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viewing 1 To 18 of 18 items
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12"
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COMET 083EP
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Completing the recent LP reissue of Black Voices by Tony Allen (COMET 082LP), Comet presents a two-track remix EP by Folamour and NIT. The two rising French producers provide great new versions of "Get Together" and "The Same Blood".
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2LP
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COMET 082LP
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Comet presents a reissue of Tony Allen's Black Voices, originally released in 1999. This reissue features remastered versions and "Ariya (Psychedelic Juju Mix)" as a bonus track, which was not part of the original release. Tony Allen completely rewrote the books on what was possible within the Afrobeat genre with his stunning 1999 album, Black Voices. When one considers exactly "what" is going on throughout Black Voices, it is quite mind boggling, as it is almost impossible to associate a minimalist, electronic feel with the massive walls-of-sound which Allen was known to create. Yet these walls-of-sound are still very present, yet they gain an entirely new feel due to the presence of the producer, Doctor L. He takes the mesmerizing rhythms that Allen creates and he spins them into a stunningly modern sound. While Doctor L's production work throughout Black Voices is truly fantastic, it is clear that the genius behind the album lies within the mind of Tony Allen. With the absolutely mesmerizing, funky grooves that Allen creates, it comes as little surprise that the vocal collaborations are handled by members of one of the funkiest bands in history: Parliament-Funkadelic. For almost two decades, Black Voices has remained a stunning example of the fantastic results that can occur when seemingly unrelated genres clash.
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2LP
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HJR 020LP
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2022 repress. Honest Jon's Records reissues this 2006 classic from Afrobeat co-creator and master drummer Tony Allen. The much-lauded Lagos No Shaking pays tribute to the powerful sounds and rhythms of Allen's homeland of Lagos, Nigeria, marking a return to the classic percussive stylings which harken back to his seminal contribution to Fela Kuti's Africa 70 and Egypt 80. This is the real thing -- raw and uncut, recorded in Lagos over ten nights with a 20-piece band, including the finest musicians in the city, not least deep horn-blasting from Lekan Animashaun (Baba Ani) and Show Boy from the killer Fela line-ups, and the palm-wine veteran Fatai Rolling Dollar, who adds his throaty, commanding tones and throbbing agidigbo thumb piano to four tracks. There are the R&B sensibilities of Yinka Davies and Omololu Ogunleye; and Muritala Adisa adds touches of ewe, a form of spoken praise-singing rooted in ancient Yoruba tradition. But the key element is, of course, Allen's powerful, yet magnificently relaxed drumming, which keeps everything in perpetual rocking motion, tempering the hard funk edges of classic Afrobeat with earthier Lagosian flavors. Indeed, while the album's observations on Lagos life are aptly tough and sardonic, this is a warmer, more down-home, perhaps more humane album than anything Fela ever produced. Afro-funk, stone-classic dance music in six-minute chunks.
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2LP
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COMET 075LP
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Originally released in 2002, Comet presents the legendary album from Tony Allen, HomeCooking, reissued with a remastered version. Tony Allen talks about the album: "After Black Voices (KSTA 006LP) and Psyco On Da Bus albums, I came back with HomeCooking which was an album filled with guests. I brought in Ty, who had remixed some of my work previously, to rap on the record, and Damon Albarn, who had already sung about me on 'Music Is My Radar'. On the first day in the studio, Damon didn't record anything because we were enjoying ourselves too much. He came with two boxes of champagne and everyone got boozed and he decided he'd take the music back to his own studio and finish it there. That was the beginning of our friendship and since then we've done a lot of different things. Since the early days I've been trying to find things that everybody will want to listen to. I've always been pushing Afrobeat in different directions. Here's another one again, another style, almost clean but still rough, raggedy and radical.'' Also features: Mary & Norman and Eska.
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10"
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JV 33570082EP
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Limited restock, last copies. Following his acclaimed 2014 album Film of Life, Tony Allen connects with modern club music through Film of Life Remixes. House guru Ricardo Villalobos and partner Max Loderbauer present a rework of "African Man," slowly dragging it through a groovy minimalist mutation and spreading their implacable groove over the rhythm of percussion and brass while shimmering bells interweave with a strong beat. Rising Londoner Fort Romeau reveals a new facet of "Go Back," mixing deep, graceful, elegant modern discoid rhythms with Damon Albarn's silky vocals. The piece unfolds and develops gradually, enveloping us in gentle, rhythmic house.
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CD
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COMET 050CD
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Comet presents a reissue/revision of Tony Allen's 1999 masterpiece Black Voices. Throughout the entire history of music, the idea of "greats behind greats" has perhaps been no more apparent than when one looks at the brilliant rhythm sections of Afrobeat master, Fela Kuti. While Fela himself remains today one of the most amazing and influential musicians in history, without question, one of the key factors to his music was the presence of one of the greatest drummers in history, Tony Allen. As the musical director for Kuti's Africa '70 for more than a decade, it was Allen who constructed and led the band on many of Kuti's most famous songs, and Allen's work as a performer, leader, and songwriter remain largely unrivaled. Having released a massive amount of work on his own, Tony Allen completely rewrote the books on what was possible within the Afrobeat genre with his stunning 1999 album from Comet Records, Black Voices. While at first, the album seems to follow the time-tested pattern of Afrobeat, it quickly begins to move into uncharted waters, as Allen is out to prove that one can take the old sound and seamlessly integrate it with new musical forms. The music itself is truly like nothing else before it, as Allen takes the classic Afrobeat sound and fuses it together with a dub and "DJ" sound that is as modern as one can get. When one steps back and considers exactly "what" is going on throughout Black Voices, it is quite mind boggling, as it is almost impossible to associate a minimalist, electronic feel with the massive walls of sound which Allen was known to create. Yet these walls of sound and hypnotic rhythms are still very present, and they gain an entirely new feel due to the presence of Allen's collaborator on Black Voices -- the brilliant multi-instrumentalist Doctor L. In honor of the 10th anniversary of the album's initial release, Comet Records saw fit to re-release the record, giving the world an entirely new perspective on the music. In most cases, when an album receives a re-release, it usually features an updated, or remixed version of the original album. Yet in 2009, Eric Trosset, A&R and founder of Comet Records together with Fixi decided to do what can be seen as the opposite with Tony Allen's phenomenal 1999 release, Black Voices. Seeing as how the original version of the album was already filled with the brilliant production work of Doctor L, the re-release contains the original, unaltered recording sessions. Retaining the mesmerizing grooves that serve as the key to Afrobeat, Tony Allen enlisted some of the most talented musicians on the planet, and within an almost "jam session"-type setting, they produced what is truly a group effort, and the personalities of each musician shines through. From the wild keyboard lines of Fixi to the amazing vocal work of Clip Payne and Mudbone Cooper, Black Voices was simply unlike anything else in music history. This reissue is unquestionably as essential, and displays what is certainly the future of the Afrobeat sound.
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2CD
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VAMPI 090CD
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2007 release. Vampisoul presents a complete '70s anthology of the drummer and music director of African superstar Fela Kuti's band Africa 70, from 1968 until 1979, the creators of Afrobeat. This monster pack includes Tony's first four solo albums: Jealousy (1975), Progress (1976), No Accomodation for Lagos (1978), and No Discrimination (1979). The first three produced by Fela Kuti himself and with Africa 70; the last one with Tony´s band The Afro Messengers. Complete extensive liner notes inside. Mild-mannered, but iron-willed, Tony Allen is the co-creator of Afrobeat, and one of the most distinctive and in-demand drummers on the planet. No one swings like this Nigerian rhythm man -- with that amazing, loose-limbed, poly-rhythmic technique that has powered some of the funkiest and most challenging dance music ever created. Best known for his involvement with the late, great Fela Kuti, Tony Allen is very much more than Fela's -- or anyone else's -- drummer. Bandleader, composer and husky rapping vocalist, Tony Allen has recorded a string of groundbreaking solo albums since parting company with Fela in 1978 -- sides that draw together African rhythm, funk, jazz, soul and hip hop. His inimitably propulsive skinwork has enhanced the work of an amazing range of artists, from Afro-giants Manu Dibango, Ray Lema and Sunny Ade to British-Indian songstress Susheela Raman and Californian rock-rappers Spearhead. Complete extensive liner notes included.
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CD
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HJR 020CD
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2015 repress. The Honest Jon's label reissues this 2006 classic from Afrobeat co-creator and master drummer Tony Allen. The much-lauded Lagos No Shaking pays tribute to the powerful sounds and rhythms of Allen's homeland of Lagos, Nigeria, marking a return to the classic percussive stylings which harken back to his seminal contribution to Fela Kuti's Africa 70 and Egypt 80. This is the real thing -- raw and uncut, recorded in Lagos over 10 nights with a 20-piece band, including the finest musicians in the city, not least deep horn-blasting from Lekan Animashaun (Baba Ani) and Show Boy from the killer Fela line-ups, and the palm-wine veteran Fatai Rolling Dollar, who adds his throaty, commanding tones and throbbing agidigbo thumb piano to four tracks. There are the R&B sensibilities of Yinka Davies and Omololu Ogunleye; and Muritala Adisa adds touches of ewe, a form of spoken praise-singing rooted in ancient Yoruba tradition. But the key element is, of course, Allen's powerful, yet magnificently relaxed drumming, which keeps everything in perpetual rocking motion, tempering the hard funk edges of classic Afrobeat with earthier Lagosian flavors. Indeed, while the album's observations on Lagos life are aptly tough and sardonic, this is a warmer, more down-home, perhaps more humane album than anything Fela ever produced. Afro-funk, stone-classic dance music in 6-minute chunks. The 2LP version includes an extra track.
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CD
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HJR 034CD
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Two years ago, Honest Jon's travelled to Lagos with the great drummer Tony Allen, to make his first recordings there since his time with Fela Kuti -- an album entitled Lagos No Shaking, a classic of contemporary Afrobeat. Since then, the label has widely commissioned numerous responses to those new sides: from legends of dance music culture like Basic Channel in Berlin, for example, and founding father of Detroit techno, Carl Craig; and young tigers like Dizzee Rascal's Newham Generals, MIA producer Diplo in Baltimore, and carioca sensations Bonde Do Role from Rio De Janeiro. There are also new recordings from Cairo, Saturn, Bogota and Kingston, Jamaica -- fresh interpretations or complete reworkings by the space jazz pioneer Salah Ragab, a street brass band descended from Sun Ra's Arkestra, highlife-inspired Afro-Colombian drummers from the village of San Palenque De Basilio, and a veteran of Count Ossie's Mystic Revelation Of Rastafari. Afrobeat, dub, jazz, chalupa, electro, highlife, techno, grime, carioca, champeta and funk from all corners, fizzing away together here... it could only be from Honest Jon's. Vinyl version includes 2 bonus tracks.
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2LP
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HJR 034LP
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2LP version, with great gatefold sleeve packaging. 2008 release, vinyl version includes two bonus tracks by Terrence Parker and Wajeed. Two years ago, Honest Jon's travelled to Lagos with the great drummer Tony Allen, to make his first recordings there since his time with Fela Kuti -- an album entitled Lagos No Shaking, a classic of contemporary Afrobeat. Since then, the label has widely commissioned numerous responses to those new sides: from legends of dance music culture like Basic Channel in Berlin, for example, and founding father of Detroit techno, Carl Craig; and young tigers like Dizzee Rascal's Newham Generals, MIA producer Diplo in Baltimore, and carioca sensations Bonde Do Role from Rio De Janeiro. There are also new recordings from Cairo, Saturn, Bogota and Kingston, Jamaica -- fresh interpretations or complete reworkings by the space jazz pioneer Salah Ragab, a street brass band descended from Sun Ra's Arkestra, highlife-inspired Afro-Colombian drummers from the village of San Palenque De Basilio, and a veteran of Count Ossie's Mystic Revelation Of Rastafari. Afrobeat, dub, jazz, chalupa, electro, highlife, techno, grime, carioca, champeta and funk from all corners, fizzing away together here... it could only be from Honest Jon's.
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12"
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HJP 041EP
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2018 repress. "When The Hypnotics handed over this monster, they mentioned something about its 'Egyptian' vibe, so -- on top of the fact that a couple of them are sons of Ra trumpeter Phil Cohran -- it seemed apposite to couple it with new recordings made for us in Cairo by space jazz luminary Salah Ragab, who once himself recorded and toured with the Arkestra. The shimmering, burnished, refined funk of Sankofa takes Tony Allen's 'Losun' for its departure point; the Cairo side is a burning basement session in the Ra big-band tradition, full of life and living, heavy on the percussion and choca with fine solos."
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12"
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HJP 039EP
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2023 repress; Originally released 2007. Carl Craig back on Honest Jon's in devastating form: nervy and urgent, epic and apocalyptic, kicking hard and funky as anything.
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12"
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HJP 030XEP
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Limited mixes, released in addition to the regular HJP 030 edition.
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12"
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HJP 036EP
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2023 repress, originally released 2007. After Mark Ernestus' mix of "Moyege" in this series, now his Basic Channel/Rhythm And Sound partner comes to the control tower. Mortiz von Oswald's deep Berlin steppers discloses dubwise traces of our original Lagos recording -- the percussion of Yinka Ogunye, the singing of '50s palmwine legend Rolling Dollar, Oscar Olimbi's guitar lick -- in with his own Oberheim voicings, additional drumming and cool-and-deadly rhythm track. It's a tough, masterly dance record in fine Rhythm And Sound style -- which during its ten-and-a-half minutes seems to ponder time elapsed and journeys undertaken. Like a stepping razor, but t-u-m-p-i-n. This "Reggae Land" version is the take-no-prisoners, pared-down dub of Wareika Hill Sounds ' rootical rework of "Ise Nla." Magnificent trombone and percussion; expert, classical JA mixing. Brings to mind those great dubs of Glen Brown's "Black Man Stand Up Pan Foot."
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12"
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HJP 033EP
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Like a dream, but authoritatively, this remix from Jamaica magnificently crosses the Afrobeat of Fela Kuti with the grounation reggae tradition of Count Ossie. The flip, "Uhuru Pujama," is a new recording, another warrior charge down Wareika Hill by this veteran of Light Of Saba and The Mystic Revelation Of Rastafari.
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12"
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HJP 030EP
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Terrence Parker is an underground Detroit original. Unlike, say, Carl Craig or Claude Young, though -- both of whom are preparing mixes for this Honest Jon's series -- his music falls outside the city's techno traditions. Terrence Parker makes classic Detroit house. Since his debut in 1988 -- a collaboration with Marc Kinchen -- and then his legendary first solo EP, TP1, in 1990, Terrence has released more than a hundred records, under aliases like Disciples Of Jovon Blade, Disco Revisited, Plastic Soul Junkies, Minimum Wage Brothers, Seven Grand Housing Authority. These remixes are romping, stomping, tear-away house, the old school way.
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12"
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HJP 032EP
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2016 repress, originally released 2006. Mark Ernestus, one half of the Basic Channel, Maurizio and Rhythm & Sound teams, inaugurates our series of reworkings of tracks from Tony Allen's Lagos No Shaking album. "Mark's Mix" is not a nowadays-style remix; more an extended mix in the classical tradition headed by Tom Moulton, back in the days when Francois Kevorkian was his teaboy, and there was a cupboard in his office stuffed with Studio One master-tapes. "Mark's Disco Dub" is its dub. This record brings to Afrobeat the dubwise intelligence of the disco mix. It's beautifully crafted, irresistibly grooving and heavy.
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CD
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COM 020CD
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"3 years after Black Voices, the ex Fela Kuti drummer comes back with his best album ever. The album starts with the killer 'Every Seasons' featuring Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz) to invite the listeners to an Afro Soul trip. Co-produced by the Unsung Heroes and Doctor L, Homecooking is a perfect combination of Soul vocals (with Eska -- signed on Virgin UK), Reggae influences (with TY -- signed on Big Dada/Ninja Tune), and Funky Afro grooves."
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viewing 1 To 18 of 18 items
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