Analog Africa’s motto is “The future of music happened decades ago”, and this is for a reason. The label was founded in 2006 by Tunisian-born Samy Ben Redjeb with the aim to showcase some of the most fascinating music created by mankind. The label’s records are unmistakable, whether they’re from Benin, Somalia, Cameroon or Cape Verde. They all have that distinctive blend of funk, soul and local traditions with a gloriously chaotic analogue charm – Analog Africa’s records always represent the epitome of African groove. Each project explores a scene or artist from anywhere across Africa and Afro-Latin America, building a snapshot of all things funky in that golden period. By dusting off rare finds, locating those responsible, and in many cases interviewing the principle artists behind these recordings, the all encompassing journey from transforming the source material into a sumptuous objet d’art is documented for posterity. In the process the world is introduced to obscure rhythms like Sato, Sakpata, Siria, Edo Funk, Dhanto, Sar, Bariba, Dendi, Gandjal, Kazukuta, sounds which are mixed in with all things disco during Samy’ s DJ sets.
Links: Bandcamp / Facebook / Instagram / YouTube
Psychophono is a world music revivalist project based in Italy, created by three passionate crate diggers – Emiliano, Mao, and Andrea – who collect and curate psychedelic and ethno-folk music between the 50s and 80s from tropical countries around the world. From Africa, the Caribbean, South America, to South East Asia and beyond, their finds amalgamate these cultural artifacts with Western sounds (rock, soul, funk and jazz) and are backed by hours of painstaking analog research and a vision to keep traditions alive among the aficionados, the unaccustomed and the curious. They are quite popular for their unique offering not only in and around Milan, but they also routinely play at different venues and festivals across Italy. They have a regular slot at a local radio station, Radio Raheem and have, in the past few years, toured countries like Greece, Slovenia, Portugal and Japan to name a few.
Links: Introducing Psychophono / YouTube / Mixcloud / Instagram / Facebook
