Before Strut, Soundway, Analog Africa, and Now-Again, emerged as the top tier of archivists crawling the earth for lost gems, there was Afro Rock, Volume 1, a little-heard but widely influential compilation released on Kona in 2001. Back when Ezra Koenig was freestyling over the instrumental to “All Mixed Up,” Duncan Brooker was excavating crates in East African basements — searching everywhere from Kenya to Zaire for stellar 60s and early 70s soul, funk, and R&B.
Afro-Rock Vol. 1 documents a creatively fertile time for the region, with the dawn of pan-Africanism, powerful psychedelics, and a massive American influence bleeding into traditional rhythms from Algeria to Ethiopia to Nigeria. This is primarily funk and soul culled largely from the continent’s southeastern end, but it’s impossible to avoid hearing the tinge of the exotic and the skill with which the musicians adapt Western sounds to their own frequencies. Out of print since 2002, Strut is reissuing the excellent compilation next week complete with four additional bonus cuts, more liner notes, and a limited-edition Yeasayer dartboard.
Download:
MP3: Steele Beautttah – “Africa”
MP3: Latapaza Band- “Odi-Yoo”
