Juno Recommends International Best of 2020

Review: When it comes to blending contemporary dancefloor sounds with aspects of vintage funk, soul and Afro-Latin music, there are few more adept producers than former Whiskey Barons man BOSQ. He's at it again here on his first 12" of 2020. Afro-funk star Kaleta provides vocals on both A-side tracks, the Afrobeat-influenced disco-funk cheeriness of "Wake Up" (an infectious chunk of sun-soaked goodness) and the Afro-Cuban percussive shuffle of horn-heavy delight "Omo Iya". Elsewhere, Justo Valdez and Evan Laflamme guest on the Afro-Latin breeziness of "Mambue" (all dancing woodwind, Fela sax and layered drums), while "El Carriqi" sees BOSQ add Tito Puente style percussion and tight Fela Kuti style sax blasts to a club-ready Afro-house groove.

Review: In 1976, French band Edition Speciale released their debut album, "Allee Des Tilleuls". While much of the album saw them explore progressive rock and jazz-rock territory, it did contain one suitably groovy and life-affirming trip into jazz-funk territory, surprise LP standout "Mr Business". Here that cut gets a single release for the very first time courtesy of the dusty-fingered diggers at Pepite. You'll find the little-known band's languid, Clavinet and synthesizer-heavy original version on side A, with Aroop Roy's tidy contemporary rework on the B. Aroop sticks a rocket up the track's bottom end, underpinning the original song with peak-time-ready drums while wisely emphasizing his own killer bassline and catchy vocals.

Review: Berlin's Matasuna label welcomes a debut appearance from Afrobeat-flavoured outfit Heroes Of Limbo. We're not certain on where this band originally hail from, but they've got the vibe down perfectly on this smoking hot 7". "Madchester Woman" skits and scatters with loose in-the-room drums, a sassy brass section and sweet high life guitar licks. "White Noise" brings Clair Fallows on board for a strong vocal turn that turns the temperature up. This is soul-stirring Afrobeat in the mould of the originators, executed with respectful accuracy and played with passion.

Review: The result of three years of digging through tapes of "strange music" in the Radio Mogadishu archives and restless research to find the musicians involved, Analog Africa's latest compilation shines a light on Somalia's previously undocumented dance music scene. It features tracks recorded between 1972 and '91 by a variety of unknown artists, with the assembled music touching on disco, psych-funk, Moog-laden club-focused instrumentals and heavyweight, Bob Marley-inspired reggae rhythms. It's a hugely vibrant and entertaining set of off-kilter and unusual Somalian translations of American and Caribbean music styles, with the bumper accompanying booklet offering up a wealth of little-known information.

Review: African Scream Contest is the third release by the Analog Africa label. The project initially took off in August 2005 when label owner and vinyl collector Samy Ben Redjeb arrived in Cotonou, Benin, 'without any special expectations, just hoping to lay my hands on few good records - what I found in the process cannot really be described in words'. This first trip was followed by eight more to the region. Thirty months and few thousand records later Analog Africa proudly presents this 14-track compilation.

Review: Cuba-meets-Cameroon-via-Guinea-and-Senegal, the roots of this African-adopted Cuban sound are as rich, unique and exciting as Amara Toure's tale itself. After years of club performing in Dakar, Amara and his Black & White Ensemble in the late '60s and proceeded to release 10 songs during the '70s. Here, for the first time ever, all of these recordings are united on this immaculately presented collection. From the cobble-kicking percussive Cuban heels and emphatic harmonies of "Fatou" to the deep yearning crooning blues of "N'ga Digne M'be" and the spacey, out-of-this-world guitars and jazzy trumpet lead of "N'Niyo", there's something very special and unique about this collection. With a heart that beats in Africa but a soul that shines with Cuban fire, as Analogue Africa state themselves... It's only taken 10 songs for Amara to become a legend. Very few artists can claim this feat.

Review: In 1983 a group of Nigerian musicians in London headed into a studio in Hoxton Square and recorded their sole LP: a boogie and disco-infused set called 'Electric Murder'. The album was released the same year on a tiny Nigerian label, meaning that copies of this obscure classic have been sought after ever since. As this beautifully packaged and produced reissue proves, 'Electric Murder' has lost none of its lustre. Highlights come thick and fast throughout, from the slap-bass heavy celebration of opener "Funky Boogie Woogie" and the deep disco brilliance of "Electric Murder", to the low-slung, delay-laden disco-funk gem "Shake" and sugary, synth-laden slow jam "April's Girl", a track that boasts some suitably super electric piano solos.

Review: The 11th Limited Dance Edition Ranil y su Conjunto Tropical. Fourteen mindblowing Cumbia masterpieces - many of which have never seen wide release outside the Amazonian region. Ranil comes as a Limited Edition LP in Gatefold Cover pressed on 180g high quality virgin vinyl and includes a beautiful LP-size poster. Don't miss this powerfull LP!

Review: Tireless diggers and world class reissue merchants Mr Bongo have done it again with this one. They discovered The Star Beams when one of their tracks was on a Disco Calypso compilation, then went on a mission to track down the original anymore material from the band, who turned out to be based in South Africa instead of the Carribean. The resulting record is a real gem - disco, funk and jazz all get chewed up and spat out across four fantastically timeless cuts of dance floor dynamite. "Disco Stomp" in particular you might already know as Theo Parrish has been dropping in his sets for time.

Review: In the summer of 2018, Strut offered up a compilation that mined the extensive back catalogue of Disques Debs International, a Guadeloupe-based label that showcased the finest music to come out of the French-speaking Caribbean between 1950 and 2000. While that set focused on material released between 1960 and '72, this belated sequel showcases cuts featured on Henri Debs' legendary imprint between 1973 and '81. The musical palette is therefore even brighter, breezier and more sun-kissed, offering up cuts that touch on mambo, rumba, Zouk, tropical disco, reggae and the kind of cross-cultural fusions that belie easy categorization. As you'd expect from Strut, the selections are spot on and the re-mastered sound superb. In other words, it's another must-have release from Quinton Scott's imprint.

Review: Mulatu Astatke is a legendary musician who is famous for his signature playing on the vibraphone. Here he blends his Ethio-jazz sounds with the Melbourne-based group Black Jesus Experience to serve up a mix of re-interpreted African folk songs and odes to his homeland. 'To Know Without Knowing' has a decidedly hip hop edge thanks to the vocal flow and 'Mascaram Setaba' is an Ethio classic. Another highlight is 'Living On Stolen Land' which is dedicated to the First Nations people of Australia and acknowledges the pain and injustice of them not being recognised as the traditional owners of Australia.

Review: German label Analog Africa has long been documenting the more niche musical sounds, scenes and styles of the world. La Locura De Machuca: Barranquilla - Colombia 1975-1980 is in fact their 30th such compilation and tells the story of the South American country's unique Discos Machuca label. It came about after one man's bizarre odyssey into Colombia's coastal music, and across 17 tracks and two slabs of wax it offers up brilliantly raw, rhythmic and percussive music that sounds like little else. It's authentic and aged yet utterly futuristic and brims with character and vitality that transport you to a different world.

Review: K Frimpong Backed By Vis A Vis is a famously hard to find record from the cult Ghanian singer and composer. It is now reissued for the first time in more than 42 years since it was first put out and still pounds utterly fresh and relevant. Its fusion of soul and jazz, hi-life and afro drums is boosted by the Vis a Vis band. The result is four immersive tracks that among to strike spiritual and emotive notes as well as being hugely danceable. This real masterpiece has been remastered by Frank Merritt at The Carvery and is a true afro treasure.

Review: In 1976, seven Cabo Verdean musicians going by the name Voz Di Sanicolau gathered in a small recording studio in Rotterdam where they laid down an album of fearsome coladeira songs inspired by the music of their home island of Sao Nicolau.

The album took only a few days to record, which may explain the unexpected urgency that fires each track. Treble-soaked electric guitar lines snake back and forth through percussion-and-cavaquinho driven rhythms rooted in the sound of the islands established by the previous generation of Cabo Verdean emigres; subtle keyboards wash through the background, and the vocals, traded between Joana Do Rosario and To-Ze, alternately push the music forward and soar above it. The resulting album is both deeply felt and fiercely executed, and in its grooves one hears the sound of some of the finest Cabo Verdean musicians of their era locked in complete unity of purpose.

It should have been the beginning of something extraordinary; but the pressures of making ends meet forced the musicians back to their day jobs, and Voz Di Sanicolau vanished as quickly as they had appeared, leaving their lone album, Fundo de Mare Palinha, as sole proof of their existence. Forty-four years later the album sounds as fresh as it did the day it was recorded. It is unknown if dutch sound engineer Frans Rolland, who oversaw the recordings, knew he was helping to make history: during these sessions, Joana Do Rosario, whose majestic vocals were crucial to the sound of Voz Di Sanicolau, became the first Cabo Verdean woman ever to appear on a long playing record.

Review: For their latest flight on "Africa Airways", the Africa Seven collective has decided to treat us to some in-flight "Mile High Funk", all of which was recorded between 1974 and 1981. In practise, that means a mixture of disco-funk, boogie, Blaxploitation-style heaviness, Afro-disco and slap-bass-propelled goodness from across the African continent. Highlights are plentiful, with our picks including the Hammond-sporting heaviness of Akwassa's "Be Yourself (& Don't Let Nobody)", the synth-sporting highlife style revelry that is Eko's "Ndolo Embe Mulema" and the horn-heavy voodoo funk-soul cheeriness of Jude Bondeze's "Ndomo".

Review: Erick Cosaque has been part of the musical landscape of the French West Indies, and Guadeloupe in particular, for almost half a century. Between the early 1970s and the mid 1990s he was one of the driving forces of the distinctive "gwo kwa" style, but also turned his hand to zouk, funk, soul, spoken word and jazz. This fine compilation gathers together some of his most potent tracks and includes both solo efforts and those made with artists such as Voltage 8 and X7 Nouvelle Dimension. It's a hugely vibrant, colourful and life-affirming collection, with highlights including the joyous group vocals and tropical rhythms of "Joue Zizipan", the sax-laden sun-down strut of "Jean Line La Clere", and the upbeat funk/gwo kwa fusion of LP highlight "De Chate Cole".

Review: This record claims to be the first ever international release to come from Djibouti, a secret hotbed of musical goodness in East Africa. The country is a small and often overlooked land but once you dig deep you'll find a culture brimming with vitality despite the fact almost every band in the land is a national enterprise. In 2016, that changed when Ostinato Records met with senior officials of Radiodiffusion-Television Djibouti to discuss a lifting of the rules and three years later they were granted access to the archives and have put together this record, helmed by sax maestro Mohamed Abdi Alto and stuffed with essential afro styled funk and soul.

Review: Since launching in 2016, Mr Bongo's Record Club compilation series has provided three essential volumes of personal favourites - many obscure and hard-to-find - selected by the label's in-house team of crate-digging DJs. Volume four is naturally every bit as essential as its' predecessors, offering an enticing mixture of Brazilian, African, soul, funk and disco with not a suspect selection in sight. This time round, they've chosen to include contemporary music as well as dusty old gems, with highlights including Kenny Dope's delicious rework of the soul-jazz positivity of 'Throwing Stones' by James Reese and the Progressions, the fast version of Ze Roberto's 1973 MPB classic 'Lotus 72D' and the samba-folk wonder that is Matthew Tavares' 2019 gem 'Self Portrait'.

Review: With a title that translates as "soul creole", it's perhaps unsurprising to find that David Walters' new album is a warm, woozy and tropical-tinged delight. It was produced by Favorite Recordings in house producer Bruno "Patchworks" Hovart, and you can hear his hand in the warm, authentic and vintage blend of African, South American, Caribbean rhythms and instrumentation. Walters says he was inspired by the melting pot that was New York at the turn of the 80s, too, and that's evident throughout. Add it all up and you have an eclectric, retro-futurist treat held together by the dual appeal of Hovart's production and Walters' fantastic multi-lingual vocals.

Review: Two titans of African music come together for a collaboration that will sadly never be repeated after the passing of the late Hugh Masekela. Allen's instantly recognisable drumming and Masekela's iconic trumpet are a match made in heaven - after all their paths first crossed back in the 70s thanks to Fela Kuti's galvanizing energy. Forget the throwback stuff trying to capture the spirit of the originators, this IS the originators sounding cool and deadly in every way. Funk lovers, Afrobeat heads, curious ears and dancing souls take heed - this right here is an unmissable transmission from two grandmasters in their field.

Review: Takashi Nakazato spent many years studying in Cuba, learning the country's folklore and Bata under greats like Adonis Panter Calderon and Angel BoraNo. Now, Ten Lovers have culled five tracks from his previously digital and Japan-only album Clandestina with a new version of Pista Libre. Further guests such as Roberto Quintero, Davide Giovannini and Calixto Oviedo feature across the six tracks of lush jazz. Percussion often runs wild - as you would expect of someone who studied in Latin America - and busy sax lines are calmed by more soothing piano on 'Fly With The Wind', but generally this is a riotous and energetic album to make you dance.