If you haven’t had the pleasure of discovering Soundway’s releases yet, I hope this sets you off on the right path. Collating some of the world’s best music on lushly pressed vinyl (and digital, too), here’s the label in their own words:
From the highlife, disco and rock sounds of 70s Nigeria to the golden age of Panamanian music, Benin’s Afro-Latin grooves, Colombia’s champeta and all other forms of tropical and Afro sounds imaginable. Soundway’s mission is to present the very best in obscure a-sides, b-sides and album cuts that have remained unavailable… until now.
“Ten years ago, while taking a break from his telesales job and traveling through Ghana, Miles Cleret heard a local DJ spinning some obscure African funk, soul and blues records. After having his mind blown by the tracks, which were in danger of fading into obscurity and never reaching ears further afield, he decided to start Soundway Records and release rare world music compilations. After a handful of trips to Ghana, Miles had enough material for his first compilation.. When it notched up 5,000 sales he decided to release a second collection and Soundway has since put out over 25 records ranging from scratchy calypso and cumbia from Panama through to psychedelic Afrobeat from Nigeria.” DAZED AND CONFUSED
DEJALA CORRE by Banda Los Hijos De La Nina Luz
One of my personal favourites is this 45, which kicks off with a scream that always scares the dance floor before everyone starts stomping to it…
From now ’til 9.30am on Tuesday August 28th, they have a massive sale on. Check some titles below.
They’ve also taken to having a guest album of the month in their online store, and the first is the debut from our good pal Debruit.
Big shout to the recently released Ondatropica LP too which is a fantastically designed heavyweight vinyl package (with a free 45) with typically amazing artwork from Luis Heriz.
GUEST ALBUM OF THE MONTH
Débruit – From The Horizon
CIVIL MUSIC
2XLP (VERY LIMITED AVAILABILITY) CD (WORLD EXCLUSIVE – AVAILABLE NOW)
Inspired by Western African music past and present, Débruit’s debut album is the culmination of 3 years work, collecting field recordings, delving into restricted archives, sampling lost African VHS and reinterpreting discovered African melodies and rhythms, for synths and drum machines.
Débruit first came to our attention with the booty shaking ‘Nigeria What’. Our ears pricked up again when we first heard ‘Akoula’ on Gilles Peterson’s show with its heavy sample of The Funkees ‘Akula Owu Onyeara’. The first pressing of the LP went literally in hours, just glad we can get our hands on the repress!
If you haven’t had the pleasure of discovering Soundway’s releases yet, I hope this sets you off on the right path. Collating some of the world’s best music on lushly pressed vinyl (and digital, too), here’s the label in their own words:
