Modern flip of Marco Bosco's classic, Metalmadeira

"In 1983, Grammy-winning Brazilian percussionist Marco Bosco released Metalmadeira — a groundbreaking fusion of hand-built percussion, early drum machines, and lush synth textures. Four decades later, celebrated Curitiba-based collective Alter Disco (Bárbara Boeing, Phil Mill, De Sena) reimagine the album for today’s dancefloors.

Working from the original stereo recordings (the master tapes long since damaged), Alter Disco preserved the organic feel of Bosco’s unquantized rhythms while infusing them with deep, modern grooves. The result is a cross-generational dialogue between Brazil’s early electronic avant-garde and contemporary club culture.

Highlights include Pedra, pulsing at 130 BPM with a vintage vocoder line nodding to Detroit techno pioneer Juan Atkins, and Camila, which wraps Bosco’s sharp percussion in atmospheric synths and hypnotic beats.

Metalmadeira II is raw yet refined — live instrumentation and electronic production in perfect balance, blurring the line between archive and innovation.

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Seminal sounds from the golden age of Ghanaian music. Highlife, rock, and soul collide and merge with tradition and culture. New styles meet old styles. A new generation renews old musical customs. New fashions meet old fashions, creating new fusions. Features rare tracks from Hedzoleh Soundz, Ogyatanaa Show Band, Honny & the Bees and early Ebo Taylor (Asaasa Sa). These tracks were originally available on vanishingly rare 70s pressings, then a highly collectible 5LP box set released in 2009.

This special vinyl edition is produced in conjunction with the James Barnor archive, featuring a previously unpublished 1976 photo from the archive of Ghana's most famous photographer

Comes with Obi-strip.

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Black Vinyl! Repress!


Orbits, the sophomore LP from The Circling Sun, channels the cosmic energy of '70s spiritual jazz, filtered through synths, layered percussion, and ethereal choirs. The Aotearoa collective expand their sonic universe with nods to Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Azymuth, and ambient jazz — offering deep listening for jazz heads and newcomers alike.

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Seminal album from cult Ghanaian musician Alhaji K. Frimpong, recorded in 1976 and considered to be one of the best highlife albums ever recorded.

The Blue Album brings new arrangements to traditional Ghanaian melodies and features the masterpiece Kyenkyen Bi Adi M’awu (come back my love) - universally known in Ghana, covered and sampled by artists such as Chronnix, Gnarls Barkley and many more.

Backed by Vis a Vis - one of the most influential bands to come out of the Ghana Highlife / Afro Rock movement.

Although popular in Ghana at the time of the release, the albums were never distributed internationally and originalcopies of the album are extremely rare. The albums got a limited reissue in 2011 and have been unavailable since - even reissue copies sell for high prices on the second hand market

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Seminal album from cult Ghanaian musician Alhaji K. Frimpong, recorded in 1977 and considered to be one of the best highlife albums ever recorded.

The Black Album expands the electronic elements and features the equally visionary Hwehwe Mu Na Yi Wo Mpena, although the real gem is hiding on the B side: the extended groove of “Adam Nana”. Sinuously evolving guitar lines, clavinet vamps, harmonised vocal snatches and otherworldly percussion expand and contract over a full quarter of an hour - a Ghanaian repost to the Afro Jazz experiments going on at the same time on the other side of the Atlantic.

Although popular in Ghana at the time of the release, the albums were never distributed internationally and original copies of the album are extremely rare. The albums got a limited reissue in 2011 and have been unavailable since - even reissue copies sell for high prices on the second hand market.

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Mythical soul/boogie record recorded in Louisiana by Nigerian multi instrumentalist Rick Asikpo when he was studying in Houston.

Rick Asikpo started his musical career while studying in Houston, joining local Black Artist collective The People’s Workshop, before returning to Nigeria and releasing a run of successful albums throughout the 80s.

“Got To Be Me” was recorded at River City Studio in Baton Rouge in 1981 but was only released back in Nigeria and sold little at the time, with original copies vanishingly hard to find.

Layers of synths wash over drawn out, Earth, Wind and Fire inspired grooves, moving from the uptempo “Disco Life” and “Jam” to the languid boogie and two step soul of “Love” and Donny Hathaway-esque “Let’s Get High”. The album is shot through a Texan/Nigerian filter that stands as a missing link between the dancefloor experiments of Houston and Lagos

As featured on Soundway’s seminal “Doing It In Lagos” compilation

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New Generation Carnival Riddims from St. Lucia and Dominica

A hurricane of turbo-charged, body-buzzing tracks collide on Road Fever, a compilation of razor-produced, road-tested instrumental riddims from St. Lucia, Dominica & Guadeloupe that showcases the producers forging the future of Caribbean music in 2025.

Road Fever draws together instrumental Dennery Segment and Bouyon riddims originally made for vocalists, presented for the first time as stand alone pieces of music. Distilling carnival riddims down to the bare bones, producers push minimal 150+ bpms, FL-percussion packs, DJ/vox samples & synth riffs, bridging trap, drill, dancehall, sped-up Haitian konpa & Angolan kuduro

Ricocheting at the intersection of TikTok culture, best heard blasted through walls of speakers travelled by stage-sized carnival trucks or via bluetooth car speakers, St.Lucia’s ‘Dennery Segment’ sound, (as iconic producer, G6 described in an interview), “sparks your inside; a sound you can’t hear and not move”.

Amsterdam-based, Curaçao-raised compiler Rozaly echoes G6: “Once you hear it, you can’t unhear or unfeel it. This is a musical movement with an entire history with so many relevant reasons why it still exists, and why it exists the way it exists right now”. Rozaly concludes, “there is nothing more simple, let the artists speak.”

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Soundway Records presents a collection of Nigerian music chronicling a time when drum machines, synthesisers, imported pop, reggae, disco and soul collided with highlife, juju and cultural music.

The late 70s saw a period of political turbulence and prompted change across the country. Following suit, musicians and producers entered a period of experimentation, adaptation, modification and innovation, using new technology to renew and refresh cultural traditions. Nigerians formed their own unique approach to the limitless creativity these new instruments offered, to reveal a distinct sound which would dominate local airwaves for the decade to come. Nigeria Special Volume 3 celebrates the rich diversity of culture and musical styles of the nation, showcasing eighteen tracks across various genres which laid foundations for the innovation of Afrobeats artists of today.

Triple Vinyl gatefold LP compiled by Miles Cleret and Jeremy Spellacey, includes a large 8 page booklet with detailed liner notes, record scans and never-seen-before photos.

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Soundway Records delivers an exciting new compilation, diving ever deeper into South-East Asia. Ayo Ke Disco celebrates the musical identities emerging during the 1970s and 80s from the newly independent countries nestled around the South China Sea.

This time, Soundway’s long-time general manager Alice Whittington (aka DJ Norsicaa) steps into the limelight, embracing her Malaysian heritage and selecting music from her heavy collection of Asian records. Aside from steering the label, she is often found on international stages and radio stations playing an eclectic array of music.

For Ayo Ke Disco (meaning ‘Let’s go to the disco’ in Indonesian), 10 rare tracks of disco-funk, psychedelic funk, synth, city pop, and Hindustani-Arabic rhythms were painstakingly licensed from local labels – forming a snapshot of the vibrant discotheques and live scenes across Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

The vinyl release is also accompanied by the Ayo Ke Disco zine from Norsicaa, with extensive research on the history of music in South-East Asia, archival photos and exclusive interviews with some of the region’s most respected collectors.

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Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH275gX4auQ

The debut album from Bahraini-born, British-based musical duo Dar Disku is a celebration of their Arabic heritage and multicultural influences that melds golden age West Asian and North African sounds with a contemporary dance floor focus. Recorded between the UK, Algeria, Turkey and Tunisia, the album seamlessly crosses from disco to Raï, piano house to Turkish psychedelia, ambient to Bollywood and features guest artists from Algeria, Turkey and Bahrain as well as legendary Indian singer Asha Puthli.

Dar Disku is the innovative duo of Mazen Almaskati and Vish M, known for their dynamic DJ sets and eclectic mixes, into which they bring a deep-rooted passion for the rich musical traditions of the SWANA region (South West Asia and North Africa).

The self-titled album is a culmination of years of learning, listening, and creating. It serves as a transportive portal into the duo's expansive world beyond the dance floor, capturing the cosmic emotions of cinema through a meticulous analog approach to live recordings. It channels a wide range of influences, including Egyptian folk, Turkish psych, Algerian rai, Sudanese funk, Ethiopian jazz, and Khaleeji disco.

“Sonically we have tried to capture what time traveling with Dar Disku through our different influences would feel like,” they say of their recording process, “and although inspired directly some of our favourite hidden gems from the past, the sound of this record remains unmistakably rooted in our present day where current influences from electronic genres, hip hop, jazz and psychedelia also shine through.”

The pair explain that they learnt much of this through their own previously released edits of middle eastern music “which inspired us to create our own brand new original songs that draw from a similar breath. We've been able to combine this with our contemporary inspirations and bring to life something that is comfortingly nostalgic and yet refreshingly new.”

Vish and Maz have put immense effort into researching the songwriting and recording methods of the decades they draw inspiration from - utilising vintage consoles, analog synthesisers, and carefully crafted sonic spaces. This dedication is evident in every track, which combines their contemporary influences with the rich musical traditions of the region to create something that feels both timeless and innovative.

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Following on from his previous debut album Tape 1/Tape 2 on Soundway, Felbm delivers Tape 3/Tape 4: an intimate, emotional, lilting and melodic solo project. These 14 lo-fi, instrumental, jazz-infused sketches were written on guitar, with cascading keyboards, vibraphone and drum machine. Possessing a restorative and soothing quality, it goes some way to balancing out a chaotic year for the world at large. With echoes of the dreamier end of 1980s English indie-pop, minimal ambient music and Brazilian bossa-nova, Topper"s musical storybook includes touches of The Durutti Column, hints of Antônio Carlos Jobim and Baden Powell, whilst all set firmly in the summer fields of Germany and the Netherlands. The recording method used for the creation and recording of Tape 3 and Tape 4 follows the same as his previous release: all sketches were initially recorded onto cassette on a 4-track tape machine. Most notably a vibraphone finds its way onto almost every track fitting Topper"s sound-palette perfectly: warm yet distinctive, a percussive as well as sustaining sound that evokes some melancholy and a certain timeless nostalgia. Features that most certainly also apply to the other "new" instrument on the tapes: mellotron flutes. Tape 3/Tape 4 navigates the space between quiet, open, meditative tunes and more solid instrumental works, reflecting his constant search for an optimal balance between stillness and movement.

Tracklist
1.1Filatelie
1.2Tartufai
1.3Tiquetonne
1.4Veluwe
1.5Herausweh
1.6Talmen
1.7Heisei
1.8Brunnengasse
1.9Colorists
1.10Langeweile
1.11Beaufort
1.12Somnambulant
1.13Regtur
1.14Midori

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Soundway presents Ferdinand ‘Maréchal’ Papillon’s underground club classic Moulongo - recorded in Paris in 1995 and highlighting the Zouk/dancehall/Makossa crossover sound that was then coming out of the city’s studios. Features a new remix from Canadian producer Poirier for a 2024 bassline zouk mover, cut loud and proud on 12” vinyl.

Ferdinand ‘Maréchal’ Papillon was part of the makossa wave that moved from Cameroon to France and across the African diaspora in the 80s and 90s, bringing the sounds of rhythms of Douala and Yaoundé to the clubs and dancefloors of Paris. Although best known for his Sakissa style - his own uptempo take on the makossa of Cameroon - Papillon also regularly featured zouk and reggae influenced tracks on his albums, combining Caribbean and African influences into a unique sound that has stood the test of time.

‘Moulongo’ originally appeared on Papillon’s highly sought after 1995 album “Homme fort….je suis sérieux” and was recorded at Studio de la Madeleine in Paris. The Moulongo session features a who’s who of the Paris scene of the time - Aladji Touré and Toto Guillaume from Cameroon as well as Congolese guitar greats Ngoma Lokito and Nene Tchacou - and combines dancehall, zouk and makossa elements for a pan-African dancefloor sureshot.

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Cult soca disco 12”, produced by Leston Paul and originally released in 1984 - now available for the first time in 40 years.

Barbara Hernandez was working as a backing singer for Kool and the Gang in New York at the time the track was recorded, and the session featured their horn section as well as a who’s who of the Trinidad music scene for what would be Barbara’s only solo release. Suffering from poor distribution at the time of release, the 12” failed to make waves at the time but is now lovingly remastered and cut loud, a sure fire dancefloor sure shot.

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In the early 1980s, a particular alchemy between new musical technologies and significant social, cultural, and political transformations in Ghana gave rise to a new style of highlife. Drum machines and synthesisers appeared alongside lilting guitar lines and punchy horns, and the emerging Ghanaian diaspora began incorporating US disco and boogie, R&B, European new wave, and Caribbean zouk and soca into their music.

This style soundtracked the birth of a new, proud Ghanaian identity and captured the idiosyncrasies of a rapidly changing postcolonial society, marked by increased migration and wider access to global sounds and modern technology.

More than 20 years after the release of the heavy funk and Afrobeat-focused Ghana Soundz compilations, and following the success of 2009’s Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Ghanaian Blues 1968-1981, Soundway is now shining the spotlight on the multifaceted, diasporic sounds of the ‘80s on new compilation Ghana Special - Volume 2, a collection of 18 burger highlife, electronic afrobeat, and reggae tracks.

Though Ghanaian to its very core, burger highlife emerged mostly outside of Ghana and just as the sun was setting on the country’s musical golden age. In the 1960s and 1970s cities such as Accra, Tema, Takoradi, and Cape Coast were home to thriving music scenes, and the loud horn sections of the big highlife bands, or the simpler, socially conscious palm wine music ruled the dance halls, locals drinkeries, and airwaves.

Back then music represented a powerful force, and an artist’s endorsement or dissent could make or break a politician. Perhaps to curb this power, the incoming military regime-imposed curfews and substantial import taxes on musical instruments in the early 1980s. These measures, coupled with a profound economic downturn and shifting musical preferences that saw DJs replacing large live bands, served as the final blow to Ghana's once-thriving music scene.

Musicians left Ghana in droves, scattering across West Africa, Europe, and North America. Thanks in part to its more permissive migration policies Germany became the heart of this scene, and the movement in fact takes its name from “Bürger”, the German for “citizen”. Less confined by genres than back in Ghana, artists in the diaspora were quick to engage with the different styles, working disco, boogie, and funk into their highlife melodies. Access to state-of-the-art studios and modern musical technologies also gave birth to all sorts of mutations: burger highlife in fact is less defined by one particular sound, than by the experimental approach and global outlook of its artists.

Tracks such as Ernest Honny’s experimental cut “New Dance” are an example of just how far artists strayed from original highlife arrangements. Honny, who started his career as a keyboard player with Dr K Gyasi’s band The Noble Kings, had moved to Benin in the 1980s, where he experimented with synthesisers and drum machines at one of Cotonou’s top studios. Similarly, Nan Mayen’s “Mumude” is a slick, 80’s pop track which was recorded in Germany, with only a slight echo of highlife in its opening Fanti lyrics.
This generation of artists found inspiration in sounds that transcended geographical boundaries: singer and guitarist Nana Budjei, who was originally from central Ghana but had moved to the UK in the 1980s, says that his radiant, sun-drenched 1988 track “Asobrachie” is “influenced by reggae maestros Bob Marley and Alpha Blondy, and traditional Akan folklore music”; on “Jigi Jigi”, the Kumasi-born, Sweden transplant Delips Apo draws on soca, latin, and zouk influences.

Throughout the 1980s Ghanaian artists kept producing increasingly innovative and experimental hybrids, winning over new audiences abroad. Though back in Ghana the new sound was initially met with disapproval by purists, it slowly became a symbol of a new, worldly and modern Ghanaian identity. The creativity and open mindedness that characterised burger highlife have gone on to shape the evolution of Ghanaian music since, giving artists the freedom to explore new global sounds while preserving a proudly Ghanaian soul. Ghana Special - Volume 2 stands as a vibrant tribute to the lasting legacy of this groundbreaking musical era.

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The star-studded Sai Galaxy project returns, bringing together West African legends Steve Monite and Rob with multi-instrumentalist Simon Durrington, guitar maestro Alfred Bannerman and Egypt 80 trumpet player Bade for a second EP of vital Afro Disco and Soul. The EP follows up 2022’s “Get It As You Move” EP, blending layers of vocal harmonies and synth washes with a rock solid disco base. The sound stays faithful to the analogue production techniques of the 70s and 80s, adding a modern touch informed by Simon Durrington’s Digital Afrika project.


Lead single Hold You Tonight features Nigerian disco icon Steve Monite (best known for his mega hit “Only You”), revisiting his 80s origins with a dancefloor-ready slice of dubby boogie.


Rich Man Poor Man (featuring Ghana’s very own Rob) slows down the tempo and brings the highlife influence to the fore, while Sometimes It Rains brings a neo soul bump with the Omar-esque sound of Fijian vocalist Kaivili.

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Soundway presents a long-awaited remaster and re-cut of the 1976 album ‘Ifetayo’ by Black Truth Rhythm Band, an important and overlooked chapter in Trinidad’s rich musical history that blends West African influences with jazz, funk and the social commentary of the calypso tradition.

Led by the charismatic Oluko Imo (who went on to record with Fela Kuti and perform with members of Fela’s Egypt 80 band ), the group drew on the strong connections to Yoruba culture and Orisa traditions in Trinidad, looking to Africa for inspiration and reflecting the burgeoning Black Power movement of the time.

Recorded at KH studios in Port of Spain, Ifetayo (Yoruba for ‘Love excels all’) was the group’s sole album release. Imo contributed lead vocals and played bass, kalimba, conga, flute and percussion, channelling music from both sides of the Atlantic into a distinctive and unique slice of Afro Trinidadian expression.

Includes bonus track “Imo” not included on the original LP

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Reissue of the 80s 12” single from Trinidadian musician Oluko Imo (Black Truth Rhythm Band), featuring Fela Kuti and Femi Kuti.
Recorded between Lagos and New York in 1988, the tracks sit at the fault line of the Trinidad-Yoruba connection, blending calypso heritage with the Afrobeat and jazz of Nigeria

On the A-side, title track ‘Oduduwa’ is a brooding slice of peak-era Transatlantic Afrobeat, blending a heartfelt plea for social justice and equality with a haunting piano line, shuffling drums and ethereal sax solo.
The song takes its name from Oduduwa, the founder of the Ife Empire, who is also seen as a divine Orisha (deity) in Yoruba culture, one that is often evoked by musicians and activists in Trinidad as a signifier of Yoruba heritage on the island.

On the flip, ‘Eyes Are Getting Red (Were Oju Le)’ is a long-lost slice of low slung Afrobeat featuring both Fela and Femi Kuti. Classic Nigerian horns and keys combine with Oluko Imo’s Caribbean-influenced guitar and Fela’s virtuoso sax solo, bridging the musical gap between Lagos and Port of Spain.

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