Juno Recommends International October 2021

Review: Gold standard funk fanatics Mukatsuku again look to Latin American for their latest volume in their ongoing Colombian Latin Funk & Salsa Gems series. Both of the cuts here have been carefully picked from Disco Fuentes back catalogue with Adolfo Echeverria Y Su Orquesta's 'Sabroso Bacalao' first up. The pianos are killer from the off, with shuffling percussion and nimble drum work all finished with fiery vocals. Fruko Y Sus Tesos's 'Mi Verdadero Son' is on the reverse and has more infectious vocals and wild brass stabs that make you want to flail your every limb around way above your head. Pure heat as ever here and hand-numbered to just 500 copies. Strictly no repress.As played by DJ Koco..Gilles Peterson..The Allergies.. Dom Servini... Skeme Richards..Bobbito..

Review: We are extremely proud to announce our 32nd compilation from the Analog Africa regular serie, "Cameroon Garage Funk", highlighting Yaounde's 1970's underground music scene. The quest to assemble the puzzle-pieces of what seemed to be a long lost underground scene took us to Camroon, Benin and further on to Togo and it was in the cities of Cotonou, Lome? and Sotouboua that we managed to lay our hands on most of the songs presented in this compilation. Since there were no local labels, no producers, and almost nothing in way of infrastructure in Cameroon at that time, the artists had to be everything: musician, producer, executive producer, arranger, financier, promoter and sometimes even distributor. The sixteen tracks on Cameroon Garage Funk pulse with raw inspiration and sweat DYI mood uniting the featured diverse musicians around their willingness to do everything themselves in order to take a chance in the music scene.

Review: When it was first released a quarter of a century ago, the Buena Vista Social Club album - a concept album produced by Ry Cooder and Juan de Marcos Gonzalez, featuring veteran Cuban musicians recreating music that had been popular on the island nation in the 1940s and '50s - had a huge cultural impact. Not only did it sell like hotcakes around the World, leading to a US tour and documentary film, but it also raised interest in Cuban music, something that has sustained to this day. This 25th Anniversary edition, then, is fully justified. It boasts fully remastered vinyl and CD versions of the original album, each with bonus tracks, as well as partner discs entirely made up of previously unheard songs and alternate takes

Review: There is seemingly no end to the amount of great music that was made in Brazil in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Plenty of it we know about, but plenty we do not, and so Wagram Music tires to fill us in that bit more with this super collection of rare groove sounds from a range of artists. Some are legendary, some are less well known, all are in fine form. On the tunes, soul, funk and disco all permeant traditional Brazilian sounds like bossa, samba and batucada. The resulting unions are highly infectious and cheerful making this a great collection for fans old and new.

Review: Dick Khoza's Chapita is a South African jazz masterpiece laced with funk and seeped in Afrobeat. As stage manager of Soweto's legendary Pelican Club, Khoza played a key role in cultivating Johannesburg's soul, funk and jazz scene. Inspired by the Afrocentric rock juggernaut Osibisa, he assembled his Pelican Club compatriots for the 1976 session that yielded this landmark nugget of African vinyl history. Mastered from the As-Shams/The Sun label's archival tapes, Tooth Factory present a 2021 edition of this rare classic.

Review: For the latest edition of their essential Wamano A to Z compilation series - the third to date - DJ Yoshiwza Dynamite JP and Chintam have decided to focus on "Japanese light mellow funk, disco and boogie" tracks recorded between 1978 and '88. Like its' predecessors, the eight-track set is heavy on obscurities and little-known cuts, as well as bona fide killer cuts. There's much to savour throughout, from the intergalactic, slap-bass propelled boogie brilliance of Jadoes' 'Friday Night (Extended Mix)' and the laidback funk bliss of Yumi Sato's 'Ame', to the smooth jazz-funk lusciousness of Hitomi Tohyama's 'Rainy Driver' and the Latin-infused, Teena Marie style electrofunk brilliance of Mizuki Koyami's 'Kare Niwa Kanawanai'.

Review: Far Out Recordings have long been masters at unearthing and reissuing long-lost Brazilian masterpieces. Jose Mauro's 1970 debut album, Obnoxious, undoubtedly falls into that category. It's long been a favourite with committed diggers such as Gilles Peterson, Madlib and Floating Points, all of whom appreciate Mauro's distinctively melancholic take on the samba sound. Drenched in atmospheric strings and with the singer's bittersweet vocals to the fore, the album sounds like it was informed as much by the Walker Brothers ad Rotary Connection as the sun-kissed sounds Mauro would have grown up listening to. It's not exactly psychedelic per se, but it's certainly impressively atmospheric and occasionally refreshingly dark. File under: "essential listening".

Review: Brazil's Bruna Mendez started out her musical career as a lyricist in 2008. She eventually played with various bands in her hometown, the inland city of Goiania, and related her debut EP in 2014. Two years later came her head turning debut album and it picked up critical acclaim. Now comes the follow up, which brings in a wealth of electronic sounds, textures, moods and grooves. There are soul, r&b and hip hop stylings to these tracks, which are always most notable because of Mendez's superb voice. It is delicate and soft yet meaningful and strong enough to stand out amongst the lilting grooves and captivating melodies.

Review: While best known for her performances of music by John Cage and Terry Riley, Amelia Cuni is also one of the world's leading exponents of traditional dhrupad singing, something she studied during a ten-year spell in India. It's this distinctive vocal sound that she showcased during her performance at the Parampara Festival in Berlin in 1992, which is finally being released for the very first time. Accompanied by her own tanpura playing and Gianni Richizzi on vichitra vina (a plucked zither played with a glass-ball slide), the recording captures Cuni at her mesmerising best, performing a trio of memorable pieces. There's a breath-taking version of a traditional raga, a spine-tingling composition of her own, and a drum-heavy workout that brilliantly rounds off a genuinely landmark performance.

Review: The main selling pint of this 16-track set - aside from the quality of the music on offer - is the way that it showcases both original African funk, Afrobeat and Makossa, and American funk and soul records that drew inspiration from those sounds. So while we're treated to genuinely killer cuts from the catalogues of Manu Dibango, Fela Kuti, King Sunny Ade & His African Beat and Tony Allen and the Afro Messengers, there's also space for the pioneering jazz-funk of Oneness of Juju and the Headhunters, a killer cover of 'Soul Makossa' by the Lafayette Afro-Rock Band, the Meters-ish brilliance of Nite-Liners 'Afro Strut', and the Clavinet-happy heaviness of Ice's impeccable 'Time Will Tell'. To borrow an old cliche, this compilation is, quite literally, all killer, no filler.

Review: Self-produced and released on Gallo Records in 1977, Saitana's Jenakuru is a unique and highly sought after African rock artefact. A great admirer of Jimi Hendrix, Saitana was a thrilling performer and mesmerising dancer who created a larger-than-life showman persona. With a moody and acidic edge bleeding into his unique funky sound, Saitana's sophomore release exposed the darker and introspective side of his seemingly happy-go-lucky personality. Taken from the original reels, Saitana's resurrection in 2021 is a veritable event for international vinyl culture and music discovery.

Review: Paris-based Mawimbi have been turning out essential sounds for eight years now, but finally they are ready to serve up their long awaited debut album. The collective has won plenty of fans with their events, label and realises as they fuse Afro sound and rhythms with modern dance floor dynamics. This album showcases the groups unique afro-electro sound with global and local inspirations taken from both sides of the Atlantic. Highlife, bubblegum pop, Malian blues and afrobeat all feature on this rhythmically inventive and always emotive sizzlers. An essential album for sure.