Thursday, March 2, 2023
10 Essential Afro-Electro Albums
Choice sides of digital dancehall and mega Afrobeat ampage primed for incendiary boogie overload
Ammar 808
Maghreb United
(Glitterbeat Records, 2018)
Naming his project after his favourite instrument, the Roland TR-808 drum machine, Tunisian producer Sofyann Ben Youssef signals the future of North African music. Whether dystopian or hopeful, the album is set in a sci-fi universe while remaining firmly attached to its roots.
Boddhi Satva
18
(BBE Music, 2020)
More than an album, 18 is the official anthology of Boddhi Satva, ‘father of ancestral soul.’ This must-have retrospective traces 20 years in the career of one of the most prolific and respected producers on the African continent. Born in the Central African Republic, Boddhi Satva remains rooted while being polyvalent, as comfortable with dancehall and Afrobeats as Afro-house or kuduro. This is music to heal body and soul.
Guedra Guedra
Vexillology
(On the Corner Records, 2021)
Guedra Guedra imagines a utopian world where tribal traditions of North and West Africa are reunited. On Vexillology, the Moroccan producer crosses the Sahara to connect cultural similarities that are nowadays erased by border lines. Fuelled by traditional chants and rhythms, his music has a documentarian authenticity as well as being loved in the clubs.
Hagan
Textures
(Python Syndicate Music, 2022)
Best known for his broken rhythms and edits of Ghanaian legends like Pat Thomas and Nana Quame, Hagan reveals his full range of skills on a full-length that pays tribute to both sides of his British-Ghanaian heritage. Recorded between London and Accra, Textures gathers talented musicians and producers from Africa and its diaspora (including South African gqom prince Griffit Vigo and Gambian griot and kora player Jali Bakary Konteh) around fine beats.
ÌFÉ
IIII+IIII
(Discos Ifá, 2017)
ÌFÉ’s first album is a genuine electroacoustic alien. Based in Puerto Rico, Afro-American artist Otura Mun stands out as the master of a retro-futuristic ceremony where ancestral prayers coexist with AutoTune. In a dreamlike atmosphere, the Yoruba priest invokes African rhythms, Cuban rumba, Jamaican dancehall and sacred song on nine vibrant tracks filled with spirituality.
Keleketla!
Keleketla!
(Ahead of Our Time, 2020)
Recorded between London and Soweto, Keleketla! is built around a South African jazz trio, with UK duo Coldcut conducting. Initiated by the organisation In Place of War, the aim is to use music as a positive force in conflict zones. With a spontaneous and creative process, the album includes elements of UK jazz (Joe Armon-Jones, Shabaka Hutchings), Afrobeat (Tony Allen), rap (Yugen Blakrok) and gqom (DJ Mabheko) for an electronic masterpiece.
Kondi Band
We Famous
(Strut Records, 2021)
The blind self-taught musician Sorie Kondi busked from village to village during Sierra Leone’s civil war, losing his first album in the process. Eventually he arrived at Strut Records. Equipped with his kondi, a custom-made, heavily-amplified thumb piano, he joins forces with producers Chief Boima and Will LV for a refined album of delicate instrumentation and charismatic vocals, magnified by electronic arrangements.
Konono No 1 & Batida
Konono No 1 Meets Batida
(Crammed Discs, 2016)
With their 2004 debut, Konono No 1 wrote the manual for Crammed Discs’ Congotronics series, which has shone a light on the electrified traditional music of Kinshasa, DRC ever since. Accustomed to playing amid urban noise, Konono and others decided to amplify their instruments, radically transforming the music into a mutant electric punk. Here, they team up with Angolan electronic producer Batida, with elements of kuduro and trance in common.
Jay Mitta
Tatizo Pesa
(Nyege Nyege Tapes, 2019)
The frenetic dance music singeli was born in Dar es Salaam in the early 2000s. A few years ago Mitta revealed this more listener-friendly version of the music, which has become a reference for the movement. In addition to speeding up traditional taarab, the young producer adds elements from R&B and European club culture to the fierce synthetic loops.
Otim Alpha
Gulu City Anthems
(Nyege Nyege Tapes, 2017)
From northern Uganda to southern Sudan, Acholi music is danced by the Luo people at weddings, baptisms, graduations and other social events. This cheerful music is increasingly becoming electronic for cost-saving reasons. Ugandan Otim Alpha created the uptempo polyrhythmic Acholitronix heard here, propelling ancestral sounds to global dance floors.
This article originally appeared in the January 2023 issue of Songlines magazine. Never miss an issue – subscribe to Songlines today
