Orchestre Poly-Ryhtmo De Cotonou – Malin Kpon O
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou – Ma Dou Sou Nou Mio
Orchestre Poly-Ryhtmo de Cotonou – Noude Ma Gnin Tche De Me

This was originally going to be just a little highlight of this record, but I just had too much to say and wanted to share just a bit more. 2009 has been a very good year for reissued/uncovered funk from all over the world. One of the best collections is this volume from Analog Africa, featuring this mostly obscured but mighty band from Benin and covering recordings made from 1969-1979 for the Albarika Store label.  The first volume of music from this group, released just last year, was really very solid, but I can’t express to you just how fantastic this collection is.

This group just gets in the pocket like nobody’s business, and while it seems almost blasphemous to say, they might have been even better than Fela’s Africa 70. Part of the reason I feel that way is the diversity of sounds, tempos and rhythms this group employs. All of these are front and center on “Malin Kpon O.” With it’s opening wash of organ and creeping funk throughout, this one is nothing short of a monster. It’s exactly the kind of song that would start an obsessive crate digging quest, which is precisely what happened to Analog Africa’s founder once he got a hold of this track 5 or 6 years ago.

However, my personal favorite remains “Ma Dou Sou Nou Mio,” an upbeat burner of a song, with wild, just wild I tell you, organ and guitar lines/solos before turning things over to some massively funky drums. Midway through that break, the drummer shifts the rhythm subtly and in that moment the song switches from sounding distinctly African to sounding more like upbeat funk from Texas or someplace else in the US in the early 1970s. Just an insanely funky track.

Then there’s “Noude Ma Gnin Tche De Me” which shows this group could rock out with the best of ‘em too. Really I could go on and on cause there are nothing but winners on this comp. from the Cymande in Africa opener “Se Ba Ho,” to upbeat strutters like “Me Ve Wa Se” and “Ahouli Vou Yelli,“ to slow cookers like the super duper heavy “Gan Tche Kpo.”

Apparently Analog Africa has over 500 songs from this group they are working on compiling in forthcoming years, including unreleased material, which is just astounding. If the quality keeps up like this, they will have significantly rewritten the history of African music and also re-energized a ton of crate-diggers.

Thes One and Double K are back at it again!

People Under The Stairs – Down In L.A.

Just a year after releasing one of their best records, Fun DMC, Thes One & Double K are back with another fun-loving affair, Carried Away. These boys are so serious about the party they even have their own board game, which you can play at home since it folds out of the CD insert, with spaces like “If you just Tweeted, move back two spaces.” Priceless…

…Okay, I thought that was priceless, then I found the video for a track off this record “Trippin’ At the Disco.” Now THIS is priceless!

Show begins with some classic Can from what is probably their most consistently funky record, Ege Bamyasi, and then into a group that reminds me a lot of Can, Mi Ami. More specifically, the lead singer reminds me of Damo Suzuki’s love child with Make-Up era Ian Svenonius. The good times just continue from there with new music from People Under The Stairs, Spain, Pieta Brown, Alice Russell (remixed) and also Gift of Gab from Blackalicious (though not from LCD Soundsystem who I promised to play but did not, I’ll get to that next week). The third hour begins with a set of songs from each of the discs from the latest Nuggets series, this time focusing on Los Angeles. Also high quality reissued material from Ghana via Soundway and some classic wax from the Electric Flag, Curtis Knight (featuring Jimi Hendrix) and maybe my favorite track from Richard & Linda Thompson.

Can – Pinch – Ege Bamyasi
Mi Ami – Echononecho – Watersports
Liquid Liquid – Optimo – Liquid Liquid

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Gift of Gab – El Gifto Magnifico – Escape 2 mars
Roger Mas – Cumbia Bonita – 7”
Gaslamp Killer – Yekte  Yaylalar – All Killer: Finders Keepers Records 1-20
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – Marcus Garvey – Hypnotic Brass Ensemble

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Binky Griptite & the Sugarman Three – A Lover Like Me – Daptone Gold
The Electric Flag – Overlovin’ You – A Long Time Comin’
Alice Russell – Living the Life of A Dreamer (Lilstemix) – Alice Russell Remixes
Reparata & the Delrons – I’m Nobody’s Baby Now – One Kiss Can Lead to Another
Desolation Wilderness – Restless Heart – New Universe

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The Dutchess & the Duke – When You Leave My Arms – Sunset/Sunrise
OP8 feat. Lisa Germano – Cracklin’ Water – Slush
Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra – Arkansas Coal (Suite) – Again

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Pieta Brown – I Know A Girl – Shimmer
Nick Drake – Know – Pink Moon
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – Moving On – White Lunar
J. Tillman – There Is No Good In Me – Year in the Kingdom
Richard & Linda Thompson – Night Comes In – Pour Down Like Silver

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Spain – I’m Still Free – Single
The National – Ashamed of the Story I Told – Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy
Adam Franklin – It Hurts To See You Go – Spent Bullets
Tommy James & the Shondells – Crimson & Clover – Crimson & Clover

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Music Machine – People In Me – Where The Action Is: Los Angeles Nuggets
The W.C. Fields Memorial Electric String Band – Hippy Elevator Operator – Where The Action Is: Los Angeles Nuggets
Pleasure – Poor Old Organ Grinder – Where The Action Is: Los Angeles Nuggets
Tim Buckley – Once Upon A Time – Where The Action Is: Los Angeles Nuggets

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People Under the Stairs – Much Too Soon – Carried Away
Curtis Knight & the Squires – Love – Flashing
Atlas Sound – Logos – Logos

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The Barbeques – Aaya Lolo – Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-sounds & Ghanian Blues 1968-1981
Saravah Soul – Alforria – Tru Thoughts 10th Anniversary
Breakestra – Back At The Boathouse – Dusk Till Dawn
Los Roberts – El Saltamontes – Sensacional Soul, Vol. 2
Mulatu Astatke – Emnete –New York-Addis-London: The Story of Ethio Jazz 1965-1975

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