Mississippi US 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Mississippi have unearthed a lost classic from what is widely considered Ethiopia's 'golden age' of music before an authoritarian crackdown on arts and culture in the 70s. Aselefech Ashine and Getenesh Kebret perform a captivating duet over the distinctive sound of Ethic jazz - fans of Mulatu Astatke will instantly find themselves on familiar ground here, but it's the singers' voices which truly shine. While Beauties was a hit upon release, it was soon quashed by the Derg regime, and has since been out of print. It's been carefully remastered and presented with its stunning artwork intact - a true gem for anyone enthralled with the unique sound incubated in Ethiopia in the mid-20th Century.

Review: Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff is a drum collective from Dental that has been, nay all accounts, tearing up their local nightlife scene in Dakar. An array of 14 different percussive instruments plus horns, winds, balafon and accordion all back the Senegalese poet Djiby Ly as they coo up spiritually infused polyrhythms, the energy of Fela's orchestras and the grooves of Tony Allen. Though steeped in ancient rituals and tradition, there is plenty modern thinking on display here in a collection of vital, exciting music that is very much alive with purpose as well as groove.

Review: The first vocal album by beloved Ethiopian nun, composer, and pianist Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru, Souvenirs is a profound and deeply moving home collection of cassette recordings made amidst political upheaval and turmoil. These are songs of wisdom, loss, mourning, and exile, sung directly into a boombox and accompanied by Emahoy's unmistakable piano. Though written and recorded while still living at her family's home in Addis Ababa, Emahoy sings of the heartache of leaving her beloved Ethiopia, a reflection on the 1974 revolution and ensuing Red Terror in her homeland, and a presentiment of her future exile in Jerusalem. Rich with the sound of birds outside the window, the creak of the piano bench, the thump of Emahoy's finger on the record button, they create a sense of place, of being near the artist while she records. Emahoy's lyrics, sung in Amharic, are poetic and heavy with the weight of exile; she dreamt of releasing this music to a larger audience before her passing in March of 2023, so in her honour, Mississippi present this album in collaboration with her family now, in what would have been her 100th year.

Review: "The message was clear: this was not necessarily music for dancing - even though the rhythms were compelling enough. This was music for the thinkers." When it came to the music of Celestine Ukwu, from where was this message communicated? In his case, it was the coalescing of his fashion sense and performance style, which combined unorthodox dress for highlife musicians - turtlenecks and drab coats - with a polyrhythm-focused, less intense highlife sound. With his bands, most notably The Philosophers National, Ukwu pioneered a more pensive and slow-burning version of the West African style, earning his place in musical history and this compilation of his greatest works.