Juno Recommends International September 2021

Review: The latest limited-edition ten-inch from Brazil's Barefoot beats label offers up two more carnival-ready edits from two rising stars of the nu-disco and edit scenes. Israeli producer Elado handles side A, following up inspired outings on Razor 'N' Tape and Red Motorbike with a subtly beefed-up take on a samba-soaked 1970s MPB gem. Full of heady Brazilian percussion, simmering orchestration, sing-along vocals and jaunty guitars, 'Tudo Magia' is just begging to be played loud in the sunshine. Over on the flip, series regular Bernando Pinheiro takes over, significantly tooling up an excitable Latin disco number via heavier bass and some tough additional percussion. Like the A-side, it sounds like the kind of thing that would get people going as the sun goes down at a music festival.

Review: Germany's Legere Recordings is the home of authentic, modern funk and jazz. For this tasty 7" outing, Welsh musician Carwyn Ellis and Rio 18 link with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales for an alarmingly exotic tune given its country of origin. This is samba drenched in sun, with all the authentic drums, soaring strings and percussive details you would expect next to some great lead flute work. That's the case on 'Ola' anyway, the more upbeat party starter, while 'Ti' is a sentimental and slow-motion ballad for weepy moments.

Review: Since launching a few years back, Jannis Sturtz's Habibi Funk label has done a terrific job in sourcing and reissuing generally brilliant music from North Africa and the Middle East. The label's second multi-artist compilation does a good job in proving this point by offering up a pleasingly eclectic range of "historic popular music from the Arab world". There's much to enjoy, from the Steely Dan-esque West Coast warmth of Douaa's 'Haditouni' and the heavy psych-funk of 'Ahl Jedba' by Fadoul, to the synth-sporting riff on the Bee Gees' 'Staying Alive' that is Najib Al Housh's 'Ya En Daly', and the slow motion, reggae-driven sunshine pop of Ibrahim Hesnawi's 'Tendme'.

Review: Cult Berber musician Hocine Chaoui is a musical whirlwind, a tornado that sucks up and spits out electronic, folk, rock, world, afro, tribal, trance, electro and country music at high speed. This is a remastered version of his Ouechesma album which was drawn from Oriental Music Production's archive of regional Algerian cassettes. It was made on traditional instruments with his own unique vocal chants and a glut of mad effects and drum machines. The beats are incessant, dense, physical. The vocals add another layer of intensity and the whole thing is as wild and crazy as it sounds.

Review: In case you missed their previous releases - and they're well worth checking - Savila is a Portland-based band that makes humid, tropical music that's heavily influenced by a variety of interconnected styles from South America, Central America and West Africa. Mayahuel, their latest full-length excursion, is a terrific showcase for their talents, with glistening tropical guitar motifs and sweet, quietly soulful vocals rising above heady cumbia, salsa and samba rhythms. It's a hugely trippy and immersive sound, too, thanks to the band's liberal use of reverb and delay, especially on the guitars and vocals. Recommended.

Review: Musician, painter, sculptor and ceramist Henri Guedon was known affectionately as the grandfather of modern music from the French Antilles. His standout album angst more than a dozen was 1975's Karma. An OG copy is hard to find and pricey when you do, so thankfully Outre National Records have secured the rights to this limited edition and remastered reissue. It is an impossibly lively fusion of soul, funk and world, jazz-rock and reggae, Afro-Cuban rhythms and indigenous African sounds like beguine and gwo ka. Guedon's vocals ride over all the many bristling drum and instrumental tracks to make for a real carnival sound.

Review: Dutch label Afrosynth's latest dig into the South African scene of the 1980s and '90s focuses on the career of Kamazu, a prolific artist who released six albums and a handful of killer singles between 1986 and '97. It's a great collection, combining his better-known hits - the mid-80s boogie goodness of "Korobela" and superb 1991 Kwaito smash "Indaba Kabani" - with a quartet of lesser-known cuts from his bulging catalogue. Our picks include the slo-mo Kwaito dreaminess of "Atikatareni" and the cheery, synth bass-propelled brilliance of "Victim", though the standard throughout is dizzyingly high. A must-have for all those who love the distinctive warm, dreamy and synth-heavy sound of South African dance music from the late '80s and early '90s.

Review: On his previous excursion for Far Out Recordings, legendary Brazilian artist Marcos Valle offered up a string of samba-soaked Latin jazz and jazz-funk gems. Here he flips the script by offering up a set of songs that recall the boogie-fired brilliance of his disco-era output. There's much to admire throughout, from the warmth of cheery opener "Olha Quem Ta Chegando" and the Azymuth style samba jazz-funk shuffle of "Odisseia", to the glassy-eyed sweetness of "Alma" and the slow and seductive grooves of "Distancia". Best of all, though, is "Vou Amanha Saber", a rousing disco-funk outing rich in weighty grooves and surging horns.

Review: Recorded and initially released in 1976, Stage 2 was one of a trio of killer albums that highlife legend Pat Thomas recorded with the Marjarita backing band. Although amongst his most popular sets in his native Ghana, the album has never been released outside Africa - until now. This remastered edition, which comes pressed on clear vinyl, is therefore long overdue. It remains a superb set all told, with Thomas and his collaborators serving up a fuzzy, sometimes fiery fusion of Afro-Soul, highlife, Afro-funk, rocksteady, reggae and Afro-rock. Thomas is in terrific form throughout, delivering effortlessly soulful and impassioned vocals that turn an otherwise excellent album into a genuinely terrific one.

Review: Now based in Melbourne, Australia, Gordon Koang was previously a huge star in his native South Sudan. Listening to his music, and in particular last year's brilliant Unity album, it's easy to understand why. His latest single is superb, too, offering an infectious mix of East African rhythms, jaunty electric piano riffs, memorable guitar riffs, traditional Sudanese instrumentation and his own distinctive vocals. There are two mixes available of the pandemic-inspired 'Coronavirus', with the nine-minute full-length take being our pick, while epic flipside 'Disco' is a fuzzy, up-tempo Sudanese dancefloor banger.

Review:  Niger hip-hop innovators Mamaki Boys put out this album of head twisting rhythms and bars in 2007, and only on CD. This first pressing showcases their ability to layer traditional and hypotonic percussion with naive melodies from the Nokia 5110 ringtone era and syncopated flows that are our fire. Each beat is based on a Nigerian traditional dance and defines the band's cultural identity. The lyrics are, we're told, even more tightly interwoven and complex as they take down colonialisation, demand to regain control of resources and call to their fellow people to stand together as one. It is a vital and visceral record unlike anything else you will hear this year.