Soundway Records is a British-based independent record label founded and run by English DJ and music producer Miles Cleret. It started in 2002 with the release of a compilation of Ghanaian music from the 1970s : Ghana Soundz: Afrobeat, Funk & Fusion in '70s Ghana'.
Since then the label has released a series of critically acclaimed compilation albums and re-issues of African, Caribbean, Latin and Asian music from the 1950s - 1980s. These include the best-selling compilation Doing It In Lagos (2016) and others such as Nigeria Special, Ghana Special & Kenya Special compilation albums that Cleret spent years bringing together.
With these compilations alongside a string of highly sought-after rare reissue albums, the label has also began in 2012 to develop a series of original contemporary releases. These include releases from acts such as Batida, Ibibio Sound Machine, Debruit & Alsarah, Fumaca Preta, Ondatropica, The Meridian Brothers, Bomba Estereo, Family Atlantica, Dexter Story, The Heliocentrics and Lord Echo.
In 2014, Soundway was named by The Guardian as "One of the 10 British Labels defining the Sound of 2014", and in 2017 was named "Label Of The Year" at the Worldwide Awards in London founded and hosted by Gilles Peterson.
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2LP
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SNDW 125LP
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Double LP version. Gatefold sleeve. 16 rare synth cuts from '80s and '90s Brazil, compiled by Brazilian DJ Millos Kaiser. Some crate-digging compilations are often the result of someone hand-picking their choice favorites from another country's musical history, perhaps unaware or uninvolved with its cultural lineage in the process. On Soundway's latest release -- a treasure trove of synth jams, pop, samba boogie, Balearic, and electro from '80s and '90s Brazil -- the tracks are picked by Millos Kaiser, one half of the Brazilian duo Selvagem, who are at the helm of throwing some of the country's best dance parties. It's a rare compilation that offers Brazilian music actually picked by a Brazilian. Whilst names such as Ricardo Bomba, Villa Box, Fogo Baiano, Electric Boogies, and Batista Junior may not be household names, they tell an untold, yet rich and important part of musical history in Brazil. The release also covers a decade that has been intentionally forgotten and brushed aside by many in the country. Onda De Amor is a release that is loaded with smooth grooves, bubbling bass, glistening synthesizers, funk-strutting guitar lines, and sheen of production that undeniably marks it of its time. For Kaiser this compilation is about reintroducing music during a period of reappraisal, catching a new wave and hoping contemporary listeners will ride it with him. "The idea is to do justice to these songs. Songs that combine all the right ingredients that should have put them on radio playlists when I was growing up or at least in the cases of more adventurous DJs." Millos Kaiser is a DJ, digger, vinyl junkie/dealer born in Rio de Janeiro and living in São Paulo for the past eight years. He launched the dance party/club night Selvagem with partner Trepanado in 2010, bringing thousands of dancers one Sunday a month to a public square in the heart of São Paulo. RIYL: Music From Memory's Outro Tempo Brazil compilation (MFM 016CD/LP, 2017), Spacetalk compilations, Sabor Do Brasil compilations, Selvagem's Boiler Room set, Mr Bongo's Brazilian compilations. Features Ricardo Bomba, Vânia Bastos, Rosana Mendes & Grupo Veneno, Grupo Controle Digital, Villa Box, Batista Junior, Dado Brazzawilly, Anacy Arcanjo, Fogo Baiano, Dodô Da Bahia & As Virgens De Porto Seguro, Via Negromonte, Electric Boogies, Os Abelhudos, Nanda Rossi, André Melo, and Região Abissal. CD version includes 20-page booklet.
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SNDW 024CD
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2010 release. A retrospective "discovery price" sampler featuring a choice selection from some of Soundway's favorite tracks they've released from 2001-2010. From the highlife, disco, and rock sounds of '70s Nigeria to the golden age of Panamanian music, Benin's Afro-Latin grooves, Colombia's champeta and all other forms of tropical and Afro sounds imaginable, Afro Tropical Soundz Volume 1 is an essential introduction for music fans who are new to African, Latin, and tropical music and also a superb overview for fans of the label. For the first time ever, Soundway mix and match both sides of the Atlantic from the west coast of Africa to the Caribbean islands, the Isthmus of Panama and beyond. Presented in a brown manila CD digipack, this collection clarifies Soundway's unstoppable thirst for unveiling forgotten chapters from some of the world's richest musical cultures. Soundway's mission is to present the very best in obscure A-sides, B-sides, and album cuts that have remained unavailable -- until now. Artists include: Ebo Taylor, Fruko Y Sus Tesos, Papi Brandao, Lito Barrientos, Oscar Sulley & The Uhuru Dance Band, Les Loups Noirs de Haiti, The Sweet Talks, The Action 13, Los Silvertones, Celestine Ukwu, and Orchestre Poly-Rythmo.
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12"
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SNDW 081LP
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Last copies of this 2016 RSD release. This album, one of West Africa's very rarest, was recorded for the Decca label in Lagos and only ever released in tiny numbers in Nigeria in 1975. A rich mixture of poly-rhythmic Afro-soul, jazz, highlife, and Afrobeat it has an undeniable flavor with Joe Mensah's arrangements, keyboard playing, and vocal style adding an extra sophistication to proceedings. This is the first time the album has been available in its original format since the mid-1970s.
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SNDW 125CD
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16 rare synth cuts from '80s and '90s Brazil, compiled by Brazilian DJ Millos Kaiser. Some crate-digging compilations are often the result of someone hand-picking their choice favorites from another country's musical history, perhaps unaware or uninvolved with its cultural lineage in the process. On Soundway's latest release -- a treasure trove of synth jams, pop, samba boogie, Balearic, and electro from '80s and '90s Brazil -- the tracks are picked by Millos Kaiser, one half of the Brazilian duo Selvagem, who are at the helm of throwing some of the country's best dance parties. It's a rare compilation that offers Brazilian music actually picked by a Brazilian. Whilst names such as Ricardo Bomba, Villa Box, Fogo Baiano, Electric Boogies, and Batista Junior may not be household names, they tell an untold, yet rich and important part of musical history in Brazil. The release also covers a decade that has been intentionally forgotten and brushed aside by many in the country. Onda De Amor is a release that is loaded with smooth grooves, bubbling bass, glistening synthesizers, funk-strutting guitar lines, and sheen of production that undeniably marks it of its time. For Kaiser this compilation is about reintroducing music during a period of reappraisal, catching a new wave and hoping contemporary listeners will ride it with him. "The idea is to do justice to these songs. Songs that combine all the right ingredients that should have put them on radio playlists when I was growing up or at least in the cases of more adventurous DJs." Millos Kaiser is a DJ, digger, vinyl junkie/dealer born in Rio de Janeiro and living in São Paulo for the past eight years. He launched the dance party/club night Selvagem with partner Trepanado in 2010, bringing thousands of dancers one Sunday a month to a public square in the heart of São Paulo. RIYL: Music From Memory's Outro Tempo Brazil compilation (MFM 016CD/LP, 2017), Spacetalk compilations, Sabor Do Brasil compilations, Selvagem's Boiler Room set, Mr Bongo's Brazilian compilations. Features Ricardo Bomba, Vânia Bastos, Rosana Mendes & Grupo Veneno, Grupo Controle Digital, Villa Box, Batista Junior, Dado Brazzawilly, Anacy Arcanjo, Fogo Baiano, Dodô Da Bahia & As Virgens De Porto Seguro, Via Negromonte, Electric Boogies, Os Abelhudos, Nanda Rossi, André Melo, and Região Abissal. CD version includes 20-page booklet.
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SNDW 017CD
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...From The French Caribbean, 1963-74. 2009 release. Often overlooked in the English-speaking Caribbean, the scattering drums and soaring clarinets of the biguine ruled the airwaves and dancefloors of Martinique and Guadeloupe in the 1960s. This album showcases the vibrancy of the scene on the islands in the '60s and '70s -- a scene that would go on to develop the all-conquering sound of zouk in the '80s. Uptown bands like Ensemble La Perfecta and Les Loups Noirs combine heavy rhythms and psychedelic effects in an inimitable style -- check out the crazed "Jet Biguine" for a better idea. The deep and introspective sounds of Monsieur Dolor and Guadeloupean hero Robert Loison show the deep African roots of the music -- songs born out of the plantations, with an insistent rhythm and mournful vocals that are unique to these islands. Overlooked outside of Paris, Montreal, and the French Caribbean for many years, this collection redresses the balance by presenting the vital sounds of Martinique and Guadeloupe -- missing pieces of the musical jigsaw puzzle of the Caribbean. CD includes a 24-page booklet with detailed historical notes and rare photos. Features Barel Coppet et Mister Lof, Les Loups Noirs D'Haïti, Abel Zénon, Raphaël Zachille, Robert Mavounsy Quartet, L'Orchestre Jeunesse de Paul-Emile Haliar, Orchestre Combo Zombi et Michel Yéyé, Les Kings, Claude Rolcin et Le West Indian Combo, Anzala, Dolor, Vélo, Les Léopards, Ensemble La Perfecta, Le Ry-co Jazz, Lola Martin, Les Aiglons de Basse Terre, Les Gentlemens, L'Ensemble Abricot, Francisco, Monsieur Dolor et Les Guitar Boys, and Robert Loison.
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2LP
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SNDW 013LP
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2018 repress. Soundway present the second volume in their Panama! series, showcasing the unique tropical music created in Panama during the fertile decades of the 1960s and 1970s. Panama is one of the world's great crossroads -- a bridge between North and South America, and home to the great canal that links the Caribbean and the Pacific. After soaking up the varied influences of Panama's diverse population, the dancefloors and bars spat out a heady mix that took in the raw vallenato of neighboring Colombia, the soul and funk of America, the calypso of Trinidad and the son and rumba of Cuba, all combined and re-styled in a uniquely Panamanian fashion, making Panama a central spoke in the wheel of Caribbean music. Writer and compiler Roberto Ernesto Gyemant travelled throughout the country in search of elusive records and reclusive musicians, tracking down hopeful tips and half-remembered names and addresses. Two years of digging through dusty warehouses and old radio stations in search of crackly records and dusty photos led to an exhaustive look at the musical culture of this fascinating country. If you think salsa is the sum total of Latin American music, then think again -- the hot sound of Panamanian musica tipica and calypso Español throws everything into the mix for a non-stop journey through Afro rhythms, carnival sounds, tipica soul, and cumbia madness. Listen to the heavy tamborito rhythm of Los Silvertones and you'll hear where the instantly-recognizable, syncopated beat of modern-day reggaeton was born. Check the countrified re-versioning of Willie Colon's classic "La Murga De Panama" -- a perfect riposte to those that think Latin music begins and ends with Shakira. Listen to "La Escoba" by Alfredo Y Su Salsa Montañera and see that the currently in-vogue sound of cumbia owes as much to Panama as it does Colombia. Also features Papi Brandao Y Su Conjunto Aires Tableno, Maximo Rodriguez Y Sus Estrellas Panameñas, Papi Brandao Y Sus Ejecutivos, Skorpio, Los Superiores, Idamerica Ruiz Con Osvaldo Ayalla Y Sus Conjunto, Los Revolucionarios (Soul Revolution), The Duncan Brothers, The Soul Fantastics, The Exciters, Meñique El Panameño Con Bush Y Los Magnificos, Camilo Azuquita, Los Papacitos, Sir Jablonsky, Lord Cobra Y Los Hnos. Duncan, Ceferino Nieto, Ormelis Cortez Con Su Conjunto Viva Guararé, and Chilo Pitty.
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12"
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SNDW 12028EP
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Four slices of disco-dub heat focused on the Heads label out of South Africa -- a sister 12" to Gumba Fire (SNDW 124CD/LP). William & The Young Five's "You Turn Me On" is a meaty, classic early '80s disco jam. New York's JKriv takes elements of the vocal and dub and reworks them into a condensed dancefloor winner. Sofrito's Frankie Francis gives Adaye's 1980s track "Turn it Up" and the Manyane cut "Thabong" the cut-up treatment, focusing heavily on the spaced-out weirdness of the dub versions. The set ends with "Picnic" by the mostly instrumental studio outfit Starlight.
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SNDW 047LP
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2018 repress. Double LP version on 180 gram vinyl; includes download code. Soundway Records present 24 Hours in a Disco 1978-1982, seven cuts of relentless disco grooves from the sublimely gifted Kiki Gyan. Hailed as Africa's answer to Stevie Wonder, Ghanaian multi-instrumentalist Kiki Gyan was a musical wunderkind, who, by 1975 had risen from the lowly status of high school dropout to being ranked eighth in a poll of the greatest keyboardists in the world (occupying the rarefied air of the top 10 with heavyweights like Steve Winwood, Billy Preston, and Stevie Wonder) as well as becoming an in-demand session player in the top recording studios of London -- all before his 21st birthday. Out on his own, he produced a series of highly ambitious disco records aimed at positioning him as an international star, but weighed down by the excesses of the era, Gyan saw his meteoric rise matched by an equally swift fall back into obscurity. Loved dearly by his contemporaries and sorely missed since his death in 2005, the story of the life of Kofi Kwarko "Kiki" Gyan is one often told with warning by his friends to the new generation of aspiring Ghanaian pop-stars. Soundway Records now collects the best of Gyan's work as a frontman and solo artist, featuring an array of electrifying disco grooves that still sound contemporary (and in some cases futuristic) decades after their initial release. Accompanied by detailed liner notes written by Uchenna Ikonne. Tracks recorded by Kiki Gyan and Gyan's bands K.G. Band and The Twins.
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2LP
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SNDW 039LP
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Repressed, originally released in 2012. Gatefold double-LP version; 180 gram vinyl. Dancing Time: The Best Of Eastern Nigeria's Afro Rock Exponents 1973-77 by The Funkees is the latest title on Soundway to mine the rich musical output of '60s and '70s Nigeria. For the five-year period this compilation spans, The Funkees' output crackled with dancefloor fire. Having featured on three of Soundway's most popular titles, across the definitive Nigeria Special compilation series, Soundway felt The Funkees' output deserved closer inspection. Presented here are 18 slices of funky Afro-rock grooves, hand-picked by Soundway's Miles Cleret from a selection of the band's 45s and two full-lengths. In the early 1970s, The Funkees were the #1 east Nigerian band and the only outfit to seriously challenge the popular Lagos-based rock combos MonoMono and BLO. It wasn't long before promoters in the UK came calling and The Funkees packed up their instruments and moved to London, where they quickly established a fierce reputation on the live circuit. Here, they recorded two seminal albums before finally breaking up in 1977 amidst some controversy. This collection features for the first time all of their Nigerian 45s alongside the best of their UK album material and is accompanied by a full interview with original member Sonny Akpan, who still lives in the capital.
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7"
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SNDW 060X-LP
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2017 release. This single is of the two first ever recordings by Fela Ransome Kuti with his band The Highlife Rakers. Recorded by Melodisc in London in 1960 both tracks have been unearthed after more than fifty years in hiding. This 7" was originally released as a bonus to Soundway's vinyl edition of the compilation Highlife On The Move - Selected Nigerian & Ghanaian Recordings From London & Lagos - 1954-66, but due to an accidental over-pressing the label made a small number of these 45s available for sale individually.
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12"
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SNDW 12029EP
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Soundway present the debut EP from The Mauskovic Dance Band -- a heady, tropical blend of cumbia, Afro-Caribbean rhythms, and space disco, resulting in a vibrant hypnotic groove destined for bustling dancefloors. The Mauskovic Dance Band is the brainchild of the Amsterdam-based producer and musician, Nicola Mauskovic. A seasoned drummer, he finds himself constantly in demand -- as part of Turkish psychedelic outfit Altin Gün, a recent tour with the revival of Zambian legends W.I.T.C.H., and a worldwide tour with psych-pop artist Jacco Gardner, with whom he then went on to form the dance-oriented duo Bruxas.
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SNDW 041CD
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The Manifest Tone journey began in 2004. During breaks from touring with Antibalas, New York City-born Chico Mann began crafting a more personal sound in his basement studio. A hybrid beast of culture and tone where Fela Kuti and Willie Colon meets Stevie B, Lisa Lisa, Afrika Bambaata, and Kraftwerk, it lives in a landscape shaped by Africa, Cuba, New York, and Miami. These unique experimentations led to the release of Manifest Tone Volume 1 in 2006 and eventually morphed into Volumes 2 and 3 that were finished in 2008 and 2010 respectively. What sounds on paper like a meeting of styles past in reality emerges sounding incredibly fresh and original -- a unique style Chico Mann has dubbed "Afro-Freestyle". This album represents the choicest cuts from Chico Mann's Manifest Tone, Volumes 1-3, that until now were only available digitally.
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SNDW 082CD
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2016 release. Cosmic Unity, like the band itself, mirrors the mixed-up, intercontinental terrain of Family Atlantica's home town. Moving through genres as diverse as psychedelic highlife, steel-pan Ethio-funk, calypso, baião, and scorching equatorial jazz underpinned by deep Afro-Atlantic dance rhythms, Family Atlantica have created a cohesive, forward-looking sound that echoes classic tropical recordings of the past whilst still sounding fresh and contemporary.
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SNDW 067CD
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2014 release. Fumaça Preta's hard hitting, free-wheeling debut LP brings together elements of tropicalia, psychedelic rock, fuzz funk, musique concrete, acid house, radiophonic electronics, hair metal, voodoo, and African, Brazilian and Latin rhythms.
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LP
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SNDW 057LP
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LP version. 2014 release. Ibibio Sound Machine release their self-titled debut album through Soundway. Fronted by British/Nigerian vocalist Eno Williams, they combine elements of West African highlife, disco, post-punk, and psychedelic electro soul.
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SNDW 12027EP
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2017 release. DJs and fans alike can look forward to another helping of Lord Echo, with a 12" featuring fresh takes on his high-rolling summertime opus "The Sweetest Meditation". Expect luxurious slices of disco dub with a new mix cooked up by the Lord himself, a remix by long-time collaborator Julien Dyne, a Black Ark style disco-dub of a rare early version as well as the original mix heard for the first time at 45RPM. Remix by Julien Dyne.
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2LP
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SNDW 064LP
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CD
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SNDW 062CD
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2014 release. Muyei Power, or Orchestre Muyei (muyei means "our country"), was one of the top dance bands of the1970s in Sierra Leone. Soundway's first collection of music from this West African country, Sierra Leone in 1970s USA, is an album of rock-infused, "Afro" music from a group that traveled the world throughout the mid-1970s. Fusing elements of electric Congolese and Nigerian music with fast, syncopated, up-tempo modernized arrangements of traditional music, Muyei Power produced a series of unique single-only releases that have been unavailable for 35 years. The rare recordings featured here are a glimpse of a dynamic and powerful band at the very height of its powers.
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LP
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SNDW 063LP
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2014 release. A kaleidoscope of rainbow textures and rhythms disperse into the exotic soundscape of Tropical. Electronics, real folk instruments, and noise-making objects feature here generously on this six-track concept album by My Panda Shall Fly, blending together a sonic palette influenced by a rich variety of music, people, and places.
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SNDW 092LP
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SNDW 092CD
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2017 release. Baile Bucanero is the long-awaited follow-up to Ondatrópica's 2012 self-titled album (SNDW 045CD/LP/X-CD, 2012). Ondatrópica's second record was recorded in both Bogota and the Caribbean island of Old Providence. Fueled by bushy rum, the sessions -- often including up to 35 musicians -- capture the dialogues between calypso and gaita, accordion and lapsteel, clave and mandolin, even synthesizer and a horse's jaw bone.
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LP
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SNDW 083LP
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2016 release. Reissue. People Rock Outfit (P.R.O.) were a garage-rock band formed in 1974 from the ashes of The Hygrades -- one of Eastern Nigeria's hottest psych-funk-rock outfits of the early 1970s. Blacky Joe, their only album, was recorded in 1976 and originally released in only very small numbers on the EMI Nigeria label.
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SNDW 094LP
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2016 release. On Keira, Susso, aka bassist/producer Huw Bennett, creates music inspired by, and directly sampling, the magnificent sounds of the Mandinka people, recorded during a recent trip to Gambia. Initially travelling with the aim of gaining perspective as a musician and to discover a new world of music first hand, Huw found himself humbled by such a welcoming community of artists, mostly belonging to the celebrated Suso and Kuyateh griot families. The tracks are composed entirely from original source material, field recordings, and Huw's talents as a multi-instrumentalist; performing tuned percussion from the region including the Mandinka balafon, kutiringding drum, as well as drawing on his skill as a professional upright/electric bassist. The music produced has a contemporary electronic sound, whilst still paying homage to a traditional Gambian aesthetic. Keira (meaning "peace") guides the listener through Huw's journey up the River Gambia, being welcomed into remote dusty villages, where your people are the most important thing in life.
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2CD
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SNDW 087CD
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2016 release. Soundway present a compilation of twenty rare and mostly unavailable tracks from the slick and sassy world of Nigerian pop music and club culture of the early 1980s. Buoyed by an explosive oil boom and a return to democracy after a series of military dictatorships, Nigeria's economy in the years of the early '80s was mirrored by its recording industry as countless young artists and groups hit the airwaves and dancefloors of the capital and beyond. Features: Hotline, Peter Abdul, Steve Monite, Oby Onyioha, Kio Amachree, Livy Ekemezie, Willy Roy, Danny Offia & The Friks, Rick Asikpo & Afro Fusion, Terry Mackson, Ofege, Odion Iruoje, Mike Umoh, Burnis Moleme, Sony Enang, Veno, Godfrey Odili, Toby Foyeh, Gboyega Adelaja, Lexy Mella, and Nkono Teles.
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LP
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SNDW 089LP
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