Among the first probes were the two Sound D'Afrique compilations of African pop. This second volume was released in 1982, and while it is not exactly a collection of soukous, it is a set of Congolese music and three songs from nearby countries influenced by rumba. What is remarkable is that none of the musicians collected was a major star, except perhaps for the very talented Pablo Lubadika Porthos. A few months after this record was released, Island unleashed King Sunny Ade's Juju Music, completely eclipsing the Sound d'Afrique records and igniting the "world music" heyday.
This album does collect the major hits from the assorted musicians, however, and it is a pleasant listen. The opening two cuts, from Central African Republic's Lea Lignanzi and Cameroon's Mensy, are sweet, and Pablo's "Madeleina" is fine. A few individual albums from these and other musicians on the album, as well as this record itself, were once available on the excellent Global Groove site.
7 comments:
Thank you for reviving a valuable compilation. However, as one who has owned both the lp and CD of this title, I couldn't help but notice that the tracks comprising your download are at least a whole tone - probably more - flatter than the versions to which I'm accustomed. Was this ripped from a CD, or from a vinyl copy?
Thank you, Count, for being the first to dl the file and, especially, for commenting immediately once you listened to it. I admit it sounded funky to me when I was editing it, but I thought it must be the record. Your feedback caused me to troubleshoot, and I remembered I had some power issues during the day I recorded this record. So yesterday I re-recorded it and today re-"mastered" it. Try it out, I think it is fixed. Cheers.
Excellent LP. I listened to some songs last night, but the one that Moussa Doumbia made caught my eye really bad. looking forward to hearing the rest.
For some people in the West, this was their first introduction to the sweet sound that we enjoy known as Soukous and go further deeper into Congolese Music. It's sad how people in the West don't discover this music on their own.
This and Vol 1 were the first african LPs I ever heard (growing up in rural MN). They were played on a 10 watt public station I only liked about 1/2 the tracks, but the ones I did like, blew my mind! Bought these two LPs...and thousands since.
So, all hail to the Sound D'Afrique...gateway to a magical new world of African music I've been immersed in ever since...
Keep up the good work on the blog.
Miss your writing in The Beat.
Miss The Beat.
Thank you for this and all your wonderful posts, together with the obvious care with which you digitize and add commentary to each. Having grown up in South Africa in the 1950s, I loved the music I heard on Springbok Radio's Bantu Hour programs. This love was resuscitated later in life and broadened to encompass musical traditions from the entire African continent. Blogs such as yours have been instrumental in that ever-increasing appreciation. I'm so glad to have found Rhythm Connection.
Thank you. Apurva from Pune, India.
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