world
TRACK: Azmari – ‘Azalaï’: aboard the Brussels Afro/Persian jazz sextet’s caravan
AZMARI is a sextet formed in Brussels in 2015 with a deep take on the North African groove. The name? Well, an azmari is literally “one who praises” in Amharic; an Ethiopian singer-musician, comparable to the European bard. Reportedly inspired by such leading lights as Mulatu Astatke, Cymande, Fela Kuti and The Heliocentrics, the band performed at …
Track: Mdou Moctar release new track, ‘Chismiten’; announce new album
In more ways than one Mdou Moctar has come along way since 2008, when his raw emotional guitar music first began to spread beyond Niger across west Africa via the DIY network of traded cellphone memory cards. Picked up by Chris Kirkley of Sahel Sounds who sent Mdou a much needed left handed Strat, then …
Track: Beat Bronco Organ Trio – Missoula-Nairobi Pt.1
Who knew that people were making music like this in 2020? Well, we dived into the world of Rocafort records with their recent ‘Latin Underground Revolution pt.2’ release, and we loved that so much that we followed the trail to this, its follow up on the Swiss label. It’s a impossibly jazzy Afro-Funk instrumental from …
ALBUM REVIEW: Skinshape – ‘Umoja’: a fine interweaving of Afro-Anglo guitar pop
DORSET-born Will Dorey is a man with a far-reaching, eclectic musical vision, which he gives to the world via the medium of his recording alias Skinshape. He’s a fellow traveller alongside artists such as Ninja’s Romare and Albert’s Favourites’ Huw Marc Bennett (whose debut album comes next month) in that Skinshape actively embraces the beauties …
TRACK: Skinshape – ‘The Sun’: shimmering Afro-Anglo guitars trail fifth LP
SKINSHAPE, the London-by-way-Dorset recording artist, is all set to drop his fifth album for Lewis Recordings on the first Friday in September. If you’ve been over to Skinshape’s world before, you’ll know to expect an interesting peregrination through downtempo, psych, soundtracks, African influences and some pretty damn fine guitar playing. You’ll recognise his warm, reverbed …
EP: Latin Underground Revolution vol. 2: More swinging Boogaloo, Guaguancó, Salsa & Latin Soul from New York City 1968-1972 (3 x 7” Box Set)
Rocafort Records are back with a volume two of some undiscovered / forgotten Latin gems from New York City. Taken from the period 1968-1972, the release comes as a beautifully boxed 3 x 7” box set, with liner notes from DJ Timber on the back cover, and features Orquesta Olivieri’s 1970 Delta single There’s No …
See: Greentea Peng releases new video for ‘Hu Man’
Over the last few months, South London singer-songwriter Greentea Peng has quickly become a favourite of ours here on Backseat Mafia, so we jumped on her new single Hu Man, which is out now, produced by long time collaborator Earbuds. The song, in her own words, hints at deeper meanings “YOU man, me man, WE …
See: Pianist Henrick Lindstrand reveals new video for the wistful beauty of ‘Dungen’
Out on October 23rd via One Little Independent (formally One Little India) is ‘Nordhem’, the new album from Swedish pianist Henrik Lindstrand. From it, he’s revealed a new video for the track ‘Dungen’. Of the track, Lindstrand says “this piece was initially a commissioned composition for the health and meditation app AIO. I wanted to …
Feature: London-based producer Kamau Kuru gives us a track by track on his new album, Oxydental
London-based producer and beatmaker Kamau Kuru has today released his new album Oxydental – a project he described to us as ’a fusion of back-catalogue samples from 70s-era India, Turkey, and Persia, with gritty lo-fi hip-hop beats, with the overall narrative driven by British colonial-era newsreel snippets.‘ How could we not be intrigued with that …
Feature: Transglobal Underground give us a Track by Track on their latest album, Walls Have Ears
There’s always been a slight mystique around Transglobal Underground, and they’ve always determinedly followed their own path. With some made up names and a squad of collaborators than have revolved and evolved over time, they’ve been fusing together elements of Western, African and Asian music since they burst onto the scene in 1991 with Temple …