Les Ya Toupas du Zaïre
Les Ya Toupas du Zaïre

Azumah was the coming together of a group of talented young dancer-musicians from Soweto (SouthAfrica) with musician and instrument-maker Smiles Mandla Makama of eSwatini (formerly Swaziland). LongTime Ago is the surprising and enticing, resultant album from 1985, recorded in the house of theatrestalwarts Des and Dawn Lindberg in Johannesburg.Produced by David Marks (3rd Ear Music, Hidden Years Music Archive Project), Des Lindberg and SmilesMakama, this album takes us back to a priceless musical moment in the dark and wild eighties ofapartheid South Africa. Smiles Makama is a gifted and visionary music-maker. He was born in South Africabut grew up in eSwatini, the small kingdom enveloped by South Africa and Mozambique on each side. Hetells the story of the process leading to the recording of this remarkable album: “I was invited from Swazilandby a Soweto-based group, Azumah. […] One of the members knew that there was a wizard in the mountainsin Swaziland, building instruments. As I was in the mountains in my hut and then I saw people arrive. Theyfound me. It all started there.”Instead of simplistic images of a generic ‘Africanness’ or ‘South Africanness’ and pictures of constructed andexotic ethnic identity, a contemporary, fresh listen to this album encourages an appreciation of thecomposition and musical skill at play in this music. Few people speak about the individual innovation andexperimentation involved in the creation of this music (or the music of Amampondo for instance). “WozaMoya” sticks out as a dark and melancholy creation, different tonally to what has come before, evoking thework of Naná Vasconelos or Don Cherry. One thing that remains the same decades later is that encouragingdeeper listening to the sounds of the mbira, the nyunga-nyunga, the uhadi or makhoyane bows is stillchallenging. Discouraging the superficial, short-lived acknowledgement of this ‘unchanging’, ‘African culturalexpression’ is the everlasting hurdle. This is made so much easier by albums like Long Time Ago: whenartists create music to be loved and entangled with, to be challenged by, derived from the musical roots andstructures of these instruments and then expanded upon with creative freedom, risk, humour and funk.Azumah did this in 1985 and we have this album again today, newly released, to remind us of that momentand the moments since when musicians have urned inward and done similar. As Smiles has it: “Indigenousmusic doesn’t fade out. It’s just waiting to be discovered, all the time.”

When faced with the decision to take a different direction at the risk of getting lost in a synthetic sound or to further explore the same musical path, Vaudou Game didn’t need to consult the oracle for very long when putting together their new album. Since their first acclaimed album, Apiafo and its irresistible single "Pas Contente", these Lyon natives never turned down the heat on over 130 stages across Europe, Africa, America and Asia. Peter Solo has displayed his amulets, charisma and yellow pants around the globe.When time came for them to harness their Afro-Funk sound for the second time, they turned their attention once again to their analog strengths. Vintage material, instruments produced in the 70's and cassette tapes were the "grigris" (or lucky charms) which proved most effective to ward off digital corruption of their music and return them to a tight-knit group with a solid groove.This unbeatable trance rhythm, inherited from James Brown and Fela, icons of Funk and Afrobeat, becomes trident when joined by Mawu, the creative voodoo divinity hidden in each of the group's notes. This inspiration transcends their spirit of communion, plunges them deeply into Mother Earth and results in the telepathic trance which is directly connected to Togo Peter's native Togo.Each song then becomes a celebration where the listener becomes the group's voodoo doll, embraced by the rhythm, submitting itself to the mercilessly metronomic cutting of guitars, struck by the copper-colored flashes of lightning forged by the African voodoo deity Hevioso, pierced by the psychedelic visions generated by the organs and a six-string guitar, cheerful songs, and hypnotic incantations. KIDAYU means "sharing" in Kabye, the language spoken in northern Togo. Sharing, is the philosophy of Vaudou Game – both in their recorded music and on stage.

The reggae rocker, Courtney John unleashes his new album, Ecosystem, born from collaboration with the French label Soul Man Records which also produced the successful album Reggae Loves Soul!With this new LP, recorded and mixed between Kingston and Paris, Courtney John has created a lyrical painting of our world, hosted by a classic early reggae sound that will appeal to reggae aficionados and a wider audience of music lovers…

Michael Edgehill aka Mikey Melody was born in the parish of Portland, Jamaica. As a youth he constantly raised his voice in song and performing with sound system in the neighborhood community. Known by his sweet voice, his friends gave him the nickname «Mikey Melody». Mikey Melody was influenced by 60’s and 70’s US R&B icons and Jamaican singers like Bob Marley, Sugar Minott, Burning Spear, Dennis Brown, Bob Andy and Half Pint. In the 1980’s he went to Kingston and was identified early by Lord Sassafrass, who gave him his first recording single “Under Mi Fat Thing” that was covered by many reggae artists. He was then signed by Black Scorpio Corporation which he was a singer on the sound system and recording label. He did songs like “World Is A Disaster”, “Jumbo Mi Jumbo”, “Romance For The Moment”, “Ragga Muffin”, “Unemployment”. He then moved on to Dennis Star Label which he did songs like “Mona Lisa”, “Maranda” and the hit song “Soldier In Town”. Released in 1988 on Dennis Star International records, ‘’Soldier In Town’’ by Mikey Melody is a pure late 80’s dancehall vocal over heavy digital rhythm by Firehouse Crew.

** Available exclusively at The Pusher **Comet Records presents Afro Rhythms Vol. 2, the first repress of Comet’s singles and Remixes from 2009 – 2017 with floor filler tracks from Tony Allen Afrobeat pioneer 'African Man" remix by Ricardo Villalobos & Max Loderbauer along with the afro deep house reedit of "Cotton’s Field" by French producer Jeff Sharel, the "Awakening" remix from Krazy Baldhead, former artist of Ed Banger and producer of electro malian band Donso and finally Africaine 808 to end this Afro Rhythms comp with their stunning remix of Afrobeat classic tune "Afrodiscobeat". A proper trawl through the vaults of Comet Records.