![King Crimson - Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (40th Anniversary Edition) (1973/2023) [High Fidelity Pure Audio Blu-Ray Disc]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2024/05/12/138741_front.md.jpg)
Mr Cee – Nye Wonko (1987/2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 30:24 minutes | 353 MB | Genre: Disco, Boogie, Highlife, Afrobeat
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BBE Africa
In the 80s west African music scene, it was often the way that a talented musician, composer or singer would labour away at a series of obscure, under-financed, poorly engineered recording projects before hitting gold. Such seems to have been the narrative with the comparatively unknown but very talented songwriter/vocalist Charles Kwadwo Kwarteng: Mr Cee.
Read more
Kantata – It’s High Time Now (1986/2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 32:16 minutes | 383 MB | Genre: Disco, Boogie, Highlife, Afrobeat
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BBE Africa
HIGHLIFE MAGIC: AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GARDEN??
A couple of years back, UK-based House DJ Jerry Frempong’s wife Katie was doing a spring clean at the family home. At the bottom of the garden, amongst a pile of rusty garden tools, she discovered a couple of mysterious bin-bags. She was about to assign them to the skip with everything else, but a sixth sense persuaded her to check the contents. It was a huge pile of rare soul, funk, disco, boogie and- yes – Ghana Highlife records. Katie brought this to the attention of Jerry, who immediately understood the significance of the treasure trove.
Jerry’s Father, Anthony Roberts Frempong, who had passed away in 2011, was the founder of one of the most significant Ghanaian record and music companies anywhere in the world: Asona Records. Asona was founded in the mid-80s, with little fanfare, in Peckham, South East London. It was a label with a firm mission: Burger Highlife. No, not a swanky fast-food chain, nor a 5-star German hotel chain, but a record label devoted to the new African dance music genre that was sweeping Europe, North America and West Africa at the time – Electric Highlife.
Read more
A.K. Yeboah – Nde Yen Da (1985/2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 28:01 minutes | 314 MB | Genre: Disco, Boogie, Highlife, Afrobeat
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BBE Africa
AK Yeboah- Antony ‘King’ Yeboah- began his career playing ‘classic’ highlife in the 1950s. Thirty years later, he hit upon the brilliant idea of writing songs in Pidgin, to attract a much wider listenership- especially among neighbouring Nigerians. Yeboah’s pan-African electric guitar style was a shoo-in for the 80s ‘burger’ highlife style, and equally popular with Colombia’s burgeoning ‘picotero’ DJ sound systems. In fact this record is probably the perfect calling card for that innovative sound. To this day, he remains a leading source of inspiration to budding Ghanaian musicians and recording artists the world over.
Read more
Thomas Frempong – Aye Yi (1985/2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 30:14 minutes | 340 MB | Genre: Disco, Boogie, Highlife, Afrobeat
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BBE Africa
THOMAS FREMPONG has been an integral part of the Ghana music scene for almost half a century. He’s played with countless line-ups, perhaps the most famous being The Noble Kings, who in the 60s introduced the sikyi highlife genre, which would define the ‘classic’ brass/woodwind/guitar highlife sound for decades to come.
Frempong left Ghana for the UK in 1985, almost immediately signing with Asona records and producing two superb Burger highlife albums- this being the first.
All four tracks develop the classic sikyi sound to fit modern dance sensibilities. Every track is a dancefloor powerhouse, although the title track is probably the best of a brilliant bunch.
Read more
Bobby Womack – My Prescription (1970/2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 31:45 minutes | 738 MB | Genre: Soul
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Capitol Records
My Prescription is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Bobby Womack. The album was released in February 1970, by Minit Records. It was arranged by Bobby Womack, Glen Spreen and Mike Leech. The cover photography was by Herb Kravitz.
Read more
Bobby Womack – Fly Me To The Moon (1969/2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 32:01 minutes | 704 MB | Genre: Soul
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Capitol Records
Fly Me to the Moon is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Bobby Womack. The album was released in January 1969, by Minit Records.
Read more
Jewel Ackah – Electric Hi-Life (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 30:22 minutes | 340 MB | Genre: Disco, Boogie, Afrobeat
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BBE Africa
HIGHLIFE MAGIC: AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GARDEN??
A couple of years back, UK-based House and Soul DJ Jerry Frempong’s wife Kate was doing a Spring -clean at the family home. At the bottom of the garden, in among a pile of rusty garden tools and so on, she discovered a couple of mysterious bin-bags. She was about to assign them to the skip with everything else, but a sixth sense persuaded her to check the contents. It was a huge pile of rare soul, funk, disco, boogie and- yes – Ghana Highlife records. Kate brought this to the attention of Jerry, who immediately understood the significance of the treasure trove.
Read more
Nana Budjei – Afrikaman (1988/2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 28:18 minutes | 330 MB | Genre: Disco, Boogie, Highlife, Afrobeat
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BBE Africa
HIGHLIFE MAGIC: AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GARDEN??
A couple of years back, UK-based House and Soul DJ Jerry Frempong’s wife Kate was doing a Spring -clean at the family home. At the bottom of the garden, in among a pile of rusty garden tools and so on, she discovered a couple of mysterious bin-bags. She was about to assign them to the skip with everything else, but a sixth sense persuaded her to check the contents. It was a huge pile of rare soul, funk, disco, boogie and- yes – Ghana Highlife records. Kate brought this to the attention of Jerry, who immediately understood the significance of the treasure trove.
Read more
Thomas Frempong – Anansi Shuttle (1986/2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 37:02 minutes | 436 MB | Genre: Disco, Boogie, Highlife, Afrobeat
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BBE Africa
HIGHLIFE MAGIC: AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GARDEN??
A couple of years back, UK-based House and Soul DJ Jerry Frempong’s wife Kate was doing a Spring -clean at the family home. At the bottom of the garden, in among a pile of rusty garden tools and so on, she discovered a couple of mysterious bin-bags. She was about to assign them to the skip with everything else, but a sixth sense persuaded her to check the contents. It was a huge pile of rare soul, funk, disco, boogie and- yes – Ghana Highlife records. Kate brought this to the attention of Jerry, who immediately understood the significance of the treasure trove.
Jerry’s father, Anthony Robert Frempong, who had passed away in 2013, was the founder of one of the most significant Ghanaian record and music companies anywhere in the world: Asona records. Asona was founded in the mid-80s, with little fanfare, in Peckham, South East London. It was a label with a firm mission: Burger Highlife. No, not a swanky fast-food chain, nor a 5 -star German hotel chain, but a record label devoted to the new African dance music genre that was sweeping Europe, North America and West Africa at the time – electric highlife.
Jerry immediately contacted fellow Uk-based Ghanaian record label owner Peter Adarkwah, who saw the significance of this serendipitous discovery. Before long, a ten-album reissue deal was hammered out: and here you have it!
Read more
Sam Yeboah – Meba Fie – I’ll Be Back Home (1988/2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 30:56 minutes | 355 MB | Genre: Disco, Boogie, Highlife, Afrobeat
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BBE Africa
A couple of years back, UK-based House and Soul DJ Jerry Frempong’s wife Kate was doing a Spring -clean at the family home. At the bottom of the garden, in among a pile of rusty garden tools and so on, she discovered a couple of mysterious bin-bags. She was about to assign them to the skip with everything else, but a sixth sense persuaded her to check the contents. It was a huge pile of rare soul, funk, disco, boogie and- yes – Ghana Highlife records. Kate brought this to the attention of Jerry, who immediately understood the significance of the treasure trove.
Read more
The Teskey Brothers – Run Home Slow (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 45:27 minutes | 498 MB | Genre: Soul
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Decca (UMO)
“The Teskey Brothers (p. noun): A Melbournian group famed for their retro sound, which hails back to the 60s golden age of soul and blues. Founded in 2008 by two brothers, Joshua and Samuel. Related to this topic: Wilson Pickett, Bill Withers, Otis Redding”. That might be what this band’s page in a music encyclopedia would look like. Though that might not be enough: they’re much more than a Sunday blues revival band! Their second studio album, recorded entirely on tape, covers various musical styles, from Man Of The Universe’s sunny Motown cheer, to the Pink-Floyd-ish organ and gospel choirs on Paint My Heart, as well as the snarling vaudeville of Sunshine Baby, which could have been a Tom Waits tune. Despite these different styles, the unifying quality to all of the songs is texture: tape coloration is like a varnish for these finely crafted retro delights. Run Home Slow is more about feeling than execution; the result is as heartfelt as it is well crafted. – Alexis Renaudat
Read more
The SteelDrivers – The Muscle Shoals Recordings (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 36:30 minutes | 716 MB | Genre: Bluegrass, Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © New Rounder
The SteelDrivers are a Nashville-based bluegrass band whose members aren’t afraid to highlight the blues and R&B influences in their music, so it makes sense that they’d want to record in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the city that produced some of the greatest soul music of the ’60s and ’70s, including major hits by Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, the Staple Singers, and Solomon Burke. Apparently, working under the belief that there is something in the water in Colbert County, the SteelDrivers booked time at NuttHouse Recording Studio in nearby Sheffield, Alabama, and The Muscle Shoals Recordings is the fruit of those sessions. If the title were meant to suggest to fans that this was the SteelDrivers’ homage to classic soul music, well, that’s not how the finished product plays. Where there’s an honestly soulful undertow to songs like “Drinkin’ Alone,” “Here She Goes,” and “Day Before Temptation,” The Muscle Shoals Recordings is a straightforward bluegrass set that walks a tightrope between traditional and progressive styles, but doesn’t make much effort to break new stylistic ground. Of course, that’s criticizing The Muscle Shoals Recordings for what it’s not, when what it is happens to be solid and quite satisfying. The five SteelDrivers are outstanding pickers and vocalists who play beautifully, individually and as an ensemble, especially fiddler Tammy Rogers and banjo man Richard Bailey, and they’re gifted songwriters who’ve brought a wealth of fine original material to the table for this album, including “Brother John,” “Long Way Down,” and “Six Feet Away.” They also wisely brought in Jason Isbell to produce and play on a few tracks, and his presence is unobtrusive but a genuine asset. The Muscle Shoals Recordings isn’t soul music, but it does happen to be music played with soul, heart, honesty, and skill, which means in its own way it isn’t so far from the music that came from 3614 Jackson Highway after all. And if the title suggests a concept that isn’t quite there, the music speaks for itself, and what it says is eloquent and deeply pleasing. ~ Mark Deming
Read more
The Futures – Castles in the Sky (Bonus Track Version) (1975/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:05:41 minutes | 1,39 GB | Genre: Soul, Funk, R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Legacy Recordings
It’s a mystery why Buddah would released this album and not promote it; they didn’t issue but one single from the LP. Seven of the eight songs are Reginald Turner, Victor Drayton, John Bellmon, and Jerry Akines compositions, the talented Philadelphia singers and songwriters who penned “Don’t Let the Green Grass Fool You,” a hit for Wilson Pickett and the Spinners. They also recorded themselves under various names including the Formations, the Corner Boys, and Frightened Majority. Barbara Mason penned the other song, a funky jam entitled “Ninety Days (In the House of Love Correction).” There are some good songs including “Super Love,” “(Love Lives on A) Windy Hill,” and “Don’t Close the Book.” “Castles,” in June of 1975, was the only single issued. A good catch if you can find a copy. ~ Andrew Hamilton
Read more
Stew Cutler – Insignia (2001)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:03:16 minutes | 1,43 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Naim Records
Insignia is a trio recording in the fullest sense of the word rather than two rhythm voices backing up the lead, featuring the huge and fluent talent of Garry Bruer on drums and Booker King playing crystal clear and bone-vibrating bass.
Read more
Steve Cropper – Playin My Thang (1981)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 35:02 minutes | 1,27 GB | Genre: Blues, Soul, Funk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Geffen
Steve Cropper is best known as session guitarist for Stax Records and part of Booker T. & The MG’s. He’s played besides people like Otis Redding, Sam & Dave and Wilson Pickett. He also features in both Blues Brothers movies as ‘The Colonel’. And he co-wrote “In The Midnight Hour” and “Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay”. Whoa! Having played such an important role as sideman to lots of Southern Soul stars, it’s no surprise this solo album isn’t gonna blow your speakers. But this second Steve Cropper solo album is an album well worth checking out.
Read more