Various Artists - Seven 7 Inches From Ghana (Global Groovers)

This is a compilation of highlife music from Ghana taken from the Global Groovers blog. I cannot reccomend this blog highly enough, it's a fantastic resource for anyone with an interest in world music, and the webmaster has taken the time to reupload a vast amount of his extensive collection despite the problems with file hosting services a couple of years ago.

There have been a number of compilations done on this website, including the Global Sampler volumes; however this is from the "Seven 7 Inches" series - there are a number of different ones from a variety of African nations. The Ghanaian highlife music seems to stand out a bit more compared to other kinds of highlife, however in my opinion the majority of music that falls into the afrobeats genre is worth investigating. :)

From the Global Groovers website:

"We had some from Kenya and from Colombia and Congo, today it is Ghana's turn to get a 'Seven 7" singles' compilation. I recently found some so here they are. ET Mensah's tracks are a bit noisy but the rest sounds fairly okay. Hope you like them, enjoy listening..."

Tracklist:

01.   Ramblers Dance Band - Oburoni woewu
02.   Ramblers Dance Band - Antie christie
03.   Dr. K. Gyasi's Noble Kings - Sama awo deme
04.   Dr. K. Gyasi's Noble Kings - Sei na'zo
05.   Ashanti Brothers - Me yonko awisia
06.   Ashanti Brothers - Kae owuo
07.   E.T. Mensah & his Tempos Band - Odo anigyina
08.   E.T. Mensah & his Tempos Band - Abele
09.   Yamoah's Band - Atemmuda
10.  Yamoah's Band - Oyefo
11.  Abongo Boys led by Sammy Kwampoh - Anka meye bi
12.  Abongo Boys led by Sammy Kwampoh - Menko ofie ho
13.  EK's no.1 Band - Efa woho ben ?
14.  EK's no.1 Band - Ma agyanka nesu nye wosu

Download Link - Mediafire

Nord Cameroun Rhythms - Lamido/Astadjam Dada Sare

I was shown this Afrobeats type ensemble the other day, however I've been finding it very difficult to find any information on the group; other than that the singer is possibly Hamad Kalkaba and that it was recorded on the label Sonafric while Kalkaba was recording with "Le Grand Orchestre de la Garde Republicaine de Cameroun". The record only contains two tracks, and unfortunately the quality of the mp3's isn't very high, if I can acquire a different copy I'll reupload it at a later date.

The music is very funky and is a good addition to anyone's Afrobeats collection, it reminded me a lot of Orchestre T.P. Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou upon first hearing it. Highly recommended. In fact here is a link to the second track on Youtube:

Tracklist

01. Lamido
02. Astadjam Dada Sare

Download Link - Mediafire

Chaino - Jungle Echoes (1959)

I discovered this album through the Bleeding Panda blog, however as the mediafire account attached to that blog has been shut down here it is reposted. Its well worth checking out.

SHORT BIO:

The self-styled "percussion genius of Africa," exotica-era enigma Chaino was actually born Leon Johnson in Philadelphia in 1927; raised primarily in Chicago, the details of his early life are largely a mystery, although at some point he learned to play the bongos and began touring the so-called "chitlin" circuit of black nightclubs. During the mid-1950s he surfaced in Los Angeles, and with producer Kirby Allan entered the famed Gold Star studio to record a series of otherworldly jungle exotica LPs; the first, the 1958 Verve label release Jungle Mating Rhythms, featured not only a lurid fusion of African rhythms, primal chants and lusty moaning-and-groaning but also liner notes claiming "Chaino is the only survivor of a lost race of people from the wilds of the jungle in a remote part of central Africa where few white men have ever been...(he) could play seven or more drums at the same time, with such a blur of speed that you can hardly see his hands." In the months which followed, Chaino issued three more albums --Jungle Echoes, Night of the Spectre and Africana -- each for a different label; on occasion, he also worked as a session musician, and even appeared in pair of feature films, Nighttide and The Devil's Hand. A notoriously difficult and eccentric figure, however, in time he and Allan parted ways, and Chaino's activities over the decades to follow remain unknown; with the resurgence of interest in exotica during the mid-1990s, his brother George Johnson discovered the percussionist's whereabouts and briefly brought him back home to Chicago. Chaino nevertheless resumed his nomadic ways soon after; following surgery to remove a brain tumor, he suffered a fatal heart attack on July 8, 1999.

Download Link - Mediafire

Orchestre T.P. Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou - 0+0=Zero (Zero + Zero = Zero) (1980)

Unfortunately political realities in Benin had left the Tout Puissant Orchestre Poly Rythmo bereft of international recognition, while big bands like Super Rail Band or Orchestra Baobab enjoyed a rebirth… But Poly Rythmo has always been recognised as one of the best orchestras in Africa, so much that the former leader of Super Rail Band in Bamako, Tidiani Kone, left his job in Mali to join the fabulous Poly Rythmo in the seventies.

Their repertoire draws inspiration from the regional poly-rhythmic blend called Sato or Sakpata, original Voodoo beats, which are married with the funk left behind by James Brown’s African tours. Their voices, brass section, guitar and percussion weaved together to crystallise a golden age in this musically-fertile nation. Most of their 500 songs were recorded live with a couple of microphones and a Swiss-made Nagra reel-to-reel tape machine. The studio was a living room in the noisy neighbourhood near Cotonou’s airport.

Tracklist:

01. Belle Belle (8.07)

02. Semassa (Zero + Zero) (8.07)

03. Adin Gbanzon (8.32)

04. Ne te faches pas (10.15)

Download Link - Mediafire