Wah Wah 45s レコード& CD

Review: Eparapo is a Yoruba word for joining forces, as well as the name of a Tony Allen track, and now it's been adopted as the banner for this project which serves as a kind of Afrobeat supergroup. The band came together in lockdown, driven by bassist and composer Suman Joshi, a member of Dele Sosimi's Afrobeat Orchestra. Given he's performed with the likes of Allen too, he's got the experience and vision to take Afrobeat's legacy forwards, which he does so with vivid force and urgent intent as he confronts the inequalities and societal ills thrown into sharp relief by the pandemic. It's music with a purpose played by some of the best in their field, with Sosimi and Afla Sackey also appearing - if you value Afrobeat as a continued, evolving vehicle of expression, this is essential listening.

Review: Wah Wah welcome the return of multi-talented Norwegian producer Espen Horne, following a 24 year hiatus. Sometimes, such resurfacings must happen - even after such long periods of time - if only to reaffirm the round-robin integrity of the label. The Anatomy Of Serene Eloquence is thus the logical, LP-form follow-up to 1999's acid jazz single/EP 'Magnetica', which, though released only to furtive acclaim, launched the label's reputation as a pusher of delights. This new one, however, makes for a remarkably different turn in sound, coming as a full-length of ambient, tremolo-ing and glistening jazz-funk verging on hip-hop (though certainly cut from the same cloth as 'Magnetica'). Vocalists and instrumentalists such as Olav Wollo, Faye Houston and Aich are kept firmly in tow, squeezing the icing onto an already spongy, delicious sonic gateau.

Review: Dele Sosimi, UK Afrobeat maestro and former member of Fela Kuti's band Egypt 80, keeps the stylistic flame well alive with his new LP, The Confluence, made in collaboration with The Estuary 21 aka. Sam Duckworth. Sosimi is usually heard focusing on the more eventidal moods of Afrobeat, asking the listener to imagine the genre in a more serene state of flow, in contrast to Kuti's original hip-swaying histrionics; his hedonic rancour. Following 2023's 'The Confluence' EP, the eponymous LP follows and hears the Hackney-born hero and the prolific pop producer team up for a multi-alias exploration, with Duckworth donning his alternate Get Cape Wear Cape Fly moniker many times throughout and flaunting the absolute best of his production chops.