Review: Maintaining a fresh approach to releasing and compiling music, Agogo out of Austria presents the second volume of their Two Tribes series. Bringing together 14 tracks from a plethora of artists, the LP keeps with its MO of building a musical bridge between Africa and Europe. A highlight straight off the bat is Alma Negra's "Oh Mar" next to the equally subby grooves of Rabii Harnoune & V.B. Kuhl's "Invitation To Dance". More afro-futuristic elements come into play thanks to tracks by Kaleo Sansaa, Lua Preta and Dowdelin's soulful downtempo joint, "Vis La Vie". Other spiritual jazz comes through Karthala 72's "Heavy Revolution", David Nesselhauf and The Kutimangoes "Money Is The Curse", to more vocal numbers by Guts, Onipo's "Yenimo", and Octa Push, Alai K & Isaac Anyanga's "Nyatiti".
Review: With the years Strut has spent cataloging modern times music with the countless amount of compilations and reissues, curated or otherwise, the label now dips into something from the current day, and nevermore have we needed the positivity of sun-drenched polyrhythms! Add bright and vibrant future electronic percussion intertwined with traditional afro-folk, chant and spoken word, ONIPA's debut LP breathes new life and brings a carnival atmosphere to the revival we're all looking forward to this spring.
Review: Onipa are a London-based four-piece outfit centred around the duo of K.O.G and Tom Excell (of Nubian Twist). Both are of Ghanaian extraction and the music of west Africa is their stock-in-trade, with a string of EPs released via Bandcamp. This latest outing on Strut is made up of two tracks: 'Onipa' is a midpaced affair that lollops along while a chanted, African-language female vocal and some plangent six-string work play out on top - think a 'Yeke Yeke' or 'Sweet Lullaby', but at today's lower tempos - while the accompanying 'Makoma' is one for the highlife purists.
Review: French compilation label Nova's output has ranged from reggae to jazz to world music, and this club-oriented collection ploughs a similarly eclectic furrough. There's a strong African flavour to much of the album (check Onipa's 'Open My Eyes', in particular, for some fine contemporary Afrobeat), but there's plenty of variety on offer too: Polymod's 'No Other' comes on like an early Orbital off-cut, Folamour's 'Can't Live Without You' is a dusty slice of 70s-style soulful disco, Zerolex's 'Paradise', Puzupuzu's 'Treo' combines Afro-house beats with some fine acid squiggles, and on it goes. Dive in and explore!
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