Comet France レコード& CD

Review: Ayizan's lone album, 'Dilijans' originally came in 1984. Since then, it has been seen as something of a slept-on, hard-to-find classic. Musically it joined the dots between "compas" (a style popular in Dominica and the Antilles) with folk, jazz, funk and soul. This is the latest reissue and a great chance to cop a record that is the epitome of breezy, soulful, sun-kissed tropical goodness. Top tunes range from the chant-along, carnival-ready flex of the title track and marimba-fired, beat-free brilliance of 'Tem'.

Review: Full Moon Ensemble's Crowded With Loneliness is one of the French free jazz scene's early classics. It is now the first reissue from Comets new series and it comes on lovely gatefold vinyl. Produced by Claude Delcloo, it has echoes of Pharaoh Sanders and politically-engaged French poetry (most of which was inspired by US poet Bob Kaufman) over next-level drumming. The band saw very little commercial success but was much loved on the live scene. They all went their separate ways as a result and left behind this holy grail which is now available to all once more.

Review: Few sounds transcend time like Afrobeat, and few artists defined it as profoundly as Tony Allen who has long been the genre's legendary heartbeat. In 2011, Allen recorded a masterful rhythmic session for Comet Records' Afrobeat Makers Series where his drumming, unconstrained and deeply expressive, speaks a universal truth through its unique cadence. On this album, La BOA-La Bogota Orquesta Afrobeat-engages Allen's legacy in a remarkable dialogue led by Daniel Michel. The Colombian band blends Afrobeat's essence with their unique rhythms and merges Caribbean beats, Pacific grooves and Andean influences into a fittingly lively tribute and a seamless cultural exchange where Bogota meets Lagos.

Review: Italian duo Nu Guinea has previously proved adept at creating humid, sultry deep house and tropical-infused electronics. Here, they focus a little more on the latter with a concept album based around the distinctive Afrobeat rhythms of legendary drummer Tony Allen. With his blessing, and that of the Comet label on which he's been releasing since the 1980s, the Early Sounds Recordings pair has cut-up and re-constructed Allen's drums, combining them with their own steamy electronics, vintage synthesizer lines and classic drum machines. It's an intoxicating and hugely entertaining blend that sits somewhere between their previous outings, Danny Wolfers' material under the Nacho Patrol guise, and the dreamy late '80s/early '90s work of forgotten Italian producer Mr Marvin.

Review: One of the leading lights of Ghana's vibrant musical ecosystem, Ebo Taylor cast a monumental influence thanks to his deft blend of Afrobeat, jazz and funk, helping define the now-canonical highlife sound. 'Twer Nyame' was released as a three-track single in 1978, although the 16-minute run time of the track makes it much more than a rapid fire hit. Backed with the delicate delights of 'Peace On Earth' and the shuffling funk perfection of 'Atwer Abroba', it's a rare gem of Ghanaian groove from the undisputed king of the sound.

Review: Ebo Taylor And The Pelikans were Afro-funk masters of the seventies. Their self-titled 1976 record is one of the most well-regarded and highly sought-after Ghanaian funk offerings and now it gets a high-quality reissue by Comet Records. This album contains the legendary 'Come Along' and is the first time revered artist, arranger, musician and producer Ebo sang the seminal Ghana funk tune. He is joined throughout by the 12-piece Cape Coast collective The Pelikans led by Bessa Simmona with rhythm guitarist Fifi Orleans Lindsay.

Review: Comet's "Disco Highlife" re-edit series continues with an EP that draws together original tracks and reworks from two of the Highlife scene's biggest stars: Ebo Taylor and Pat Thomas. The latter can be found on side A, with the tipsy, synth-driven highlife-boogie fusion of "Enye Woa". This is in turn re-edited by LeonxLeon, who has not only extended the original track but also added some superb new spacey synth solos. Turn to the flip for Ebo Taylor's richly percussive, Hammond-laden disco-highlife bubbler "Atwer Abroba" and Leo Nanjo's brilliant remix, which re-imagines the track as a rubbery chunk of Highlife-house drenched in dub delays.

Review: The term Afro-house seems to be getting chukka bout ever more freely and ever less responsibly these days. This second volume of Afro Rhythms from Comet France does have some credible and authentic claims on the term though with source material by Afro beat legend Tony Allen amongst others getting some fine remix treatment. Ricardo Villalobos & Max Loderbauer go first with an elastic dub, Jeff Sharel layers in more minimal textures to his remix of Brighter Nights and on the flip is a standout from Ed Banger's Krazy Baldhead which is all tin-pot percussion, shuffling broken rhythms and off grid madness.