Yanti Bersaudara
Yanti Bersaudara

The next single on All Nations Records is a tremendous stepper riddim of French dubmaker Higher Meditation now based in Leicester UK. Veteran UK singer Kulture D from the local underground scene rides this rough riddim smoothly, calling out the almighty one to set everyone free. His prayer is still resonating deep in mind when entering the dub version of this track with the help of a subtle melodica line.

Favorite Recordings proudly presents Voiciii, the 3rd and new album by Voilaaa, an immersive dip into its Afro-Disco universe spread across 14 tracks. Needless to say you’ll find in this new LP all the ingredients that made him famous: strong dancefloor-friendly festive bangers, irresistible funky arrangements and an undeniable sense of humor and irony. Bruno “Patchworks” Hovart, behind Voilaaa, is as often surrounded by amazing vocal featurings from previous LP’s regulars (Pat Kalla, Lass) but also new voices you may already have heard on its recent EPs (David Walters, Rama Traore, Ayuune Suule), as well as the saxophonist Boris Pokora. The LP is also an occasion to pay tributes to major artists of the African sound, such as Fela Kuti (on “Water No Get Enemy”), or Manu Dibango (“Manu Écoute Ça” and “Tenor Jam For Manu”). Since the release of Voilaaa’s previous LP’s Des Promesses and On Te L’Avait Dit and their massive international support, the Voilaaa Soundsystem did travel through the world to deliver its message of infectious joy and groove, from Equator to Thailand, from Kazakhstan to the infamous French “Fête de l’Huma”. Now you know: Voilaaa is everywhere and Voiciii (“here it is”) their new album.

This is a rare gem of a record from fantastic soul band THE SOUL KIDS stemming from the Democratic Republic of Congo, including covers of James Brown & The Mighty Flames' hit singles "Lickin Stick" (1968), "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" (1965), Wilson Pickett’s "Hey Jude" and a French vocal version of Otis Redding’s soul hit "Respect ".This amazing young band, which released only four 7inch singles and one album, is a great example of the influence of soul music and French pop bridging to the new Afro soul scene that the musicians of Kinshasa were involved in during the time of post-independence. Ngoma was one of the first record labels intent on providing local artists' recordings from both sides of the Congo river to the people of the DRC and West Africa. Created in 1948 by a Greek man by the name of Nicolas Jeronimidis, the Ngoma label was active through 1968, pressed in France until 1971, with a tremendous catalogue, including this historical and essential soul masterpiece!

This is the debut album from the Nancy-based quartet NCY Milky Band.The four musicians deliver unique jazz experiments at the crossroads of 70's french groove and modern electronica. The album covers a wide range of moods, switching from cheerful anthems with goofy synths to slow jams in which the saxophone breezes a deep feeling of nostalgia. With Burn’IN, NCY Milky Band are bringing a refreshing and original touch to the upcoming french jazz scene.

After a few other successful projects, Franck Biyong, French-Cameroonian Afrobeat composer, guitar player and singer is back on Hot Casa with a hot futuristic Afro-Brazilian club anthem.The similarities and filiations between traditional West-African drumming and Afro-Brazilian religious musical rites are many: under colonial rule African people and African slaves outwardly practiced Christianity but secretly prayed to their own God, Gods, or Ancestor spirits. So we aimed at keeping the gritty urban menacing sound and poetry of Afrobeat with the percussive mass rumble of Batucada and poignant beauty of Carioca. We then got in touch with Cristina Violle, the first lady of “Samba de Roda” in Paris who graced us with a startling inspired and heartfelt melody. The first completed version of the song then briefly went on alternative radio, we also made plans to release a vinyl version, but for one way or another we shelved the project, without thinking we would get back to it again…until a few months ago.We went back to the studio last summer and started ironing the song again from scratch. That same initial spirit and energy caught hold of us again from the day we started and we worked relentlessly to create a balanced but experimental track, showcasing rootsy sound, pop instrumentation, tight world beat drumming, song structure, jazzy horns, spacey synthesizers, choral-like vocal harmonies with call and response figurative vocals.We now proudly present this brand new record; Like our predecessors years ago, we subconsciously did our best to keep alive a longtime tradition of cultural tradition of African Artistic Renaissance, pushing further musical themes of contemporary African sound. To be continued…

One of the best boogie records of Nigeria repressed for the first time. Produced in 1981 by Jake Sollo and performed by himself flanked by the outstanding funky bass by Randy Taylor and the great vocal performances from the Galaxy girls. Recorded and produced in England but originally released only in Nigeria.