quality, variety and quantity are concerned overshadows pretty much any other group of musicians or singular artist I have so far encountered in over 10 years of intercontinental record digging in Europe, the US or in West Africa. Here they bless us with a Sato, a traditional Rhythm from Benin that -as mentioned before, I in my humble opinion consider to be the root of all things Afrobeat.
On my last trip to Benin, I found another few 45s by Johnny Achille who already blessed us with his mighty "Mede Woui" a few mixes back. Again, I don't quite know how to call this... African Folk Blues perhaps? Really, if anyone out there knows, please school me!
Also on my last trip, while staying in Parakou, the daughter of the owner of Parakou's largest record store Disc-Adam, dressed up in her Sunday best, golden jewelery and all, brought me to the house of a car mechanic. The car mechanic, obviously under the influence of Sodabi (distilled palm wine kinda like moonshine in the southern US) wore a pair of oil soaked pants and nothing else. he proclaimed how he was a big fan of Franco and other Congolese stuff. For a little demonstration, he threw a record on the turntable, cranked up his stereo all the way and began to dance and actually lip-sync along with the song that judging from his mimics must have been along the lines "I really seriously love you and if you don't love me back, I'm going to have to kill myself". Disc-Adam's daughter who was sitting directly behind the performer grew increasingly concerned about having her floral patterned Sunday dress stained with motor oil and said something like "hey, watch out, don't fall on me" when our host responded "non... si je tombe sur toi, c'est bon!" Anyway, I found three copies of a 45 by L'Harmonie Voltaire from Burkina Faso with the incredible and slightly spooky Afro Jazz track "killa naa ye killa".
Just because it matches nicely this is followed by Balla et ses Balladins with "bedianamo". This is an old find from back in the days of Mr. Mafa's Record Store
Another haunting blues by Johnny Achille follows next. I really hope I'll find more stuff by this man. His later records seem to be more Rumba which I really don't like but his early material is just amazing... check out the drum break!
National Badema's "nama" is a pretty well known Mandingue classic from what I heard but what is it about this weird distorted electronic sound that starts cutting in about a minute and a half before the end? Did they do this on purpose? What the hell is this? Is this also on the re-release versions of this song?
Sorry about the noisy, brittle sounding and crackling quality of Poly Rythmo's "igbala". The record is actually shiny and clean, maybe even unplayed. That's a rough African pressing quality for you.
We continue with a slow tearjerker by the great, early Gnonnas Pedro.
Ahissin Le Philosophe and "vi akue" is Beninoise Folklore at its finest and ends this little voyage into the deeper regions of West African Music.

Update:
I recently saw a re-issue of the National Badema LP from the 80s that has the following information on the back cover:

SUPER AbSENT -MP3-

2007-11-08T06:35:00.002-05:00

November 8th 2007

This is the first mix from what I found this past month.
I started with the Afrobeat finds.
Two more mixes, one with Funk/Disco/Boogie and another one with African Blues/Jazz/Folk will follow within the next few weeks.
Please click image to listen:

October's Harvest

2007-11-06T10:25:00.002-05:00

November 6th 2007

This is a shrine for Voodoo god Zangbeto who is responsible to protect the village of my friend Landrie outside of Cotonou.

Record agents Landrie and Chakirou with the owner of another collection (left to right). This man was a big Fela Kuti fan and told us some great stories from back in the day...

Fueling up the car at one of the typical black market gas stations

Digging through the dusty back room of a former record store in Parakou.

Memorial outside a settlement of freed slaves west of Ouidah.

When we visited the next day, somebody was home and the sign said "super present". (click on image to enlarge)

This is some of the stuff that we unearthed on this trip.
I've already finished a new mix but due to the shakier than ever internet connection I probably won't manage to upload it from down here and might have to burn the mp3 onto a CDR and mail it to a friend in Europe (Hi Greg!).

Three Severe Blows To The Mind -MP3-

2007-11-02T12:33:00.004-04:00

November 2nd 2007

In case you have just discovered this blog, the following three tracks might forever change your understanding of what African music can sound like. Try to forget all that "world music" crap you might have been accidentally exposed to earlier in your life, forget everything about hippies with dreadlocks and drums in the park. Just click onto the record cover or labels and listen:

I've played the Ferry Djimmy track on my last radio show with Mr. Finewine so some of you might already know it. Last week I found another copy of this 45 and it seems that this is an earlier release on Djimmy's own label. This man never ceases to blow my mind. Not only was he wearing an iron cross around his neck, four watches on one wristband and called his private record label "Revolution Records", he also rocked harder than the MC5! Djimmy definitely knew what time it was!

This unbelievably hard and funky version of "Sookie Sookie" by Orchestre African Fiesta was recorded in Congo around 1968. This also was included in an earlier mix but I've never seen this record in it's original form. The 1970s reissue on "African Records" is already close to impossible to find. I only ever came across two completely hammered copies until last week I found the OG on Congolese Decca! Not only does the OG version include an additional drum break but also it sounds much, much clearer and louder!

This last example of outrageously deep and heavy African Funk once more comes from Cotonou's mythical Orchestre Poly Rythmo. I guess by now, I own enough of their records (and I'm only talking about their funky stuff...) to spin two nights in a row without playing one record twice. "Ma Tafou Gnin O" leads us into new psychedelic depths. The sax and organ solos towards the end are simply killing it.

I'm currently busy cleaning up the records that I found on my last trip. New mixes and lots of cover scans will show up here within the next days.

A Blown Tire, Beer & Blessings From The Witchdoctor

2007-10-23T02:05:00.001-04:00

October 23rd 2007

I'm once again in Benin and so far, things have been great.
My friends and I were digging up the towns of Dassa Zoumé, Savé and finally Parakou up north where we had a little chat with the singer of Anos Band. Dug up loads of vinyl and even made public announcements on the radio telling people to bring their records to the Hotel les Canaries where I would spend the evenings sitting on the porch, drinking ice cold 0,65 liter bottles of Castel beer while playing records on the portable turntable.

On the way there, our left front tire blew while going at 120 kmph on the Cotonou-Parakou highway. The tire got totally shredded, pieces were flying around, the fender got a bit mangled while we were pulled onto the left lane and my friend Landrie who was driving couldn't really do much to control where we were going.

Thankfully, there were no vehicles approaching at that time and once that Landrie had regained control of the car, we pulled over to the right, exchanged the tire and tried out best to put everything else back in place using bolts that we found at the side of the road, cable ties and some old wire.

We had a mechanic in Parakou take care of the damage and once he saw the car, he said that we could have been killed and should consult a witchdoctor. He even called one up for us on his cellphone. Later that day, the witchdoctor visited us at the hotel and took Landrie with him for a ceremony to find out if our travel might be cursed. Landrie came back an hour later and said we should be fine and there was no curse but we mustn't forget to make a sacrifice after safely arriving in Cotonou by handing out some meat to the poor, he suggested at least one kilo and to be really safe, we made it four pounds.

A full report with pictures, record scans and new mix will be coming up soon!

ALL 11 MIXES UP AND RUNNING AGAIN!

2007-10-07T07:35:00.003-04:00

October 7th 2007

Thanx to my friend Greg, all eleven mp3 mixes on this blog are again available for download!

I just got back to Africa last week after having had an amazing time in Madrid. The fine folks at Vampi Soul Records really do know how to throw a party. The crowd was as friendly and enthusiastic as one could hope for. Many thanks also to James Maycock who threw down some serious heat as well as Inigo and the various other VampiDeeJays. Good times were had and it took me a couple of days to fully recover from the side effects...

In a few days I will leave for another Record Safari. This time I will start in Cotonou, from there I'll travel to Lome, then Accra and back to Parakou in the north of Benin. I'll be back to Conakry in early November.

This Hustling World -MP3-

2007-09-19T06:16:00.007-04:00

September 19th 2007

Next week, I'll be in Madrid to spin some records at a party thrown by the fine folks from Vampisoul Records. I can't wait to play out my latest finds. For all of you who can't make it there, here's my newest mix with some of the records I found on my trip to Ghana.

I guess most of you already know the fabulous 2 Ghana Soundz compilations. I made an effort to avoid using any tracks that were included on those. If you like what you hear on this mix and for some reason don't already own Ghana Soundz 1&2, do yourself a favor and support a really cool record label as well as the people behind this great music by surfing over to Soundway Records and ordering these two or any other of their fantastic releases. Downloads from the internet should never be a substitute for purchasing legitimate reissues on CD or Vinyl.

All artists or bands on this mix are from Ghana except the Apostles which are from Nigeria. Big thanx to Jonas for hosting this mp3.

Click on image to listen!

00:00 Gyedu-Blay Ambolley -this hustling world
04:10 Marijata -break through
09:10 George Danquah -just for a moment
12:48 Rob -more
18:00 The Apostles -black is beautiful
22:30 Ebo Taylor & Uhuru Yenzu -victory
26:40 K. Frimpong -kyenkyen bi adu m'awu
33:33 Ebo Taylor -peace on earth
41:10 Gyedu-Blay Ambolley -fa no dem ara
45:45 George Danquah -araba soso wo ndzema
49:58 Bunzu Soundz -zimabu
53:10 CK Mann -ahejde

How 196 non-existing records made me grow taller

2007-09-10T12:08:00.004-04:00

September 10th 2007

It is often an awkward situation to go to people's houses and look through their record collection. I've done this before in the US and already there it sometimes was a strange feeling. You're a stranger in somebody else's house, almost like a burglar with a permission. In Africa you get the additional element of severe economical difference, most people you meet would be considered extremely poor by any western standards. Often, I find myself in the house of a family who is obviously in a more or less desperate need of money and they show me their dead grandfathers record collection. If I don't find anything except scratched up Highlife and Folklore records it is clear that their disappointment will be much bigger than mine. Especially if they've heard from friends or neighbors where I've been before how they'd made a lot of money by selling old records to the white man. Most times, I just buy a few things just to see some happy faces and to not feel too bad.

Quite often, I spend a whole day in the same neighborhood, going from house to house with a growing tail of "guides" who all say they know someone who has plenty of records, exactly the kind I'm looking for. Sometimes we never find this miraculous person and if we do, the record collection is usually stored away someplace else, in another town or just next door but locked away in a room for which the key is lost or the key is with a relative who happens to be in another town. The difficulty of telling truth from fiction is all part of the adventure.

In order to be more effective on my search and also for reasons of security, I always employ a few helpers who accompany me or who I can send ahead to scout out more remote areas and also continue searching for records when I'm not around. While staying in Accra, I had one helper scouting the city and another one who was traveling to Kumasi and other places to try and find leads.

On a Friday, I received a call from a Mr. Brown out of Tarkwa which is about 4 hours away from Accra towards the border to Ivory Coast. Mr. Brown said he had operated a "recording studio" (in Africa, those are places where people had collections of LPs and 45 to record custom made mix tapes for their customers) and that he would still have his entire collection of records, all from the 1970s. This sounded really good but I had a lot of leads in Accra at the time and didn't want to loose two days to travel to Tarkwa and back so at first I started to check if he'd have anything worthwhile by asking him for a few records I was particularly after and when he claimed to have them, I offered to pay for his transportation if he'd bring them to Accra for me. He agreed and kept calling back, asking me to name other records. I spent hours on the phone with Mr. Brown and 90% of all records I mentioned to him he claimed to have. He said he would leave his home on Monday morning and that he would meet me in Accra around noon. Mr. Brown continued to call me all through the weekend, asking me for more and more titles and it became more and more apparent that this could be the find of my lifetime. On Sunday evening, Mr. Brown also wanted to know how much money I'd be willing to pay for each record, he claimed to already have 196 LPs packed up plus a fair amount of 45s. I told him I'd be ready. Since I had already spent a good amount of money in Accra at this time and just to be totally on the save side, I called a friend in Germany to send some additional funding through Western Union first thing Monday Morning.

Monday Morning at 5:00 am Mr. Brown called me and informed me that his son has had an accident. He explained how while helping him pack he records, his son had dropped one of them which then had shattered into shards. His son then had stepped into one of the pieces of the record which caught him at such an unfortunate angle that he suffered a deep flesh wound which needed immediate medical attention so he had to take his son to the hospital right away. Mr. Brown promised to be on the road to Accra on Tuesday morning.

First I thought "what a bunch of bullshit" how could a shattered record in the worst case scenario leave anything more serious behind than a scratch? I began to have doubts in Mr. Browns credibility but then I remembered how Mr. Brown had mentioned specific details about certain records I had asked him about that he could not have known without having the record in front of him. Or was I putting things in his mouth just out of wishful thinking? Just to be ready for any eventualities, I went ahead and cashed the money order. In Ghana they just had a renomination of their money so now you can carry in a purse what before would have filled a large backpack. Unfortunately for me, these new bills somehow were distributed unevenly which was why the friendly lady behind the Western Union counter didn't have any large bills and handed me a big brick of 1 Cedi bills. The Cedi is worth about as much as the US dollar so image cashing in $2.000 at your local bank and being handed the entire amount in one dollar bills.

Tuesday came and in the Afternoon, Mr. Brown called me to inform me that he had still been busy tending to his wounded son for most of the morning but that he was now on his way to Accra. He said he would arrive in the evening, go straight to a hotel to spend the night and meet me at my hotel first thing Wednesday morning. I asked him to come to my hotel right away and offered to pay for his room and everything but he refused, explaining how he was afraid of thieves and that after dark, he wouldn't want to wander around an area of Accra than he was not familiar with.

I called Mr. Brown's cell phone early on Wednesday morning to make sure he had arrived in Accra and he said he was already on his way to meet me. About three hours later, he finally arrived. To my surprise, he did not have any records with him. Mr. Brown said it had been so many records that he hadn't been able to take them to the Hotel with him and that they would be at the bus and taxi terminal where we should now both go together to do the transaction. I explained to him that the transaction would have to take place inside the lobby of the hotel and that I would not want to carry a large chunk of cash around at a busy place like the bus and taxi terminal. At this time, it was already clear to me that Mr. Brown was full of shit and that the whole thing was nothing but a set-up. Of course Mr. Brown never showed up with the records and when I -just out of curiosity had a friend call him up a day later. Mr. Brown told him he had already returned to Trakwa with his 196 records.

I continued finding lots of vinyl in and around Accra so the dismay about Mr. Browns imaginary record collection was relatively short-lived. But when it was time to leave, I still had this thick brick of money plus some remains from my original funds. I had all my carry-on luggage filled with records and when I stuffed all the cash in this little pouch that I use to safely carry money, IDs and other important paper work under my boxer shorts, it looked really kinda silly, even though I was wearing loosely fitting cargo pants. I thought "what the heck, no-one is going to be staring at my crotch and if they do, just let them draw whatever conclusions they might want to...".
I went through check-in, the friendly and cute attendant thankfully decided to just ignore the few pounds of excessive check-in luggage and didn't want to argue about my two bulky carry-on bags. I went to the upper floor and headed for the emigration counter, the female officer on duty asked me to come back soon and gave me a sweet smile. Everything was nice and easy until the metal detector started beeping. I was approached by a grim looking official in a black uniform who asked me over to a table and demanded me to open my bags. I showed him my diplomatic passport and explained that my bags would be off-limits to him. he shrugged, put on an even meaner look and said that since the metal detector had gone off, he was supposed to pat me down and check the bags of my pants and shirt.

I grinned and said "you go ahead, officer" and he went straight for the big bump under my belt buckle "what's this?" he asked. "just some money..." I responded. He told me to follow him to his office where I should reveal my hidden goods. I decided to unzip my pants right where we were standing, As my pants dropped down to my knees, I grabbed inside my boxer shorts , unsnapped the closing mechanism of the pouch's strap and retrieved my package of money for the officer to examine.

Unfortunately for me, the government of Ghana is very protective of their new, colorful currency and I was informed that the amount I was carrying with me, grossly exceeded the legal limit one is allowed to carry outside the country. I was told to go back downstairs to the currency exchange office where I could change my money back into Euros. Of course the office was closed.

This was when I decided to go to one of the restrooms which turned out to be surprisingly clean and spacious. I took off one of my combat boots and put half of the money inside of it, just like an additional inner sole. I did the same thing with my other boot, left only whatever Euros i had left inside the pouch and went back outside. I sat down on a bench and waited for about half an hour and then went back upstairs. It was kinda funny walking in those boots, they felt like platform shoes and I could really feel the difference of being about an inch taller than before.

The friendly emigration officer put on a face when I explained what had happened to me and said "yes, some of those guys are wicked". Once again the metal detector went off and I was approached by the same officer as before. I grabbed into my pants, retrieved the pouch, opened it up for him and said "look, all Euros now!". He proceeded to pat me down and even gave the shaft of my boots some close examination. He had me sweating there for a second. Lucky for me, he had no idea how close he was, he seemed unsatisfied that he could not cause me any further trouble and I was told to leave.

After the plane had left the ground, I took off my boots and under the bewildered looks of the two other passengers sitting next to me, I retrieved my money, split it in several bundles and stowed them away into the various pockets of my cargo pants.

This is some of the stuff that I brought back from Ghana, a new mix featuring these records is already in the works:

Right after my arrival in Conakry, I received a message from my chief record hunter in Benin saying that he had found a large amount of vinyl for me. I went over there for the weekend and this is what our house has been looking like for the past two weeks now:

Soul kitchen: Rinsing off the mold from old Albarika Store deadstock.

Bed of records: Letting them dry after the cleaning process is finished.

Three new mixes! -MP3-

2007-08-21T14:45:00.010-04:00

August 21st 2007

My last visit in Cotonou has yielded an enormous variety of new music and I have decided to illustrate the diversity of my finds by putting together three differently themed mixes.

First of all, I want to say a big thank you to Jonas for hosting the sound files.

Another big thank you goes out to all of you out there who left comments on this blog or who wrote me encouraging eMails.

MEDE WOUI -MP3-

This first mix is called Mede Woui after the amazing hypnotic African blues by Johnny Achille that is included as the fourth track.

All the tracks are from Benin, some are Satos, some are ritualistic Voodoo music, some are just labeled as "folclore". All in all, these tracks demonstrate the enormous cultural wealth of Benin but show some of the true roots of Afrobeat.

00:00 Poly Rythmo -agnon depke
05:55 El Rego -e nan mian nuku
10:20 Daho Melo -amou kon we mide
13:17 Johnny Achille -mede woui
19:19 Houndeffo -lanhoue lanhoue
23:05 Gnacadia Cyprien -wangnini mon djin nonnon
28:25 Poly Rythmo -karateka
32:20 Nestor Hountondji -emalon ni hokowo
36:50 Pierre Avohou -mi so gbe tchan'houn
41:31 Tosse Gouton -zinli
48:25 Ezin Gangnon -honton home
52:46 Anatole Houndeffo -nou wli lewe
57:50 Yedenou Adjahoui -keke zeto

AFRICAN MOVEMENT -MP3-

Next I put together one straight hour of Afrobeat although Agbandou Babiao might be more Afro Pop than Afrobeat. Like Pol;y Rythmo and the mighty Anos Band, Agbandou hails from Benin. I also included two big names from Ghana: Papa Yankson and CK Mann. African New System is a band from Congo that none of my record collecting friends seem to have heard about so I'm assuming it's a pretty rare one. Smahilla & the SBs fromNigeria are closing this mix with some enormously mighty horns and a powerfull groove.

00:00 Poly Rythmo -non gbeto do mahu tche
04:48 Agbandou Babiao -cherie de mon coeur
09:15 Papa Yankson -wogye w'enyadoo
16:00 Anos Band -alassane koda maradi
21:30 Poly Rythmo -houe djein na da
26:35 African New System -mounguele
36:40 CK Mann -mber papa
42:54 Smahilla & the SBs -african movement

LAGOS DISCO INFERNO -MP3-

This last mix is some kind of guilty pleasure of mine...
I had already sorted most of these records out for resale. Some of them were just borderline and I couldn't decide if they'd be too discoish for my taste or not while others are shameless, sleazy boogie cheese grenades that only a few years ago would have had me running for shelter. Well, what can I say... maybe I just listened to these records way too often while trying to figure out which ones to keep and which ones to dump. I'm having a hard time to come up with any explanation or excuse why I just started to really dig this stuff... I'm well aware of the fact that most of my friends and foes remember me as being one of the biggest haters of all things disco but hey, I'm fucking retired as a DJ, I don't have a crowd to loose and I don't give a shit about my reputation but please feel free to give me your opinion on this. Go ahead if you dare, click this link and prepare yourself for one ass spasm inducing hour of Lagos Disco Inferno!

00:00 Christiana Essien -black ladies are funky ladies
04:40 Grotto 2 -bad city girl
10:12 Ofege -check it out
14:05 C.S. Crew -bread power
19:00 The Celebrant -off beats
25:55 Yom-Yem -power to the people
31:00 Fotso Simo -mummy
35:00 Success -sugar daddy
41:13 J.M. Tim & Foty -my funky boogie
44:27 Tom Youms -close to me
49:12 Kris Okotje -'am going now
54:15 Ozo -anambra

I'm typing all this from an internet cafe in Accra...
I already found some pretty wild records around here and promise to put up a cover gallery and start working on a new mix as soon as I get back home to Guinea.By the way, the Guinean army threatens with a revolt starting Sept. 8th if they're not being paid their bad wages... hopefully this will be resolved one way or the other, I really don't want to have to flee to Sierra Leone again...

bringing home the prey

2007-08-11T09:07:00.003-04:00

August 11th 2007

This is just a fraction of what I brought home with me from my last trip to Cotonou. I had only traveled with very few clothes and one pair of shoes so I could fill up my big hardshell suitcase with as many records as possible.
When I hauled my suitcase onto the scale at the check-in counter, the crust on my shredded arm (see bruised in Benin) broke open. The scale said 95 pounds and the check-in attendant said "Non!".
I had to open up my suitcase right there, take out some stacks of records and try to fit them into my already bursting carry-on bags all the while bleeding profusely from the busted up wound on my arm.
It was nasty! People behind me were starting to freak out, they had waited in line for at least an hour and now there was this maniac blocking the check-in counter, bleeding all over the place and mumbling obscenities in a foreign language.
Of course, after I was done, my carry-on luggage was way too big and heavy according to regulations but it took surprising little arguing and only a rather slim bribe to solve the problem, I guess my blood smeared appearance and the unruly crowd behind me made the attendant want to solve this situation just as quickly as myself.

the Powerfull Civillan

2007-08-10T07:05:00.003-04:00

August 10th 2007

This last trip to Cotonou was just amazing.
Not only did I find a ton of records but I also got to meet some amazing people and in general had a real good time.

Please click on images for a better view.

Record agent Chakirou and his friend Vincent, equipped with a new cellphone and motor scooter, they literally turned up more records than I could carry...

This is the billboard from a barber shop in Porto Novo:

Here is an old photograph of Orchestre Poly Rythmo with Albarika Store owner Seidou Adisa (the tall guy in white):

This is Poly Rythmo guitar wizard Papillon:

Gustave Bentho, bass player and kamikaze scooter pilot:

Here I was visiting El Rego who next year will celebrate 50 years on stage, he also had some old pictures to show:

I've already finished three mp3 mixes with my exploits from this trip:

The first mix consists of Benin folklore and traditional voodoo music, an unusual listen and in my opinion clear proof where Afrobeat really originates from.

Then I made another pretty much straightforward Afrobeat mix

The third mix to come is all Nigerian Funk, Disco and Boogie. I'm not even going to try and make excuses about this one, it's one sleazy cheese grenade!

I don't really know when all this will be up and running though, the internet connection here is kinda fragile right now because we're in the middle of rainy season.

Bruised in Benin

2007-07-31T05:10:00.002-04:00

July 31st 2007

I've been back to Cotonou for a couple of days now and unearthed some amazing records so far.

Tomorrow is the big national independence day to celebrate good riddance of the french colonial power. My friend Chakirou and I will drive up to Abomey where there will be a big get together of Benin's different Voodoo societies. The event is being organized by a local Voodoo leader who recently gained fame, respect and notoriety when he and some of his followers ambushed a pastor who knowingly and for sheer sake of provocation had built a church on one of their sacred Voodoo sites. The pastor and several churchgoers ended up in the hospital and the church got burned down. I would normally never advocate any form of religiously motivated violence but I guess there are exceptions... Benin stands out as a country where efforts of islamisation and evangelisation have never really had much success. Voodoo is the official state religion. While elsewhere masks and other tribal artifacts merely serve as props for tourist spectacles and souvenir merchandise. In Benin, original African religion as opposed to the imported artificial religions of Islam and Christianity is still very much alive and well. I hope this won't change.

Stay tuned for a new mix and photos.

Thanx to Greg from Madrid, the Radioshow I did with Matt Finewine in NYC two months ago is now downloadable as an mp3.

Downtown Soulville June 1st 2007 mp3

I've worked over some of my first posts on this blog. Not only is there much more to read now but I've also added some more photos.
A while back, I wrote this article for some magazine that never got released. Now I thought why not dump the content onto my blog so the work was not for nothing...

Check it out:
Mr. Mafa's Record Store
Trips to Freetown & Sierra Leone
In the Mouth of the River of Death

OUCH ! !

Just 30 minutes after typing the above, I got picked up by Poly Rythmo Bass player Gustave Bentho on his Vespa scooter. While on the way to his house, we had a minor traffic accident. Lucky enough, I've only left a bit of skin on the roads of Cotonou while Gustave also complained about minor chest pain. He went off to get X-Rays done in the hospital while I took a cab back to the hotel where I showered the dirt off myself and doused my wounds with Iodine...

After the crash, as I was lying in the road, another scooter bumped into my ass, I guess I'll end up with a bruised cheek. Lucky it wasn't a car or a truck...

I hope Gustave is fine and the band still will be able to perform tonight as scheduled.

cooked from scratch -MP3-

2007-07-10T10:25:00.005-04:00

July 10th 2007

I just got back to Guinea a few days ago.
The rainy season has begun and I'm spending most of my time indoors, reading books and drinking beer... today I bought a ticket to Cotonou for later this month. Haven't done any digging for several weeks now and I'm starting to get nervous.

There's a good chance I'll move to NYC next year and I'll do my best to unearth as many records as possible before my departure. No rock shall remain unturned.!

Here's a mix I put together a few weeks back. It's mostly tracks that I had sorted out for earlier mixes but ended up not using for various reasons, either "too long", "not obscure enough" or as with the last track "not quite funky enough".

I hope you all will have a good time listening to this anyway.
There hopefully will be another mix with brandnew stuff as soon as I get back from Cotonou early in August.

I also want to use this opportunity to thank all of you who left comments on this blog or wrote encouraging emails. Many thanx to all who showed up at one of my gigs in NY, Switzerland, Villingen Schwenningen and Berlin. I had an amazing time!

Special thanx to my man Rainer from KONZEPTLOS for his amazing DJ sets at my events in Switzerland and Southern Germany.

Another "Thank You" goes out to Jonas for hosting this mix.

Click on image to listen!

El Rego et ses Commandos -djobime
Poly Rythmo -yeye we nou mi
Manu Dibango -the panther
CK Mann -funky hi-life
Stanislas Tohon -mi tchinker
L'African Team -africa boogaloo
Christy Essien -mr. pride
Black Santiago -assounon dje dokoli
Poly Rythmo -djangfa magni
Soro N'Gana -kpa male mon sie

El Rego and his Commandos open up with another smoking slice of spicy Beninoise Funk. Track two is one of my favorite Poly Rythmo tunes fueled by possibly the filthiest organ south of the Sahara. Pretty clean sounding in contrast followed by Manu Dibango's "the Panther", almost has a European library feel to it... I did an edit of CK Mann's "funky hi-life", I hope this won't offend the purists amongst you. Next we have Stan Tohon from Cotonou, on "mi tchinker" he blesses us with some strange sounding traditional Beninoise percussion instruments. Manu Dibango returns for another track, this time he's joined by Le Grand Kalle & Don Gonzalo for a funky little boogaloo number. "Mr. Pride" by Christy Essien is next, some people don't like this track because it's more pop than anything else but hey, what's wrong with that? Next we have one of the most incredible peaces of music ever. The mythical Black Santiago with "assounon dje dokoli". There might still be a copy of this record at NYC's finest record store "Good Records"... another track by Poly Rythmo: "djangfa magni" has horns as sharp as machetes. Okay, I know this last track by Soro N'Gana kind of stands out as the probably unfunkiest track from all 6 mixes so far but come on, you like it too, right? How could you possibly deny the power of West African guitar shredding and organ grinding? How can a track be so ridiculously loose and so ballsqueezingly tight both at the same time? The perfect soundtrack for chilling on the porch with a liter of palm wine or two, or three...

Radioshow on WFMU -MP3-

2007-06-14T06:30:00.004-04:00

June 14th 2007

It was great to be back in NYC and Berlin to meet up with old and new friends. I particularly enjoyed my time in NY, I had a blast spinning records at APT's Bumpshop. I also got to do another radio show with my friend Matt Finewine:

Thanx to Greg from Madrid, the show is now available in mp3 format

Downtown Soulville on WFMU June 1st 2007

Only two or three of the records were included on previous mixes.
You will also get to hear the Ferry Djimmy 45 that was shown on the last record porn post.

Tracklist:

Mr. Finewine:

The Nu-Trons -beat
Ray Agee -leave me alone
Lowell Fulsom -lady in the rain
Satagans -smokin
Dave Hamilton -cracklin' bread

Me:

Prof. Y.S. -one early morning
Iraban Garrison -hey hey hey
Black Santiago -paulina
Poly Rhythmo i'm sorry so sorry
El Rego et Ses Commandos -diobime
Anos Band -boro non andou nun
Ferry Djimmy -egbemi black
Wrinkar Experience -soundway
Moussa Doumbia -keleya
Francis Kingsley -live in peace
Amadou Balake -super bar konon mousso
Super Tentemba Jazz -almamy

some more record scans

2007-06-14T06:25:00.003-04:00

June 14th 2007

Here are pictures of a few of the records I found on my last trip to Cotonou in May '07

45s:

This 45 here is one of my favorite finds ever. It sounds at least as cool as it looks! I would have never thought I'd find an African record that brings to mind the MC5 but that's just what happened, not shit! I will definitely feature it one on the next mix but it might take a while since I'm going to leave for Europe and the US next week.

LPs:

scams and new unrest

2007-05-15T11:27:00.002-04:00

May 15th 2007

As every seasoned digger knows, the path that hopefully will lead us to a particularly desirable record can often be lined with very strange people. Why should Africa be any different? Please note that the following story is an exception and should mean nothing compared to the helpfulness and friendliness I have encountered during the past two years of my stay here in West Africa.

Earlier this month, I received a call from one of my buyers in Cotonou that he found two clean copies of one of my most wanted records. I spontaneously bought a plane ticket and arrived in Cotonou last Friday morning. After two hours of sleep, I jumped on the back of my man's moped and we dove into traffic. First stop was a cool and shady backyard, I had to fight not falling asleep as soon as I sat down in one of the broken plastic chairs. After a while, a young woman arrived with a stack full of records. Unfortunately, they were all in horrible condition, the sleeves were almost completely rotten away and the remaining vinyl was scratched up by layers of sand that had settled between them. We left and I asked my man where the records were that he had told me about. I had promised him a rather large amount for them so it seemed a bit strange why he would hold back like this and not present them to me as soon as he saw me. He answered something that I couldn't hear over the loud traffic around us as were passing the big roundabout at Cotonou's "Etoile Rouge" a big, circular place covered with green cobble stones with a large red star in it's center, a reminder of the country's communist area that looks a bit like a giant commercial ad for Heineken Beer. We headed outside of the city and after about half an hour, we entered a labyrinth of small sandy roads. My man almost crashlanded our asses into a big heap of garbage as the back wheel kept swerving wildly on the sandy ground as he raced towards his house which was located on a backyard together with four or five other small one story buildings. We entered his home and one of his neighbors came in and joined us as we sat down around a big wooden table. My man turned on the television and some horrid desktop generated electro pop began blaring out of the speaker, the soundtrack for some slightly amusing video of muscular men with bleached beards posing in front of a blue screen background of expensive sports cars. I asked for the records again and he explained that some guy from Lagos had showed up at his house with both copies, asking for 50.000 FCFA ($120) each which he of course couldn't pay so the seller had left again for Nigeria with the records. Obviously a bullshit story. I had told my man that I would pay him that exact amount if he could find this record for me, thinking back now, it's pretty clear to me that he came up with this little tale to scam me into giving him money to buy two nonexisting records. I should have just acted like I believed him and said "okay, never mind, I don't really need the record anyway" but right then, my judgment was clouded by emotion and lack of sleep. I asked my man why he had told me on the phone that he had the records in his possession while obviously this wasn't the case. This was when my man got upset and started shouting why I would doubt his honesty, going on and on about how he was a reputable businessman and such. I felt bewildered, tried to calm him down and to make him understand how this would be disappointing news for me as I had just spent money on a plane and hotel mainly to get these two records. He got even more upset and I mentioned that perhaps I should better just leave when his neighbor began to intervene, asking me to stay and discuss things. I started feeling more and more weirded out and also began trying to figure out why the hell he would take me all the way out of town to his house to tell me that the records I had come for didn't exist. And why was his neighbor in here with us? My host was getting louder and louder. All I could think of was that it was really getting time to leave this place. The room was very small, the table took up most of the space, the men were on it's other side, both of them standing by now, while I was still sitting on my chair directly behind the front door. I was dead tired and didn't know if I should just feel confused or if there was reason to feel threatened? Having learned my lesson on my last visit that in doubt, it's better to be a chicken than to put yourself into harms way, I just slid from my chair and was out the door in one fluid move. I ran for the gate without looking back, out on the sandy path and just kept walking back towards where we had come from. Noone seemed to come after me but there were other things to worry about: How the fuck should I find my way back into town? There were tin roof shacks to each side of the small road, they all looked pretty much the same and there was nothing really that I could use for orientation. It was the middle of the day and I didn't feel any direct danger but still I didn't want to look too obviously lost. Of course, everybody was already staring at me anyway, trying to figure out what I was doing there so I just kept walking like I knew where I was going. Somehow I managed to find a wider road that was used by a few motor bikes and after a while, I saw a Zemidjan, one of Cotonou's army of moped taxis who's drivers all wear bright yellow shirts with their license number painted on the back. "Zemidjan" is in the local language Fon and means "take me away fast" and take me away fast he did. Minutes later, I sat at a bar, drinking an ice cold Beninoise beer, waiting for my other buyer Chakirou who I had just called with the bartenders cell phone. Chakirou and I spent the rest of the weekend cruising around Cotonou and Porto Novo unearthing stacks and stacks of records. After only three days of digging, I took the plane back to Conakry with two heavy suitcases full of vinyl. My neighbor picked me up from the airport and told me that while I was gone, underpaid and unhappy soldiers had taken to the streets of Conakry, shooting and looting at will. Last night was quiet though and today was also uneventful. Hopefully, things will be resolved and I won't have to once more grab the dogs and flee to Sierra Leone...
Right now, I'm really looking forward to my vacation to NYC and Berlin.

first we take Manhattan,

2007-05-05T07:52:00.001-04:00

May 5th 2007

then we take Berlin

8. Juni Basel NT Areal
9. Juni Schaffhausen Tap Tab
15. Juni VS-Villingen Klosterhof
16. Juni Stuttgart Rocker 33

Life is a game -MP3-

2007-04-10T08:24:00.007-04:00

April 10th 2007

Here is a new mp3 mix with the highlights from my latest trip to Cotonou.
Please click on the image to listen.

00:00 Gnonnas Pedro -okpo videa bassouo
03:55 Ignace Souza -paulina
08:24 Les Rizos De Lome -djoyimavo
11:28 El Rego Et Ses Commandos -viman do wingnan
14:46 Les Volcans -oya ka jojo
22:52 Gilles Sala -mwad's
25:37 Les Sympathics -afrika
32:04 Christiana Essien -life is a game
35:00 Ogassa -ogassa story
42:08 The Faces -shokishoki shombolo
48:29 Black Santiago -dou dagbe we
53:08 Orchestre Poly Rythmo -blues ya de
58:17 Melome Clement -zo tche kpo dote
65:21 The Funkees -ole

The opening track by Gnonnas Pedro is an early, deep Afrobeat recording, proving that Gnonnas blessed us with much more than just the afro-cuban style that he got famous for. This was only the second release on Cotonou's famous label Satel Records. I visited Satel Studios and not only did they have an amazing recording studio but Satel also operated their own pressing plant. Unfortunately, as with many other African labels, they used the "Microgroove" process on 45s that allows a 7" pressing of tracks that are longer than 4 minutes but results in lower volume and more noise. The second track, "paulina" by Ignace Souza gives you another example for this typical "african vinyl crackle"... it's easiest to just accept it as some sort of aural patina... Next comes "djouyimavo" by Les Rioz de Lomé with some support by Orch. Poly Rythmo, followed by a supertight funk track by El Rego & Ses Commandos "viman do wingnan". Next we have "oye ka jojo" by Les Volcans. After the heavy Afrobeat intro, this transforms into a smoking Afro Latin beast that just builds and builds... amazing! The following Track "mwad's" by Gilles Sala was recorded in Congo in the late 1960s and has quite some Mod-appeal. The organ fueled afrobeat heavyweight "Afrika" by Les Sympahtics is one of my absolute favorites... "life is a game" by Christiana Essien comes from one of the lesser known albums by this highly collectable Nigerian artist. Ogassa who were from Cotonou but recorded in Lagos are another possible new discovery that none of my collector friends seem to know and no reference can be found online. The Faces from Lagos are another mega rarity from the Tabansi label that also brought us the incredible Nettey Family LP. "dougbe dagbe we" by Black Santiago is from another LP on Satel that I've never seen anywhere before. Watch out for the break in "blues ya de", another monster funk track by Orch. T.P Poly Rythmo. "T.P" stands for "tout puissant", as I've found out from their drummer Gustave Bentho which translates to "almighty"! definitely no exaggeration when it comes to this band. Next we have a track by Melome Clement, also backed by Poly Rythmo and with some serious space moog action towards the end. Last track is "ole" by the Funkees. I had their "point of no return" record before but as a french press and I sold it again because of the horrid cover design. The Nigerian sleeve looks much nicer as you can see in the latest trip to Cotonou post.

A big "thank you!" goes to RAJ from Soulstrut for hosting this mix!

Watch out for an amazing Compilation on Analog Africa that will include some of the songs that are on this mix and many more, unheard music from Benin in beautyfully remastered quality.

As this will be a legit release that the people who created this mindblowing music will make some money from, I want to urge everybody to go and buy this release once it becoms available. If you don't already own it, rush over to Soundway Records and order their fantastic Poly Rythmo Compilation.

back from Cotonou

2007-03-29T07:43:00.001-04:00

March 29th 2007

This trip was the most successful one so far. By now I have a well established net of buyers in Cotonou who scout the region from there to the north of Benin as well as to the capitals of neighboring countries Nigeria, Togo and Ghana.

Most days were spent cruising around Cotonou on the back of Abel's scooter:

One of the highlights was meeting Gilles, the son of Gnonnas Pedro who you can see below with a friend, holding two of his fathers records

I also met Gustave Bentho, the bass player from Poly Rythmo but I didn't bring my camera that day... next time!

Here are some of the LPs I found:

Some of the 45s, I'm only posting the ones with picture sleeves:

I'll start working on a new mix next week!

I always knew this would happen

2007-03-24T19:54:00.003-04:00

March 24th 2007

I just got robbed at knife point 30 minutes ago. I was stopped in the middle of the road and had a home made, raggedy looking blade held to my stomach with nothing but luck separating myself from watching my guts floating down the sewer. I'm fine, only lost some $200 in Francs CFA. I was more or less waiting for something like this to happen andf course this was my own fault, trying to be too down and taking scooter taxis through non-tourist territory late at night. I feel damn lucky to be unharmed...

Time for a couple of stiff drinks at the hotel bar.

...shiiit!

Final results from my current digging tour through Benin will follow within the next few days.

Guinea up - server down

2007-03-06T09:22:00.001-05:00

March 6th 2007

The situation in Guinea took a dramatic and unsuspected turn for the better. A new prime minister, chosen by the unions was nominated. The curfew and the state of emergency were lifted and the strike was suspended and I have returned to Conakry last Sunday.

Unfortunately, the server that hosts the mp3 mixes has crashed. Things should be up and running again within a few days.*

Next week, I'm leaving for another record hunt to Benin and I promise to have a new mix up and running as soon as possible. All records that I had at our house here in Guinea were shipped to Berlin when the bullets started to fly a couple of weeks ago so now I have to find all brandnew stuff before I can put together any further mixes...

*THANX TO OUR FRIEND RAINER ALL MP3 MIXES ARE UP AND RUNNING AGAIN!

( I just arrived in Cotonou yesterday, already found some insane records and the next 10days promise to be very, very good... -found a pressing plant with lots of old stock... )

under siege - through the jungle - on the beach

2007-02-19T09:51:00.002-05:00

February 19th 2007

Earlier this month, the general strike in Guinea has led into a full scale uprising. Last week, the Guinean government has declared the state of emergency and announced a curfew that had covered 3/4 of the day. The government has decided to show it's iron fist. President Conte introduced his new propaganda that the Fula people are behind this so called attempt to overthrow the government, which of course is complete bullshit. This was an uprising lead by a youth that is sick of growing up without any sort of perspective, living under horrendous conditions while everyone connected to the government drives around in Hummer limousines and builds one villa after the other. Now the government has decided to give its people a scapegoat instead of a perspective. There never were any ethnic conflicts in Guinea before. This might change now.

Once the state of emergency was announced, the military started moving into one "quartier" of the city after the other Always beginning at dusk, the thunder of shots could be heard all over town. Theft, destruction of property, shooting injuries, beatings and rapes started being reported. There seems to be close to zero international press. The only two indepenent Radio Stations in Conakry were raided and destroyed.

The Americans have started evacuating last week. the French have a ship with 10 helicopters on hold and Saturday we received order from the German embassy to fly out of the country. There are still flights by Air France but the waiting list is long, the only other European Airline to fly out of Guinea, SN have suspended all flights. We would not have been able to take the dogs along because they would need a proof of vaccination and an implanted chip to enter Europe. We decided to not leave them behind and packed the car, fully aware that mowst people might find it completely nuts to drive through an African country under martial law just to bring our dogs into safety but everyone has his priorities, I guess.

I'm typing this from an internet cafe in Freetown.
We made it from Conakry over the border yesterday and it was probably the most adventurous day in my life. Scary, surreal and for sure something I don't want to
experience ever again. Lots of military road blocks, all in all 10 of them, or more, it is very much possible that I forgot one or two.

We had drugged our dogs with valium so they kept quiet and didn't puke all over the car while we were driving down bumpy dirt roads at high speed. I wore a fake uniform with a clipped on photoshopped fantasy "General Gossner" ID. Inbetween the front seats we had deposited bundles of cash to bribe our way through road blocks. My wife was as white as a wall for the entire trip. We barely spoke unless when we were stopped and my wife held a dead cellphone to her ear and made imaginary phone calls to the Guinean minister for foreign affairs, reporting that everything was going smooth. "What is she doing, there is no cellphone reception around here" the soldiers would remark. Of course there is no phone signal in the middle of the jungle... "This is a satelite phone, we have reception wherever we go." I responded with the most casual tone of voice I could muster.

They seem to have let a whole other breed of soldiers out of the caves for these road blocks, grim looking, large specimen with gold teeth, mirrored sunglasses and huge fucking guns,- forget about the usual AK47s, these were big, heavy MGs, the kind that come with tripods attached to the barrel. The most bizarre road block was in front of the last town before the Sierra Leone border. There is a wide river we had to cross over an old, damaged stone bridge. There were a couple of soldiers on our side of the bridge and they didn;t give us much of a problem but when we had halfway crossed the bridge, we noticed a helicopter on the opposite bench of the river with a larger group of soldiers next to the street. The apparent man in charge was wearing civil clothes and was sitting in a plastic chair under a large parasol. We were stopped and a soldier demanded our papers. He took them to his boss who studied them without comment and without even looking at us. I handed out some cash to the uniform closest to the car and tried to look as relaxed as possible. Luckily, we were let through without the vehicle being searched or any other hassle. Probably also due to my wife who again was acting like she was on the phone, speaking either to some diplomats or military official, reporting our location and mentioning that "the road blocks are no problem and everybody was treating us nicely".

We had left at 6:00 in the morning and crossed over into Sierra Leone at noon. One of the border guards had greeted us with the words "Welcome to Sierra Leone, this is a peaceful country".

A few hours later, we had arrived at Hamilton beach, just one hour out of Freetown. I was standing in the surf, in front of our rented beach hut, with an ice cold Star beer in my hand when out of a sudden, my knees started to tremble and wy eyes got a bit wet.

This morning, I already called up my record agents in Freetown...

you can shake your bones -MP3-

2007-01-30T05:40:00.004-05:00

January 30th 2007

Here's my latest mix with rare West African Funk tracks:

Big Thanx to my friend Jonas for hosting this.

Click on image to listen:

00:00 Wrinkar Experience -sound way (Nigeria)
02:29 Docteur Nico -sookie (Congo)
05:28 Les Elytes de Cotonou -do you ray mbanba (Benin)
06:52 Poly Rythmo -wodeka doe (Benin)
10:15 Picoby Band -honton ve zoun (Benin)
13:40 Black Santiago -bani wo dzo (Benin)
16:26 Anos Band -boro non andou nan (Benin)
19:29 Poly Rythmo -"general gowon" (Benin)
29:40 MFB -boredom pain (Nigeria)
34:40 Gnonnas Pedro -dadje von o von non (Benin)
38:30 Eskill & Vicky -ecoute ma melodie (Benin)
46:24 Houn Pierre -mansou djouwi (Cote d'Ivoire)
50:55 Asiko Rock group -shadow of the boogie (Nigeria)
54:57 Poly Rythmo -cherie yoyo (Benin)
59:32 Gnonnas Pedro -how much love naturaly cost? (Benin)
65:48 Poly Rythmo -ma won ye o (Benin)

First one is the Wrinkar Experience from Lagos with "sound way", starts out kinda popish but then develops into a heavy, headnodding beast of a funk song with some nasty organ grinding...
Please excuse the bad sound quality of "sookie" by Docteur Nico but this recording is so raw, loud and bursting with energy, I don't think the cracks and pops really deminish it's impact. This is the very hard to find 45 version of this track that is exactly one minute, one drum break and numerous shouts and grunts longer than the edited version that later was released on the green Fiesta LP.
Also dirty and crackly sounding is the next one, super obscure garage soul banger "do you ray mbanda" by Beninoise Les Elytes de Cotonou.
As you can see, quite a lot of Poly Rythmo tracks on this one... "wodeka doe" a thundering psych funk monster with some of the most violent drumming I've ever heard.
It's impossible to match this energy level so we have to take things back a notch or two with Picoby Band d'Abomey and their incredible "honton ve zoun". Where does this psych influence in Benin's music come from?
Next one are the mythical Black Santiago with "bani wo dzo" how other should one describe this music if not "Voodoo Funk"?
The Anos Band comes up next with their bass driven "boro non andou nan".
MFB from Lagos with "boredom pain" offers some nice, soulful crossover. "you can shake your bones or you can shake your flesh you can turn around or you can move your waist" definatly counts to some of the most ingenious lyrics I've heard in a while. Throw in some space guitar for good measure, never leaving the stone cold groove... love it!
Gnonnas Pedro is probably Cotonou's most well known singer and in the 1970s certainly had his share of international exposure with his Cuban flavored brand of afro latin. He also recorded a few Afrobeat tracks like the self-produced and self-released "dadje von e von non" as well as "how much love naturally cost?", both are included on this mix.
I really like Houn Pierre from Ivory Coast, my wife hates him because "he sounds like that guy from the Talking Heads" but hey, I got enough time to sit on the terrace, drink pineapple daiquiris and listen to his records while she's at work...
Asiko Rock Group is a pretty wild record... they also released another one that was recorded in Germany of all places, the LP this track is from was recorded in Lagos though.
Some more Poly Rythmo niceness rounds up the mix. I hope you all have a great time listening to this! Have a look at the covers of these records on the Record Finds November 2006 entry.

Peace!

Frank

where will things go from here?

2007-01-26T06:09:00.002-05:00

January 26th 2007

Soon there will be another post up here about African Funk Music and also another mix that will blow your minds, I promise. But for now, there are still other things on our minds.

Some sources estimate the death toll of monday's massacre to be in the neighbourhood of 60 or 70. All in all, probably 120 to 170 people have lost their life within the past 2 weeks.

There are talks now:
The president (how can someone still remain president after having foreign mercenaries kill his own people?) has supposedly agreed to the nomination of a new Prime Minister. Now some people say that the new Prime Minister will have the power to build a new government. Is this a way out for president Conté that allows him to leave office without loosing face? Are the union leaders beaten, tortured and desperate enought so they themselves are willing to accept an easy way out?

New candidates for Prime Minister are being announced almost daily. The decision on who will end up in this position seems to be the most crucial point regarding a serious resolve of the situation.

It seems impossible to predict anything.
Fact is that already basic nutritions like rice and oil have become scarce to find and if they can be found now cost double or more. How much resistance can be expected from people that are about to starve? What has been won with Mondays' bloodbath? If the people give in now and accept a solution that isn't one, will any future strike be of any serious threat to any future government?

Noone wants to starve, noone wants to die or see their children get killed on the streets. Guinean people are peaceful. A friend from Sierra Leone once said "Guineans have a filthy mouth but they can't stand the sight of blood". It seems though, that without the price of blood, there will be no change.

Guinea is as mentioned before, very rich in resources.
It is also amongst the world's 10 poorest countries.
Guinea has large reserves of uranium, iron and copper ore, gold and diamonds.
That's not all: This small country (half the size of Germany) sits on one third of the entire world's reserve of Bauxite. Bauxite is the crude material that is processed to Aluminium. Aluminum itself does not exist in nature an can only be produced with Bauxite. Now I guess it doesn't have to be established how important Aluminum is for the world economy. Guinea has no capabilities to do anything with it's Baxite but to sell it. The process of Aluminum production is complicated and needs a lot of electical power. To build processing plants and to produce enough electrical power to run them. Guinea would need a Government that is competent instead of corrupt and officials who unlike president Conté have spent more than 5 years at school.
This would be very good for the Guinean people. This would also be very bad for international cooporations which enjoy few things more than buying valuable resources at discount prices from illiterate third world officials who don't give a shit about their own people.

Forgive me for letting myself getting carried away. I know, things like these happen all around the world and unless the death toll isn't well into the three figures, the western media can't even seem to be bothered. Hell, if it's Africa, the body count needs to be well into the four figures before anyone even thinks about taking any form of international action. I guess their peacefulness and ability to suffer won't do the Guinean people much good. It's cynic but it appears to be true.

Here are some pictures I've pulled from guineenews.org
There is no freedom of press in this country, no foreign news reporters are in Guinea and the local reporters and civilians who took these pictures deserve our fullest respect.

spiraling out of control

2007-01-23T05:06:00.001-05:00

January 23rd 2007

The weekend in Conakry was very calm.
Only occasional gunfire was heard.

Guinea's other bigger cities though experienced a lot of uproar.
The prefect of Pita had to flee the city. In Mamou, demonstraters overrun a police barricade and freed prisoners from jail that were arrested at a demonstration earlier the same day. In Labé, the house of a politician was demolished by an angry mob after he had given a TV speech, calling people to support the president.
N'Zerekoué in the forest region also saw violent clashes between police and demonstraters.

Monday was the big turning point here in Conakry:
The unions had called for a big march to the union headquarters in downtown Conakry. Some sources say it was hundreds of thousands, others claim it was just around one hundred thousand people. Fact was, that police and military forces were overwhelmed by an enormous crowd that swept althrough the suburbs and -constantly growing stronger, swept into the city. Most police just stood by doing nothing. At the roundabout at Hamdalai, police tryed to stop them and fired into the crowd but it was too many people and they were too angry to stop. The roadblock was overrun and the demonstraters continued their way downtown. At the bridge of No.8th they were stopped by strong military presence. The soldiers fired into the mob, wounding and killing many.

The son of president Conté who commands a special force unit called "rangers" that were trained in China stormed into the union headquarters and ordered his men to destroy the place. When they refused, Conté reportedly smacked his soldiers around and then ordered them to arrest all 4 union leaders which they did.

Evening came and with it reports from two hospitals totaling in 17 dead bodies. No way to tell how many really were killed, how many bodies never even made it to the hospitals.

New reports suggest that a special forces unit from Guinea Bissao under direct command of drunk and psychotic president son Ousmane Conté is responsible for the massacre at the bridge of Nov. 8th.

Newest reports say that all 4 union leaders have been set free last night. All have been more or less seriously wounded and submitted to torture. Dr. Fofana has supposedly lost an eye, everybody has been viciously beaten.

There is no telling where the situation will go from here.

If you're interested, you can find news updates on aminata.com or guineenews.org

Peace!

Frank

uncertain times

2007-01-18T05:34:00.001-05:00

January 18th 2007

For one week now, there has been a general strike here in Guinea. The city of Conakry is shut down, all stores and businesses have remained closed since Jan. 10th.

Monday Jan. 15th, union leaders and other opposition groups had announced the beginning of peaceful "civil disobedience" and called for a demonstration in front of the Palais du Peuple which was promptly banned by the Government. The would-be demonstraters tried to pull through with their plans by calling it a "prayer meeting" probably in the hope that the leader of a mostly muslim country would not try and keep his people from praying. Nevertheless, come Monday morning, strong army pressence around the bridge of Nov.8 which is the gateway to downtown Conakry made it impossible for the people from the suburbs to reach the Palais du Peuple which is located on the most narrow part of the peninsula of the city. Monday was also the day when first shots could be heard. Supposedly "only" rubber bullets and tear gas.

Tuesday, the union leaders handed a paper with their demands that included cheaper prices on rice and other basic groceries and the immediate instalation of a REAL GOVERNMENT that would be willing and capable of running the country in the peoples interest and not only try to enrich themselves in the most blatant and grotesque ways possible. The president Lansana Conté accepted the paper but proclaimed that he as a govenrment enmployee himself and therefore also was participating in the strike and would not read the paper before the strike was called over. Just the kind of humorous behaviour you would expect from a man with a five school year education who's sole success of 23 years in power are absurd amounts of wealth for his big (3 wifes) family and large circle of friendly leeches.

The union leaders called for a demonstration to take place yesterday, which was Wednesday Jan. 17th.
Military police opened fire into the demonstrators. Two union leaders were wounded although "only" beaten and not shot. There are reports of 3 dead and several wounded. One union leader was kidnapped by government soldiers right out of the ambulance on the way to the hospital. It's not really clear where they took him but only hours later, he along with three other union members were brought to a meeting with one of the presidents generals when the president himself came into the room and said "I will kill you, I only haven't decided when but I will kill you. I'm a soldier, I have killed before".

Athrough the day there was shooting all around our compound which is located about 15 miles from downtown.

Today, there is automatic fire to be heard from the neighbourhoods of Bambéto, Ratoma and Taouyah, all within a 5 mile radius from our house.
The biggest hope is that the military will soon refuse to shoot at their own people and stop protecting an old, retarded criminal who has continued robbing their country for decades.

Guinea has always been a safe harbour for refugees from neighbouring countries like Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia that were and the latter still remains troubled by years of gruesome civil wars. Although already being amongst the worlds poorest countries, they accepted the burden of hundreds of thousands of refugees and shared with them whatever little they had for themselves.

We all hope that this beautiful country that is so rich in both, culture and resources will finaly get what seems to be the rarest good on this continent: "GOOD GOVERNMENT"

Peace!

Frank

Loads of new records...

2006-12-04T05:29:00.000-05:00

December 4th 2006

Here are pictures of some of the records I found over the past few weeks. I have already started working on a new mix. It will probably take me a few weeks to get it uploaded though... this along with the infrequent updates of this site is due to the very slow and unreliable internet connections available here in Africa. Large files like mp3s must be sent away on CDR via airmail so friends with better connections can upload them for me.

Click on images for a bigger view.

LPs:

45s:

some 45s with picture sleeve:

Always on the move

2006-11-10T04:59:00.001-05:00

November 10th 2006

I know, didn't post for half a year... that's because I've been traveling a whole lot. Last month, my wife and I, together with our old friend Fabian spent some time in Freetown. We had gone mostly for the beaches but on two short digging excursions into town, I found the "Sound Way" 45 by Wrinkar Experience, a Nigerian OG copy of Fela's "Gentleman", the one minute longer 45 version of Docteur Nico's "Sookie" and a few other gems.

This image illustrates what a record collection might look like... "...yeah, I got records... I got lots of them. Plenty!". And when we reached the place, we were confronted with a moldy stack of maybe a dozen records... but even though they were stored on the backyard of the house, exposed to the elements for many years, I still found a (waterdamaged) VG+ copy of the Viva Super Eagles LP with "love's a real thing".

After returning from Sierra Leone, it was time for me to go on another trip to Cotonou. This one turned out to be the even more fun and rewarding in terms of records than my first visit.

Meansh Paulin. One of the most interesting men I have ever met. Not only did he hook me up with lots of good records but we also got to hang out and have some beers together. He has seen all the bands from Benin live back in the 70's, he also knows lots of musicians and had plenty of stories to tell...

One of my agents and record store owner, Kpodo Abel refueling his scooter at one of Cotonou's typical black market gas stations.

Another one of the dozens of little record stores in Cotonou that I was visiting.

Two Hours of Afro Funk! -MP3-

2006-05-17T07:07:00.001-04:00

May 17th 2006

I put together two mixes, using records that I found on my trips to Sierra Leone and to Cotonou. The LP-covers and 45 labels of all these records can be viewed under the previous posts Past Trips to Freetown & Sierra Leone and in the Mouth of the River of Death

A big thank you for hosting the audio goes to Greg

MIX 1

00:00 the friimen -we can get it on
04:12 matata -talkin' talkin'
08:42 antoine dougbe -ya mi ton gbo
15:12 orch. poly rythmo -minsatole midayi home
18:20 black dragons -houegbe kouche
20:52 stanislah tohon -paix lo
29:58 don bruce & the angels -sugar baby
36:28 the funkees -now i'm a man
43:16 perry ernest -funky city
48:34 sweet breeze -funk
52:36 cobra -wari wah

MIX 2

00:00 pat thomas & marijata -i need more
07:40 black santiagos -ole
10:45 orch poly rythmo -gbeti ma djro
13:41 el rego et ses comandos -hessa
16:36 the doves -echoing winds
22:48 don bruce & the angels -kinuye
27:21 tokyoto ashanty -african danse
33:00 sookie feat. jeannine otis -rhythm on rhythm
36:34 antoine dougbe & poly rythmo -nou akue non hwlin me sin kon sio
41:22 sir victor uwaifo -all correct
44:55 akeeb kareem -esin funfun (white horse)
49:38 fela anikulapo kuti -sorrow tears and blood

in the Mouth of the River of Death

2006-02-16T08:58:00.000-05:00

February 16th 2006

No other place on this earth has been nearly as good to me when it comes to records as Cotonou, the biggest city of Benin.

The name "Cotonou" is in the local language of Fon and means "mouth of the river of death". During the height of slavery, an average of 10.000 slaves per year left from here, many of them to Haiti. Haitian Voodoo has its roots in Benin where up until now it is the most popular religion outnumbering the muslim and christian minorities. Vooodoo was outlawed by the Marxist regime in the 70's but was legally allowed again by a new, more democratic government in 1989 and officially recognized as a religion in 1996.

Benin has some of the most amazing food I've ever tasted. Delicious seafood, a large choice of meats from delicious beef stew to smoked goat and an enormous variety of vegetables and fruit. More than once, I was reminded of things I had tasted in Louisiana. Okra is very popular, so are fried yams and of course plantains. On the side you often get served a very spicy, yet fruity and aromatic, homemade, green hot sauce.

Not unlike the unique and excellent cuisine, there seems to be a special kind of Funk coming out of Benin. Loud, syncopated drums and insane organs meet guitar work like it can only be found in Africa: Unorthodox, freely improvising, yet rhythmic and tight. Singers range from over-ambitiously melodic to grunting and screaming up a storm.

One thing is for sure: If you come to Cotonou and only spend time digging, you are missing out! A night out in the seedy and pulsating redlight district of Jonquet ("notre quartier chaud" as my guide Ignace put it) where most of the city's clubs and discotheques are located was a true eye-opener. A live band with two vintage keyboards, amazing guitar, bass and a truly mindbending drummer/singer delivered an astonishing variety of afro-cuban to funky tunes that had the completely cramped place go wild with people dancing wherever they could find some room. The highly potent local booze, destilled out of palmwine can also be highly recommended.

Talks with several record store owners and musicians revealed that in the 70s, there was a lot of interaction with the scene in Cote d'Ivoire and even more so with Nigeria (Lagos is only three car-hours away) as a lot of bands from Benin recorded as well as played out across the border. The economic situation in the early 70s was very bleak in Benin and the local clubs could not compete with what a band would make in one of the many hot spots in Lagos. Before Benin had its own pressing plants, most bands also had their vinyl manufactured in Lagos.

One day, I decided to visit Bohicon, a town about 70 miles to the North of Cotonou. My guide Didier and I travelled in a bush taxi and upon arrival chartered two motorcycle taxis with local drivers who said they'd know some places where we would find records. The first spot was at a store that sold cassette tapes, records as well as radios and all other sorts of electronic equipment. The records were in two large wooden boxes that also contained swarms of large cockroaches and silverfish. Most paper sleeves had been eaten away partially by insects. The closer we got to the bottom, the lesser intact the sleeves and the thicker the bug droppings inbetween records. The air was thick with dust and and a dark layer of dirt and bug excrement started to cake onto my hands and lower arms. When I was finally through with everything, we jumped on our bikes and zoomed across a labyrinth network of dirt roads finally reaching a big one story building with clay walls.

The owner of the records store who had accompanied us on a third bike introduced us to a very old man who had some white medicine smeared all over his body and was only covered around the waist with a piece of cloth. The record store owner went into the next room and returned, one after the other, with three very large wicker baskets that were stuffed with stacks of LPs and 45s. At one point, thankfully long before our visit, the baskets had also given a home to some sort of hornet who had chewed away almost all cover sleeves right up to the records, leaving round layer cakes of vinyl, paper and cardboard. I found a few records where even small amounts of vinyl had been gnawed off by those eager little critters. Things got really rough when I hit the bottom of the last basket that contained mostly 45s: The hornets had built chambers and tunnels inbetween the records, using a red, claylike substance that I guessed consisted of chewed up record sleeves, earth and hornet spittle. To make things even more bizarre, large pieces of insect shells were baked into the thick, red crust. Otherwise, the records that I could see the surface of seemed unplayed and the fact that most of them were present in multiple copies supported the idea that this was dead stock. I decided to also buy the claycaked ones, including the embedded insect parts.

Back at the hotel in Cotonou and after I had cleaned up all of the records in the bathroom sink, I was relieved that almost all of them turned out to play nicely. I rewarded myself with a big and deliciously satisfying dinner of warm shrimp and bellpepper salad with a palate tingling lime dressing, followed by a huge grilled crayfish with a heap of fried, sweet plantains. As I washed my shellfish down with several ice cold La Beninouise beers, I watched the fishermen in the lagoon cast their nets across the water, unfolding in mid air like white flowers. I thought about how close bugs and crustaceans really are to each other and that a crayfish in fact is nothing else but a giant cockroach that lives underwater.

Freetown & Northern Sierra Leone

2006-01-30T08:05:00.000-05:00

January. 30th 2006

My first trip outside of Guinea took me to Freetown, the capital of neighboring Sierra Leone. My digging guide and friend Amadou Baldé and I left town early in the morning in a bush taxi. There's this special brand of vintage Peugeot cars that have another, smaller row of seats behind the back seat. On the outside it's not bigger than any other regular european car, on the inside neither but somehow, around here you can fit at least 10 people plus an unbelievable amount of luggage inside a car like this plus another 3 to 5 feet of luggage on top. Sometimes more. This means you have two passengers riding shotgun, if those two aren't fat, you can fit a third passenger between the two front seats, raising the number of people on board to 11. On the backseat which in fact is the "middle row", at least 4 people are seated. The tiny little bench behind somehow fits 3. Being a decadent Westerner who only cares about his own comfort, I rented the entire middle row for Amadou and me, paying for all 4 "seats" of course prompting comments like "look, this is how rich people travel" from the three big ladies compressed into the small space behind us. After 3 hours, the tar gave away to a dirt road with a surface changing from deep washed out tracks and large craters to some sort of ripple pattern that must originate from the type of machinery used to level the "Freetown-Conakry Highway". Our car somehow reminded me of the Zombies in Dawn Of the Dead: Important parts of the body were missing, it looked like it long ago should have stopped moving but somehow this car was still going. Only difference being that this was one fast Zombie careening through the jungle at breakneck speed, camouflaged in an immense cloud of red dust, heading straight towards Freetown. Okay, I should mention that we had a three hour stop at the border but this would be an entire story on its own, everybody who has any experience in african border crossing should know what I'm talking about.

Freetown used to be a bustling town. The nearby beaches, endlessly long, white and lined with palm trees are considered to be amongst the continent's most beautiful, some claim they would make the worldwide top ten. This is why Freetown, before the 10 year long civil war that plagued the country up until 2001 had enjoyed its fair share of tourism. Then it became the favorite playground for international dealers in firearms and diamonds. The fighting during the first 6 years was limited to the border region to Liberia in the East and the diamond fields in the North but in 1997 one of Africa's most gruesome civil wars of the last decade engulfed the capital. Gangs of bandits and soldiers of the RUF (Revolutionary United Front) for the most part consisting of drugged out teenagers with machetes and AK 47s took the streets, terrorizing, raping, mutilating and killing civilians at will. After being pushed out of the capital by the Ecomog (West african peace keeping force) in 1998, the RUF retaliated in '99 with an unimaginably brutal assault code named "Operation No Living Thing". A wave of terror washed over the city of Freetown. Within a few days, many thousand civilians got killed or had limbs hacked off with machetes. Almost every single person you get to meet in Freetown can tell you stories that will wrench your gut.
Amadou and me entered the city through the borough of Kissy which was the one to suffer the most during the war. Amadou's uncle lives there and we paid him a visit. The old man told us how he had lost his business during the war and how he was lucky enough to keep his life. At times being forced to flee his house and live in the streets on the West side of town where for the most part, there were no rebels but where privately operating bandits executed their own brand of brutality. He told us how his entire family walked around with swollen bellies because they were not able to cook for weeks. The smell of food would have attracted the rebels who would have taken everything away. The diet consisted of raw cassava and potatoes resulting in severe intestinal pains.
After a couple of ice cold Star beers (the surprisingly good local brew of choice), we took to the center of town where we found our first "recording studio". The owner refused flat out to sell any of his records even though he didn't use them anymore. After he left, his employee told us to meet him after work at the kiosk inside Victoria Park. We headed for another spot called "Topman Recording Studio" where we met Abrahaman, our future main connection to various private record collections. Abrahaman let us go through his entire store stock and I scored my first few OG nigerian issue Fela records along with "Mandjou" by Ambassadeur International on Badmos Records with a young Salif Keita on vocals, not a dance record but an incredible piece of music: jazzy trumpet and organ soli, supertight percussion and Keita's hypnotic vocals. Gives me the chills every time I put it on. I also scored my first funk records by local bands: The insanely good and very rare 12" "bi loko" by Muyei Power and the "push am forward" 45 by Afro National.

Abrahaman told us to search for "old sailors". He explained how it had always been the sailors who brought the new records to town. They were traveling up and down the West African coast, buying records in the harbors of Lagos, Cotonou and Abidjan, the cities with pressing plants and sold them to local recording studios and nightclubs once they would get back to Freetown. We left Topman and turned a few corners to an electronics store that also used to deal with records, but they had nothing interesting left. There we met a young man named Zico who told us he knew just the man we were looking for, an old sailor with a vast collection of records. The shop was located on Regent Road, one of Freetown's busiest streets, lined by small stores and businesses with an endless stream of pedestrians, cars and the infamous taxi motorbikes which dart through traffic without any consideration for their own or anybody else's wellbeing. Zico showed us away from the chaos, down a narrow road with deep cracks in its tar. The edges giving away inch after inch to the valley into which we descended. In its middle, a bridge crossed over a small creek. The last few yards before the bridge, the edges of the road zigzagged towards its center, almost reaching the middle. Someone had painted the outline of the remaining tar white to minimize the danger of falling into the bushes below when walking after dark. On the other side, Zico led us into a neighbourhood of old wooden houses from colonial times and to the left we entered a narrow gate in a sheet iron fence which gave way into a small community of shacks and one story houses. A labyrinth of pathways led us past old women preparing food in front of their houses and girls fixing each others hair. On the other side, we exited again through another door and entered into a backyard where we found Mr. Abu Deen Kamara sitting in front of his one story house.

Mr. Abu Deen Kamara was old, hard to tell what age exactly, his eyes were slightly fogged as if someone had poured a few drops of milk into them. He told us about how he had bought vinyl and tapes all over West Africa in the 70s and with pride, he explained to us how he had always taken good care of his records over the years and that they would all be in excellent shape. Mr. Kamara disappeared into his house while his neighbours offered me a wooden chair. I sat down and set up the portable record player on the three feet high tile covered wall surrounding a water well. Instantly, we were joined by several children and a group of women who sat down for their meal in front of the house next door eyed us with curiosity. Mr. Kamara carried out the first box of 45s. Most of them really were in great shape, many even with intact color sleeve. I found Docteur Nico's Garage Funk Bomb "Sookie" on 45. Pressed much louder than the LP version and a full minute and one insane drum/conga break longer. The fact that this beast was recorded in Kongo in 1968 just blows my mind. Another Highlight was Cobra with "wari-wa", one of the heaviest Afrobeat tracks I've ever heard and pure dance floor material. Ernesto Djedje from Cote d'Ivoire teaming up with the Manu Dibango Orchestra for the incredible Latin Funk 45 "anowah" turned out to be unkown even amongst afro-specialists. I also found another local release: Lamtei Lamptei with "fish and funji", the heavy drum intro had some of the kids start dancing around. We left with a nice stack of 45s after handing over a good amount of cash to Mr. Kamara who was just as happy as we were. He even received a spontaneous mariage proposal from one of his neighbors who said that now, since he was a wealthy man, she'd be happy to become his wife.
We made it back downtown and entered Victoria Park to sit down in front of the Kiosk for a rich meal of delicious palm oil stew with rice. The friendly owner of the place already knew about us and said that our young friend from the recording studio whom we were supposed to meet had already been by earlier and would be back in a while. As the sun settled, the sky filled with tens of thousands of flying dogs, a large kind of bat that sleeps through the day, hanging from tree branches like dead leaves. At dusk, they travel to the countless mango trees for a nightly feast of sweet fruit calling out to each other in high pitched voices.
We were lucky to have a flashlight with us because Freetown has zero electricity and nights are pitch black. Our friend arrived and brought us, amongst other records, two great LPs from Ghana: Bob Pinodo's "show master of africa" with the track "africa" that starts out with an amazing drumbreak and one of my best finds ever, a previously unknown and excelent Ebo Taylor record named "conflict". Amadou left for his uncle's house and I took a cab to my hotel on the West side. Initially I had made plans to just take a shower and then check out some local clubs but when I sat on the hotel bar's terrace over a beer, trying to decide if I should walk or send one of the guards to get me a cab, there was gunfire errupting from several corners within the hotel's close proximity and I figured I might just as well go to bed and call it a day. Still some guns left on the streets of Freetown, it seems.

I've been back to Freetown on several occasions after this trip and I managed to establish a solid network of agents who are hunting down records for me while I'm away. It's always a big pleasure to visit this amazing place.
One day, I decided to explore the provinces of Sierra Leone. My wife was nice enough to lend me her SUV and once again, Amadou and me hit the Conakry-Freetown highway. This time, about 100 Miles before reaching Freetown, we turned north towards the cities of Bo and Kenema right in the heart of Sierra Leone's diamond fields.

Traveling with our own car and with a driver made things a lot easier for us. The cars diplomatic license plates reduced the normally several hour-long waiting periods at various checkpoints around the border to a few minutes. Thierno, our driver, sometimes didn't even stop, he slowed down, yelled "Mr. Ambassador coming through" out the window and everybody wearing a uniform stepped back and saluted... Another big advantage of having an all terrain vehicle was the condition of the road: We were traveling early in August at the height of the annual rainy season. We had to deal with pot holes that looked like small lakes and there was no telling on how deep the muddy brown water would be. Once we hit a not only very deep but also steep hole with too much speed, we heard something snap and upon close inspection on the other side of the crater, we had to discover that we had lost our license plate. Luckily, Thierno was able to retrieve it out of the water after only a short search.

It seems very amusing when you see the sometimes bizarre, African ways of transportation. Cows are bound at the feet and sat into the trunk of a cab, head with confused eyes sticking out to the side. The need to bring all sorts of goods and large numbers of people from one place to another with nothing but worn out cars results in lots of creativity but also in serious danger. 20 to 30 people get jammed inside "mini busses", small vans, in fact, with holes cut into the sides so air can get in. One of those crashes, the often already twisted frame might give away some more, jamming the side door. Leaking fuel, a spark, nothing more needed for a dozen or so people to burn to death. Happens not too seldom.
The last 100 miles before Bo, the road got really bad. We counted a total of three large trucks lying on their sides next to the road. One of those accidents as we later learned had cost the lives of 8 passengers who had climbed on top of the truck's load that consisted of sacks of rice and cement. When the truck tipped over, people's bodies got mangled between the heavy sacks, the scene must have been horrifying.
We arrived at Bo in the early afternoon and decided to first grab a bite to eat and then to start looking for records. We didn't find anything in Bo but very good groundnut stew. It was raining every day, all day. We decided to try our luck in Kenema. The road from Bo to Kenema is only 80 miles long but amongst the best maintained of the whole country. It was a pleasant drive through thick forests of palm trees, fields and small villages. Halfway there, I saw a field full of suspicious looking plants and asked Amadou "hey, I'm sure I just saw a big field of marijuana!" "yes, this is very popular in Sierra Leone and around here it grows a lot". When asked if that wasn't illegal, Amadou simply said "yes, but the police have other problems..."
Kenema is the center of Sierra Leone's Diamond trade but it's a very unglamorous city. It mainly consists of one main road with an endless row of lebanese owned stores that buy and export not only diamonds but also coffee and cocoa. At the same time it is very hard to find a cup of real coffee, not only in Kenema but in all of Sierra Leone, Nescafe is much more popular. Being amongst the world's poorest countries, Sierra Leone is also one of the worlds biggest exporters in diamonds. Of course, all that the tiny country ever got in exchange were big cars, offshore accounts and mansions for a small elite and guns and machetes for the rest of the population.
(As a footnote: Do not watch this movie called "Blood Diamond". It's a lying, trivializing piece of shit and on top of it it's boring and a total waste of time. Also some of the most pathetic acting I've ever seen in mainstream cinema.)
While doing research all around Kenema and finding the one or the other record (doubles of the Cobra 45 and the Poly Rythmo Vol.4 with "aihe ni kbe we") I kept hearing about a lebanese guy named Gassam. Suppposedly, he had bought up stock from several recording studios in Freetown and then moved everything to Kenema. Due to the war, there was little interest in music, basically every citizen at some time or the other had to flee their house, places got looted and business concentrated on things that were easy to move, like diamonds and guns. Gassam dumped all his records in his basement and waited for times to get better. Now he runs a big store for mobile phones which are strong in demand in Sierra Leone. It took us a couple of days to get a date with Mr. Gassam and on the last day before our departure back to Guinea we scored. We scored big!

These records hadn't been moved in years and the red dust that during dry season will enter all houses even through the smallest cracks and settle on everything, had covered a good dozen of about 5 foot high piles of LPs that lined one entire wall of Mr. Gassams basement. There was no light so I was happy to have come prepared. I pulled my strap-on headlight over my forehead and a mold-stopping microfiltermask over mouth and nose. Of course, I looked like a complete idiot and both, Amadou and our host had to chuckle. Many hours later though, after I was through with all the records, it was clear that I couldn't have done without the mask. More than once before, and again a few weeks later when I returned from my trip to Benin, I had to pay the price for deciding against the mask in order to either not be ridiculed or to not insult my host by giving them the impression I thought their house was dirty. Western Africa has a lot of rain, Conakry and Freetown are amongst the cities with the most rain in the entire World. All this rain comes down within 3 to 4 months every year, resulting in extremely high humidity and frequent flooding. It is rare to find a record with not at least a bit of mold on the in- or outside of the cover. Moving records around when looking through them results in fanning all those mold spores into your face. Doing this for a couple of hours, day after day in my experience results in an about 50% chance to fall sick within a week. It starts like a common cold with serious headache, the symptoms move up and down your throat and sinuses, sometimes settling in your jaws or forehead. It's nasty stuff, so better wear a mask when digging in the tropics.

The drive back to Conakry was easy. Funny how the way back always seems much quicker. We made a short stop at Rogbera and scored some delicious bush meat. An animal called cane rat, a large rodent, bigger than a beaver, personally, I prefer "grasscutter" the more appetizing other name under which this animal is known. The meat was simmered down with several spices and herbs I could not name and it tasted delicious. Tender to the bite and juicy, the thin layer of fat under its spice-covered skin melted on my tounge, pleasing every single tastebud. I regretted not to have bought the entire pot. Amadou explained to me how he used to hunt for grasscutters around his village when he was young. Since the animal is nocturnal, he would stake out their feeding ground during the day and then at night surprise them with a flaming torch, causing the feeding animals to scare and freeze, thereby giving him enough time to hit them over the head with a big stick. One of those cute little things would give you around 8 pounds of meat.

Outside of Conakry

2005-12-16T06:35:00.000-05:00

December 16th 2005

Whenever I'm not on any record digging journey, my wife and I enjoy the endless hiking possibilities all over Guinea. Only one hour outside the dirty, smelly and chaotic city, you can find yourself in places like this.

For about 20 dollars, you can rent a small fishing boat for a full day and have the captain show you around the wonderful Illes de Los which you will reach after less than one hour coming from Conakry's fishing port Boulbinet. Once on the islands, you can hike around in tropical vegetation or relax on the beach and buy some fresh fruit.

The island with the nicest beach is called Room and was the inspiration for Stephenson who spent some time here to write his book "treasure island". The largest island is called Tamara. Hidden behind some trees, you can find some old slave houses, a very sad and kinda spooky site that later was used as a prison and now slowly gets reclaimed by nature.

Mix with music from Guinea -MP3-

2005-11-12T03:54:00.001-05:00

November 12th 2005

This mix focuses solely on the Guinean label Syliphone and while it definitely does have its funky moments, this one is more targeted towards the head than the dancefloor...

Many thanks to Greg who hosts this for me. Check out his site for some amazing photography work.

SYLIPHONE MIX

00:00 Pivi et ses Balladins "samba"
05:44 Sombori de Fria "n'kolea"
10:56 Super Boiro Band "si ississa"
16:52 Myriam's Quartette "solo quintette"
20:08 Kaloum Star "maliba"
23:28 Sombory Jazz "nana"
30:20 Simbadou de Beyla "festival"
35:20 Balla et ses Balladins "moi ca ma fout"
39:19 Quintette Guineenne "douga"
42:40 Balla et ses Balladins "nyo"
47:08 Bembeya Jazz "super tentemba"
61:24 Syli Authentique "andree"

Mr. Mafa's Record Store

2005-10-17T06:43:00.002-04:00

Oct. 17th 2005

Guinea's own label Syliphone Records and its releases from the early 70s to early 80s offer a good insight into Guinea's musical heritage and one can still to this day witness live bands play songs like Balla et Ses Balladin's Afrobeat bomb "Nyo" at one of Conakry's many hotspots like "La Fourchette Magique" or "Loft". Guinean musicians have a reputation for being amongst Africa's finest. The quality of their musicianship is unequaled and a deep love for psychedelic sounds always lets them do amazing things ranging from unexpected to insane before a track can ever get boring.

I bought my first records on the African continent at Mr. Mafa's little record store at Marché Niger. Record stores or "recording studios" in Africa usually aren't places where records are sold but where you can order custom made mix tapes put together from the owner's record collection. Lucky for me, the sounds I was after weren't amongst the favorites of Mr. Mafa's clientel and so he let go of some of the first pieces for my ever since growing collection of african records. Sadly, the little store by the name "Syli-Musique" has now vanished. It's somehow matching since the namegiving Syli, a dwarf-elephant that didn't outgrow 12 feet was already extinct many decades ago.
Guinea is a very poor country, for the majority of people that is. However, there is a strong minority of government officials and their enlarged families that is very, very wealthy. You can regularly see them cruising around with their Hummer or Rover Limousines amongst the shacks and clay huts of their next door neighbours. This is because the small country (look it up on the map to see exactly how small) is extremely rich in natural resources. Guinea sits on one third of the entire world reserve of bauxit. Bauxit is the stuff needed to make aluminum. Guinea also has large resources of gold and uranium as well as copper and iron ore. Now instead of sharing the wealth with its people, the government instead chooses to blow all the richess with a truly absurd system of corruption, unefficiency and laziness. International coorporations take advantage of the local corruption and ship out valuable resources that they buy for dumping prices. Just like the slave ships up until 200 years ago, nowadays big cargo ships disappear on the horizon, leaving behind looted countries with mounting social and economic problems. Western relief organisations try to help out with attempts at something like a health system, the Saudis build one Mosque after the other and the Chinese build roads that last until the next rainy season sweeps them down the gutter. This way the government has its hands free to hassle their population with activities like the one that cost dear Mr. Mafa his record store: For a few weeks, special police dressed all in black took to the streets after nightfall and painted red crosses on houses and stores that were build illegally and too close to the road. After a week or two, they came back with trucks, automatic weapons, clubs, whips made off power lines and car-mounted machine guns. Shacks, houses and businesses got looted, torn down and the rubble looted again by crowds of impoverished children who followed the mob in hope of perhaps finding something edible or otherwise usable. Mr. Mafa's store also had received a blood red X. In his case even paying off the authorities wouldn't have been an option, he was located on one of the hotspots where new houses for "real" businesses are destined to be built and so he tore down his place himself before anybody else could. "Real" businesses by the way sell Grade-C imports from China shipped in via Dubai to ensure that even the small traditional handicraft businesses like taylors, shoomakers and the like are having a hard time trying to survive. After he lost his store, Mr. Mafa became one of my best resources for vinyl in Guinea, he now proudly calls himself the "ambassadeur des disques" and is constantly finding new records for me.