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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SNDW 143LP
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Having further honed his craft, Reuben Vaun Smith returns to Soundway Records with a sonic odyssey through lo-fi Balearic and Afro-Caribbean influenced synth. Heralded as one of the best summer releases of 2020 (Beat Caffeine), Warm Nights (SNDW 136LP) introduced his unique blend of synth-based Balearic grooves, mid-tempo lo-fi beats, and sun-drenched sonic landscapes. A lush debut and an inspiring story of resilience from the former football promise that turned to music production serendipitously after an injury halted his career. Smith's second album continues his exploration into improvised live instruments and programming, while venturing into new territories of music-making and genres including soca, benga, and trip hop. Also sliding into the mix are organic sounds and riffs reminiscent of 2000s Villalobos sunrise scorchers such as "Waiworinao", keeping the Balearic thread firmly present throughout the album. Having learned to sail along the southern coast of Spain in the last year, Smith spent a winter locked down in Yorkshire, channeling summer memories into his music and drawing influences from his own record collection which he would play everyday in the studio. With a few local friends and his brother to jam with, the result is dreamy and lo-fi, with more guitar-led melodies, distant vocals and lush pads. Smith's debut album from 2020, Warm Nights, received an array of rave reviews and support from DJs including Tom Ravenscroft, Antal and Bill Brewster. One year later, with Sounds From The Workshop Reuben Vaun Smith delivers a matured, varied sound and a glimpse into his incredible future potential. For fans of: Greg Foat, Felbm, Ricardo Villalobos, Harvey Sutherland, Hidden Spheres, Bonobo, St Germain.
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SNDW 140LP
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Serving up euphoric disco hooks, to classic house choruses and forays into Latin funk, Balearic, and psychedelia -- New Zealand collective Flamingo Pier are set to release their debut self-titled album. In 2019 and 2020 they released two widely lauded EPs on Soundway Records, garnering support from Maribou State, Tim Sweeney, BBC 6 Music DJs, The Blessed Madonna, and JD Twitch, to name a few. They wrote most of the album together in 2020 in South Auckland. Musicians from the tightly knit local scene swung through to contribute to the recording, including fellow Soundway act Julien Dyne on drums, as well as saxophonist Nathan Haines. The self-titled album draws from the band's wide-ranging taste, as well as what they've been playing in order to keep spirits up. Channeling classic emotive house, to disco, Afro and jazz funk on their debut album, Flamingo Pier cite a wide range of musical influences such as Khruangbin, Roisin Murphy, Peven Everett, house legends Masters at Work and Brazilian artist Tim Maia. This translates into an uplifting but nostalgic current running throughout the album -- reflecting on last chances, soul-searching and longing for the carefree days of the dance floor. RIYL: Psychemagik, Jayda G, Tame Impala, Earthboogie, Todd Terje, Joey Negro.
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2CD
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SNDW 132CD
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Soundway releases first Caribbean compilation in over ten years, Body Beat: Soca-Dub And Electronic Calypso 1979-98. 17 obscure soca B-side versions, dubs, instrumentals, and edits as well as vocal tracks influenced by disco, boogie, house-music, soul, and the more conscious lyrics of roots reggae. Owing as much to New York, Toronto, and London as to the Caribbean cities of Port of Spain, Bridgetown, and Kingstown this compilation traces the genre from its explosion in the late 1970s right up to the period just before contemporary soca became established around the end of the 1990s. Compiled by Soundway label founder Miles Cleret and DJ/collector Jeremy Spellacey, Body Beat, as with many compilations on the label, explores the fringes of this often maligned (by outsiders) genre. Boiled down to the bare bones of the matter though: soca is party music. Soca was originally a re-invention of Calypso music; a genre that in the 1970s was fast becoming usurped around the Caribbean by Jamaican reggae and American soul, funk and later disco. The originator of soca (or sokah as he called it), the calypsonian Lord Shorty, began experimenting and modernizing on the formulation of calypso in the early 1970s. His first album featured a strong emphasis on East African rhythms and a punchier recording style that emphasized the beat, and introduced arrangements that often owed as much to American funk and soul as to calypso. So here you go -- seventeen slabs of soca crossover, rapso, electronic calypso, and Caribbean "soca-soul" for your enjoyment -- and bound to fit well into modern, open-minded DJ sets alongside the resurgence of burger-highlife, digi-reggae, soukous, and zouk. Features Cito Jarvis, Roger Bain, *D* Ivan, Bill Campbell, Brother Resistance, Adonijah, Peter Britto, Juno D, Colin Jackman, Levi John, Spiking, Mohjah, Andre Tanker, Touch, D'Rebel Band, The Millers, and Chocolate Affaire. RIYL: Rebles' Sweetest Taboo (Soca) 12" (SNDW 12036EP), George & Glen Miller's Easing 12" (SNDW 12037EP), Wilson LeGendre. Double-CD version comes in three-panel accordion cover; includes 20-pg. booklet.
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3LP
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SNDW 132LP
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Triple LP version. Gatefold sleeve. Soundway releases first Caribbean compilation in over ten years, Body Beat: Soca-Dub And Electronic Calypso 1979-98. 17 obscure soca B-side versions, dubs, instrumentals, and edits as well as vocal tracks influenced by disco, boogie, house-music, soul, and the more conscious lyrics of roots reggae. Owing as much to New York, Toronto, and London as to the Caribbean cities of Port of Spain, Bridgetown, and Kingstown this compilation traces the genre from its explosion in the late 1970s right up to the period just before contemporary soca became established around the end of the 1990s. Compiled by Soundway label founder Miles Cleret and DJ/collector Jeremy Spellacey, Body Beat, as with many compilations on the label, explores the fringes of this often maligned (by outsiders) genre. Boiled down to the bare bones of the matter though: soca is party music. Soca was originally a re-invention of Calypso music; a genre that in the 1970s was fast becoming usurped around the Caribbean by Jamaican reggae and American soul, funk and later disco. The originator of soca (or sokah as he called it), the calypsonian Lord Shorty, began experimenting and modernizing on the formulation of calypso in the early 1970s. His first album featured a strong emphasis on East African rhythms and a punchier recording style that emphasized the beat, and introduced arrangements that often owed as much to American funk and soul as to calypso. So here you go -- seventeen slabs of soca crossover, rapso, electronic calypso, and Caribbean "soca-soul" for your enjoyment -- and bound to fit well into modern, open-minded DJ sets alongside the resurgence of burger-highlife, digi-reggae, soukous, and zouk. Features Cito Jarvis, Roger Bain, *D* Ivan, Bill Campbell, Brother Resistance, Adonijah, Peter Britto, Juno D, Colin Jackman, Levi John, Spiking, Mohjah, Andre Tanker, Touch, D'Rebel Band, The Millers, and Chocolate Affaire. RIYL: Rebles' Sweetest Taboo (Soca) 12" (SNDW 12036EP), George & Glen Miller's Easing 12" (SNDW 12037EP), Wilson LeGendre.
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CD
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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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SNDW 057CD
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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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LP
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SNDW 093LP
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2021 restock. LP version. 2017 release. The Heliocentrics are a group for which genres are meaningless and boundaries invisible.. The primarily instrumental group, who operates out of their vintage analog studio in East London called the Quatermass Sound Lab, brings in a new singer on album number four -- a young Slovakian singer called Barbora Patkova. The result is an album that takes the band, already solidified in ever-expanding grooves and rhythms, into new previously unexplored dimensions
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CD
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SNDW 124CD
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Soundway present Gumba Fire, a new compilation of rare 1980s South African "bubblegum" and boogie. In 1980s Black South Africa, a local form of pop music evolved as the disco boom died down and slowly mutated. It was often ubiquitously described as bubblegum -- usually stripped-down and lo-fi with a predominance of synths, keyboards, and drum-machines and overlaid with the kind of deeply soulful trademark vocals and harmonies that South African music is famous for. Compilers Miles Cleret (Soundway) and DJ Okapi (Afrosynth Records) present a selection of 18 rare, handpicked 1980s cuts that highlight the period that nestles in between the '70s (where American-influenced jazz, funk, and soul bumped shoulders with local mbaqanga) and the '90s when kwaito and eventually house-music ruled the dancefloors of urban South Africa. Alongside French-Caribbean zouk this kind of music has slowly been making its way into the DJ sets of many of the most open-minded selectors around the world. This compilation is in many ways a sister release to the hugely popular compilation of Nigerian boogie and disco that Soundway released in late 2016: Doing It In Lagos: Boogie, Pop & Disco In 1980s Nigeria. The album takes its name from the band Ashiko's track that also features on the compilation. The term is derived from gumba gumba, the term given to the booming speakers of the old spacegram radios that broadcast music into South Africa's townships and villages. "Gumba Fire" later evolved into a phrase that refers to a hot party. Put this record on and feel the heat! Features The Survivals, Stimela, Hot Soul Singers, Zoom, Ashiko, Monwa & Sun, Ntombi Ndaba, The Black Five, Starlight, Zasha, Sabela, Condry Ziqubu, General Peter Maringa, and Ozila.
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CD
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SNDW 049CD
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Straddling the line between new and old, Meridian Brothers' mischievous blend of Latin rhythms and psychedelic grooves is the creation of Eblis Álvarez, one of the key figures of the experimental music scene in Bogota. Desesperanza is dedicated exclusively to salsa and tropical music, twisting it through a dark and theatrical psychedelic soundscape but never abandoning the traditional aesthetics. As with all of the Meridian Brothers' releases, every instrument on Desesperanza was played and recorded by Eblis himself. A true avant-garde guitar player and composer, Eblis also plays in Mario Galeano's band Frente Cumbiero and was one of the 42 musicians involved in the recording of Ondatrópica (SNDW 045). Meridian Brothers are at the core of a burgeoning music scene with cumbia, salsa and currulao all being explored by a new generation of Colombian musicians.
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CD
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SNDW 014CD
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Sweet Talks were undoubtedly amongst the top five biggest bands in Ghana in the 1970s, recording a string of hit albums. The Kusum Beat was originally released in 1974 and became somewhat of a household favorite with heavy emphasis on the "Afro" through its traditional rhythms and motifs, blended together into a modern mix that combined highlife, funk and Afrobeat. Like a small handful of seminal Ghanaian albums, The Kusum Beat has stood the test of time and sounds as original and unique today as it did back in 1974, thus original pressings are in high demand and can be found on record exchanges for significant prices. This was the second album from the band who were formerly known as El Dorados, later to change their name to Medican Lantcis before settling on Sweet Talks, having moved to a live residency at the legendary Talk of the Town nightclub in the port town of Tema, just outside the capital of Ghana-Accra. It is here that they established a name for themselves as one of the most exciting young bands in the country. Due to the popularity and commercial success of their first three albums -- Adam & Eve, The Kusum Beat and Spiritual Ghana -- the band began touring on a regular basis and made it as far as Los Angeles and here they went on to record what was to be their biggest-selling record, the Hollywood Highlife Party LP as well as some straight disco recordings aimed squarely at the burgeoning American market. The Kusum Beat is far from typical of their trademark sound but shows just how versatile an outfit they were -- able to turn their hands to any one of a number of styles. It's a great reminder of how open-minded, experimental and curious the music scene in Ghana was back in the first half of the 1970s.
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