Various - Island Disco (Soca Fusion, Cadence Explosion & Steeldrum Grooves - 2014)

01 - safi allah abdullah - afrika is burning, and black man is doing the freak

02 - kassav - lague moin

03 - lord kitchener - sugar bum bum

04 - original tropicana steel band - spanish hustle

05 - the checkmates - disco groove

06 - calypso rose - have mercy

07 - colleen grant - latin parang (12inch - barbados island disco - 1980)

08 - ed watson - ain't no stopping us now

09 - wagadu gu - easy dancing

10 - original tropicana steel band - el prompompero

11 - merchant - instant funk

12 - bobby raven - soca fusion

13 - les aiglons - es zot tende (skit)

14 - nelson family - gimme love

15 - basso - socaland

Two weeks ago Tippa Irie & his Selecta JB Bakers came all the long way to perform in Chengdu/China. Really good night, great crowd, irie vibes all over… Tippa Irie delievering a stellar perfomance, riding some sweet Reggae & Dancehall riddims - and getting everyone excited. And the crowd returned the vibe… They were only booked for 90 minutes - but after their live show Tippa Irie & his Selector kept spinning 45's till 5:30 in the morning… Playing classic Reggae & Dancehall tunes from the 60ies - 10ies… Sweetness Galore! Don't get that in Chengdu that often. So I initially wanted to take this as a motivation to share a Reggae mix/compilation (which I will definitely do sometime soon!). But I am still flying high on the Disco/Balearic vibe - so here is ''Island Disco'' - some favourite tropical jams from the Caribbean...

I am opening this ''Island Disco'' compilation with the Disco Not Disco song Afrika Is Burning - And The Black Man Is Doing The Freak by Safi Aallah Abdullah. A song which is basically an attack on disco, on disco's hedonism: ''Under screams of a boiling overdose systematically controlled by idiots of the White House with twisted grins and stale peanuts. Africa is burning, and the Black Man is doing the Freak.'' It goes on to point a finger at party-goers and their ''tight jeans and Elton John sunglasses, Pierre Cardin sneakers and a bag of smoke.'' While the sermon is delivered in the finest Gil Scott-Heron tradition, ironically the music which is a glorious mix of reggae, calypso, funk, highlife and much more makes it a pretty unique disco classic itself." (via Your Heart Out). Great song which I got from the Soca compilation Rebel Soca. My father used to play this a lot when I was a kid - and my sister and me would hum along in the back of the car ''Africa is burning - and the black man is doing the freak...'' - not really understanding the lyrics - but definitely enjoying & feeling the groove. This rather ''grim'' opener is followed by Kassav's Lague Moin from their 1980 album of the same name. Sweet & uplifting grooves from the French West Indies with hypnotic keyboard loops & great discoid percussion. Parisian duo Jupiter did a electro-pop edit of this song a while ago: Kass Limon. Not bad - but I prefer the original. On track #7 we have got Colleen Grant - Latin Parang. Massive Barbados Island Disco CHRISTMAS song from 1980 with fat bass, handclaps, spacey female vocals, consistent synths... Dancefloor bomb! Track #8 keeps the heat with a killer Island Disco version of McFadden & Whitehead Ain't No Stopping Us Now: Ed Watson's very own Reggae-tinged Ain't No Stopping Us Now. I love every version of this song. On track #9 we are leaving the Caribbean for a short trip to Africa via London. London 1979 - that's where Wagadu Gu's delightful Easy Dancing was recorded - mixing highlife and soca elements. Feel Merchant's Instant Funk on track #11. Originally to be found on the super-rare LP Merchant’s Pilgrimage (1981) - this song luckily saw a re-release on Guts and Mambo's über-sweet compilation BEACH DIGGIN’. Go and get your own copy. The whole compilation is great! Let me share some info on Merchant and his song ''Instant Funk'' from the liner notes of BEACH DIGGIN: ''Orphaned at a young age and then caught up in drugs, shady affairs, prison and then more drugs. Then AIDS. And RIP. Total chaos. Yet in the midst of all these shocks, Dennis Williams Franklyn, the one-man band behind Merchant, learnt to play the guitar by ear along with the art of transcribing the songs he composed in his head for its six strings. He had no training to write or read music, only feel. And here there are brass, percussion, strings and a free bass, while a guitar revolves like a worm screw around a pulsing beat. In sum, a blazing disco-funk construction with something going on on every floor''. I am ending this compilation with Basso's edit of a secret Island (!?) gem named ''Socaland''. Get it on Blackdisco #8. Powerful edit which gets better every time I play it. Make sure to play it loud! Basso is one of the members of the blog The Growing Bin. Great blog which not only introduced me to a lot of amazing music - but also opened up new musical worlds to me which I didn't even know existed. Make sure to check it out - and you might even able to buy some rarities in his online shop Growing Bin Records - where he sells all kinds of great under the radar music. Prices are super fair. Well - back to ''Socaland'' - is it groovy now...?!

Enjoy! DubMe

Various - Palmwine Grooves & Disco (2011)

CD 1

01 - benis cletin - jungle music (sofrito edit)
02 - quim manuel o esperito santo - eme lelu
03 - buari - advice from father
04 - kaleta & akoya afrobeat - the spirit of fela is alive & well! (guynamukat remix)
05 - manu dibango - wakafrica (danimalswainger edit)
06 - risco connection - ain't no stopping us now (version)
07 - guynamukat - music, music, only music (afro boogie edit)
08 - unknown - ay cosita linda
09 - orlando julius - disco-hi-life
10 - prince nico mbarga & rocafil jazz - cool money
11 - d. o. misiani and shirati luo voice jazz - amuka salama
12 - mandingo - dewgal (panama cardoon cut n paste edit)
13 - eddie hooper - pass it on

CD 2

01 - teaspoon & the waves - oh yeh soweto
02 - la tromba - calaba calabao
03 - shina williams & his african percussionists - agboju logun
04 - victor uwaifo - ohue (frankie francis & simbad edit)
05 - black soul - mangous ye
06 - richard ace - supernatural thing
07 - mixed grill - a brand new wayo
08 - steel an skin - reggae is here once again
09 - k. frimpong & his cubanos fiestas - kyenkyen bi adi mawu
10 - king errison - caribbean congo (pat les stache re-edit)
11 - teaspoon ndelu - sputla
12 - ray stephen oche - odeiyolaoo (pat les stache re-edit)
13 - eddie hooper - tomorrow's sun

Palmwine Grooves & Disco

This basically was going to be a compilation sharing various African disco-influenced songs and some more recent afro disco boogie edit niceness. Sweet deep music that has been sleeping on my hard-drive for ages. I was mostly going to build this compilation around songs like Guynamukat's „Music, Music, Only Music (Afro Boogie Edit)“ or some Afro Disco funkiness like Buari's „Advice From Father“ (which got sampled by Groove Armada for their song „Dr Eiff“ - but better try the 1979 version Shake by the Bombers, a kinda leftfield Disco song with some sweet strings – definitely funky stuff!) - but ended up adding songs in a similar vein from places like Guyana, Colombia or Jamaica to spice up this selection of music. Basically every song is a favourite on its own to me – some highlights are „Pass It On“ by Guyanese singer Eddie Hooper - which has been re-released as a 12inch by the mighty Soundway Records label: „Recorded in 1980, Hooper delivers some of the most life-affirming and spaced out disco soul you’re likely ever hear integrating Rhodes keys, orchestrations, the odd early keyboard synth and vocals that permeate the tracks and aptly spell out how to ‘set your spirit free’.“ Another big big big favourite is the funky 1976 afro-disco classic „Disco Hi-Life“ by Orlando Julius – can a song get any sweeter, groovier, smoother & uplifting than this? Just need to hear the first few seconds of this song and the „Blade Runner“ like grey Winter Sky in China's 10 Million people metropolis Chengdu suddenly seems to brighten up. This song has been re-released on Hot Casa Records some time ago – with a bit shorter 2009 edited version on the b-side. The nice thing about the edit is that Orlando Julius actually introduces the song himself adding a small message of "Enjoy yourself and be happy!". You can get the edit here. Another sweet song fitting right into this selection is „Risco Connection - Ain't No Stopping Us Now“ - which are some late night clubby soul grooves with a bit of Caribbean flavoring. I did some googling – and it seems they were actually a Jamaican band put together by Joe Isaacs (an original member of Jamaica's Studio One group „The Soul Vendors“) in the late 1970s - which specialized in remakes of the hits of the day, with nice and dubby rhythms at the bottom, and some sweet moogy touches on the top! Another Risco Connection favourite of mine is their remake of Billy Stewart's "Sitting in the Park." Other songs that deserve to be mentioned are „Mandingo - Dewgal (Panama Cardoon Cut n' Paste Edit)“ - another fresh edit by super-talented Panama Cardoon. D.O. Misiani and Shirati Luo Voice Jazz - Amuka Salama – a sweet uplifting Kenyan Benga song that needs a Sofrito edit. Just listen to that „break“ at 3:20 – boom! And last but not least the Danimalswainger edit of Manu Dibango's 'Wakafrica' - Ok! Now lets go and hit the download button. And don't forget to play it load!