NEW MIX. Highlife & Blues
This was done for the annual mix swap over on Waxidermy.
The aegis of the mix was listening to all of these fantastic, unknown, rare LPs that were all of a sudden gracing the shop, directly from Africa… and wanting to do something with them but not something that had already been done. And among all of the well-sorted funk, afrobeat, disco, and boogie mixes and compilations out there, nobody had really touched the most popular form of music in West Africa: Highlife. Now, I’d be lying if I really had proper grounds to explain the scene or the music. I just know what catches my ears. And the melodies, the shimmering guitar runs, the counter-rhythms and pulses… at its best this stuff is downright hypnotic. So I present, with no further ado, a mix of highlife and blues from Nigeria and Ghana (and one record from Benin).
Thanks to Sean Manchee for the cover art!
October 29th, 2009 at 2:07 am
Sooooo good. Thanks for upping my new fall jam for 2009!!!!
October 31st, 2009 at 5:12 am
Jonny! You know I wished you were able to share some of your african ear-catchers… You did it and the mix is hitting my spot at the right time. Thank you once again!
November 10th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
These sounds are so sweet… The best music I heard since Blackman Akeeb Kareem… I’m wordless and ready to get another mind melt into that depth!!! Woah… Thank you man.
November 16th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Thanks for the compliments… This mix is still in *my own* headphones… hope you all are getting the beautiful vibes set forth within this music… peace…
November 22nd, 2009 at 12:18 pm
underestimated indeed, thanks for this, great tunes and flow!
i uploaded one with Highlife tunes of a more uptempo styli. give it a listen ifyou likes the Alex Konadu and stuff with fantastic organ tunes floating above it all.
January 1st, 2010 at 1:54 am
please repost DOWNLOAD LINK PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE!!!!