Analog adventures

Analog Africa

Analog Africa label founder and DJ Samy Ben Redjeb has an obsession with the sound of 70s African pop. Especially the raw, funky psychedelic kind. Over the least few years, he’s spent months on end digging for old 7inch singles in untold record stores, warehouses and collections across Africa, especially Zimbabwe, Benin, Togo and Ghana. Many of those gems end up on the killer compilations which have made his tiny Frankfurt label responsible for some of the most popular vintage African releases today. Searching out the original artists (often even more elusive than their 45s) is always part of his mission - interviews and archive photos all go into the meticulously researched sleevenotes. He’s championed bands such as Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, putting ‘voodoo funk’ on our musical map, and is busy as ever, spreading his contagious enthusiasm for worldwide sounds to a new generation. We asked Samy to tell us about his all time favourite tracks:

01 Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou - Ou c’est lui ou c’est moi (1974)

Probably my all time favourite Afro-beat track. Composed by Vincent Ahehehinnou one of the singers of Orchestre Poly-Rythmo. What is incredible with the founding members of that group is that they didn't think they were exceptional but mostly thought of themselves as a band playing whatever was in vogue at that time and copying others. What I had to make them understand is that they had infused so many traditional elements which then makes it uniquely Beninese. And then what happens when you have the best guitarist, the best bass player, the best drummer and the best singer of a country in one band? Exactly this....one of the funkiest bands to have graced the surface of the earth. In fact I could list another dozen tracks by the Poly-Rythmo here but this one is very special to me.

Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou - Ou c’est lui ou c’est moi

02 Anibal Velasquez - Mambo Loco (1962)

I loved this track the moment I heard it . But it was really in Copenhagen during the closing party of Womex that I understood the power of this tune. Till that point about 200 people where dancing nicely in front of the stage but when I laid the stylus on that song and lifted my eyes the thing I saw was quite impressive. The crowd had turned into one huge wave and suddenly had 2000 people going completely nuts. A memorable moment and a powerful tune by Colombia’s legendary accordionist who had managed to creat stuff that can’t fit in any category.

Anibal Velasquez - Mambo Loco

03 Oliver Mtukudzi - Ziwere (1977)

This song was recorded in 1977 as a 7-inch single and then selected by producer West Nkosi for an LP called Ndipeiwo Zano which is a collection of some of Oliver’s first recordings, some with revolutionary lyrics - Ziwere (Hunger) being one of them. That LP in fact gave me the idea to start my label but I had never managed to convince Oliver’s management to let me release it. That was 10 years ago and it still hasn't been released internationally. Listening to Zimbabwean music always moves me in a very particular way, it’s a time machine and I still see myself in chicken buses going from Chitungwiza and other townships around Harare and Bulawayo looking for records and being super excited when finding a scratched 45. I miss those days a lot and I miss that country especially Harare, Africa’s most beautiful capital city, it will always hold a special place.

Oliver Mtukudzi - Ziwere

04 Gnonnas Pedro et ses Dadjes - Dadje Von O Von Non (1976)

The first artist from Benin I ever heard - what a "world" it later opened to me, just crazy. Benin music is unique. It has a rawness about it which can’t be found anywhere else. It’s the kind of music I dreamed of finding one day. I knew it existed, just didn’t know where. C O T O N O U je t’adore!

Gnonnas Pedro et ses Dadjes - Dadje Von O Von Non

05 Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited - Gwindingwi Rine Shumba LP (1980)

I had taken a job as a DJ in Greece at some point. My mission was to entertain the tourists which I happily did, only the music I had to play was a nightmare. I always tried to fuse in some better stuff, but they didn't want to hear any of that. But one thing that I didn’t let them "take away from me" was a song called ‘Nzwananai’ from Mapfumo’s album Gwindingwi Rine Shumba. I had decided to play this song every evening to open and close my set. I did that for six months every night. I remember a group of teenagers always looked at me funny when I played it.....but after a few days they were sitting patiently at the bar waiting for the end of my set to hear the song again. Anyone with an interest in music should listen to this LP - it only contains masterpieces. The song here, Shumba, is the opening track...check it out.

Thomas Mapfumo - Shumba

06 INXS - Listen Like Thieves LP (1985)

At the time I was living in Tunisia and due to the proximity to Italy we managed to receive national Italian television. I remember seeing INXS performing this song during a festival in Australia and fell in love with one of the tunes. My sister had recorded the whole show on a video tape and I somehow managed to transfer the track from the VHS tape to a cassette which I listened to continuously for months. One thing that needs to be added is that I’m obsessed with sharks since the age of five. I guess anyone who knows me since my childhood always connects me to these animals and Australia was always on my mind as being the mecca for marine life...but now they also had good music I thought. Anyway all this triggered my curiosity and I started collecting Australian music. The whole INXS album is excellent - here is the super funky track ‘What You Need’!

Inxs – What You Need

07 Dimba Di Angola - Tira Sapato (1965)

This is a song composed by Dominguinho (Domingo S. De Almeida), lead singer of the band Dimba Di Angola from Luanda. The idea of the lyrics came to him during an open-air gig when torrential rain started pouring down on the crowd. Dominguinho asked all the people to take their shoes off and bring them on stage so that they didn’t get wet and then to continue dancing, the party went mad (I was told). It’s one of Angola’s most danceable tracks ever recorded and it will be released on Analog Africa in October.

Dimba di Angola - Tira Sapato

08 Boyoyo Boys - Back in Town (1984)

This is the first African record I ever bought, that was in 94. I had bought some African tapes in Senegal before but I can say without too much doubt that this started the whole African thing for me. This was recorded during Apartheid and I could not understand how this music could sound so optimistic - a few months later I was on my way to Jo’burg to look for more.

Boyoyo Boys - Maraba Start 500

09 The Police - Outlandos D’amour LP (1978)

The first record I ever wanted was by the Police. I had asked my grandfather to buy it for me. It was the summer of 84 in Germany. It was a super hot and sunny day and I made the mistake of leaving it on the back seat of the car. When we came back the record was completely warped, something that will never happen to me again. I will always remember playing a wobbling "plate" for years to come. This was the first band I fell in love with...important.

The Police – So Lonely

10 The Green Arrows - Mwana Waenda (1975)

A song from the album Chipo Chiroorwa released on February 2nd, 1974 which happens to be my birthday. This is in fact Zimbabwe’s first LP ever released and had an immense influence on me. This is my "desert island disc" for personal reasons not only musical, I can’t explain it better, it’s super personal. I guess without this album my label would not exist.

The Green Arrows - Mwana Waenda