PASTEUR LAPPE Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Having previously reissued Pasteur Lappe's sought-after 1979 sophomore set, No Man Pass Man, the crew behind the Africa Seven label has turned its attention to the Cameroonian artist's similarly impressive debut, We The People. It's a vibrant and hugely entertaining six-track set, with Lappe offering up a range of dancefloor-ready cuts that variously touch on heavy Afro-disco ("More Sekele Movement (Papa Ni Mama)"), horn-heavy tropical funk ("Dora"), saccharine English language ballads ("Watcha Get Ma Day Dreams"), thrusting disco-funk righteousness (Clav-happy smasher "Sekelimania (Nku Bilam)" and "The Sekele Movement") and laidback, Steely Dan style West Coast jazz-rock ("As Far As I Can Remember").

Review: In terms of being an afrobeat legend, Pasteur Lappe is Cameroon's Fela Kuti, an unsung hero who was ahead of the game back in the 1970s and 1980s, and one whose been famous for burning the pockets of many diggers nowadays. Luckily, Africa Seven have compiled some of his best work onto a ten-track LP, ranging from the funky oddities of "More Sekele Movement" or "Na Real Seke Fo'ya", to the future-zouk sound of "Sanaga Calypso", and plenty of jazzy, popped-out, disgruntled soulfulness to satisfy anyone from Gilles Peterson to Cherrystones. Heavy and warmly recommended.

Review: Africa Seven's A7 Edits offshoot has already proved to be one of the better re-edit series around, primarily because they consistently employ some of the best re-editors in the business, offering them the opportunity to select tracks they want to rework from the parent label's vast catalogue of licensed cuts. This edition - the seventh EP to date - is another action-packed winner. Rising star Alan Dixon delivers a lightly tooled-up, all-action revision of Gyedu Bley Amadou's tropical disco classic 'Highlife', before Barcelona-based John Talabot and Pional re-frame Ekambi Brilliant's 'Afrika Afrika' as a kind of Afro-post-punk/dub disco mash-up. Over on side B, Escapade dances through a bouncy disco-house take on Pasteur Lappe's 'Na Real Sekele Fo Ya', while Jacques Renault expertly rearranges Michael Amara's Afro-disco-funk staple 'New Bell'.