Ata Kak created a peculiar slice of Ghanaian music history with his debut album “Obaa Sima”. While it barely made a ripple at the time of its release in 1994, the cassette found a new life online in 2006. A not-so-underground cult obsession grew after it appeared on the blog Awesome Tapes From Africa as its very first post, a sort of manifesto for the project. His addictive amalgam of left-field electronic music and Twi-language hiplife reached surprising levels of awareness among music fans of many stripes. The mystery behind the musician’s identity grew. Eventually Yaw Atta-Owusu came out of the shadows, from his quiet home in Kumasi, to tour the world playing high-energy, sweat-soaked performances at major festivals like Glastonbury, Sónar and Pop Montreal.

Now, for the first time since 1994, Ata Kak releases new music. Honed in studios around Kumasi over the last several years, the songs feature the rapper-singer’s acrobatic rap, signature scatting, dramatic drums and even traditional Akan harp. The compositions are more ambitious than his earlier work, with more complex arrangements and layered harmonies. Ata Kak’s new songs are also the natural expression of a restless artist—he is a prolific poet and author of a half-dozen books, as well as an active gardener and busy painter.

Born in Ghana in 1960, Ata Kak wasn’t always involved in music. But his travels and openness to the world lead him into the music industry. While living in Germany, he was invited to play drums in a reggae band and subsequently played in highlife bands in Ontario after moving to the Toronto area. He recorded “Obaa Sima” there at his home studio and released it in Ghana in 1994. He didn’t participate in music much in the intervening years until “Obaa Sima” was reissued in 2015. He started performing his song live with the help of a brilliant cast of London-based musicians and has toured three continents and played to thousands of fans in venues of all kinds.

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Ata Kak created a peculiar slice of Ghanaian music history with his debut album “Obaa Sima”. While it barely made a ripple at the time of its release in 1994, the cassette found a new life online in 2006. A not-so-underground cult obsession grew after it appeared on the blog Awesome Tapes From Africa as its very first post, a sort of manifesto for the project. His addictive amalgam of left-field electronic music and Twi-language hiplife reached surprising levels of awareness among music fans of many stripes. The mystery behind the musician’s identity grew. Eventually Yaw Atta-Owusu came out of the shadows, from his quiet home in Kumasi, to tour the world playing high-energy, sweat-soaked performances at major festivals like Glastonbury, Sónar and Pop Montreal.

Now, for the first time since 1994, Ata Kak releases new music. Honed in studios around Kumasi over the last several years, the songs feature the rapper-singer’s acrobatic rap, signature scatting, dramatic drums and even traditional Akan harp. The compositions are more ambitious than his earlier work, with more complex arrangements and layered harmonies. Ata Kak’s new songs are also the natural expression of a restless artist—he is a prolific poet and author of a half-dozen books, as well as an active gardener and busy painter.

Born in Ghana in 1960, Ata Kak wasn’t always involved in music. But his travels and openness to the world lead him into the music industry. While living in Germany, he was invited to play drums in a reggae band and subsequently played in highlife bands in Ontario after moving to the Toronto area. He recorded “Obaa Sima” there at his home studio and released it in Ghana in 1994. He didn’t participate in music much in the intervening years until “Obaa Sima” was reissued in 2015. He started performing his song live with the help of a brilliant cast of London-based musicians and has toured three continents and played to thousands of fans in venues of all kinds.

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Tracklist:

1.Yegle Nesh (Live)
2.Tizita (Live)
3.Belew Beduby (Live)
4.Anchihoye Lene (Live)
5.Abichu Nega Nega (Live)
6.Yetewat Hil (Live)

It’s been a little over ten years since Hailu Mergia re-emerged on the international music scene. Following the first in a series of his classic recordings reissued in collaboration with Awesome Tapes From Africa, Mergia assembled a band and began performing live again after many years driving a cab in Washington, DC. His first show back appeared on the front page of the New York Times along with a stellar review and he took off from there performing his flavor of Ethiopian jazz all over the world in the years since, including Radio City Music Hall and Montreal Jazz Festival.

Finally, we have a recorded document of the keyboard player’s powerful DC-based trio—which practices each weekend in his basement—featuring Kenneth Joseph on drums and Alemseged Kebede on bass. Beautifully captured at one of their fiery live shows at the venerable Brooklyn non-profit cultural center Pioneer Works on July 1, 2016, the concert was recorded by PW staff and mixed by Ted Young with mastering by ATFA’s expert audio extraction collaborator Jessica Thompson. The performance clarifies what many people across the globe already know: in his fifth decade of music-making Hailu Mergia continues to push the boundaries of his remarkable abilities.

Mergia and his veteran band energetically and playfully unpeel layer after layer of harmonic and rhythmic interest out of a spectrum of Ethiopian repertoire. Modern jazz demands constant reinvention and improvisation, night after night creating new works out of known modes and classic standards. This band is unstoppable when it comes to turning age-old melodies (like “Tizita” or “Anchihoye Lene”) upside down and inside out until they emerge as molten new works, often spontaneously. Mergia’s original compositions (like “Yegle Nesh”) shine brighter than ever here as well. Moving from keyboard to organ to accordion to melodica, he deftly switches instruments—often during the same song. Mergia at 77 years old seems to be working harder than musicians half his age.

"Pioneer Works Swing (Live)" brings into focus the kind of onstage group improvisation and deadly solo passages that reach for places Mergia and the band have never gone, on festival and club stages across four continents.

Now that Mergia has released two new recordings along with four classic reissues, he is eager to let everyone hear what he’s been doing on the road since he re-took the global stage for his victory laps. So much more than an old act from yesteryear, Mergia balances his legendary Ethiopian recordings with good old-fashioned sweat-soaked live concert triumphs such as the one we have here.

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DJ Black Low burst on the international scene last year with Uwami, a collection of his early, downright avantgarde amapiano work. The young producer and DJ makes electronic music that sounds like nothing else: glitchy and fierce while smooth and soulful, all under the rubric of South Africa's most-exported dance music movement to date. Now comes Uwami II, which features the rest of the tracks from the acclaimed debut plus a new song "Gijima." The Pretoria, South Africa-based artist has more work in the pipeline as we present these inimitable songs for the first time on vinyl. The song "Gijima" is a previously unreleased track Black Low chose to include in this collection as cremates more work at a furious pace. "This is essential listening from a 20 year-old star." - Resident Advisor Best Tracks of 2021 "Uwami keeps an adventurous spirit at its core and pushes far beyond genre conventions in the process." - The Vinyl Factory "A producer with a fully realized voice." - Bandcamp Best Albums of Winter 2021 "The hard hitting beats of the electronic percussions make the songs seem like they're out of this planet." - AfroPop Worldwide

TRACKLISTING: 01. ALONE IN A DARK [+ MR. PERFECT FEAT. DJ LA BENGWA] 02. SBONO (VOCAL MIX) [FEAT. DJ LABENGWA, LICY JAY & MENATE ENTERTAINMENT] 03. DOWN THE ROAD (ORIGINAL MIX) [FEAT. DJ LA BENGWA] 04. VULA VALA 05. 60 DAYS NO SLEEP 06. GIJIMA (VOCAL MIX) [FEAT. STATAH & DAFF GEE]

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Tracklist:

1 KADI YOMBO
2 GHO MITSABA NA VOKO
3 BOSSOGHO AKÉTI NA MISSINGUI
4 MOGHOGHO
5 GHO MINONGO
6 NGONDÉ
7 POPEDAKA
8 NIAGHAULIANO GHUNI
9 KUDU
10 GHO BOKA NZAMBÉ

Kadi Yombo, published in 1989, is the most successful album in the quest for a fusion between tradition and modernity in Bwiti harp music of the Tsogho people of Gabon. Combining beating rattles with a layer of synthesizers, Papé Nziengui blends in a contrapuntal dialogue characteristic of harp playing: male song in appeal and female choir in response, male voice of the musical arc and rhythms of female worship. But above all it's Tsogho ritual music and modern studio orchestration. The result is an initiatory itinerary of 10 musical pieces which are all milestones likely to be simultaneously listened to, danced, meditated on, and soon acclaimed. In the years since, Nziengui has traveled he world from Lagos to Paris, from Tokyo to Cordoba, from Brussels to Mexico City to become a true icon, the emblem of Gabonese music. Like Bob Dylan, "electrifying" folk and Bob Marley mixing rock with reggae, some purists have criticized Nziengui for having distorted the music of harp by imposing a cross with modern instruments. They even went so far as to claim that Nziengui was just an average harpist covering his shortcomings with stunts that were only good for impressing neophytes; like playing a harp placed upside down behind his back or playing two or three harps simultaneously. Sincere convictions or venomous defamations, in any case, Nziengui never gave in to such attacks, imposing himself on the contrary to pay homage to the elders (Yves Mouenga, Jean Honoré Miabé, Vickoss Ekondo) while instructing the maximum of young people. He is thus the promoter of many young talents, the most prominent of which is certainly his nephew Jean Pierre Mingongué. In a conservative society where the sacred is confused with secrecy, exposing the mysteries of Bwiti in broad daylight can be punished by exclusion or even execution. Papé Nziengui has always claimed that he faces such risks because he never felt enslaved to a community that governs his life, that regulates his conduct, that has a right of censorship over his activities. Like Ravi Shankar, the famous sitarist, Papé Nziengui is a man of rupture but also of openness, a transmitter of culture. As proof, he has established himself in Libreville, Gabo's capital, as the main harpist for sessions and concerts, accompanying the greatest national artists (Akendengué, Rompavè, Annie-Flore Batchiellilys, Les Champs sur la Lowé, etc.) as well as foreign artists (Papa Wemba, Manu Dibango, Kassav', Toups Bebey, etc.). In 1988, he was the first harpist to release an album in the form of a cassette produced by the French Cultural Center (Papé Nziengui, Chants et Musiques Tsogho). At the same time, he created his own group (Bovenga), combining traditional music instruments (musical bow, drums, various percussion instruments, etc.) in the framework of a true national orchestra, which gave the first concert and the first tours of a traditional music that was both modern and dynamic, thus "democratizing" the harp, to the dismay of certain purists. On the other hand, in modern music, dominated by the logic of profit or even commercialism, artistic creation must often be adjusted for a specific audience based on reason rather than heart. But instead of allowing himself to be distorted, Papé Nziengui has always tried to produce music that is not a caricature, worthy in its expression as in its content, of the sacredness and transcendence of the music of the Origins. This is what makes Nziengui-not only the musician, but the man-someone whose age hasn't altered any of his freshness or authenticity.

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TRACKLIST
01. TEZETA
02. ENDEGENA
03. ZENGADYW DEREKOU
04. GUMEGUM
05. NEFAS NEW ZEMEDIE
06. ATMETALEGNEM WOI
07. MESTIRAWI DEBDABE
08. OU-OU-TA
09. AYA BELEW BELEW

Unknown recording outside Ethiopia which documents Mergia Hailu & The Walias legendary early period. Beautifully-rendered instrumentals of classic Ethiopian standards, "Tezeta"is the follow-up reissue of the hugely popular seminal Ethiopian instrumentals LP "Tche Belew" (ATFA012). It was a Cassette-only release in 1975 on the band's in-house label, to fund their record store. From their genesis as members of the Venus club in-house band in the early 70s, Hailu Mergia and the Walias Band were at the forefront of the musical revolution during an era where modern instruments and foreign styles superseded the traditional fare to become the staple sound of Ethiopia. No one would argue that the Walias were the trailblazing powerhouse of modern Ethiopian music. They were the first band to form independently without affiliation to a theatre house, a club or a hotel; unprecedented and risky as they had to raise all funding for expenses by themselves including buying equipment. They were the first to release full instrumental albums, considered to be commercially unviable at the time. They opened their own recording studio, with band members Melake Gebre and Mahmoud Aman doubling as technical buffs during sessions. They were also the first independent band to tour abroad. In short, they were the pioneers every band tried to emulate; some more successfully than others. Odds are, any Ethiopian over the age of 35 who had access to TV or radio by the early 90s, will instantly recognize the sound of Walias. What is not a given is, how many would actually identify the band itself. Barely a day went by without hearing the Walias either in the background on radio or as an accompaniment to various programs on TV. This Tezeta album, the band's second recording, released in 1975, is one of those that have been impossible to find for nearly three decades. Sourced by Awesome Tapes From Africa and expertly remastered by Jessica Thompson, its unique and funky renditions of standards and popular songs of the day are so quintessentially Walias, flavorful and evocative. Hailu's melodic organ, unashamedly front and center in every track, makes even the complex pieces accessible. Profoundly engaging; it's an immersive trip down memory lane for those of us getting reacquainted with it, while also an enthralling and gratifying experience for fresh ears.

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At the age of 28, Awalom Gebremariam arrived in the United States, following a years-long journey from Eritrea. He'd made it to a refugee camp in Ethiopia several years ago and eventually attained asylum status for passage to America. But before he left his hometown, Eritrea's capital Asmara, he made his first and only recording so far, Desdes. In 2006, Awalom began to teach himself two of Eritrea’s most recognizable and important folk instruments, the wata and the krar. Although they have roots in traditional music, they are heard in most Eritrean folk and pop recordings. Awalom completed Desdes in 2007, not long before he departed Eritrea. Because Awalom left after the recording he never received any money for cassette and CD sales. But he also didn't get to find out how much of an impact the songs have had locally. His songs appear to focus on love, but Awalom isn't speaking about romantic love per se. Much of the music Awalom heard growing up was intertwined with Eritrea's difficult and contentious split from Ethiopia. In 2012, during a trip to Switzerland to help promote a film about biking in Eritrea, ATFA was given a copy of Desdes by fixed-gear bicycle athlete Patrick Seabase, the documentary’s protagonist. Seabase gave a copy to ATFA founder Brian Shimkovitz as a gift and it later appeared on the ATFA blog. ! A few years later Shimkovitz was contacted by some agencies in North Carolina, where Awalom had settled. Through a translator very one decided to work together on a reissue of his recording. It took many months to source a clean master but now the album is ready and Awalom’s goals are clear. He spent years waiting for the chance to escape economic and political turmoil at home. Now 29 and living in North Carolina, he works in a restaurant and plans to bring his music to Eritrean communities across North America as well as newer listeners with whom his powerful sounds and remarkable journey will deeply resonate

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Another essential US 90s bit from Tom Chasteen and Michael Kandel originally on the Exist Dance portfolio. Well ahead of its time, this exposé of ceremonial grade psychedelic nuances featuring South Asian vocal samples interlaced with electronic music production methods takes the originally more fast passed trance-like direction of the label’s first 3 years and re-directs things towards a new more downtempo/trip-hop route. With the BPM counter cruising in the low 100’s steadily throughout the first 3 tracks and ending on a full on ambient beatless 8 minute meditative journey, this EP marks a new aesthetic plateau for the Exist Dance catalogue, with “Cantamilla” even crossing over to Balearic radars and being played by Ibiza legends like Jose Padilla.
“Recorded in Heaven”. Take a trip.

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Downtown E-Style Sound Crawlers

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Palmkids is a creative duo/studio with its own production line based in Pontevedra (Galicia). Among other projects such as PALMCO RADIO, this EP is the result of the union and friendship between Palmkids and the Galician label Must Be On Wax. On this EP, Bruss presents his vision of 90s Brazilian Baile Funk, fusing the pulsating rhythms of Baile Funk and deep grooves of Miami Bass, including remixes by Juait and Street Choice.

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Tracklisting
A1 Stones Taro - Clutch
A2 Stones Taro - Busy Lips
B1 Stones Taro - Stealthy Meow
B2 Stones Taro - Clutch (Christopher Ledger remix)

Sales Note
A Bold New Direction from Kyoto's Finest

Kyoto-based dance music label NC4K's boss, Stones Taro, delivers a daring new EP in the third installment of the NC4KWAX series. Known for his dance-floor-focused beats and impeccable sound quality, Stones Taro pushes the boundaries of his sound on this release.
The EP kicks off with "Clutch," a track that immediately captivates with its addictive vocal chops and signature Stones Taro breakbeats. The up-and-down bassline provides a solid foundation, ensuring that your speakers get a workout. "Busy Lip" follows suit, with its chaotic mix of vocal samples and percussion creating a sense of euphoria. The clap on the third beat adds a challenging yet rewarding twist to the track. The third track is pure Stones Taro, featuring a ravey breakbeat sound with trance-like elements that elevate the track to new heights. Finally, Roman producer Christopher Ledger delivers a stunning remix of the fourth track, transforming it into a tech-house masterpiece with intricate arrangements and a deep, bass-driven groove.

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Four tracks of esoteric and spatial electronica are served up on Quartz’s debut release for R&S Records. Via releases for Metalheadz, Rupture London and System Music, amongst others, the ascending producer from Cardiff has impressed with his unique take on drum & bass, and more recently via grime influenced dubstep. A thrilling hybrid of sounds and rhythms are pulled together on the ‘Deity Spear’ release as Quartz deploys angular breakbeats, gargantuan bass tones, convoluted rhythms, and panoramic sound design across four mesmerising tracks. The opening track ‘Lilac Cobwebs’ is a reference and homage to his deceased mother, featuring a snippet of one of her last voice notes to him, and a reference to a colour he fondly remembers of her. A spellbinding and dense release from one of the UK’s most audacious producers.

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Born 2 Be Free continues its good early work with another dose of UKG old skool magic. It comes from the label head Azaad, whose previous drops have all sold out in quick time, and this one will likely do the same such is its magnetic appeal. The Londoner opens up with 'Caliente' and rides on bumpy drums with some turbo-charged stabs injecting the heat. 'Feel It' bobble along with cute chords brings a balmy feel next to whispered vocals and low slung bass for maximum lip curl. 'I Want You' brings another timeless vibe with its neon pads and cuddly, immersive atmosphere then the Az Gets Deep mix sets down with some extra depth and drive.

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Tracklisting
A1 Unknown Artist - Gin & Juice
A2 Unknown Artist - Wasn't Me
B1 Unknown Artist - Hit 'Em Up
B2 Unknown Artist - Best I Ever Had

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We go through life. We shed our skins. We become ourselves.” This line from Patti Smith was going round and round Felix Manuel’s head as he gradually constructed Under Tangled Silence, his first album in six years and a record of a literal creative rebirth. Felix originally began it in earnest in 2020 Covid lockdown, but a catastrophic hard-drive meltdown destroyed almost all his work and sent him close to psychic collapse himself. However, ultimately this pushed him to rebuild from scratch and in so doing to confront and reassess every part of his musical and psychological processes. The result is utterly extraordinary. Felix was a child prodigy as an instrumentalist and his advanced musicality has always been prominent in his music, but here he has put himself front and centre as pianist, harpist and more. And this sense of exposure as a performer interweaves with an unflinching emotional openness too. Where sometimes electronic production as advanced as this can use intellect and techniques as shields from soul-baring, this is the sound of someone who can boldly say “I feel things, I cry all the time, and I'm not afraid to say it or show it in the music.” But this doesn’t mean there’s a move away from the soundsystems and dancefloors where Felix made his name as a uniquely innovative vinyl DJ. Even just in the opening track “A Tune for Us”, minimalist piano ripples and jazz drumming flow into the breaks of vintage jungle – and as the structure of the LP unfolds, a deep ambient meditation like “Hold” can sit very naturally in between the futurist dancehall of “L’Ancienne” and the high-definition acid house mind movie of “Galaxy in Silence”. In fact, as with the hands-on musicianship, that gutsy big-speaker electronic impact is delivered with more certainty, more expertise, more personal flourishes than ever. And all of those elements are more integrated than ever too: the sound of a total musical personality emerging afresh is truly something to behold. An already remarkable talent has been refreshed, reborn and is making the music of his life.

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2024 Repress!

Canadian produced, highly sought after Hi NRG masterpiece, who’s legacy continues to live on in certain Mexican dancefloors. Faithfully remastered and officially re-pressed for the first time since 1988, featuring newly edited Bonus Beats version by Castro. In memory of Fred “Kinck” Petersen - R.I.P.

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Plastik People Collections dropped this one back in 2019, and it became an instant classic that soon sold out. It has since rocketed in price on the second-hand markets, so thankfully, the label is reissuing it this summer. Cultured Pearls's 'Mother Earth' is effortlessly cool garage-house with bumpy drums and expressive piano jams perfect for outdoor dancing. Night Society's 'You Turn Me On' has an authentic US edge and hot and humid groove with passionate vocal cries, then JJ Can's 'I Don't Know Why' is a dubby and low-slung deep garage sound with chopped vocals and a timeless appeal. Three vital cuts that will be huge all over again this year.

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