Soundway レコード& CD

Review: New to Soundway Records comes this second edition of Ghana Special, a comprehensive compilation of '80s Ghanaian-diasporic highlife and its embrace of synthesiser and new wave elements. 20 years on from the first compilation in the series, which was released in 2009 and focused on modern and contemporary forms of highlife, this second volume focuses more on tracing the development of the sound as it took on increasingly synthetic forms. The scheme of things goes something like this: drum machines and synthesisers appeared alongside lilting guitar lines and punchy horns, and Ghanaian musicians began incorporating US disco and boogie, r&b, European new wave, and Caribbean zouk and soca into their music. A kind of socioeconomic history lesson conjoins this musicology: the eighties saw unrestricted migration policies in Western nations in the postcolonial era, which enabled new crossover industries to flourish. Thus the music you hear on this compilation was born, and thrived, and continues to thrive.

Review: The impeccable Soundway Records is back with another essential companion, this time in the form of Nigeria Special Volume 3: Electronic Innovation Meets Culture & Tradition 1978-93, which presents a collection of 19 tracks capturing the unique musical transformation in Nigeria during a pivotal era. This compilation reflects the fusion of drum machines, synthesisers and Western influences like pop, reggae, disco and soul, all blended with traditional Nigerian genres like highlife and juju. It represents a period of innovation where new technology was used to reimagine and refresh cultural sounds and what results is a bold new sounds that is going to be lapse dup by fans of names like Steve Monite and Charles Amoah.