The Shaolin Afronauts - Follow the Path (2014)

The driving force of The Shaolin Afronauts is Ross McHenry, the ARIA nominated composer, bandleader, producer and bassist based in Adelaide. Alongside co collaborators Lachlan Ridge and Dylan Marshall, It is their opmbined wide ranging musical tastes, impeccable production and instrumental skills that always result in music that is original, thought provoking, unexpected and quite beautiful.

2011's debut album 'Flight Of The Ancients' was a critical and commercial success story. The follow up 'Quest Under Capricorn' further cemented the bands reputation for forging their own very particular sound - and now in 2014 - as the band prepare to tour Japan & Europe (including 2 prestigious shows at The Glastonbury Festival) Freestyle Records is proud to present the expansive & epic Follow The Path.

Ikebe Shakedown - Stone by Stone (2014)

IkebeShakedown’s powerful instrumental soul takes “big unison horns, slinky bass lines, tight little guitar licks—and blends them with tasty grooves culled from '70s-style horn-driven funk (WNYC Soundcheck).” The Brooklyn-based collective is set to follow up their well-received self-titled debut album with the heavier, more mature sound of their second full-length Stone By Stone, out April 15 on Ubiquity Records.

The new album was recorded at the famed “House of Soul” Daptone Studios in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Notes bassist Vince Chiarito, "Thinking of all the great music that has come out of the Daptone Studio really pushed us to refine our songs and grow as a band. It was really inspiring to record there." 

The Fontanelles - Horns of Freedom (2013)

The Fontanelles are the newest signings to First Word Records. Originally formed to be the onstage band for the London run of Fela! The Musical, the band’s natural chemistry was such that they instinctively continued performing together when the show ended. They took the energy of the stage show and started working on original material, adding reggae, ethio-jazzand ska influences to the afrobeat source. The Fontanelles sound is truly their own, with their incandescent live shows a focal point for their unique energy as a band.

The Liberators - Power Struggle (2013)

"The new Liberators album is peppered with dark, sinister grooves worth of the fiercest dancefloor battles" Martín Perna (Antibalas)

The Liberators are back with the brand new album "Power struggle". Born in an unused factory space in urban Sydney, The Liberators - a compelling 10-piece Afrofunkjazz steamroller - have relentlessly pushed their sound to become leaders in the Australian Afrobeat resurgence. With their second album "Power Struggle", The Liberators have gone deeper and darker into the polyrhythmic, horn-driven realms of Afrobeat, producing eight weighty songs worthy of fueling any revolution. With a maturing mix of jazz, latin, soul and funk, it's obvious the sounds of fracturing world events echo throughout the album. The Liberators produced Power Struggle in Sydney, recording straight to tape in a no-nonsense, no-overdub fashion, capturing the phenomenal vibe of their live shows.

Afro Latin Vintage Orchestra - Last Odyssey (2012)

 By Thom Jurek (AMG)
 

The Afro-Latin Vintage Orchestra may not be well-known outside of Europe save for the track "Kingston Abeba," off their 2009 debut album Definitely Roots. It was selected for the Paris DJs' (Grant Phabao and DJouls) mixtape 21st Century Afro Extravaganza. Led by virtuoso percussionist Masta Conga, the French group is truly an orchestra, numbering ten or more players at any given time. Definitely Roots drew Euro raves for its meld of Afro-beat, funk, old descarga, rhumba, reggae, and Western and Ethiopian jazz. They followed it a year later with the stellar Ayodegi: A Modern Afro-Fusion Ensemble, which was rooted in '70s-era jazz funk. Last Odyssey, issued by Ubiquity, is the group's debut international release and provides a stellar introduction to their ambitious musical vision as well as their virtuosic instrumental talent. 

The Shaolin Afronauts - Quest Under Capricorn (2012)

2011's debut album from The Shaolin Afronauts'Flight Of The Ancients' was a critical and commercial success story, lauded as a truly original blend of the sounds of 1970's West Africa, Ethiopiaand the pioneering and progressive avant-garde jazz artists of the same period.

'Flight Of The Ancients' went onto be nominated for several music awards, including the 25th Aria Fine Arts Awards in the world music category, whilst the band, led by Ross McHenry, cemented it's reputation as a truly revelatory live act, with a colourful and vibrant visual element to their shows, with the band resplendent in flowing, hooded robes and face paint to complete the spiritual presentation of their highly original music!

Now in 2012, The Shaolin Afronauts continue their musical journey with the follow up album 'Quest Under Capricorn' and the groups musical progression is apparent from the outset.

Antibalas (2012)

by Paul Clarke – BBC Music

 

Antibalas were the perfect choice of house band for the off- and on-Broadway runs of the Fela! musical, based on the life of afrobeat progenitor Fela Kuti. The 12-strong New York collective has spent the last 14 years spreading Fela’s afrobeat gospel across the globe with all-singing, all-dancing shows packing more energy than most musicals, let alone garden-variety indie bands.

But although they’ve performed plenty of Kuti covers, their own material has proven Antibalas to be much more than a tribute band. While there’s no shortage of bands capturing the sound of afrobeat, few have also captured its fury. Yet Antibalas’ previous albums, such as 2002’s Talkatif and 2004’s Who Is This America?, carried a righteous ire within their riotous grooves.

Ebo Taylor - Appia Kwa Bridge (2012)

“I wanted to go back to a highlife feeling with this album,” explains Ebo Taylor. “The songs are very personal and it is an important part of my music to keep alive many traditional Fante songs, war chants and children’s rhymes.”

‘Appia Kwa Bridge’, released this April, is a strident return from the Ghanaian highlife guitar legend. Featuring six new compositions, his sound is more dense and tightly locked than ever with Berlin-based musicians Afrobeat Academy, a rock solid unit since regular touring worldwide following his ‘Love And Death’ album in 2010, including a string of dates for WOMAD. Jochen Stroh works his analogue magic once more from his base at Berlin’s Lovelite Studios.

 The album features a number of special guests within the credits including incomparable drummer Tony Allen, original Africa 70 guitarist Oghene Kologbo and conga maestro Addo Nettey a.k.a. Pax Nicholas. Representing the younger players, keyboard genius Kwame Yeboah, son of Ghanaian legend S.K. Yeboah, makes full use of Lovelite’s famed collection of Farfisa and Wurlitzer organs.

Ebo Taylor’s ‘Appia Kwa Bridge’ is released on Strut as a 1CD, 2LP and digitally . He will be touring worldwide from May 2012.

More Here...

Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 - From Africa With Fury:Rise (2011)

With the mighty new From Africa With Fury: Rise, Seun Anikulapo Kuti heads up Egypt 80, the extraordinary combo first fronted by his renowned father. The album follows Kuti's critically praised debut, 2008's Many Things, which was unanimously hailed for continuing Fela's musical legacy. From Africa With Fury: Rise sees Kuti finding his own idiosyncratic voice as songwriter, singer, and band leader, its songs and sonic approach marked by provocative edge and mature self-assurance.

Produced by Brian Eno, John Reynolds, and Seun Kuti, with additional production by Godwin Logie, and mixed by John Reynolds and Tim Oliver, the album captures Seun and Egypt 80's extraordinary power, fraught with the scorching rhythms and kinetic funk energy that has earned the band – as ever, under the leadership of alto saxophonist Lekan Animashaun – worldwide acclaim as one of today's most incendiary live acts. With Kuti's booming vocal stylings at the forefront, songs like "African Soldier" and "Mr. Big Thief" are fueled by call-and-response hooks, breakneck tempos, and combative, topical lyricism which firmly sets the classic Egypt 80 sound in the modern era.

Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 : Rise by VMLive