Ostinato Us レコード& CD

Review: Two years ago, Ostinato Records was granted access to the bulging archives of Radiodiffusion-Television de Djibouti (RTD) in order to compile a series of releases showcasing the best of East African music of the last 50 years. This fine compilation showcases some of the results of the label's tireless digging. It focuses on music recorded by 4 Mars, a 40-piece Somalian supergroup which was initially established by a political party. Musically it's an astonishing melting pot of sounds and styles, with Somalian vocals rising above fuzzy 1970s synthesizers, funk guitars, North and East African rhythms, jazz and soul horns, surprise Asian instrumentation and, intriguingly, nods towards Jamaican reggae. The result is a range of vibrant, Kaleidoscopic cuts that genuinely sound like nothing else around.

Review: The Gulf of Tadjoura is a basin of the Indian Ocean in the Horn of Africa, south of the entrance to the Red Sea. It's an area rich in natural flora and fauna, with a bustling and lively music scene to match, as proven by this new compilation on Ostinato's Djibouti Archives series. It all features a 40 person Somali ensemble of dancers, actor, musicians, percussionists and singers called 4 Mars (named after the founding date of The People's Rally for Progress in 1997. The group served as house band for that collective and here show their sound is full of soulful and sassy grooves that tend to go slow but build you up big. Elements of African, Asia and Mediterranean culture all permeate the tracks, some of which are studio recordings, other live performances.

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: In a stroke of ingenuity Noori found a neck of a guitar whilst rummaging through a Port Sudan scrapyard along the Red Sea Coast in the 90s. Using their welding talents they fixed it onto a traditional four stringed tambour, creating what may be the only tambo-guitar hybrid in the world. Beja Power! Is a love letter to the Beja culture, inherently political and almost erased by the former Sudanese leader. This historically rich niche of Afro-Jazz is both nostalgic and mystical. Elements of surf rock, electric blues and psychedelia can be heard in these instrumental tracks, a 6-track capsule of a powerful identity nearly lost to the sands of time. Noori & His Dorpa Band's style is authentic and evocative and is a joyful proclamation and demonstration of the magic that is Beja sound and aesthetic.

Review: In 1988, on the eve of the civil war that began to tear apart Somalia in the early 1990s, an intrepid band of broadcasters and journalists secretly salvaged some 10,000 cassettes of homegrown music from the archives of Radio Hargeissa in Somaliland. Almost 30 years on, those tapes have finally been mined for Sweet As Broken Dates, a brilliant compilation that finally showcases some of the multitude of gems that were recorded and released in the country between the late '60s and early '90s. It's a brilliant collection, all told, full of exotic music that combines Western styles - soul, funk, disco, pop, reggae, boogie, psychedelic rock and even early hip-hop- with musical influences from the wider region (most notably Arabic and tropical music from islands in the Indian Ocean). In other words, it should be an essential purchase.

Review: In 1988, on the eve of the civil war that began to tear apart Somalia in the early 1990s, an intrepid band of broadcasters and journalists secretly salvaged some 10,000 cassettes of homegrown music from the archives of Radio Hargeissa in Somaliland. Almost 30 years on, those tapes have finally been mined for Sweet as Broken Dates, a brilliant compilation that finally showcases some of the multitude of gems that were recorded and released in the country between the late '60s and early '90s. It's a brilliant collection, all told, full of exotic music that combines Western styles - soul, funk, disco, pop, reggae, boogie, psychedelic rock and even early hip-hop- with musical influences from the wider region (most notably Arabic and tropical music from islands in the Indian Ocean). In other words, it should be an essential purchase.

Review: Ostinato Records is still in its infancy but the label has well and truly impressed us since they first launched last year. That initial string of reissue material from Cape Verde was sensational to say the least, and we're doubly impressed to see that the label heads have now sprawled out to Sudan, a corner of Africa that is comparatively less known in terms of music. With 16 tunes that have been selected for this essential double album, there is so much to explore and take in, especially given that this music is not something to be consumed superficially; let's the rhythms take you, revel in them, learn your surroundings. This is you being launched in Sudan. Hotly tipped!

Review: The story of how the Cabo Verde islands became an unlikely centre for electronic music in the early 1970s has previously been told on Analog Africa's superb Space Echo compilation. Ostinato's Synthesize The Soul explores similarly territory, extending the story until the tail end of the 1980s in a bid to showcase the development of the country's unique, synthesizer heavy fusion of African, Portuguese and American sounds. It's naturally a fine collection, full of cheery, hard-to-define fusions rich in vintage synthesizer sounds, righteous horns, fuzzy electric guitars, celebratory vocals and fluid organ solos. In other words, it's like the greatest tropical party you've never been to, and William Onyeabor is playing the Moog.

Review: After that magnificent compilation from Analog Africa from summer 2016, we have become increasingly obsessed with the sound of the Cape Verde islands, an archipelago off the coast of West Africa. Until recently, its musical culture hadn't quite permeated the Western world, but things have changed. Thanks to that aforementioned compilation, and now this new collection of stupendous tunes compiled by the young Ostinato Records, we have realised just how amazing the island's music tradition really is, particularly in the 70s and 80s. These guys were ahead, using a mixture of local Creole singing and visionary synth experimentation, the have constructed a sound of their own, utterly inimitable and instantly recognisable. The same familiar names appear on this new comp, including Abel Lima, Tchiss Lopes, Jose Casimiro, and a whole slew of previously untapped artists. To us, this is the best form of outernational on the market at the moment, and we couldn't recommend this enough. KILLER.